NURS 6052 Week 5 Essay Discussion
Quantitative Research Designs
In order to find the best information on a topic, not only should you develop a question and search for resources, but you should also know how to analyze the value of the resources that you identify. There are different ways to evaluate resources, such as using the hierarchy of evidence, which you explored in Week 4 of this course. Another way to evaluate resources is to consider the appropriateness of the research design. Understanding how research designs contribute to the quality of a study is essential for being able to analyze resources when conducting a literature review or locating evidence for practice.
In this Discussion, you consider the different research designs and evaluate how these designs have been used to research a specific topic. You also consider strategies for selecting an appropriate research design.
To prepare:
Review the information in the course text on quantitative research designs. Focus on the information in Box 9.1, “Guidelines for Critiquing Research Designs in Quantitative Studies” located on page 230 of the course text.
Select a topic from the list below and search the Walden Library to find two different quantitative research studies addressing that issue:
Caregiver stress
Anxiety in children
Sleep apnea
Depression in college freshmen
Rural health care issues
Post-traumatic stress syndrome
Traumatic brain injury in veterans
Health effects of environmental contaminants
Bipolar disorder
End-of-life ethical issues
Alternative medicine
For each of the sources that you select, identify the type of quantitative research design used, and evaluate whether it is the most appropriate approach to the research.
Consider the ramifications of choosing an inappropriate design for a research study.
By Day 3
Post the topic you selected, references for the two sources you identified, and the quantitative research design used in each. Critique the appropriateness of the design used and justify your comments with information from the Learning Resources. Discuss the ramifications of choosing an inappropriate design for a research study.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
By Day 6
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days in one or more of the following ways:
Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, and evidence.
Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings from the classroom or from your own review of the literature in the Walden Library.
Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.
Quantitative research design relates to the design of a research project which uses quantitative research methods. The design varies depending on the method used, which could be telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews, online surveys, or surveys by post for instance. Other methodologies include SMS / Test Message surveys, or physical counts.
Quantitative research design is aimed at discovering how many people think, act or feel in a specific way. Quantitative projects involve large sample sizes, concentrating on the quantity of responses, as opposed to gaining the more focused or emotional insight that is the aim of qualitative research. The standard format in quantitative research design is for each respondent to be asked the same questions, which ensures that the entire data sample can be analyzed fairly. The data is supplied in a numerical format, and can be analyzed in a quantifiable way using statistical methods. Surveys can, however, be tailored to branch off if the respondent answers in a certain way – for instance people who are satisfied or dissatisfied with a service may be asked different questions subsequently.
Quantitative research design tends to favor closed-ended questions. Providing respondents with a set list of answers, they will not normally be able to give lengthy open-ended responses. This design ensures that the process of quantitative research is far more efficient than it would be if qualitative-style open ended questions were employed. It is more efficient because it is then not necessary to carry out the time-consuming process of coding vast quantities of open-ended responses. However, quantitative research design does often allow the inclusion of an ‘Other’ category in the list of possible responses to questions, where appropriate. This allows those respondents who do not fit directly into the main categories to still get their precise responses recorded and used in the analysis of the research project results.
Because of the word “quantitative,” some people believe that quantitative research is “all about numbers.” This perception is understandable, yet fundamentally wrong –– in the same (incorrect) way that saying surgery is “all about incisions” and conducting a symphony is “all about waving a wand back and forth.” Surgery is about helping people heal, and conducting is about facilitating beautiful music. Incisions and waving (if done with expertise of course!) are essential, yet they are means to an end.
In the same way, the numbers that quantitative research design ultimately capture are not what the effort and investment is about. Rather, it is about the ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS. In other words: the analysis of those numbers, and their practical use toward smarter business decisions matters more.
Otherwise, businesses will end up with plenty of numbers –– we are talking spreadsheets, databases, lists, and so on –– but, no pun intended, they won’t add up to much. That is, they do not address and resolve the research question that inspired the effort in the first place. The link between cause and effect will remain elusive, regardless of how many spreadsheets and colorful tables and charts may be on the table.
This is precisely why the “design” part of “quantitative research design” is so so important. Businesses (or professional market research firms on their behalf) must objectively and intelligently determine what they want to know, who they want to know it from, and whether/to what extent quantitative research design can meet these requirements. As data scientists and analysts frequently point out “garbage in equals garbage out.” The same basic axiom holds true with quantitative research design: “bad design in equals bad research out.”
Quantitative Research Design Methods
Good quantitative research design usually involves a customized mix of data gathering methods, such as online surveys (web, mobile and email), direct (postal) mail surveys, point-of-purchase surveys, and in some cases telephone surveys as well.
As we have discussed in various blogs, there are advantages and disadvantages to each of these methods, including those related to cost, sample size, time, data quality, analysis, automation, standardization, and so on.
Since there is no perfect method (and any consultant or so-called expert who claims otherwise should be avoided at all costs!), businesses need to find the right mix to minimize bias and data loss.
Quantitative Research Design Applications
Some common applications of quantitative research design include, but are not limited to identifying:
- What proportion of customers find a product useful, attractive, a good investment, and so on.
- What proportion of customers use the internet to conduct research or make a purchase.
- What proportion of customers would respond to a promotion or incentive (e.g. reduced price, enhanced product, longer warranty period, etc.).
- What proportion of customers are aware of a business’s full roster of products and services.
When combined with qualitative research (which explores the underlying “why” of aspects like those noted above), businesses obtain a reliable picture of what is really happening in their marketplace, and can use this insight to achieve significant, if not in many cases unprecedented gains to everything from market penetration, to customer satisfaction, to revenues and profits.NURS 6052 Week 5 Essay Discussion