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Week 4 Discussion: Designs – A Plan to Study for the Truth

When data are collected as numbers, the descriptive study is considered quantitative (Houser, 2016). Quantitative studies theory by describing variables and examining relationships (Houser, 2016). In contrast, qualitative studies typically collect data in the form of words (Houser, 2016). Two ways I can remember this is by looking at the first five letters in each of the words. Q-u-a-n-t, short for quantity, meaning a number amount- data that is collected as numbers. Q-u-a-l-i, short for quality, (the quality of a thing, person, or situation) this data gives you more insight into what people think, feel, and believe. When the data collection methods are limited to observation, interviews, documents, archived records, and artifacts, the resulting data are expressed in words and the design is qualitative (Houser, 2016). When the data that are collected are direct or indirect measures gathered via instrumentation or questionnaires; these numbers are then analyzed using quantitative methods (Houser, 2016).

One category of study design that I found interesting is correlation design. This is a design that involves the analysis of two variables to describe the strength and direction of the relationship between them (Houser, 2016). Correlation studies are used to answer questions about relationships or associations (Houser, 2016). They attempt to describe the strength and nature of the relationship between two variables without explaining the underlying causes of that relationship (Houser, 2016). I learned that these designs cannot lead to a conclusion of causality because they do not meet the requirement for temporality (Houser, 2016). This means that the researcher is not able to be sure which variable happened first (Houser, 2016).

Nevertheless, correlation studies can still be quite helpful in nursing practice. In nursing, and indeed other disciplines, exploring the relationships among various variables is a significant part of healthcare research (Curtis et al., 2015). Many nursing and healthcare research studies arise initially from the need to quantify the numbers of clients attending a particular service within a defined time period or to measure the absence or presence of a particular health characteristic within a defined population or client group (Curtis et al., 2015). In such cases, the primary research objective is to ascertain how many clients are using or in need of a service (Curtis et al., 2015). The study design that can readily address this objective is a cross sectional one (Curtis et al., 2015). However while the primary objective may be to estimate prevalence, in order to 4 provide an appropriate and targeted service, planners need to know if there are any additional characteristics within the client group that may be related to prevalence (Curtis et al., 2015). When the importance of additional characteristics is suspected then the secondary objective of a research study is to measure the strength and direction of any possible relationships between prevalence and the additional characteristic (Curtis et al., 2015). Correlational research is used to address this objective (Curtis et al., 2015). Correlation studies in nursing can be used to inform decision-making and to improve or initiate health-related activities or change.

In my week 3 assignment, my PICOT question was, “In 18 and older adults in short-term mental health facilities, does individualized, patient specific education on community resources, medication, and diagnosis affect readmissions compared to basic education on community resources, medication, and diagnosis while in-patient over 1 year span.” I would say that using quantitative data would be the best in this situation because it would be easier to track the quantity of readmissions between the two, if a patient received individualized education compared to if they did not. I also believe that predictive design would be the best option with this research. Predictive designs attempt to explore which factors may influence an outcome (Houser, 2016). The factors that could influence the readmission rate in my PICO question is whether the psychiatric patient receives individualized education. The population is clearly identified and the variables are defined. Predictive designs are analyzed using regression analysis, which tests the predictive model for statistical significance and for explanatory capacity (Houser, 2016).

Houser, J. (2016). Nursing Research: Reading, Using and Creating Evidence. [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781284138887/ (Links to an external site.)

Curtis, E., Comiskey, C., & Dempsey, O. (2015). Correlational Research: Importance and Use in Nursing and Health Research. Nurse Researcher, 23(6), 20–25.