The Four Cornerstones of Qualitative Research

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is more than the application of best research evidence to practice. Advocates for evidence-based medicine (EBM), the parent discipline of EBP, state that EBP has three, and possibly four, components: best research evidence, clinical expertise, and patient preferences and wants. Person-centered physicians also advocate for the person of the practitioner as a fourth component. In this article, the author shows the centrality of qualitative research to this fuller version of EBP. She also shows how qualitative research has four cornerstones that parallel the four components of EBP.