Research Methods
MYangel10
M5_A2_Joseph_T.docxQUALITATIVE METHOLOGY 1
QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY 8
Qualitative Methodology
Tracey Joseph
Argosy University
Introduction to Research _R7001-A
Professor Dr. Regina Merriwether
February/05/2018
Qualitative Methodology
Research Topic: The topic under investigation relates to the perceptions of nursing staff members about the leadership styles espoused by their head nurses or nurse managers and the impact of these different leadership styles on their levels of job satisfaction. Albagawi, Laput, Pacis, and AlMahmoud (2017) contended that effective leadership is essential for guaranteeing increased job satisfaction of nurses and ensuring positive patient care outcomes. The leadership styles most commonly demonstrated by nurse managers, and which can have tremendous impacts on the satisfaction of nurses include the transformational and the transactional leadership styles (Manning, 2016). Leaders displaying these styles usually exhibit different characteristics that can influence their employees in distinct ways. Examining the perceptions of nurses at The Bronx Acute Care Hospital in relation to the leadership styles of their head nurses is therefore essential for identifying strategies that can enhance the nurse managers’ leadership styles to have a positive impact on the job satisfaction of resident nurses.
Overarching Research Question or Theory: The overarching research question in this proposed investigation is “How does the leadership style of head nurses and nurse managers impact job satisfaction of the nursing staff from the perspectives and perceptions of the nursing staff members?"
Specific Research Questions/Hypotheses: The hypotheses that this proposed inquiry aspired to find answers to are:
Alternative Hypotheses
1. The transformational leadership style has a direct association with improved job satisfaction among nursing staff members at The Bronx Acute Care Hospital
2. The transactional leadership style has a direct association with improved job satisfaction among nursing staff members at The Bronx Acute Care Hospital
Null Hypotheses
1. The transformational and transactional leadership styles do not have any direct association with improved job satisfaction among nursing staff members at The Bronx Acute Care Hospital
Type of Study: Qualitative
Qualitative Research Method Design: The proposed study intends to utilize a phenomenological research design. The purpose of this type of design will be exploring the experiences, perceptions, and perspectives of the nursing staff members about the phenomenon under investigation, which in this case is the effect of the leadership style exhibited by leaders and the level of their job satisfaction. In pursuing answers to this phenomenon through the phenomenological approach, the researcher plans to conduct in-depth interviews and focus groups with the resident nurses in order to gain a better understanding of their experiences and perceptions.
Procedure/Paradigms: After obtaining informed consent and relevant approval from the hospital’s Institutional Review Board, the researcher will distribute the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire to resident nurses to determine how they rate their nurse managers’ leadership styles. It will also be viable to adapt the triangulation effect which will give a broader view of the questions asked . The researchers will also conduct semi-structured interviews and hold focus groups with the nursing staff members in which I will administer the Job Satisfaction Survey Questionnaire to gauge the level of their satisfaction with the leadership style displayed by the nurse managers. The researcher will gain contact with the participants in The Bronx acute care hospital. Participation in the inquiry will be voluntary. The sampling strategy that the researcher will use is nonprobability convenience sampling, which essentially identifies participants based on the ease of accessing them, their proximity, and their availability to participate in the study.
Variables/Concepts: The major concepts that the researcher aspires to examine in this investigation are the leadership styles exhibited by nurse managers and the level of job satisfaction among the employees. A thorough exploration of these variables and concepts will create a better understanding of the influence that leadership style has on nursing staffs’ level of satisfaction with their jobs.
Rigor: Rigor is an important element for enhancing credibility, trustworthiness, dependability, and validity of the proposed qualitative study. This is because it will generate the confidence that the results obtained from the inquiry are not just particular to the interpretation of one researcher but have also received verification and substantiation by others (Noble & Smith, 2015). To generate rigor, the researcher will rely upon a panel of external reviewers to conduct an in-depth appraisal of the study’s protocol including the appropriateness of the sample, procedures, methodologies, and data analysis techniques. The primary investigator in conjunction with the panel of external reviewers will then verify the data through transcribing the interviews accurately and using a coding scheme to ensure consistency of the findings. Accounting for personal biases and conducting ongoing critical reflection of data collection methods/procedures to ensure sufficient relevance/depth of the data collected on nursing staffs’ perceptions will be instrumental for assuring credibility of this study. Randomly selecting the nurses participating in the study and conducting the survey in the natural setting of te acute care hospital in The Bronx will help in generating high levels of external validity whereas using standardized questionnaires and controlling for extraneous variables such as age and educational level of the nurses will be critical for improving internal validity. The researcher also plans to use a sample of 120 participants, which is an adequate sample for ensuring generalizability and transferability of the results to other acute care hospitals.
Data Collection/Analysis: For data collection, the researcher will conduct semi-structured interviews and focus groups with the nursing staff members. The instruments administered during the interviews and focus groups held at the facility’s premises will include the Job Satisfaction Survey Questionnaire and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. The time for conducting the data collection exercise will be 6 weeks, three times a week for 2 hours. For data analysis, the steps will include transcribing the interview data, coding the data, and performing diagramming until the appropriate categories start to emerge. The coding process will overlap with the process of expressing conceptual categories to generate a constant comparison and ensure data saturation.
Consent: The primary investigator will obtain verbal and written informed consent from all the prospective study participants. In acquiring this consent, the researcher will provide each participant with an identification of the researcher, purpose of the study, sponsoring institution, benefits of participating, confidentiality guarantee, type of participant involvement, assurance of participant opportunity to withdraw, and information on contact person should any questions arise. Obtaining IRB approval will also be mandatory before commencing with the study.
The research question as formulated previously was fitting for the qualitative design. In its initial formulation, the question will be able to provide insights about the experiences, perspectives and perceptions of the nursing staff members regarding the leadership styles of their leaders and their associations with the level of job satisfaction.
References
Albagawi, B., Laput, V., Pacis, C., & AlMahmoud, T. (2017). Nurses’ perceptions of nurse manager leadership styles. American Journal of Nursing Research, 5(1), 22-31. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=acbdce93-e4b0-4fda-bce4-288a456c2822%40sessionmgr101 retrieved on (2018, February, 04th)
Manning, J. (2016). The influence of nurse manager leadership style on staff nurse work engagement. Journal of Nursing Administration, 46(9), 438-443. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=e1c85b9e-31b7-4bcf-b4fa-7654a3afe540%40sessionmgr101 retrieved on (2018, February, 05th)
Noble, H., & Smith, J. (2015). Issues of validity and reliability in qualitative research. Evidence-Based Nursing, 18(2), 34-36. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=acbdce93-e4b0-4fda-bce4-288a456c2822%40sessionmgr101 retrieved on (2018, February, 04th)
