You will critically appraise a research design
Content Requirements:
You will select one research report with a qualitative design and one with quantitative design and answer the following questions regarding the following categories:
1. Discuss what is meant by the term Qualitative Research
o Briefly, describe the characteristics of qualitative research and identify nursing issues/phenomena that lend themselves to a qualitative research approach.
o Compare and contrast three different qualitative research methodologies.
o Briefly, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of qualitative research evidence for informing nursing practice.
o Communicate how this research design used in research.
2. The study, sampling, data collection, analysis, rigor, findings and limitations
o Identify the purpose of the study.
o Briefly, describe the design of the study and explain why you think it is either appropriate or inappropriate to meet the purpose.
o Identify ethical issues related to the study and how they were/were not addressed.
o Identify the sampling method and recruitment strategy that was used.
o Discuss whether sampling and recruitment were appropriate to the aims of the research.
o Identify the data collection method(s) and discuss whether the method(s) is/are appropriate to the aims of the study.
Nursing issues that lend themselves to a qualitative approach include:
The lived experience of a patient with a chronic illness.
Nurses' perceptions of a new hospital policy.
The psychological and emotional impact of a terminal diagnosis on a family.
Patient adherence to a treatment plan.
Qualitative Research Methodologies
| Methodology | Description | Comparison |
| Phenomenology | Seeks to understand the "lived experience" of individuals regarding a specific phenomenon. A nurse might use this to understand what it's like to live with chronic pain. | Focuses on a shared experience. Contrasts with ethnography's focus on culture and grounded theory's focus on developing a new theory. |
| Ethnography | Studies a specific cultural group to understand its beliefs, values, and practices. A nurse might use this to study the health-seeking behaviors of a specific immigrant community. | Focuses on culture. Contrasts with phenomenology's focus on individual experience and grounded theory's focus on a process. |
| Grounded Theory | Aims to generate a new theory about a phenomenon from the data itself. A nurse might use this to develop a new theory on how nurses cope with burnout. | Focuses on theory development. Contrasts with phenomenology's focus on lived experience and ethnography's focus on culture. |
Sample Answer
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is an approach that explores and understands the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem. It's used to gain a deep, rich understanding of a phenomenon, rather than to test a hypothesis or measure a variable. Qualitative research is often used to explore complex nursing issues that can't be explained by numbers alone.
Characteristics of Qualitative Research & Nursing Issues
Qualitative research is characterized by its naturalistic inquiry, meaning it's conducted in a real-world setting. It uses a holistic perspective, viewing the phenomenon within its larger context. The researcher is the primary tool for data collection, relying on their observation and interaction skills. Data collection is an emergent design, where the process evolves as the study progresses.