Hearing the Silenced Voices of Underserved Women: The Role of Qualitative Research in Gynecologic and Reproductive Care

In order to provide effective evidence-based health care to women, rigorous research that examines women's lived experiences in their own voices is needed. However, clinical health research has often excluded the experiences of women and minority patient populations. Further, clinical research has often relied on quantitative research strategies; this provides an interesting but limited understanding of women's health experiences and hinders the provision of effective patient-centered care. This article defines qualitative research and its unique contributions to research, and provides examples of how qualitative research has given insights into the reproductive health perspectives and behaviors of underserved women.