Table 3.

Types of Research Questions for Which Video Elicitation Interviews Are Useful

Type of Research Question	Examples From Published Video Elicitation Studies
Complex cognitive or decision-making processes	How often do physicians and patients identify nonverbal behaviors or gestalt assessments that influence their judgments?4 How do patients’ cultural norms and expectations influence discussions about colorectal cancer screening?27 What factors influence physicians’ decisions to discuss smoking cessation with patients?36
Misunderstanding or disagreement during interactions	How often do physicians and patients identify the same moments of an interaction as “unusual” or “interesting”?26 How do physicians’ and patients’ perspectives on communication competence differ?39 How do physicians and patients’ thoughts and feelings about information exchange and relational communication differ?40 What kinds of dilemmas do general practitioners experience during physician-patient interactions?45
Sensitive, emotional, or stigmatized topics	What factors are associated with effective discussions of HIV risk during primary care interactions?37 What power dynamics exist between physicians, patients, and medical students?46
Defining effective communication and management for complex problems	What processes and stages of treatment decision making are perceived by women with early stage breast cancer29 How do communication behaviors associated with shared decision making relate to patients’ and physicians’ subjective experience of partnership?30 How do orthopedic surgeons manage interactions, and how do these management strategies relate to patient satisfaction?32
Influences on participants’ impressions and behaviors after interactions	How do comments from physicians with high patient satisfaction scores compare with comments from physicians with low patient satisfaction scores?26 How do patients define “good” vs “bad” physicians?44
Participants’ reactions to or assessments of their own actions	How do orthopedic surgeons experience interactions with patients?31 How do patients experience interactions with orthopedic surgeons?33 What thoughts do patients have during primary care interactions?38 How do general practitioners experience and understand physician-patient interactions?43

HIV=human immunodeficiency virus.