Appraising the use of smartphones and apps when conducting qualitative medical education research: AMEE Guide No. 130

Abstract

Smartphone use is rampant in everyday life and is increasing in: patient management, teaching and learning of medicine and health research. There is untapped potential to use smartphones as research tools in MER for a range of research approaches. Qualitative research is increasingly common in medical education research (MER). Smartphone use as a research tool has not been well explored in MER and this Guide will be useful to researchers considering integrating smartphones specifically in qualitative MER. First, we discuss the potential for smartphones in qualitative MER. Then, we discuss the opportunities and drawbacks for using smartphones in qualitative MER. We then provide three principles to consider when conducting smartphone MER: communication, ethics and reflection. Next we share ten lessons that emerged from the literature and our experiences. We end by looking to the future of smartphones in qualitative MER and hope this Guide provides evidence-based information to optimise smartphone use in qualitative MER. This Guide is important as there is an urgent need to redefine ethical boundaries to account for blurred lines between personal and professional use of smartphones.

Keywords:

• Smartphones
• medical education research
• qualitative research
• apps

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the reviewers for stimulating comments on an earlier version of this Guide.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Anique Atherley is supported by a scholarship through the Western Sydney University as part of a joint PhD collaboration between Western Sydney University and Maastricht University.

Notes on contributors

Anique Atherley

Anique Atherley, MPH, is a public health physician and joint PhD candidate at the School of Health Professions Education (SHE) Maastricht University and Western Sydney University. Her research interests are in trainee support and wellbeing and she is currently exploring the social aspects influencing the transition from pre-clinical to clinical training.

Wendy Hu

Wendy Hu, PhD, trained as a family physician before becoming a medical educator. Her research interests include educational change and innovation, research and career development, qualitative and participatory action research methods.

Pim W. Teunissen

Pim W. Teunissen, PhD, is a gynaecologist at the Amsterdam University Medical Centers and a professor of medical education at Maastricht University. His research focuses on how healthcare professionals learn through work and as part of his research he has undertaken longitudinal qualitative research using smartphones.

Iman Hegazi

Dr. Iman Hegazi, PhD, is director of Medical Education at Western Sydney University. She has expertise in quantitative and mixed methods research, and her areas of research interests include research that supports medical students’ learning and professional development, as well as research in curricular design and pedagogy.

Diana Dolmans

Diana Dolmans, PhD, is educational scientist and a professor at the Department of Educational Development and Research and School of Health Professions Education (SHE), Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, The Netherlands, with a special interest in innovative learning arrangements.