NR 439 Week 5 Assignment – Reading Research Literature
There are four types of quantitative research design: descriptive research, correlational research, quasi-experimental research, and experimental research. Descriptive research provides systematic information about a phenomenon and seeks to describe the current status of a variable. Correlational research uses statistical data to determine the extent of a relationship between variables. It seeks and interprets relationships among various facts. Quasi-experimental research is a type of quantitative research that seeks to establish a cause-effect relationship between two or more variables (Wisdom et al., 2011). Lastly, experimental research uses scientific methods to establish the cause-effect relationship between variables which forms the focus of the study. Descriptive research is the type of quantitative research that I believe would impact nursing research. This is because in this research, the researcher first collects data relating to a given phenomenon, then later develop a hypothesis based on the data collected. Through the analysis and synthesis of data, the researcher can then test the hypothesis so as to arrive at a conclusion.
Quantitative research can help improve nursing research because it attempts to establish statistically significant relationships between variables and its approach to addressing nursing questions and problems on the basis of measurements (Apuke, 2017). It is based on observation and objective measurement, and more so, it is concerned with causation and correlation.
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is a naturalistic study that aims at obtaining in-depth knowledge about social phenomena by focusing on the “why” as opposed to the “what” of the social phenomena. Qualitative research relies on the direct experiences of the respondents, and qualitative researchers use multiple systems of inquiry to study human phenomena, such as discourse analysis, case studies, historical analysis, ethnography, phenomenology, and grounded theory (Squires and Dorsen, 2018).
In nursing research, qualitative research is important because the knowledge obtained through qualitative research provides nurses with new perspectives concerning patient care and also allows the validation of proper courses of action. Qualitative research establishes useful resources through various components such as best practices, processes, systems, personal experiences, and observations (Miller, 2010). Qualitative research explains complicated and unique information which cannot be established through quantitative research.’
The major types of qualitative research designs are case studies, historical analysis, ethnography, grounded theory, and phenomenology, among others. Case studies involve a deep understanding which uses multiple types of data sources, and they can be explanatory, exploratory, or describing an event. Historical analysis describes past events to aid the understanding of present patterns and the anticipation of future choices. Ethnography approaches research by immersing the subjects of one culture in a different culture that is unfamiliar to them so as to learn and describe the characteristics of the culture. Grounded theory seeks to explain the reasons behind the evolution of a particular course of action in the manner in which it does. It considers large subject numbers and develops theoretical models based on existing data. Lastly, phenomenology describes the experiences of a participant in a specific event. This type of qualitative research uses observation, interviews, and surveys to obtain information from different subjects under study. A case study is the type of qualitative research that I would use in my nursing research among the several types identified. This is because, unlike other types of qualitative research, case studies provide an in-depth look at a particular subject rather than many. It is, therefore, easy to use case studies when the researcher wants to focus on the “how” and “why” of a social phenomenon. Additionally, when using case studies, the behavior is not manipulated, but rather, it is observed in real-life.
Qualitative research can help improve nursing practice because it captures the experiences and viewpoints of in-depth stakeholders in the evaluation of the consequences of policy implementation (Miller, 2010).
Research sampling
In research, a sample refers to a group of people, objects, or items taken from a larger population for the purpose of study. Sampling, therefore, describes a statistical analysis process in which a predetermined number of observations are obtained from a larger population. Sampling is important in research because it helps the researcher to use a small portion of the populati
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