Successful management of diabetes requires that we
understand the lifestyle, beliefs, attitudes, and family
and social networks of the patients being treated.1
Qualitative methods are particularly useful when the
subject of research is relatively unexplored and the
research question is loosely defined or open ended.2
With two recently published exceptions 3 4 and a small
British study based entirely on individual interviews,5
such methods have rarely been used in the study of
diabetes.