A Forerunner of Qualitative Health Research

Abstract

In this article we discuss and examine the report presented to the Académie Royale de Médicine of Paris by the Spanish doctor Benigno Risueño de Amador in 1836, in which he argued against the calculation of probabilities in the health sciences. In his report, Risueño opposed the proposals put forward by Pierre Louis, precursor of the application of statistics in the health sciences. The report was a pioneering document that rejected the use of statistics in clinical practice and medical research. At the same time, however, it could well be considered a seminal document of a certain kind of qualitative research methodology in the health sciences.