Quantitative and Qualitative Nursing Research Order Instructions: Course Textbooks
1. Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2012). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (9th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN-13: 9781605477084 (Available as print text only.)
2. Resource Manual to Accompany Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2012). Resource manual to accompany nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (9th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN-13: 9781605477824 (Available as print text only.)
Write a paper of 2,000?2,500 words. You will develop the paper in five parts.
This assignment is in 5 parts:
Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines. The accepted plagiarism level is 20% or less
Part 1 (Quantitative and Qualitative Research Review)
Choose two scholarly, peer-reviewed articles about research studies.
The articles can be found using the GCU Library or any of the sources recommended in the readings.
Address the following:
1. One article must be an example of a qualitative research study; the other must be a quantitative example.
2. These articles will be utilized for in part 2, 3, 4 and 5.
3. Write a 350-500-word statement which includes:
4. A description of why each research study is categorized as quantitative or qualitative.
5. A justification for your selections.
6. The journal page reference for the research study selected and the reasons why it was selected.
7. A link to the selected articles or an attached copy of each article.
Part 2 (Summarize Research Articles)
Write a summary of each of the articles that you identified in part 1.
Address the following:
1. Write one research summary that uses a quantitative research design.
2. Write one research summary that uses a qualitative research design.
3. Each summary should be 250-500 words and should follow the template, Summarize Research Articles.
4. Use APA Level Heading 2 to separate the distinct parts of the study.
These article summaries will form the basis of the Critique of Research Studies parts in modules 3, 4, and 5.
Part 3 (Critique of Research Studies )
Complete a critique of the quantitative and qualitative articles that were submitted in part 2.
Follow the guidelines for the quantitative and qualitative article critiques in Chapter 5, Box 5.2, pages 112-114 and Box 5.3, pages 115-117 of the textbook.
1) Utilize a central heading to indicate that what follows is the critique of the articles.
2) The side headings of the critique for each article should follow the headings in Box 5.2 and 5.3.
3) Note that within these BASIC guidelines, there are additional references to Detailed Critiquing Guidelines found in various boxes in chapters focused on the various elements of a research study report. Use these to expand the research study and to learn specific terminology appropriate to the critique of research.
When turning in the final submission, please put in the following order: Quantitative Article Critique, Qualitative Article Critique, References (should include the two articles, the text, and any other additional sources).
For Part 3 of the critique, focus only on the following segments for each article:
Quantitative Qualitative
• Title • Title
• Abstract • Abstract
• Introduction • Introduction
o Statement of the problem o Statement of the problem
o Hypotheses or research questions o Research questions
o Literature review o Literature review
o Conceptual/theoretical framework o Conceptual underpinnings
Part 4 (Critique of Research Studies)
For Part 2 of the critique, focus only on the following segments for each article:
Quantitative Qualitative
• Method • Method
o Protection of human rights o Protection of participants’ rights
o Research design o Research design and research tradition
o Population and sample o Sample and setting
o Data collection and measurement o Data collection
o Procedures o Procedures
o Enhancement of trustworthiness
Part 5
When turning in the final submission, please put in the following order: Quantitative Article Critique, Qualitative Article Critique, References (should include the two articles, the text, and any other additional sources).
For Part 3 of the critique, focus only on the following segments for each article:
Quantitative Qualitative
• Results • Results
o Data analysis o Data analysis
o Findings
o Reliability and Validity o Findings
• Discussion o Theoretical integrations
o Interpretation of findings • Discussion
o Implications/recommendations o Interpretation of the findings
• Global Issues o Implications/recommendations
o Presentation • Global Issues
o Researcher credibility o Presentation
o Summary assessment o Researcher credibility
o Summary assessment
Quantitative and Qualitative Nursing Research Sample Answer
Part 1 (Quantitative and Qualitative Research Review)
In my quantitative research review, I chose a peer reviewed journal titled ‘Surveillance of influenza-like illness in Belgian nursing homes’ while for the qualitative research review, I chose ‘Pre-exposure Prophylaxis in substance abuse treatment: a qualitative study of treatment provider perspectives’ as my topic from a peer reviewed journal.
Surveillance of influenza-like illness in Belgian nursing homes is a quantitative research because it was conducted upon measurements which are numerical and it tends to use research indicators and tools which are statistical. From the journal, it is evident that a quasi-experimental approach was used to conduct the correlation survey where numerical data was collected twice a month for a 5 month period recording 10 observations for each participant. Data was collected using questionnaires and a surveillance contact person was chosen for all participating facilities. The research was objective whereby the researcher set the aims of the study before conducting it. The research study is conducted at a level of precision whereby the validity and reliability of the data was ensured before the analysis of the data collected. A quantitative research tests a hypothesis as well as proving a theory. From this study, data was collected to measure the incidence of influenza like illness in nursing homes in Belgium during the 2009-2010 season of influenza. Comparative quantitative data was also collected on the coverage of vaccination for A (H1N1)2009 and seasonal flu and it was compared to another data collected to show the lack of influenza like illness among health care workers in nursing homes during the same observation duration. This article was obtained from the following journal Archives of Public Health 2010, 68.100-108. The choice of the article was due to its quantitative approach and it was also proof of evidence based practice in nursing. The article can be found on this link: http://www.archpublichealth.com/content/68/3/100.
Pre-exposure Prophylaxis in substance abuse treatment: a qualitative study of treatment provider perspectives is a study topic conducted through a qualitative design. The research develops a theory since its main objective is to examine substance abuse treatment providers’ views on engaging clients in pre-exposure prophylaxis. During the data collection, semi structured interviews were qualitatively conducted on a purposively selected sample of 36 medical and counseling service providers in 6 New York outpatient substance abuse treatment programs so as to fulfill the assumption that the researcher is part of the research. The data analysis conducted involved content analysis to show themes and trends in the data and coding was done independently by 3 coders. This article was obtained from the following journal Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 2015, 10:1. The choice of the article was due to its qualitative approach and it was also proof of evidence based practice in nursing. The article can be found on this link: http://www.substanceabusepolicy.com/content/10/1/1.
Part 2 (Summarize Research Articles)
The summary template of the quantitative research review includes the following sections;
Title
Surveillance of influenza-like illness in Belgian nursing homes’. This article was published in volume 68 of the public health journal in 2010 from pages 100 to 108. The article was authored by Jans, Latour, Broex and Catry. This is a summary of a quantitative study conducted to compare treatments among groups following a quasi experimental research design.
Problem Statement
The researchers state that elderly people are severely affected by the presence of several risk factors that influence the severity of an influenza infection according to previous studies. According to the world health organization, vaccination for the nursing home staff who come to close contact with the sick population is an important tool in trying to contain influenza-like related illnesses.
Statement of Purpose
The researchers conducting this study were interested in measuring the occurrence of influenza-like illness in nursing homes in Belgium during the 2009-2010 seasons of influenza and comparing individuals who had participated in a vaccination for A (HINI) 2009 and seasonal flu against absenteeism for influenza-like illnesses among health care workers in nursing homes during the same observation period.
Research Questions
Does vaccination reduce risk of contacting influenza –like illnesses during an influenza epidemic? Does vaccination for health care workers working in nursing homes reduce mortality and morbidity among residents?
Study Methods
A quasi experimental design was applied in carrying out. All Belgian nursing homes (n=1,606) were invited by the scientific institute of public health to voluntarily participate in a national network for the surveillance of all new cases of influenza-like illness. A contact person was placed at each facility involved for the surveillance and he/she provided details about the nursing home i.e. total number of staff members employed and bed capacity. Staff members were divided into 4 categories: paramedical, administrative, logistic and nursing staff. Influenza-like cases were defined and the different variables to be investigated were also defined.
Data was collected through an electronic paper form questionnaire which was read optically for a period of 5 months and the participants recorded observations twice a month hence providing 10 observations for each participant. STATA version 9 was used to process the data and the indicators calculated were; the total number of new influenza-like illnesses per 1000 resident day for the observation duration, proportion of staff members who were absent for influenza-like illnesses program and the proportion of staff members who were vaccinated against A (H1N1) 2009 and seasonal flu.
Key Findings
The findings include; 25 nursing homes provided surveillance data and it was found out that a total of 47 residents developed influenza like illness during the surveillance period. In addition, the mean proportion of staff members who were not present for influenza like illness vaccination over the 5 months of surveillance were not significantly different between the professional categories
Quantitative and Qualitative Nursing Research Citation
Jans, B., Latour, K., Broex., E & Catry, B. (2010). Surveillance of influenza-like illness in Belgian nursing homes. Archives of Public Health, 68, 100-108. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
The summary template of the quantitative research review includes the following sections;
Title
Pre-exposure Prophylaxis in substance abuse treatment. This article was published in the Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy journal in 2015 from page 1 to 15. The article was authored by Anya Spector, Robert Remien and Susan Tross. This is a summary of a qualitative study conducted to get the views of substance abuse treatment providers using the grounded theory approach.
Problem Statement
The researchers stated that “In the US, there are approximately two million substance users in community treatment programs who are at risk for HIV because of injection drug use and/or unprotected sex under the influence of drugs and/or unprotected sex under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, substance users, and their sexual partners, are vulnerable to acquiring HIV”. According to studies, New York city substance users have the same prevalence for HIV irrespective of whether they use injecting needles or not hence the need for an introduction of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis in substance abuse treatment.
Statement of Purpose
Since users and non users of needles in substance abuse have the same prevalence for HIV, it is important to seek for views of substance treatment providers when they put clients in pre-exposure prophylaxis care and research trials.
Quantitative and Qualitative Nursing Research Research questions
What is the feasibility, impact and the acceptability of pre exposure prophylaxis on substance treatment providers’ practices in substance abuse treatment programs in the community?
Study Methods
A non experimental design was used to conduct the study where 36 medical and counseling practitioners in from 6 New York outpatient substance abuse treatment programs were invited to participate in qualitative semi structured interviews. 3 coders prepared a code book for performing content analysis on the data using Research Ware Hyper Research qualitative data management software.
Key Findings
After conducting the research, it was evident that pre exposure prophylaxis from the providers’ view was defined by 6 themes namely; it was not fully determined if clients would adhere to medication, people were not fully aware about pre exposure prophylaxis, PrEp ambivalence, there was a perception of several challenges to delivery, emerging concerns about side effects and safety, possible barriers in conducting clinical trials.
Citation
Spector, A., Remien, R., & Tross, S. (2015). PrEP in substance abuse treatment: A qualitative study of treatment provider perspectives. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 10(1), 1-10. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
Part 3 (Critique of Research Studies)
Quantitative research article critique
Title: Surveillance of influenza-like illness in Belgian nursing homes
Abstract: The study did not provide an abstract and the researcher went straight into the introduction and started stating the variables for the study.
Statement of the problem: The researcher does not clearly state the problem for the study. Instead, a brief description is stated in the introduction section of the study.
Hypothesis/research questions: The researcher does neither states the hypothesis nor the research questions for the study since after writing the introduction section, he/she proceeds to the methodology section.
Literature review: The researcher does not review any literature on this study topic since after introducing the topic, he/she proceeds directly to the methodology.
Conceptual/theoretical framework: The researcher does not state any theory to be proven in the research study.
Qualitative research article critique
Topic: Pre-exposure Prophylaxis in substance abuse treatment: a qualitative study of treatment provider perspectives.
Abstract: The researcher stated the abstract at the beginning of the paper hence providing an insight about the contents of the study. In the abstract, the following contents were included; objectives, method, results, conclusion and keywords of the study.
Introduction: The researcher gives a lengthy introductory part without separating the various sections of chapter one.
Statement of the problem: The researcher does not provide a clear statement of the problem under study. Instead, the problem is partially described in the introduction part.
Research questions: The research questions being studied in the research are not clearly stated in their own segment though they are included in the introduction section.
Literature review: The researcher reviews previous studies in the on this topic and hence establishes the need for further studies. The literature review is not mentioned on its own section and instead, only a small section of the introduction tackles it.
Conceptual underpinnings: The researcher develops the grounded theory in this study by collecting data and analyzing it to show themes in the population under study.
Part 4 (Critique of Research Studies)
Quantitative research article critique (Method)
Protection of human rights: Human rights were protected since each participating nursing home was allotted with a unique study number. The contact person collecting the data also allotted a unique resident study number to each and every influenza-like illness case hence ensuring confidentiality.
Research design: The researcher conducts a quasi experimental where selection of samples was not randomized. Since the researchers were mainly interested in the correlation between groups of professionals which undertook vaccination and the other group which did not vaccinate, then a correlation approach would be the most appropriate.
Population and sample: The researcher invited all health care workers in all nursing homes to voluntarily participate in the study. To achieve randomization in determining a sample size, the researcher should have used a probability method to determine the sample for the study.
Data collection and measurement: Data was collected by questionnaires which were electronically transmitted to the science institute of public health. Due to the many observations which required to be observed, a questionnaire was the best tool used to provide the required structure of presenting the data which was processed through STATA version 9.
Procedures: The sampling procedure required that participants record observations twice a month for the duration of 5 months. The participants were only tested for influenza-like illnesses without testing the presence of influenza virus. This made it difficult to differentiate between influenza-like illness and seasonal flu.
Qualitative research article critique (Method)
Protection of participants’ rights: The researcher states that no names were recorded for the individuals participating in the study hence ensuring confidentiality.
Research design and research tradition: The researcher opted for a non experimental design to conduct his study. It is justifiable since it was a qualitative study aimed at obtaining practitioners views.
Sampling and setting: The researcher purposefully selected all available participants to participate in the survey since this is a non probability study.
Data collection: Data was collected through semi structured interviews in order to obtain the views and opinions of the participants sampled. This was the best method to be used since it would allow subsequent content analysis.
Procedures: The researcher used the community based participatory research approach. This approach used was satisfactory since it has shown to enhance validity and relevance of research findings in the last 20 years.
Enhancement of trustworthiness: or the validity of the data and confidentiality of the study data, the institutional review board approved the necessary procedures for undertaking the study.
Part 5 (Critique of Research Studies)
Quantitative research article critique
Results:
Data analysis: Data was analyzed using STATA version 9 and the output was presented in graphs and tables. The epidemic curve was not the most appropriate output since the researchers were interested in the correlation of the data.
Findings: It was evident that nurses in nursing homes with less influenza-like illnesses were frequently vaccinated compared to nurses in nursing homes with most influenza-like illnesses. The researcher remained in the context of the research objective.
Reliability and Validity: The data collected was scarce and rarely met the threshold for statistical tests. The comparative analysis of the vaccination experiment was not statistically significant at 95% confidence interval due to small numbers of participants in some categories.
Discussion:
Interpretation of findings: The researcher states that continuous influenza-like illness surveillance is good since it provides data which could be used for ensuring that necessary actions are adopted in these nursing homes to fight influenza-like illnesses.
Implications/recommendations: The researcher gives a clear recommendation by stating that the results obtained from this study could lead to a more rational management of influenza –like illnesses in the nursing homes.
Global Issues
Presentation: The findings and discussion of the study were well presented and accessible to a practicing nurse but the other parts of the study were not sufficiently organized.
Researcher credibility: Despite several weaknesses in the study, the researcher achieved credibility through research triangulation during data collection and analysis.
Summary assessment: From the study findings, the researcher provides evidence that nursing practitioners can gain important insights on the usefulness of the vaccination.
Research Design: The researcher employs a quasi-experimental research approach where the sampling method used did not employ randomization of samples allocated in the study. This research design involves collecting data to test an already stated hypothesis/ theoretical framework. A true experimental design approach utilizes random sampling so as to obtain data which is representative of the population and enable the researcher to be able to draw inferences from the data regarding the whole population. The researcher does not achieve randomization which is an important tool in conducting statistically significant tests. The researcher is interested in demonstrating cause and effect assumption of the quasi-experimental design by vaccinating a portion of the nursing health care workers in the nursing homes.
The researcher invites all Belgium nursing homes to voluntarily participate in the national surveillance of all new cases of influenza-like related cases. A quantitative research design entails a research assistant who is not part of the survey. In the study, a local contact person is incorporated at each nursing home so as to relay information such as the total bed capacity and number of staff members employed to the scientific Institute of Public Health. Several variables were included in the data collection questionnaire and the data was collected during the surveillance period (1 November 2009 – 31 March 2010) i.e. twice per month providing 10 observations for each participant sampled. Data collected is analyzed using STATA version 9 and analysis is conducted so as to perform statistical tests which are vital in testing the significance of the hypothesis. The findings and the discussion have been presented to describe the phenomenon under study.
Qualitative research article critique
Results:
Data analysis: Content analysis was performed to identify themes which were being studied. Developing a wider content code book would have avoided saturation of data at the 12th interview.
Findings: The providers gave their views and the researcher was able to document the lengthy findings hence providing more insight about PrEp in substance abuse treatment.
Theoretical integrations: Ground theory was developed effectively in the study from sampling, data collection, and analysis to findings.
Discussion:
Interpretation of findings: The researcher gives a very lengthy discussion. From the study only a small proportion of the providers had knowledge about pre exposure prophylaxis before the interview. This weakened the study topic since only 10% of the data collected was relevant. It was however recommended that more awareness to be created to the providers and clients.
Implications/recommendations: The researcher recommends that more awareness on Pre-exposure Prophylaxis in substance abuse treatment needed to be created to the providers and clients.
Global Issues:
Presentation: The researcher provided a well organized and sufficiently detailed report for critical analysis.
Researcher credibility: The researchers’ choice of semi structured interviews, 3 coders for conducting the content analysis and comparative analysis of the data enhances confidence in the findings and their interpretation.
Summary assessment: Despite the low practitioner awareness of PrEp, the researcher provides valid findings on this study which could be used as empirical evidence during further studies or the nursing practice.
Research design: The researcher develops the grounded theory in the entire qualitative study. The major strength associated with this theory is that the data collected assists in forming and developing a theory as opposed to other study methods with already predetermined theories and hypothesis to be followed in the entire study. Developing an emerging theory as described in the study reduces the researcher’s bias and is less likely to influence the outcome of the study which is contrary to other qualitative research approaches such as ethnography where the group/issue under study is described prior to data collection (Silverman, 2000). During the sampling process, the researcher picks different categories of participants to participate in the survey purposively.
The researcher designs semi structured qualitative interview procedures using a community based participatory research approach so as to enhance the external research validity and the relevance of the finding which is important in developing this theory. In the participant recruitment, 6 providers i.e. one clinic director, one medical provider and 4 counselors from each of the 6 agencies in New York were invited for the interviews (n = 36). For comparative analysis, the researcher picks an experienced provider of both substance abuse and HIV services and 2 community based collaborators; one with experience in substance abuse treatment and one with expertise on HIV prevention. The researcher conducts the interviews until saturation is reached where valid and reliable data is gathered for analysis. 3 coders were incorporated to analyze content in the data using Hyper Research qualitative data management software.
Quantitative and Qualitative Nursing Research Bibliography
Jans, B., Latour, K., Broex., E & Catry, B. (2010). Surveillance of influenza-like illness in Belgian nursing homes. Archives of Public Health, 68, 100-108. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2012). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (9th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN-13: 9781605477084 (Available as print text only.)
Spector, A., Remien, R., & Tross, S. (2015). PrEP in substance abuse treatment: A qualitative study of treatment provider perspectives.Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 10(1), 1-10. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
Silverman D. Doing qualitative research. London: Sage Publications, 2000
