ABSTRACT
Executive Summary Research in the medical error domain is polarized between not only system and individual visions (paradigms) but also the search for and detection of causes of error (that are already intuitively, by experience, or by etiological research proven causes) or the research that must demonstrate some feature, variable, or phenomenon as a “new” cause of error. Moreover, research often focuses on incidents, immediate harm, or other more distant outcomes consequent to the error itself as being synonymous to the medical error itself. Given the occurrence of error in unique, sporadic, and rare cases, even simple descriptions of medical error occurrence require several methodological approaches and considerations to arrive at the number of events, their outcomes, their severity, persons/time/ place characteristics, and what might be concluded, at least hypothetically, to be better demonstrated later.
