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STUDY GUIDE FOR NURS 350 EXAM
Quantitative Methodology Part I - ANSWER The Naturalistic Paradigm: Ontological Assumptions - ANSWER There is a real world The real world is experienced and apprehended subjectively and individually Reality may therefore appear different or have different attributes as perceived by individuals Ontology in research is concerned with what exists in the world about which humans can acquire knowledge The Naturalistic Paradigm: Epistemological Assumptions - ANSWER Reality can only be known as the holistic composite of individual experiences Reality is:
- Contextually based (based on our setting and context)
- Subjective (based on individual experience)•
- Intersubjective (co-created through group experience) Truth is relative rather than absolute Epistemology in research is concerned with knowledge - that is how do we obtain knowledge, and what knowledge do we value as being credible Ontology - ANSWER Multiple realities Subjectivism Truth, or meaning, comes into existence in and out of our engagement with realities in our world
Epistemology - ANSWER Knowledge, and therefore all meaningful reality as such, is contingent upon human practices, being constructed in and out of interaction between human beings and their world, and developed and transmitted within an essentially social context The Naturalistic Paradigm: Methodological Assumptions - ANSWER Strict adherence to 'scientific method' is itself limiting and biased, therefore 'objectivity' and 'control' are essentially meaningless Phenomena are best understood holistically (role of the body, mind, social context and interaction) Analysis and interpretation are inevitably coloured by the researcher's own subjectivity Qualitative Research - ANSWER A form of inquiry Attempts to make sense of the world, to interpret phenomena and experiences of living in the world The researcher is in the natural setting/shapes the research - > naturalistic The researcher is the research instrument Rich and holistic Honours participants' local meanings A process that turns the world into multiple representations Why Choose a Qualitative Research Design? - ANSWER Nature of the research question Topic needs to be explored Topic needs in-depth description Tell the story from the person's perspective
Interpretive Description Qualitative Description Indigenous Research Methodologies Historical Research Case Studies Narrative Analysis Critical Theory Feminist Research Participatory Action Research Ethnography - ANSWER Discipline:
- Anthropology
- Long-term immersion in a culture to describe, interpret and understand it Culture - language, ceremonies, relationships, artifacts. Involves in-depth study of everyday practices and lives of people/groups of people. *Seeks to describe human culture Emic understandings valued: data rooted in the perspective of those in the culture. Etic understandings: data rooted in the perspective of the observer Research question: How are people positioned in a particular social context? What are the power relationships within the setting? Data collection methods to uncover emic perspectives:
- Observations: participant observation
- Field notes
- Interviews (with key informants) Research product
- An Ethnography
- Rich holistic description with a sense of "being there"
Example of a Focused Ethnography - ANSWER Smallwood (2009) used a focused ethnographic approach to study the roles of nurses in the culture established in a cardiac assessment team in the United Kingdom Analysis of data from interviews, observation, and a field journal revealed four main roles: gatekeeper, catalyst, diplomat, and specialist consultancy practice. Facets considered important to ethnography as a research method - ANSWER The researcher: Immersed in a social setting for an extended period of time Makes regular observations of the behavior of members of that settings Listens to and engages in conversations Interviews informants on issues that are not directly amenable to observation or that ethnographer is unclear about Collects documents about the group Develops an understanding of the culture of the group and peoples behaviors within the context of that culture Writes up a detailed account of that setting Gatekeeper - ANSWER The process through which information is filtered for dissemination, whether for publication, broadcasting, the Internet, or some other mode of communication e.g. Process of stratifying presenting patients in terms of whether they are immediately identifiable as requiring specialist cardiac care or if further investigation is needed Two levels of gatekeeper:
- immediate triage
- secondary prioritizing
- Identifying significant narratives, statements, themes, and meaning units Phenomenology - Example - ANSWER Studied women's perceptions of their own violent behaviour in heterosexual partnerships. They noted that their approach involved "bracketing or preunderstandings and meeting the phenomenon with open minds" Their goal was one of "standing before an experience with an attitude of unknowing so that different possibilities could emerge." Some of the women attributed their desire to advocate nonviolence to their religious or ethical principles The women refused to interpret their behavior as violence, which made it difficult to talk about their violent behavior Grounded Theory - ANSWER Discipline: Sociology and social psychology "Ground-up" analysis with the aim of generating theory that explains some context or phenomenon *Theory development about social processes Research question: What theory can be formulated from real world events and experiences to explain this social phenomenon? Concurrent sampling, data collection and data analysis Data collection:
- Can use multiple data sources
- Open-ended interviews; breath and depth at different phases Research product:
- Builds a theory or theoretical model about a process Grounded Theory - Example - ANSWER Used a grounded theory approach to study the decision- making process in patients considering participation in cancer phase I clinical trials
Using data from both interviews and observations, the researchers identified the core problem as "searching for a way to live to the end." Categories of Patients Decision Making Process - ANSWER First phase: only waiting for death to come if nothing is done Second phase: assessing the value of phase I trials Third phase: finding decisive factors Last phase: reminding oneself that this it the right decision Interpretive Description - ANSWER Discipline: Nursing Guided by nursing's epistemology
- Focuses on human experiences within the wellness-illness continuum
- Research questions emerge from practice
- The researcher describes a clinical phenomenon examined and interprets it
- Interpretation focuses on patterns, associations and relationships of the phenomenon described
- Pragmatic It's not prescriptive Research question: In what ways do patients with (Multiple Sclerosis) explain their experiences of (having a diagnosis)? Data Collection of Interpretive Description - ANSWER Multiple approaches such as interviews, participant observations, document analysis, visual representations, personal or expert knowledge Research product of Interpretive Description - ANSWER A thematic summary or conceptual description Or interpretive explanation Qualitative Description - ANSWER Discipline: Nursing
Critical (Social) Theory - ANSWER Attuned to power differentials in social structures/systems and how these produce inequities Focused on critique and socio-political action/transformation Feminist Research - ANSWER Informed by diverse feminist theories Commitment to a gender-based analysis of social relations Participatory Action Research (PAR) - ANSWER Researchers work together with knowledge partners to address, understand or improve local issues or dilemmas The Logic of Qualitative Sampling - ANSWER Concerned with measuring attributes & relationships in a population Aim is to discover meaning with multiple realities NOT to generalize to a target population Selection driven by conceptual requirements, not desire for representativeness May combine more than one type of sampling throughout the study Convenience Sampling - ANSWER Widespread invitation: first come basis - advertisement Volunteer based Advantage: easier to recruit Disadvantage: hard to ensure will get in-depth or relevant information Snowball sampling - ANSWER Early participants are asked to recommend/invite others Advantage: relatively easy to recruit, trust based on referral, cost-efficient
Disadvantage: may not get as much diversity in perspectives Purposive sample - ANSWER Who (or what data) can give me the most and best information about my topic? Most common Sampling for those who will most benefit the study **Maximum variation: range of variation Extreme case sampling: unusual cases Typical case sampling: typical or average Criterion sampling: Predetermined criterion Theoretical sampling - ANSWER Sample is identified as the study proceeds to "develop theory as it emerges" Used in Grounded Theory Sample Size - ANSWER In qualitative research there will always be infinite variations Saturation Information Power At what point will you be confident that you have rich descriptions and interpretations of the differences and similarities in how people experience a particular phenomenon? - ANSWER Depends:
- Small samples for in-depth study
- Consider quality of data, scope of the study, nature of the topic, depth of information from each participant, number of interviews, methodology and methods
- Recordings turned into text
- By researcher or team?
- By professional service?
- Automated online services? otter.ai, temi, GoTranscript
- Who is going to verify accuracy? Storage
- Audio/visual files
- Transcripts
- Memos/Field notes
- Demographic data Organizing and sorting:
- Technology vs no technology
- Qualitative data analysis software: NVivo, Atlas ti, Mind Maps, etc. Which of the following is a fundamental belief of those who hold to the naturalistic/constructivist paradigm? a) There is only one reality, and we can understand it b) Reality changes over history c) Reality cannot be studied systematically or empirically d) There are multiple realities and there are multiple interpretations of these realities - ANSWER D Which of the following terms would likely be used only by qualitative researchers, as opposed to quantitative researchers, to refer to the people who participate in a study? a) Subjects b) Investigators c) Study participants d) Informants - ANSWER D The research tradition that focuses on understanding the phenomenon of medical/surgical nurses' decision processes of when to call the ICU outreach team is which of the following?
a) Phenomenology b) Grounded Theory c) Ethnography d) Narrative analysis e) Experiential - ANSWER B The research tradition that focuses on understanding the phenomenon of family members' experiences of witnessing resuscitation of a loved one is which of the following? a) Phenomenology b) Grounded Theory c) Ethnography d) Narrative analysis e) Experiential - ANSWER A In qualitative studies, which of the following changes as the study progresses? Select all that apply a) Sampling method b) Research question c) Recruitment settings d) Proposal - ANSWER A, B, C? Triangulation can be performed by which of the following strategies? a) Using three different methods of sampling b) Using three different methods of data collection c) Using three different sites for participant recruitment d) Repeating the analysis three times - ANSWER B In Qualitative research, "saturation" indicates which of the following? a) There are too many informants b) The data is very rich c) There are too many themes d) The themes in the data are repeating - ANSWER D
Constant comparison - ANSWER Identifying similarities and differences between and within participants, events, and concepts by comparing and contrasting Examine relationships between identified concepts/themes Challenges of Qualitative Data Analysis - ANSWER Ensuring 'visibility' of trustworthiness Very large volume of data Balance between being concise and maintaining the 'richness of the data' Two main analytic strategies, or approaches, that are not necessarily tied to a particular methodology - ANSWER Content Analysis Thematic Analysis
- the big methodological approaches are grounded theory, ethnography and phenomenology; so content and thematic analysis are not tied to those Content Analysis - ANSWER Analysis of content by breaking data into smaller units, coding, and looking for patterns across the data
- Also, may generate themes Often most associated with qualitative descriptive studies
- describes what but not why or how Development of codes may be inductive, or deductive, or both
- inductive goes from observation/data to a theory
- deductive goes from theory to generalization Level of abstraction varies - may summarize content or take interpretation further Thematic Analysis - ANSWER A collection of approaches that focuses on developing themes from the data
Variety of different approaches May be used in descriptive, interpretive descriptive, and/or critically- oriented research Step up from content analysis
- moves from description of 'what' - > 'why' and 'how'
- more abstract than content analysis
- almost always inductive Different strategies tend to be aligned with particular methodologies. - ANSWER Grounded Theory Phenomenology Ethnography Grounded Theory - ANSWER Data is organized into conceptual patterns by codes, categories and these are constantly compared and contrasted across individuals to develop a theory that encompasses all differences Constant comparison* Phenomenology - ANSWER Involves deep immersion and reflection to generate in-depth description/ interpretation of the whole meanings and part meanings Thematic analysis Ethnography - ANSWER The researcher shifts through fieldwork, observations, interviews to build patterns, then categories, searching for main building blocks of local culture and its themes Stage 1 of Qualitative Data Analysis - ANSWER Read all of the text, making notes at the end and/or highlighting areas that the researcher deems important or that spark curiosity Assign broad-based codes using different colours
Codes - > Categories - > Themes Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) - ANSWER Before Software- would use this to help with data organization and management ***Not for the purpose of data analysis Qualitative Studies and Rigor - ANSWER IF there is no one single truth, what are we aiming toward in a qualitative study? What counts as a good result? IF complete objectivity is impossible, what does it mean to do the study well? Qualitative= trustworthiness (use this word, not rigor for qualitative) Quantitative= rigor Trustworthiness - ANSWER The degree of confidence qualitative researchers have in their data and analysis 4 Criteria of Trustworthiness - ANSWER Credibility - How well do the study findings represent the phenomenon under study? Dependability - How consistent and repeatable are the study findings? Confirmability - How well has the researcher accounted for their own influence on the study findings? Transferability - How well can the study findings fit a context that is different than the study situation? Credibility - ANSWER Confidence in the true value of the data and interpretations of the data 2 Aspects of Credibility - ANSWER 1. Carrying out the study in a way that enhances the believability of the findings
- Taking steps to demonstrate credibility to external readers Strategies for Credibility - ANSWER Prolonged engagement (spending a lot of time in the data collection and analysis) Triangulation Data saturation (every time recruit and analyze, see same data) Member checking (done collection and analysis and going back to participants to see if they agree) Negative cases (data that is contrary to what you're finding; proving yourself wrong) Intercoder checks (research team involvement) Triangulation - ANSWER Accurate Representation Data triangulation - ANSWER Uses multiple data sources for purpose of validating conclusions Time triangulation - multiple times Space triangulation - multiple sites Person triangulation - multiple viewpoints Method triangulation - ANSWER Uses multiple methods of data collection about the same phenomenon Investigator triangulation - ANSWER More than 2 people make data collection, coding and analytic decisions Theory triangulation - ANSWER Use competing theories to analyze and interpret data
