NURS 6010 week 4 Essay Discussion
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is defined as “A scholarly approach used to describe life experiences, cultures, and social processes from the perspectives of the persons involved” (Gray, Grove, Sutherland, 2017). This style of research is used to help us understand the something through people that are experiencing it. Qualitative research allows more flexibility in how data is obtained, and because of that it is viewed as not having the same commitment to research standards as quantitative research. Information is gathered more through interviews and personal opinion rather than a test that gives counted or measured data.NURS 6010 week 4 Essay Discussion The article we were to read this week was used to discuss the challenges that come with nursing hand off during shift change in a hospital. To obtain the data for this study, the researchers used a qualitative research method. They gathered the data through interviews with the staff and observing conversations between nurses during the shift change process. When you collect data in interviews, the researcher has to rely on the integrity of the person being interviewed. The person being interviewed could lie to make them or a colleague look better. Also when people are being know that that their conversations are being recorded, they may speak differently than they normally would. Because of these issues it could lead to getting results that are skewed to show the nurses in a more positive light.
Even though qualitative research does have its problems, it is useful. Qualitative research can be very useful in building nursing knowledge and understanding the patient as a whole (Gray, Grove, Sutherland, 2017). By using interview techniques with patients or their family members instead of just numerical data; we can further understand how the patient is really feeling and how better to help them. My week 1 research question was “How effective is repositioning in the prevention of pressure ulcers”. I said then and still believe that the best research method would be a quasi-experimental quantitative research method. My question relies on a cause and effect relationship so I do not believe that qualitative research would be very useful in answering my question.
References
Gray, J.R., Grove, S.K., & Sutherland, S. (2017). The practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier
Sarvestani, R. S., Moattari, M., Nasrabadi, A. N., Momennasab, M., & Yektatalab, S. (2015).Challenges of nursing handover: A qualitative study. Clinical Nursing Research, 24(3),
234–252.
Characteristics Of Qualitative Research Essay
The aim of the paper is to analyze the methodology used in the research “Leadership from Ineffectiveness to Destruction: a Qualitative Study on the Meaning of Negative Leadership” by Jan Schilling. The key characteristic of qualitative research is studying behavior as it occurs naturally within the setting. A researcher does not have to manipulate or control a natural setting. In the Jan Schilling (2009) study, the setting is the physical offices of two divisions of a large scale Germany telecommunications company. The physical offices in the telecommunication company were natural settings since the researcher was studying the experienced physical managers and their ability to acquire knowledge to lead their followers. The physical manager worked in a physical office, therefore making them his natural setting and this where Schilling could naturally observe the leadership traits of the managers without interfering or altering their environment.
Having a rich narrative description is another characteristic of qualitative research (Klenke, 2008). The reader needs to have a better understanding of the context being studied in detail in order to understand the phenomena being studied. In the Schilling’s study, he describes in detail the setting, including the type of company the structure and divisions in the said company and the type of services offered by the company. Schilling gives a detail description of the physical manager including the number of years of experience, his everyday day routine at work and his schedules (Creswell, 2003). NURS 6010 week 4 Essay DiscussionAnother characteristic of qualitative research is process orientation. Process orientation mainly focuses on why and how behaviors occur. In Schilling study, the physical manager, from years of contact with a lot of sources of occupationally useful information, seemed to know exactly the expectations others have for them and the purpose for their being in the office. After many years in office, the physical manager had a well developed a criteria to guide their acquisition of occupational knowledge. These criteria allowed the managers to identify negative leadership and gaps in their leadership skills. Because the managers acquired knowledge based on their experience, values, beliefs and orientation, their professional knowledge appeared personal. This meant that, the managers lead the way they did because after years of experience, they were set on their ways and therefore lead according to their knowledge base and what they preferred. What the leaders did realize is that they were the most important influence result of negative leadership, and therefore it became a vicious circle in which the relationship between leaders and followers deteriorates as followers take revenge for negative leadership by exhibiting less motivation and performance (Schilling, 2009).
Another key characteristic of qualitative research is direct data collection. Narrative data is collected over along period of time from interviews and observations and analyzed with the use of interpretive techniques. These means that the researcher collects data personally and then interprets what the data means and why it appears in a certain way. In Schilling’s study, he collected data directly using different techniques, including, artifact and documents analysis, nonparticipant observations, formal and informal interviews, and stimulated recall and recording (Creswell, 2003). The physical managers from different departments were interviewed, as well as other employees of the company. Field notes were taken during and after observation and summary statements off the site after each and every day of data collection. Direct data collection is crucial in qualitative research because by observation of natural occurrence in behavior over many days, the observer hopes to obtain an understanding of the phenomenon that is being studied. Schilling spent months observing the managers way of leadership, this important amount of time spent with the managers makes it more likely that the data will more valid and credible (Schilling, 2009).
Qualitative research has its strengths and short coming, for instance, one of the strengths of qualitative analyses of content is the way it tries to synthesize openness as demonstrated by the Schilling study. In fact, despite the openness of qualitative research, the content analysis is controlled strictly methodologically and the material analyzed in a step by step process. It is this strong combination that fosters its ability to deal with complexity (Klenke, 2008). Qualitative analysis of content takes a comprehensive and holistic approach towards analyzing data material and therefore it achieves complete coverage of the complexity of the social situations studied and social data material derived from the content. Likewise, qualitative content analyses uses methodologically control and rule based approach in order to deal with the complexity and eventually reduce it. The procedure of explication, summary and structuring step by step minimizes and separate out the main points of analysis in an interactive process. Therefore, qualitative research helps to understand the complex social phenomenon. It is also useful for studying a limited number of cases in depth, and also provides individual case information (Schilling, 2009).NURS 6010 week 4 Essay Discussion
There are also limitations involved with qualitative research. Whilst qualitative research methods examines social process at work in particular context in substantial depth, the data collection and analysis of this content is time consuming and thus expensive. Qualitative research methods also require training and experience (Creswell, 2003). Unfortunately such trainings are hard to come by in most research training courses, and experienced supervisors of postgraduate willing to undertake the course are equally hard to come by. In addition, qualitative research method involves a relatively small number of participants and therefore, there is a risk it is less likely to be taken seriously by other academic researchers or by policy makers or practitioners. In the Schilling study, the qualitative method was the most suitable since it is the only method that allows in-depth analysis since it deals with apparently contradictory data and provide insights in to respondent’s perspective, which may be invisible by quantitative methods (Schilling, 2009).
References
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. New York: Sage.
Klenke, K. (2008). Qualitative Research in the Study of Leadership. La, Melbourne: Emerald Group Publishing.
Schilling, J. (2009). From Ineffectiveness to Destruction: A Qualitative Study on the Meaning of Negative Leadership. Leadership, 5(201), 109-129.NURS 6010 week 4 Essay Discussion