NURS 350  Week 4 Discussion Research in Nursing

NURS 350  Week 4 Discussion Research in Nursing

NURS 350  Week 4 Discussion Research in Nursing

 

Compare and contrast quantitative versus qualitative research designs. Provide an example of each and explain why your examples meet the criteria for these designs.

Qualitative research and quantitative research are two complementary approaches for understanding the world around us.

Qualitative research collects non-numerical data, and the results are typically presented as written descriptions, photographs, videos, and/or sound recordings.

In contrast, quantitative research collects numerical data, and the results are typically presented in tables, graphs, and charts.

Debates about whether to use qualitative or quantitative research methods are common in the social sciences (i.e. anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law, linguistics, politics, psychology, sociology), which aim to understand a broad range of human conditions. Qualitative observations may be used to gain an understanding of unique situations, which may lead to quantitative research that aims to find commonalities.

Within the natural and physical sciences (i.e. physics, chemistry, geology, biology), qualitative observations often lead to a plethora of quantitative studies. For example, unusual observations through a microscope or telescope can immediately lead to counting and measuring. In other situations, meaningful numbers cannot immediately be obtained, and the qualitative research must stand on its own (e.g. The patient presented with an abnormally enlarged spleen (Figure 1), and complained of pain in the left shoulder.)

For both qualitative and quantitative research, the researcher’s assumptions shape the direction of the study and thereby influence the results that can be obtained. Let’s consider some prominent examples of qualitative and quantitative research, and how these two methods can complement each other.

Qualitative research example

In 1960, Jane Goodall started her decades-long study of chimpanzees in the wild at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. Her work is an example of qualitative research that has fundamentally changed our understanding of non-human primates, and has influenced our understanding of other animals, their abilities, and their social interactions.

Dr. Goodall was by no means the first person to study non-human primates, but she took a highly unusual approach in her research. For example, she named individual chimpanzees instead of numbering them, and used terms such as “childhood”, “adolescence”, “motivation”, “excitement”, and “mood”. She also described the distinct “personalities” of individual chimpanzees. Dr. Goodall was heavily criticized for describing chimpanzees in ways that are regularly used to describe humans, which perfectly illustrates how the assumptions of the researcher can heavily influence their work.

The quality of qualitative research is largely determined by the researcher’s ability, knowledge, creativity, and interpretation of the results. One of the hallmarks of good qualitative research is that nothing is predefined or taken for granted, and that the study subjects teach the researcher about their lives. As a result, qualitative research studies evolve over time, and the focus or techniques used can shift as the study progresses.

Qualitative research methods

Dr. Goodall immersed herself in the chimpanzees’ natural surroundings, and used direct observation to learn about their daily life. She used photographs, videos, sound recordings, and written descriptions to present her data. These are all well-established methods of qualitative research, with direct observation within the natural setting considered a gold standard. These methods are time-intensive for the researcher (and therefore monetarily expensive) and limit the number of individuals that can be studied at one time.

When studying humans, a wider variety of research methods are available to understand how people perceive and navigate their world—past or present. These techniques include: in-depth interviews (e.g. Can you discuss your experience of growing up in the Deep South in the 1950s?), open-ended survey questions (e.g. What do you enjoy most about being part of the Church of Latter Day Saints?), focus group discussions, researcher participation (e.g. in military training), review of written documents (e.g. social media accounts, diaries, school records, etc), and analysis of cultural records (e.g. anything left behind including trash, clothing, buildings, etc).

Qualitative research can lead to quantitative research

Qualitative research is largely exploratory. The goal is to gain a better understanding of an unknown situation. Qualitative research in humans may lead to a better understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, motivations, experiences, etc. The information generated through qualitative research can provide new hypotheses to test through quantitative research. Quantitative research studies are typically more focused and less exploratory, involve a larger sample size, and by definition produce numerical data.

Dr. Goodall’s qualitative research clearly established periods of childhood and adolescence in chimpanzees. Quantitative studies could better characterize these time periods, for example by recording the amount of time individual chimpanzees spend with their mothers, with peers, or alone each day during childhood compared to adolescence.

For studies involving humans, quantitative data might be collected through a questionnaire with a limited number of answers (e.g. If you were being bullied, what is the likelihood that you would tell at least one parent? A) Very likely, B) Somewhat likely, C) Somewhat unlikely, D) Unlikely).