Research Methods in health care chapter 6

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Chapter 6

The Purpose Statement

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Introduction

  • Purpose statement – establishes the intent of the entire study
  • Most important statement in the entire study
  • In articles, final statement in introduction
  • In theses and dissertations, stand alone section

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

  • The purpose statement

Indicates why you want to do the study

Indicates what you intend to accomplish

Is the central controlling idea in a study

Is written in a sentence or several sentences

Sets the objectives, the intent, or the major idea of a proposal or a study

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  • The purpose statement is NOT

The problem leading to a need for the study (see Chapter 5)

The questions to be answered by collecting data (see Chapter 7)

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

A qualitative purpose statement:

  • A good qualitative purpose statement contains

The central phenomenon

The participants

The research site

  • Include language drawn from qualitative inquiry

Use words such as purpose, intent, or objective to signal attention to this statement as the central controlling idea

Focus on a single phenomenon, narrows the study to one idea

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

A qualitative purpose statement:

Uses action verbs such as describe, understand, develop, explore examine the meaning of, generate or discover

Uses neutral words and phrases

Provides a general working definition of the central phenomenon or idea

Includes words that indicate the strategy of inquiry

Mentions the participants in the study

Identifies the site for the research

Delimits the scope of participation or research sites

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

A qualitative purpose statement:

The purpose of this _________________ (strategy of inquiry, such as ethnography, case study, or other type) study is (was? will be?) to ___________________ (understand? explore? develop? discover?) the ___________ (central phenomenon being studied) for ______________(the participants, such as the individual, groups, organization) at ______________ (research site). At this stage in the research, the _________________ (central phenomenon being studied) will be generally defined as ________________ (provide a general definition).

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

Example 6.1 A Purpose Statement in a Qualitative Phenomenology Study

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

Example 6.2 A Purpose Statement in a Case Study

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

Example 6.3 A Purpose Statement in an Ethnography Study

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

Example 6.4 A Purpose Statement in a Grounded Theory Study

A quantitative purpose statement:

  • Differs from the qualitative purpose statement in terms of language and focus
  • Includes

The variables and their relationship

The participants

The research site

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

  • Components of a good quantitative purpose statement:

Words to signal the major intent of the study, such as purpose, intent, or objective

Identify the theory, model, or conceptual framework

Identify the independent and dependent variables

Identify any mediating, moderating, or control variables used

Words to connect variables: “relationship between,” “comparison of,” “describe”

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

  • Components of a good quantitative purpose statement:

Order the independent before the dependent variable

Mediating (intervening) variables may go between the two or after the dependent variable

Moderating variables after or related to independent variable

Mention the specific strategy of inquiry

Reference the participants or unit of analysis and site

Use the literature to define the key variables

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

  • The purpose of this _______________ (experiment? survey?) study is (was? will be?) to test the theory of ______________ that ____________ (compares? relates?) the ____________ (independent variable) to _________________ (dependent variable), controlling for (mediating or moderating variables) for (participants) at ___________ (the research site). The independent variable(s) ______________ will be defined as (provide a definition). The dependent variable(s) will be defined as ____________ (provide a definition), and the control and intervening variable(s), ___________, (identify intervening variables) will be defined as ________ (provide a definition).

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

Example 6.5 A Purpose Statement in a Published Survey Study

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

Example 6.6 A Purpose Statement in a Dissertation Survey Study

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

Example 6.7 A Purpose Statement in an Experimental Study

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

Example 6.7 A Purpose Statement in an Experimental Study

A mixed methods purpose statement:

  • Contains

The overall intent of the study

Information about both the quantitative and qualitative strands of the study

A rationale for combining quantitative and qualitative strands

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

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A mixed methods purpose statement:

  • Guidelines include

Begin with words that signal intent: purpose, study aim, intent of

Indicate the overall purpose of the study from a content perspective

Indicate the type of mixed methods design

Reasons for combining both quantitative and qualitative data

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

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A mixed methods purpose statement – Convergent design

This mixed methods study will address ___________ [overall content aim]. A convergent mixed methods design will be used, and it is a type of design in which qualitative and quantitative data are collected in parallel, analyzed separately, and then merged. In this study, ___________ [quantitative data] will be used to test the theory of ___________ [the theory] that predicts that [independent variables] will ___________ [positively, negatively] influence the ___________ [dependent variables] for ___________ [participants] at ___________ [the site]. The ___________ [type of qualitative data] will explore___________ [the central phenomenon] for ___________ [participants] at ___________ [the site]. The reason for collecting both quantitative and qualitative data is to ___________ [the mixing reason].

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

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A mixed methods purpose statement – Explanatory sequential design

This study will address ___________ [content aim]. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design will be used, and it will involve collecting quantitative data first and then explaining the quantitative results with in-depth qualitative data. In the first, quantitative phase of the study, ___________ [quantitative instrument] data will be collected from ___________ [participants] at ___________ [research site] to test ___________ [name of theory] to assess whether ___________ [independent variables] relate to ___________ [dependent variables]. The second, qualitative phase will be conducted as a follow up to the quantitative results to help explain the quantitative results. In this exploratory follow-up, the tentative plan is to explore ___________ [the central phenomenon] with ___________ [participants at a ___________ [research site].

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

A mixed methods purpose statement: Exploratory sequential design

This study addresses ___________ [content aim]. The purpose of this exploratory sequential design will be to first qualitatively explore with a small sample and then to determine if the qualitative findings generalize to a large sample. The first phase of the study will be a qualitative exploration of ___________ [the central phenomenon] in which ___________ [types of data] will be collected from ___________ [participants] at ___________ [research site]. From this initial exploration, the qualitative findings will be used to develop assessment measures that can be administered to a large sample. In the tentatively planned quantitative phase, ___________ [instrument data] will be collected from ___________ [participants] at ___________ [research site].

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

Example 6.8 A Convergent Mixed Methods Purpose Statement

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

Example 6.9 An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Purpose Statement

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

Example 6.9 An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Purpose Statement

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

Example 6.10 An Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Purpose Statement

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Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement

Example 6.10 An Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Purpose Statement

Summary

  • Importance of a purpose statement
  • Advances central idea in a study
  • Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods purpose statements differ

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