Practitioner, researcher, and gender conflict in a qualitative study

This article is a reflexive analysis of a grounded theory study, and it addresses certain dilemmas inherent in a research design in which the authors, being family physicians, interviewed their own women patients. Interview situations featuring tension and contradictions were identified. The interviewers' reactions were scrutinized and related to the interaction of the research. It was detected that the interviewers reacted according to three different positions-as physicians, women, and researchers-and an awareness of this was crucial to the interpretations. Power asymmetry was found to be an aggravating circumstance in the interviews. However, it was possible to reduce it by discussing it with the participants. These findings contribute to the knowledge about interaction in research interviews and clinical consultations. The analysis also contributed to an understanding of the participants' experiences.