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Rationale for Methodology 5 pages

This section of the Prospectus identifies and explains the rationale for selecting a quantitative or qualitative methodology for the project. Develop a single paragraph to describe and justify the methodology selected as being qualitative or quantitative (or mixed methods). The methodology should be selected based on the best approach to address the problem statement and collect the data to answer the clinical questions. (Mixed methods will not be used) As stated before, mixed methods are not recommended because they take considerably more time to complete and may require taking additional Direct Practice Improvement Project continuation courses. Complete Table 1 (quantitative studies) and Table 2 (qualitative studies) in Appendix B as well. (NOTE: If doing Mixed methods complete both Tables1 and Table 2).

This section of the Prospectus discusses the specific Project Design. The design is selected based on the selected project methodology (qualitative or quantitative). Quantitative and qualitative methodologies each have a set of distinct designs. Explain the rationale for selecting the specific design based on the variables and research questions/hypotheses (for a quantitative project) or the clinical questions and phenomenon being studied (for a qualitative project). Provide citations both to describe the design and to justify its use.

It is important to use resources in terms of scholarly articles, as well as, current books on research that are written by experts in either qualitative designs or quantitative designs both for describing and justifying the design. Various resources on design can be located in DC Network. Please do not use secondary sources such as Creswell that primarily provide a summary of work from others.

Purpose of the Project 2 pages

The Purpose of the Project section of the Prospectus summarizes the project by providing a reflection of the Problem Statement, methodology, design, target population, and project location. This section should begin with a declarative statement, “The purpose of this (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed method/ with design) project is to (describe, improve, predict, or examine)…”. From the purpose statement, the reader should be able to discern the problem being addressed, the project method (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed), the project design, the variables or phenomenon to be studied, the target population, and the general geographic location of the project.

Creswell (2009) provided some sample scripts for developing purpose statements aligned with the different project methods (qualitative/quantitative/mixed) as follows:

The purpose of this qualitative ______________ (case project, ethnography) is to _________ (understand, describe, explore, develop) the ____________________ (phenomenon being studied) for _______ (participants) at ________________ (project site/geographical location). At this stage in the project, the __________________ (central phenomenon being studied) will be generally be defined as ___________ (provide a general definition).

The purpose of this mixed methods project will be to explore participant views with the intent of using this information to develop and test an instrument with a sample from a population. The first phase will be a qualitative exploration of _______________ (central phenomenon) by collecting _____ (data) from _____ (participants) at __________ (geographical location/research site). The second phase will use a quantitative project method. Themes from this qualitative data will be developed into an instrument (or a/an ______ instrument will be used) to (related, compare) ________ (the independent variable) with _________ (dependent variable) for _________ sample of population) at __________ (geographical project site).

Please note that Creswell may not be cited as an authoritative resource to justify the methodology, design or statistics. Primary, authoritative sources from the scholarly literature must be used. Creswell is an excellent introductory research textbook with excellent educational examples such as above. However, it is considered a secondary source, like most textbooks, and therefore, is only used for training and education purposes.