Subject terms
CINAHL uses the CINAHL heading "Qualitative Studies" complemented by more detailed terms, including "Phenomenological Research" and "Focus Group," etc.
On the lower half of first page of the CINAHL advanced search screen, try selecting Qualitative- Best Balance as a Clinical Query Filter.
Subject terms: MeSH
PubMed uses "Qualitative Research" or "Nursing Methodology Research" as a SUBJECT term.
Using PubMed's Saved Search Strategies
PubMed includes saved search strategies (queries) that may help in the identification of literature relevant to health services research, including qualitative research.
Health Services Research PubMed Query
1. Click the link above
2. Enter your search
3. Select category Qualitative Research and choose narrow (usually preferable) or broad scope. Type topic terms in search box and click Go.
The narrow qualitative query looks for the words qualitative and themes in titles and abstracts of articles. A modification of this strategy is linked below. It includes the MeSH term Qualitative Research, which was added to the MeSH vocabulary in 2003. Click on the strategy to run the search in PubMed. You may then add other concepts to the search.
qualitative research [MeSH] OR qualitative[tiab] OR themes[tiab]
Qualitative articles on medical topics can be somewhat trickier to find than quantitative, so rather than recreate the wheel here are some great tips.
In CINAHL use the CINAHL heading "Qualitative Studies" complemented by more detailed terms, including "Phenomenological Research" and "Focus Group," etc. You can also use these terms for keyword or natural language searches.
On the lower half of initial search box of CINAHL, try selecting Qualitative- Best Balance as a Clinical Query search limit. You can also select the high sensitivity and high specificity qualitative filters and the same time using the CTRL-Click.
For MEDLINE/Pubmed
Subject terms: MeSH
PubMed uses "Qualitative Research" or "Nursing Methodology Research" as a SUBJECT term.
The narrow qualitative query looks for the words qualitative and themes in titles and abstracts of articles. A modification of this strategy is linked below. It includes the MeSH term Qualitative Research, which was added to the MeSH vocabulary in 2003. You can copy and paste this search string into the Pubmed search box along with your other keywords for your search connecting it with AND.
qualitative research [MeSH] OR qualitative[tiab]
For any database you can add the following search string to your other keywords preceded by the word "AND."
qualitative OR ethnograph* OR phenomenol* OR ethnonurs* OR grounded theor* OR “purposive sample” OR hermeneutic* OR heuristic* OR semiotics OR lived experience* OR narrative* OR “life experiences” OR “cluster sample” OR “action research” OR “observational method” OR “content analysis” OR “thematic analysis” OR “constant comparative method” OR field stud* OR “theoretical sample” OR “discourse analysis” OR focus group* OR “ethnological research” OR ethnomethodolog* OR interview*