Quantitative Research Designs - Report Example

Quantitative Research Designs Quantitative research design involves those kinds of research designs where the variables used can be counted, measured and quantified. This work would analyze different aspects of qualitative research design. It would focus on experimental research design, the correlational research design and the cause-effect research design. Experimental or Quasi-experimental study: Enhancing three bliss concepts among nursing home elders in Taiwan Experimental research design involves a situation where the two groups are used in the study. The first group is the intervention group and the other one is the control group. These groups would receive different treatments. This is an experimental research design that aims at examining the effectiveness of the self-care self-efficacy enhancement program to improve the life satisfaction, self-esteem and motivation in health behaviors. The intervention group were provided with the self-care, self –efficacy enhancement program. The control group did not access the program. The basis for this experiment was to determine whether there is significant difference in the self-care, self –efficacy enhancement program and the walking ability in older adults with coronary heart disease. It was based on the theory that the program was bound to increase the self-care among the older people in Taiwan and hence can improve the self-esteem, life satisfaction and motivation in health behaviors among the older Taiwan. The sampling The study utilizes both the purposive sampling technique and the random sampling technique. The purposive sampling was necessary because it was the only way in which the participants meeting the inclusion criteria could be chosen. In this case, the study had to focus only on those participants who had specific characteristics. This is why the purposive sampling technique. The participant chosen were expected to meet the following inclusion criteria. First, they were supposed to be aged 65 years and older. They were also expected t be bed-bound less than six months. Thirdly, they were supposed be currently relying on staff caregivers to perform one or more ADLS and lastly, they were expected to be having normal or mild depression. After getting this group of people, the random sampling was used to determine who would make up the intervention group and who would be part of the control group. Data collection techniques Data collection was achieved by using a number of techniques. Each technique was meant to obtain specific information. The refined ADL assessment scale, for example was used to obtain data from the elders with the Alzheimer’s and related disorders. This scale was used to obtain information such as feeding ability, washing, grooming, and toileting. The health self-determinism index was used t find out information related to the motivation in health behavior. This instrument is likert scale instrument. It consists of seventeen items. There were several other scales that were used to source information regarding the ADL performance. There include the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, which was used to find out the data regarding the self esteem. The scale involved assessing individual feelings of self-worth. The last data collection instrument was the life satisfaction index. This was used to find out information concerning the life satisfaction Levels of measurements of variables Because the data collection entails the use of different tools, different levels of measurement were employed. The level used depend on the data collection instruments. Essentially, the ordinal and nominal levels of measurement were mainly used. Nominal level of measurement was used to collect information related to life satisfaction. This level of measurement was appropriate in that the life satisfaction index is designed in a manner that the possible responses are either agreed or disagree and depends. These responses were then classified using the ordinal level where each agree or disagree response is scored as one point. Then the points are summed to arrive at total score. The total score ranges from 0-15. The score 11-15 indicates higher satisfaction. The Rosenberg self-esteem scale utilizes the nominal level of measurement because the responses ranges from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The other two instruments utilizes that ordinal level of measurement Types of statistics used to analyze the data and generate results Different statistical tools were used to analyze the data. These tools include the SPSS, Chicago and USA. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkim measure of sampling adequacy and the Bartlet test of sphericity were also performed to test assumptions. The results from these test matches the recommended values and hence the statistical analysis indicated that the bliss concepts could be measured by measuring life satisfaction, self-esteem, and motivation in health behavior. Normality of each variable was tested using the Lilliefors test. R test and p value was used to find the correlation between the life satisfaction and ADL performance. F test was also used to test the effectiveness of the SCSEEP as far as the improvement of the three bliss concepts is concerned. Inferences that can be drawn from the results Based on the findings from the experimental and control group, it is clear that the SCSEEP is a tool that can be used to reduce the statistically considerable fall in measures of the life satisfaction, self-esteem and motivation in health behavior. It indicates that ADL performance in community dwelling elders is negatively related to the motivation in health behaviors such as regular exercise. The findings from the study justify the fact that increasing the self-care among the older people in Taiwan and hence can improve the self-esteem, life satisfaction and motivation in health behaviors among the older Taiwan. Reliability, generalizability and validity of the information The reliability and the validity of the data was limited by a number of factors such as attrition and presence of defaulters. This means that the findings were not as comprehensive as expected. The issue of sampling was also limiting factors as far are the generalizability of the information is concerned. It should also be noted that the study was based on the assumption that nursing home elders receiving the SCSEEP from staff could maintain or improve their levels of ADL. This, however, might not be the case. Consequently, the findings obtained might not be generalized. Ex Post Facto Study or the cause-effect study design: Impact of Individual, Environmental, and Policy-level Factors on Health Care Utilization Among US Farmworkers Cause-effect study is a form of study where the researcher aims at finding out whether a given happening or situation is a result of the suspected factors. This cause-effect study that was designed to find out whether individual, environmental and policy level factors among the farmworkers has an impact on the use of health care services. The cause- and effect design is the most appropriate design because the aim is to find out the factors that reduces utilization of the preventive health services among farmworkers. It is based on the hypothesis that farm workers are faced with a number of challenges that limit them from utilizing the preventive health services. The study was prompted by the fact that the few studies conducted to correlate health care use among farm workers are outdated or limited in representative Sampling techniques Simple random sampling and purposive sampling were used to get the representative sample. The data from the national agricultural workers survey were used to get the approximate number of farm workers. Multistage sampling was used to resolve the fluctuation and regional differences in population so that the result obtain could form representative. The farmworkers were randomly selected. 1457 farmworkers were eligible for the study 47% of this participants participated for the study. These sampling techniques were the most appropriate methods for determining the representative samples. The multiple stage sampling is particularly valuable in that it takes into consideration the regional difference and fluctuations. Data collection A 60-minute interviewer-administered survey was used to collect data. The survey had question that were deigned based on the goals of the study. The questions were categorized based on the factors involved. In general, there were outcome and individual level factors, environmental factors, and policy-level factors. The questions such as ‘In the past two years, have you used any type of healthcare services from doctors, nurses or clinics? Questionnaires were also designed to specifically cover the policy factors where aspects such as the pay structure where the farmworker’s were expected to respond based on choices such as salary, hourly, piece rate or combination of the piece and hourly. Other aspects such as workers compensation and insurance status were also part of the questionnaires. Levels of measurements of variables Generally, the level of measurement used was determined by the nature of variable. Nominal level of measurement was the most appropriate level of measurement for measuring data that needed responses such as yes or no or salary, hourly. The values were then assigned to these responses. This was important in that it allow quantification. Interval measurement was used to measure variables such as the level of income and the level of education. The individual and policy, distance to the nearest health facility were entered into level 1, 3 and 3. This constitute the interval levels of measurement. Types of statistics used to analyze the data and generate results Different statistical methods were employed the Stata version 9 and SPSS version 13.0. They were used to determine the weighted individual or policy and nonweighted environmental descriptive statistics. The Stata version was used to access the weighted bivariate associations. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was also used to evaluate the variables significantly associated with healthcare. The study used the HLM version 6 to account for clustering among farmworkers, those within the workplace and those within countries. Dummy coding for variables with 3 categories was done. Inferences that can be drawn from the results The findings show that individual, environmental and policy level factors limit the farm workers from accessing and utilizing the healthcare services. It proves the individual factors such as income and educational levels and the policy factors such as insurance policy causes the farm workers to underutilize the health services. Because of this, the study recommends that the plan for affordable health care is needed. It further noted that the plan must specifically target those who are in need. The study further claims that there should be improvement in how resources are spend in community. This improvement can be achieved through enhancing the efforts to educate farm workers about the services available Reliability, validity and generalizability of the information Most of the participants could not reveal the actual information. Because of this, the data collected may not reflect the true status of the people. Although the sampling technique was relatively comprehensive, it is clear that it had some limitation. The sampling techniques, for example could not gather for those farmers who were sick. In essence, this study did not adhere to the requirements of a typical cause-effect design because the data collection strategy and the sampling technique used resemble that of cross sectional design. Correlational study: Prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers in a university hospital centre: A correlational study examining nurses’ knowledge and best practice A correlational study design is a design whose goal is to explore whether relationship exist between the variables involved. This correlational study would therefore find out if relationship exists between the level of knowledge of nurses concerning pressure ulcers, certain nurses’ characteristics and the preventive care they apply. The information concerning the tow variables, the level of knowledge of nurses and the preventive care applied was collected using questionnaires. The data collected are then analyzed using the significance test so as to determine whether the variables relates in one way or another. The sampling Purposive sampling technique was used for the study. This sampling technique was the most appropriate sampling technique because the participants for the study had to meet certain requirements. The sample was obtained from the population of nurses working part or full time in a university hospital. However, certain health care units where there is little likelihood of patients developing pressure ulcers were excluded. 620 nurses were eligible for the study. However, only 300 took part in filling the questionnaire. Patients were then randomly sampled from the health care units where the sampled nurses came from. They were also asked to fill the questionnaires. Data collection Questionnaire was the main tool for collecting the information. two questionnaires were designed based on the respondent. There was a questionnaire that was tailored to elicit information from the nurses. This questionnaire was adapted from the Pressure Ulcer Knowledge Test and had 45 questions. The nurses were expected to respond as yes, no or I do not know. The questionnaire was structured in a way that the first 16 questions deal with socio-demographic and professional information. the other 29 dealt with the knowledge determination. The patients also had to fill the questionnaire that was designed to collect information about their feeling as far as the ulcers and the kind of care they get is concerned. Statistical methods The study employed a number of statistical techniques to find out the correlation between the health care offered and the knowledge among the nurses. Means and standard deviation was also done to establish the reliability of the information. chi-square was used to determine the differences in the categorical variables in the study. The results were then presented in form of percentage. This was the efficient way of presenting the results because it summarizes the information in a simpler manner. Levels of measurements of variables The main variables for this study were the socio-demographic, professional information and the level of knowledge. Nominal level of measurement was used during the data collection process as far as these variables are concerned. This is because the questionnaires were designed in a manner that the responses from the participants were either yes, no or I do not know. The responses were then converted into the interval level of measurement for analysis. This level of measurement is appropriate as far as the nature of study is concerned because it is the efficient way through which the required information can be obtained. It is also simple and inexpensive. It does not require a lot of calculation. Inferences that can be drawn from the results Based on the statistical significance test, the findings indicated that there is a relation between the level of knowledge and the socio-demographic, professional and the level of knowledge. The findings also show that nurses in the fields such as medicine and nephrology had higher level of knowledge as far as the management of the pressure ulcers is concerned. Training was also correlated with the level of knowledge and the findings revealed that the two were positively related. Additionally, the findings show that the preventive cares applied by nurses to prevent ulcers were significantly related to their level of knowledge. Because of this, the study recommended that training of nurses should be enhanced because it would foster their knowledge and hence ensure that they offer quality and effective services. Validity, reliability, generalizability Although the study was important, there were a number of limitations that reduces its reliability and generalizability. According to the stipulation in the questionnaires, it is recommended that it is necessary that 90% of the nurses answer all the questions correctly as this would assist in rating the nursing knowledge as good. However, according to this study, only 44% answered correctly. This means that knowledge of nurses concerning the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers is largely insufficient. Additionally, the information obtained from the chart audits were extrapolated to the full population. References Claudia G. Diane, M., Daphney, S.G. & Daniele, D. (2010). Prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers in a university hospital cetre: Acorrelational study examining nurses’ knowledge and best practice. International Journal of Nursing Practice 2010; 16: 183-187. Katherine D. H., Joni, A.M., Susan G. & Kronick, R. G.(2010). Impact of Individual, Environmental, and Policy-level Factors on Health Care Utilization Among US Farmworkers. American Journal of Public Health 101(4) Su-Hsien C., Mao-Chun F. & Hsiang-Yu C. (2010). Enhancing three bliss concepts among nursing home elders in Taiwan. 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Clinical Nursing, 19, 682–690’ Read More