Why public health research needs qualitative approaches. Subjects and methods in change

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Abstract
The need for qualitative approaches in health research is grounded in the necessity of answering new research questions important for progress in both health research and practice. First, changing models of health research are outlined in general. Then, 2 areas of research are taken as examples to analyse the changes in the subjects in more detail and to discuss their methodological consequences: research on the aetiology of disease and research on the course of the illnesses and their outcome. It is argued that qualitative methods in particular are able to approach and analyse the personal meaning of stress factors and illnesses, complex cognitive appraisals and reflections, the life course and biographical processes, the social and biographical context of basic factors and the complex relationships between the variables.