title: Methodological problems associated with practice-close research.
abstract: Within the health professions, it is not uncommon to investigate problems in one's field of practice, but researchers who study their own field are bound to encounter both ethical and methodological problems. In this article, the authors focus on some of the challenges in what they have chosen to call practice-close research. They focus on two issues within this area: the researcher's ability to explicate his or her preconceptions and the researcher's interaction with the participants in the study. It is difficult to treat these dimensions separately, as they border on and will influence each other. The discussion in the article of methodological challenges of practice-close research is based on experiences gleaned from a study in which the first author investigated her own practice.
authors.affiliation: Molde University College, Norway.
authors.forename: Else
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lykkeslet
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gjengedal
mesh_terms: D015982:Bias; D003142:Communication; D006801:Humans; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012107:Research Design