Question

Reflect on your learning about Quantitative and Qualitative research; share two ways that helped you understand how they are different. Chose one category of study design that you found interesting and describe; include how you believe it can help study nursing problems. Refer back to your article you located for your Week 3 Assignment and answer the following: (*if you were unsuccessful with your article search, search the library again for an article) Locate and describe the type of research and the study design. Explain how the design supported the purpose/intent of the study.

article:

Baker, N., Taggart, H., Nivens, A. & Tillman, P. (2015). Delirium: Why are nurses confused? MedSurg Nursing, 24(1), 15-22. permalink (Links to an external site.)

Answer 1

Quantitative research design relates to the design of a research project which uses quantitative research methods. The design varies depending on the method used, which could be telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews, online surveys, or surveys by post for instance. Other methodologies include SMS / Test Message surveys, or physical counts.

The quantitative research design is aimed at discovering how many people think, act or feel in a specific way. Quantitative projects involve large sample sizes, concentrating on the number of responses, as opposed to gaining the more focused or emotional insight that is the aim of qualitative research.

Qualitative research is a systematic subjective approach used to describe life experiences and give them meaning.

Qualitative data: Concerned with the features, attributes, and characteristics of a phenomenon that can be interpreted thematically. For example, a claim that pilots demonstrate intelligence that is visual-spatial in nature rather than verbal.

it is better to apply quantitative methods while in other cases it is preferable to apply qualitative methods. I insist it depends on the research purpose. The better choice is the one dictated by the data, the research questions, the depth of knowledge a researcher aims to achieve as well as the skills a researcher has in each of these main research methodologies. Also, a vital factor is the available time for the completion of the research. It' s true that qualitative research and analysis is more time-consuming. Another issue a researcher has to consider is the epistemological paradigm from which they stand. There are various views about viewing and examining reality ranging from phenomenology to positivism. The question is whether there is one main scope of reality or multiple scopes depending on the participant's views and experiences. Additionally, your aim is to generalize results or give emphasis on peoples' views for a particular issue or events? You just have to think about the previous question and provide specific answers before engaging in a particular methodology.

Each one has pros and cons. Quantitative methods are clear cut but cannot answer "why" things happen, are mostly preferential to examine relationships among variables, neither feelings nor thoughts. On the other hand, the results provided can be easily generalized, something which cannot happen by applying qualitative methods. Using qualitative methods could be used to formulate new research questions when quantitative research (survey) seems difficult to generate new hypotheses and ideas for a theme.

A mixture of both methods (mixed methods research) is an interesting trend which could give answers to many research inquiries especially when used to complement the drawbacks of each methodology with the strengths of the other. For example, in my current research project, I use mixed methods by applying a sequential explanatory design (emphasis at the quantitative part) testing hypotheses about the factors related to the development of self-efficacy in counseling trainees and then exploring how they are developed interviewing some of the trainees. Really, not an easy process but quite insightful!

*Baker, N., Taggart, H., Nivens, A. & Tillman, P. (2015). Delirium: Why are nurses confused? MedSurg Nursing, 24(1), 15-22.

Delirium is a serious, costly, potentially preventable complication for hospitalized patients age 65 and older (Wofford & Vacchiano, 2011). This acute, short-term disturbance of consciousness may last from a few hours to as long as a few months. It is characterized by an acute onset of inattention, disorganized thinking, and/or altered level of consciousness.

Nurses have a key role in the detection of delirium, yet this condition remains under-recognized and poorly managed. The aim of this study was to explore nurses' knowledge of delirium-related information as well as their perception of their level of knowledge.

*Type of research and the study design:

Research Questions Research questions addressed in this study included the following:

1. What was the nurses' level of knowledge of delirium?

2. What was the nurses' level of knowledge of delirium risk factors?

3. Was there a correlation between nurses' years of experience, education, and practice area, and their knowledge of delirium and its risk factors?

4. How did nurses perceive their own knowledge competency related to delirium?

*The researchers have selected a non-experimental, descriptive study.

Here the researchers have used the questionnaire, for the current study as Nurses' Knowledge of Delirium (NKD) (Hare et al., 2008). The NKD questionnaire has neither been validated nor had its reliability established (M. Hare, personal communication, September 22, 2011). The NKD questionnaire has two sections: a 10-question section for demographic data collection and 36 specific delirium-related questions called the knowledge section. The demographic section required participants to provide age, sex, practice setting, specialty, level of education, and years of nursing experience. Participants also were asked if they had experience in caring for a patient with delirium; if so, how frequently had they provided care and had they received any formal delirium-related continuing education?

Respondents also were asked to provide their perceptions of their current personal knowledge of delirium by selecting one of the following descriptors: lack competency, minimal competency, average competency, above average competency, advanced competency, or expert competency. The demographic section required written responses and contained multiple-choice questions except for respondent age. In the knowledge section of the questionnaire, participants identified the definition of delirium in a multiple-choice question, and seven scales/tools commonly used when assessing patients with delirium, dementia, and/or depression.

All 28 remaining questions in this section assessed respondents' general knowledge of delirium and its risk factors using a Likert-scale (agree, disagree, or unsure). This section contained one definition question, seven scales/tools questions, 14 general questions about delirium, and 14 questions about risk factors in a randomly mixed sequence. Participants independently completed just one of the forms in its entirety and placed finished questionnaires in a collection folder located in the nurses' lounges on each unit. The tool did not request any identifying information from participants so anonymity was maintained.

By using the Likert scale, the respondents can give/show their own concerns to conduct the study. Thus the design supported the purpose of the study