Research Methods in Healthcare - Essay Example

?Research in Healthcare: An Overview Based on Polit and Beck (2004, p. 18), the purpose of research in healthcare is to address problems relevant forthe healthcare professions. In all disciplines, there are two basic types of research: basic and applied. Basic research seeks to formulate or refine a theory while applied research attempts to find a solution to a practical problem (Polit and Beck 2004, p. 18). Meanwhile, according to Polit and Beck (2004, p. 13), a paradigm is a world view that respond to basic philosophical questions: the question can be ontological in that it asks the nature of reality, epistemological in that it inquires on the relationship between the researcher and the researched, axiological in that it asks the role of values, and methodological in that it asks how the researcher can obtain knowledge. For Polit and Beck (2004, p. 14), two important paradigm in research are positivism and naturalism. Ontologically, the positivist paradigm asserts that reality is objective and singular while the naturalistic paradigm holds that reality is multiple and subjectively constructed by an individual (Polit and Beck 2004, p. 14). Epistemologically, the positivist paradigm considers that the researcher is independent of its subject and, thus, findings are not influenced by researcher (Polit and Beck 2004, p. 14). In contrast, the naturalistic paradigm assumes that findings are product of the interactive process between the researcher and the researched (Polit and Beck 2004, p. 14). Axiologically, the positivist paradigm maintains that values and biases must be rejected in the interest of objectivity but, contradicting this, the naturalist paradigm hold that subjectivity is unavoidable (Polit and Beck 2004, p. 14). Finally, methodologically, the positivist paradigm believes that knowledge can only be obtained through deduction, focusing on specifics, verification, controls, use of quantifiable data and statistical analysis, and generalization (Polit and Beck 2004, p. 14). The naturalistic paradigm, on the other hand, uses induction, emphasis on contexts and holism, interpretation of experience, use of narrative, qualitative techniques and identification of patterns (Polit and Beck 2004, p. 14). Based on the two paradigms, there are three research methods: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method research (Cresswell 2003, p. 18). Following Conger (1998), Bryman et al. (1988), and Alvesson (1996), Ospina (2004, p. 2) pointed out that there are at least three advantages in employing qualitative research. First, qualitative research designs are highly flexible as the research design can be modified in the course of research as unexpected situations unfold. Second, qualitative research is sensitive to contextual factors. Third, unlike quantitative research, qualitative research is more appropriate for symbolic dimensions and meanings. Hancock (2002, p. 2) pointed out that qualitative research is most appropriate for finding out the motives for behaviour, how opinions and attitudes are developed, how people are affected by events, and how social groups are different from each other. Hancock (2002, p.2) pointed out that qualitative research can concern itself with an elaborated description of the opinions, experiences, and feelings of individuals, something which quantitative research usually cannot do or can do so in a very limited way. There is an array of qualitative research techniques. Creswell (2007) focused on five: narrative, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case study. Narrative studies involve the documentation and study of written or spoken texts (Cresswell 2007, p. 54). A narrative study can be an autobiography or a recording by the subject of the study (Cresswell 2007, p. 54). It can also be a biography which is a study in which a researcher writes and records the experience of another person (Cresswell 2007, p. 54). A narrative can also be life history when the narration portrays a person’s entire life (Cresswell 2007, p. 54). For healthcare studies, one possible use for narrative studies is for studies involving chronic cases, long-term illnesses, and terminal illness. For instance, narrative studies may be useful for studies involving cancer patients or documenting cases how cancer patients may best be taken cared of. A narrative becomes a phenomenological study become a phenomenological study when the study describes the meaning for one or several individuals a lived experiences (Cresswell 2007, p. 47-58). One possible use for phenomenology in healthcare research is for studies describing how healthcare professionals live through the experience of caring for their patients. Studies on this may help healthcare professionals promote or develop a more caring healthcare professionals for patients, especially among chronic cases or where a sense of hopelessness may be felt. Grounded theory methodologies seek to develop a theory or analytical scheme (Cresswell 2007, p. 63). In healthcare studies, it may be possible to do this for paediatrics. Ethnographies may be useful for studying special groups of societies and is an application of cultural anthropology (Cresswell 2007, p. 69). For health studies, it may be useful to do ethnographies for the purpose of formulating how best to teach a scientific health concept to members of a cultural group. A case study involves “a bounded system” and may be best to conduct if the objective is to learn in-depth about a certain case or cases, like a new illness. In all of the five types of research, data gathering can be made through observation, interviews, and focus group discussions. On the other hand, Silverman (2010, p. 37) identified that some of the advantages of quantitative research is that samples can be asserted as representative, hypothesis testing is possible, measurements can be precise, there are opportunities for using large data sets, and both observations and measures can be reliable. Quantitative research can be univariate, bivariate, or multivariate studies. Univariate studies involve one variable and usually involve getting the mean, median, and mode of the variable for purpose of characterizing the typical characteristics of a population. In studying a population, however, several variables associated with the population may be studied or the measures of the central tendencies (mean, median, or mode) of several variables associated with population may be assessed for the purpose of characterizing the typical characteristics or characteristics of the population. For example, we may want to find out the typical age, gender, height, or age structure of a population. Additionally, we may want to construct the percentile distribution of the population. Bivariate studies involve relationships between variables in a population. For instance, we may want to study which gender is more prone to certain diseases or whether diseases are associated with a certain gender or age group. We may want to find out if speed of recovery from a certain illness may be gender or age-linked. Multivariate studies involve studies covering several variables. This type of research, for example, may be handy for situations in which we want to find out what variables are associated with the speed of recovery, failure of recovery, or lack of speed of recovery from certain illnesses. A quantitative research may gather data on a population or that it may involve a census which is a complete enumeration of the variable values of a population. On the other hand, it is also possible that a quantitative research may involve the determination of the population parameters or variable values through a sample. This is inferential statistics in quantitative research. Inferential statistics involve the use of statistical tools that allow one to characterize the variable values of a population based on the characteristics of a sample. Census and surveys are the typical modes of data gathering in quantitative research. Surveys and census may use open-ended or closed-ended questionnaires. Response from open-ended questionnaires will have to be coded or the response categorized into a form in which summaries and meanings can be derived. Quoting the work of Denzin and Lincoln (1998), Denzin (2008, p. 11) pointed out that quantitative studies emphasize measurement and causal relationships not processes while qualitative research focuses on how social experience is created and given meaning. According to Hancock (2002, p. 2), qualitative research tends to concern itself with small samples compared to quantitative research that tends to deal with larger samples. Hancock (2002, p. 3) also described qualitative research as subjective, holistic, phenomenological, anti-positivist, descriptive, naturalistic, and inductive. On the other hand, quantitative research to be objective, reductionist, scientific, positivist, experimental, contrived, and deductive (Hancock 2002, p. 3). A fairly recent development is the development of mixed method research. Mixed method research combines at least one qualitative and at least one quantitative approach in research (Bergman 2008, p. 1). The motive for using mixed method research can emerge from the types of data that will have to be dealt with, team composition, and research strategy (Brannen 2008, p. 53-54). Triangulation can also be motive for using mixed method research. According to Hammersley (2008, p. 23-30), researchers attach importance to triangulation for checking validity, assessing reliability, and search for complementary information. Bryman (2008, p. 99) reported that researchers usually found out that researcher usually obtain many benefits from combining quantitative and qualitative research methods compared to what they have anticipated but noted that there is uncertainty on when mixed methods may be appropriate. Word Count: 1,495 References Alvesson, M., 1996. Leadership studies: From procedure and abstraction to reflexivity and situation. 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