Using Metaphor as a Qualitative Analytic Approach to Understand Complexity in Primary Care Research
- 1 December 2003
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Qualitative Health Research
- Vol. 13 (10) , 1419-1431
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732303255999
Abstract
Metaphors offer exciting opportunities to identify and explore tacit knowledge and behavior that are embedded in complex organizations and shape health care practices. In this article, the authors explore the theoretical rationale, background, and advantages of using metaphor as an analytic strategy in qualitative health research. They used an analysis of 18practices in a comparative case study designed to explore office practice strategies for delivering cancer prevention services for illustrations. During the individual and comparative stages of the analysis process, researchers heeded the metaphors that they used in their descriptive language of practices. The authors explore examples showing how metaphors clarify unwritten assumptions, values, and motivators that shape variations in practice behavior.Keywords
This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:
- The contemporary theory of metaphorPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,1993
- Moral ImaginationPublished by University of Chicago Press ,1993
- The Body in the MindPublished by University of Chicago Press ,1987
- Figurative Speech and Figurative ActsThe Journal of Philosophy, 1975