Reviewing and applying qualitative research to inform management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

This special collection ‘Looking Beyond the Numbers: Qualitative research in Respiratory Medicine’ celebrates research using qualitative methodologies to enable understanding of an individuals’ subjective experience and to address questions about meaning, perspectives, feelings and values. The qualitative researcher systematically gathers, organises, interprets and explains data from narratives (verbal and textual) or naturalistic observations (visual). Data collection techniques are tailored according to the research question. Focus groups are useful to understand normative beliefs and behaviour (i.e. what are peoples’ perceptions of e-cigarettes?), semi-structured interviews glean views on focused topics (i.e. perceptions of the withdrawal of medications?), in-depth interviews seek to comprehend a condition or experience (i.e. what is the experience of adults with cystic fibrosis?) and analysis of text and documents, such as social media posts and websites, shed light on public knowledge (i.e. how do people view those with lung cancer?).1