文摘
Definition of the problem Research in medical ethics is often conducted by means of socio-empirical methods. In this context qualitative methods have been widely used in recent years. To the best knowledge of the authors, however, there is a lack of research on the specific contribution of qualitative research for interdisciplinary medico-ethical analysis. Arguments By means of a practice-oriented medical ethics research project to support decision making in oncology (ETHICO project) we specify the contribution of different qualitative research methods. In our methodological reflection we demonstrate how two features of qualitative research methods—reconstruction of social reality and explication of informal knowledge—are important prerequisites for the contribution of qualitative research to the interdisciplinary medical ethics research project. Outlook We conclude our analysis with an exploration of limitations regarding the use of qualitative research in medical ethics and open research questions. Keywords Ethics and empiricism Qualitative research Moral pragmatics Clinical ethics