Curious about what your peers have been up to? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is making it much easier to find out. CDC’s Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity recently launched its new Inventory of Qualitative Research in Nutrition and Physical Activity. The site serves as a searchable repository for qualitative studies in nutrition, physical activity, and other related fields. These studies include formative research with target audiences in the development and pre-testing of intervention strategies and the evaluation of current research projects. CDC created this resource as a way to feature studies that may not be widely known or published in peer-reviewed journals. As the database grows, so will the opportunity to review qualitative research on a variety of nutrition and physical activity related issues, determine research gaps and needs, and build upon current findings to improve communication messages.

The site is easy to navigate and allows the user to search the database by topic, target audience, and keywords. The entries supply information on the topic, methods, and contact person for the specific research. Documents or reports are not attached to the inventory, but can be accessed through links, if available. To search the inventory, visit http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/qualitative_research/index.htm.

For inclusion in the database, the research must meet the following criteria:

• Be qualitative and include topics of nutrition, physical activity, or related fields
• Have been collected in the year 1997 or later
• Have been collected by using standard qualitative methods of data collection

To submit research to the inventory: email QRI@cdc.gov or visit the website.