Journal
QUALITATIVE HEALTH RESEARCH
Volume 15, Issue 5, Pages 669-685Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1177/1049732305275208
Keywords
case study methods; research; complexity science; health care organizations
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Funding
- NINR NIH HHS [R01 NR003178, 2 R01 NR003178-04A2, P20 NR007795, 1 P20 NR07795-01] Funding Source: Medline
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Many wonder why there has been so little change in care quality despite substantial quality improvement efforts. Questioning why current approaches are not making true changes draws attention to the organization as a source of answers. The authors bring together the case study method and complexity science to suggest new ways to study health care organizations. The case study provides a method for studying systems. Complexity theory suggests that keys to understanding the system are contained in patterns of relationships and interactions among the system's agents. They propose some of the objects of study that are implicated by complexity theory and discuss how studying these using case methods might provide useful maps of the system. They offer complexity theory, partnered with case study method, as a place to begin the daunting task of studying a system as an integrated whole.
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