Essent of Evidence-Based Pract

CRITIQUING QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE STUDIES 1

Quantitative and Qualitative Research Techniques

Walden University

NURS-6052N-37, Essent of Evidence-Based Practices

Quantitative research technique

Article reference: https://www.durham.ca/departments/health/cdcp/immSurveyReport.pdf

1. Research issue: barriers to immunization from parents’ perspective

Purpose: to find out the barriers to immunization from the parents’ perspective.

2. Research pre- understandings and literature review

The researcher notes that despite various benefits of immunization that have been witnessed over time, there still remain to be low rates of immunization. The researcher reviews the findings of previous researchers in this field who identified barriers to immunization as being: lack of trust in vaccination and lack of information on the significance of vaccination to children. He also outlines the methodology that these researchers used to get these findings.

3. Participants and protection of Human Research participants

The Durnham Region Health Department (DRHD) was engaged in developing the questionnaire. 6,851 subjects were interviewed. Purposive sampling was applied whereby all subjects were parents of 3rd grade pupils. To protect the confidentiality of the subjects, letters were sent to the heads of schools of Durham Region who granted permission for the surveys to be sent to 3rd grade children’s parents.

4. Research design and data collection

A descriptive design was used as the researcher aimed at finding out reasons for low vaccination rates. Questionnaires with closed ended questions were used to collect information. Multiple choice questions were used to collect he data.

5. Credibility

The questionnaire was approved by the Scientific and Ethical Review Committee and pre-tested on attendees of a monthly immunization catch up clinic.

6. Data Analysis and findings

Once returned, the surveys were keyed into the MS Access Database. Descriptive analysis of quantitative data was conducted using SPSS. Answers to open ended questions were grouped according to themes.

The data acquired was in numerical terms, making it easier to draw conclusions from it. 96% of the respondents reported that hey received immunization information from their health care provider, with 9% citing their source as he media. 42% of respondents said they had received a vaccination notice. 57% of those who received notice reported that they had vaccinated their children but hadn’t notified the health department. 10% reported that they received the notice but forgot to vaccinate the children. 4.7% cited their lack of awareness on the immunization schedule.

7. Discussion of Findings

Challenges in finding immunization services were cited as a major problem by most parents. Some parents suggested that there should be local mobile clinics to improve accessibility. Untrustworthiness of the information acquired as the parents was also a major challenge.

8. Limitations

The study had a low response rate of 37%. Open ended questions used in the research were hard to analyze for the parents, resulting in misinterpretation of the questions.

9. Implications, recommendations and research utilization in practice

The findings would be used by the DRHD as a basis of evaluation of immunization programs while making use of the recommendations given by the parents. From the findings, it was recommended that here should be local mobile clinics to improve accessibility to vaccination services. The research can be a basis for conduction of vaccination awareness programs to educate parents on the significance of vaccinating their children.

Qualitative research technique

Article reference: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827316300477

1. Research issue and purpose

What factors affect parents’ decision on whether to vaccinate their children? The research was aimed at finding out what factors affected the decision on whether to vaccinate children or not among parents.

2. Research pre- understandings and literature review

The researcher views vaccination as being necessary for every child as it is a vital disease prevention method. While the vaccinations are readily available, there are still low levels of uptake by the parents.

The researcher included the findings of researchers on this topic by previous researchers on this topic, with most of the researches being quantitative in nature. Among these were Web of Science for Studies findings, research conducted by Embase, MEDLINE and CINAHL plus.

3. Participants and protection of Human Research participants

934 subjects were used in the research. 91% of the subjects were mothers. Prior to the research being conducted, the subjects were assured of the confidentiality of the information collected and the researchers signed non- disclosure agreements.

4. Research design and data collection methods used

A descriptive design was applied as the researcher aimed at which factors affect the vaccination decision by parents. The data was collected by use of interviews, some of which were conducted over the phone. This method was suitable as the data required is qualitative in nature.

5. Data Analysis and findings

The data was analyzed using NVIVO while the quality of the data was assessed by use of Critical APPRAISSAL Skills Program (CASP) tool. Scores were used to rank the findings.

Decision making on vaccination by parents can be deliberative or non- deliberative in nature. Non- deliberative parents are those who don’t spend much time deciding upon vaccination decisions. Deliberative parents comply with the vaccination measures after making an analysis of the benefits and costs of vaccination. They make this assessment based on people’s advice, their own emotions, the media and social judgement. Practical issues have the greatest influence on people’s decision on whether to vaccinate their children or not. There are parents who apply both deliberative and non-deliberative technique.

6. Discussion of Findings

Non- deliberative parents comply with vaccination practices without much thought. These are partly emotion- driven decisions. It was identified that in deliberative and non- deliberative parents make their decisions based on trust placed on their information sources and on those offering the vaccination. It was found that some parents apply both approaches depending on the context. The research revealed the relevance of society in vaccination as the parents who engaged in discussions with other parents on this subject opted for vaccination while others engaged in the practice simply because society pressured them to do so.

7. Limitations

The extent to which the research can be generalized is limited by the scope of study since the research only focuses on the United Kingdom. The method doesn’t allow for frequency analysis of each of the decision-making types.

8. Implications

The research shows the significance of understanding the mechanisms that affect the vaccination decision. In addition, it shows the need for vaccination programs to provide more information so as to give the parents a basis on which the can make this decision.

9. Recommendations and utilization in practice

Vaccination stakeholders should work in partnership with media to educate the masses on the benefits of vaccination so as to promote vaccination rates. This research gives the parents’ views that they need to trust vaccination stakeholders so as to vaccinate their children. This shows that the stakeholders need to carry out awareness campaigns through the media to promote vaccination rates.

Quantitative research provides data that is descriptive in nature. Using statistical data enables the researcher to know essential characteristics of the data (Centrell, 2011). For example, in the case of the first research, the data analysis is done and gives percentages showing various characteristics of the sample. This can give a better basis for policy formulation by the researcher. Data collection is however a strenuous process which is expensive and requires a large sample size. In the example of the research done, the process involves ensuring approval of the questionnaire by various bodies which can be hectic.

Qualitative research has various advantages, including giving detailed information that explains a phenomenon. In the case of the qualitative research carried out, the researcher is able to acquire various views from different people, all of which differ. In addition, the data can be applied to an entire population even though a small sample was used. However, the data collection process is time consuming and the success of the research depends on the skills of the personnel collecting the data (Polit and Beck, 2017).

From the sample researches used above, it is evident that qualitative research is as important a scientific research method as quantitative research. However, it is evident that qualitative research is better applicable in cases where the researcher seeks the view of the sample that explain why a phenomenon is as it is. On the other hand, it is evident that quantitative research is more applicable when answering ‘what’ questions (Schultz et. Al, 2008).

References

Cantrell, M.A (2011) Demistifying the Research process: Understanding a descriptive research design, Washington, D.C: National Academic Press

Polit, D.F & Beck, C. T. (2017) Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice, Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer

Schultz, L. E., Rivers, K.O., & Ratusnik, D.L. (2008) The role of external validity in evidence- based practice for rehabilitation, Thousand Oaks: SAGE publications