Expansion of the social sciences within public health: uses and abuses of qualitative research

The expansion and consolidation of social sciences within healthcare has made it possible to place value on and disseminate qualitative research. Social scientists' attention has been drawn to the increasing numbers of papers submitted to scientific journals on public health, along with theses and dissertations that use qualitative methodology in their researchs. The aim of this paper is to raise some points towards deepening the reflections on the implications of expansion of the social sciences within healthcare, particularly with regard to qualitative research. Our experience in evaluating studies within this field indicates that there is a low degree of incorporation of the epistemological perspective of the qualitative methodology and theoretical framework of the social sciencesin studies within public health. This results in studies without theoretical-methodological consistency that are empirical and contribute little to understanding phenomena within the public health.