Assignment: Formulating a Qualitative Research Study
The process of formulating a qualitative research study is very similar to that of a quantitative research study. A qualitative research study, like its quantitative counterpart, begins with a broad topic of interest, which is then narrowed down to a specific research question or set of questions about which the researcher would like to gather data. As with all research, it is important for the researcher to identify an appropriate methodology to provide a focus for the procedures of gathering data in a qualitative study.
To prepare FOR Formulating a Qualitative Research Study:
Using the Learning Resources as a guide, determine a qualitative research topic that is of interest to you and applies to a clinical practice area.
With your selected topic, formulate at least one research question that could serve as the basis for a qualitative research study.
Consider which of the following qualitative research methods would best address your selected research question: phenomenology, ethnography, or grounded theory. Why is that method appropriate?
Anticipate any issues (related to ethics, credibility, management, funding, etc.) you might encounter if you were to engage in this research project, and consider how you would handle them.
Ask yourself: What other qualitative methods could be used to address my selected qualitative research topic? What are the strengths and weaknesses of these methods?
By Day 3 OF Formulating a Qualitative Research Study
Post a cohesive response that addresses the following:
Summarize your selected qualitative research topic and research question(s) and identify your selected methodology for gathering data about the question(s). Explain why you chose that particular methodology and how it would be useful to the qualitative research topic you selected.
Identify and elaborate on the challenges (related to ethics, credibility, management, funding, etc.) you might encounter if you were to engage in this research project.
Describe the strengths and weaknesses of your selected research method (phenomenology, ethnography, and grounded theory) in terms of the research project you selected.
Discuss at least one other qualitative method that could be used to research your selected topic.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.
By Day 6 OF Formulating a Qualitative Research Study
Respond to at least two of your colleagues in one or more of the following ways:
Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, evidence, or research.
Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings from the classroom or from your own research in the Walden Library.
Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research.
Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.
Expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives based on readings and evidence.
Note: Please see the Course Syllabus and Discussion Posting and Response Rubric for formal Discussion question posting and response evaluation criteria.
Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting. Note what you learned and/or any insights you gained as a result of the comments made by your colleagues.
Be sure to support your work with specific citations from this week’s Learning Resources and any additional sources.
Post your responses to the Small Group Discussion based on the course requirements.
Your Discussion postings should be written in standard edited English and follow APA guidelines as closely as possible given the constraints of the online platform. Be sure to support your work with specific citations from this week’s Learning Resources and additional scholarly sources as appropriate. Refer to the Essential Guide to APA Style for Walden Students to ensure your in-text citations and reference list are correct. Initial postings must be 250–350 words (not including references).
In the past eight weeks of this course, you focused on quantitative research concepts and methods and have been critically evaluating a quantitative research study. This week allows you to step outside the realm of quantitative research and begin an examination of qualitative research concepts and methods.
Whereas quantitative research is based on numerical data, statistics, and mathematical approaches, qualitative research involves rich descriptions, critical analyses, and investigations into the conceptual nature of experiences and occurrences. Qualitative methods of study and analysis allow researchers to present vivid details and engage in logical and ethical discussions.
This week, you begin to explore the different concepts and methodologies related to qualitative research. You also consider challenges to performing qualitative research, including issues related to ethics. You formulate the basic components of a qualitative research study of your choice and discuss the application of qualitative methodologies to evidence-based practice.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Differentiate among phenomenology, ethnography, and grounded theory
Using one of the qualitative approaches, formulate a research question for a qualitative research study and anticipate challenges
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Learning Resources
Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.
Required Readings
Gray, J.R., Grove, S.K., & Sutherland, S. (2017). Burns and Grove’s the practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier.
Review Chapter 4, “Introduction to Qualitative Research”This chapter provides an overview of the logic and philosophy of qualitative research based on a holistic worldview. Review this chapter and refresh your understanding of the various types of qualitative research and the application of qualitative research in health care research and evidence-based practice.
Chapter 12, ““Qualitative Research Methods” (pp. 274 – 281)This section of Chapter 12 focuses on relevant methods of qualitative studies, including content analysis, narrative analysis, phenomenological research methods, and grounded theory methodology.
Allbutt, H., & Masters, H. (2010). Ethnography and the ethics of undertaking research in different mental healthcare settings. Journal of Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing, 17(3), 210–215. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2850.2009.01493.x
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
This article details the efforts of a year-long ethnographic research study in three mental health settings and discusses the difficulties and problems associated with trying to perform a qualitative, noninterventionist study design in a practice setting.
Sternberg, R., & Barry, C. (2011). Transnational mothers crossing the border and bringing their health care needs. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 43(1), 64–71.
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
This article discusses the procedures and findings of a qualitative study involving eight transnational Latina mothers from
Formulating a Qualitative Research Study
South Florida who came to the United States without their children and without legal documentation. The article describes essential themes in the experiences of these mothers and the implications of these themes for health care providers.
Van Aken, R., & Taylor, B. (2010). Emerging from depression: The experiential process of healing touch explored through grounded theory and case study.Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 16(3), 132–137. doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2009.11.001
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
This article focuses on a qualitative study analyzing the experimental process of healing touch for people with moderate depression. Several theories were used to perform this analysis, including grounded theory and middle-range theory.
Whiting, L., & Vickers, P. (2010). Conducting qualitative research with palliative care patients: Applying Hammick’s research ethics wheel. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 16(2), 58–68.
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
This article elaborates on the ethical issues that surround the pursuit of research involving patients accessing palliative care for cancer. Using Hammick’s research ethics wheel (REW), the article identifies ethical issues and dilemmas and discusses the importance of ethics in research studies involving vulnerable patients.
Select Grid View or List View to change the rubric’s layout.
Name: NURS_8200_ Week9_Discussion_Rubric
Exemplary
Proficient
Sufficient
Developing
Discussion Postings and Responses
4 (100%) – 4 (100%)
• Discussion postings and responses are responsive to the requirements of the Discussion instructions and are posted by the due date. • Discussion postings and responses significantly contribute to the quality of interaction by providing rich and relevant examples, applicable research support, discerning ideas, and/or stimulating thoughts/probes and are respectful when offering suggestions, constructive feedback, or opposing viewpoints. • Discussion postings and responses demonstrate an in-depth understanding of concepts and issues presented in the course (e.g., insightful interpretations or analyses, accurate and perceptive parallels, and well-supported opinions) and are well supported, when appropriate, by pertinent research. • Discussion postings and responses provide evidence that the student has read and considered a sampling of colleagues’ postings and synthesized key comments and ideas, as applicable.
3 (75%) – 3 (75%)
• Discussion postings and responses are responsive to the requirements of the Discussion instructions and are posted by the due date. • Discussion postings and responses contribute to the quality of interaction by providing examples, research support when appropriate, ideas, and/or thoughts/probes, and are respectful when offering suggestions, constructive feedback, or opposing viewpoints. • Discussion postings and responses demonstrate some depth of understanding of the issues and show that the student has absorbed the general principles and ideas presented in the course, although viewpoints and interpretations are not always thoroughly supported. • Discussion postings and responses provide evidence that the student has considered at least some colleagues’ postings and synthesized some key comments and ideas, as applicable.
2 (50%) – 2 (50%)
• Discussion postings and responses are posted by the due date but are not always responsive to the requirements of the Discussion instructions. • Discussion postings and responses do little to contribute to the quality of interaction or to stimulate thinking and learning. • Discussion postings and responses demonstrate a minimal understanding of concepts presented, tend to address peripheral issues, and, although generally accurate, display some omissions and/or errors. • Discussion postings and responses do not provide evidence that the student has considered at least some colleagues’ postings or synthesized at least some key comments and ideas, as applicable.
0 (0%) – 1 (25%)
• Discussion postings and responses are posted past the late deadline, defined as 11:59 p.m. on the due date, and/or do not address the requirements of the Discussion instructions. • Discussion postings and responses do not contribute to the quality of interaction or stimulate thinking and learning. • Discussion postings and responses do not demonstrate an understanding of the concepts presented in the course, and/or do not address relevant issues, and/or are inaccurate and contain many omissions and/or errors. • Discussion postings and responses do not provide evidence that the student has read or considered colleagues’ postings, as applicable.
Continue to work on your article critique, assigned in Week 2 and due by Day 7 of this week. This Assignment will serve as your major assessment for this course and should incorporate many of the topics covered throughout the course.
To complete:
Write a 5- to 7-page paper in APA format that includes the following:
A brief one to two paragraph overview of the study
Two to three strengths of the study and support for your selection (i.e. why is this a strength)
Two to three weaknesses of the study and support for your selection (i.e. why is this a weakness)
Note: The strengths and weaknesses you identified should be in relation to design, sampling, data collection, statistical analysis, results and discussion of the study
Proposed changes to improve the quality of the study, capitalizing on the strengths and improving on the weaknesses you identified in the study
Summary of the implications for nursing practice
By Day 7
Submit this Assignment.
Submission and Grading Information
To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:
Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK9Assgn1+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
Click the Week 9 Assignment 1 Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
Click the Week 9 Assignment 1 link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK9Assgn1+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.
Summarize your selected qualitative research topic and research question(s) and identify your selected methodology for gathering data about the question(s).
Research Question(s):
What challenges do new novice educators with less than 3 years’ experience encounter that deter successful acclimation as nursing faculty into the academic setting of two year nursing programs?
How is job satisfaction measured?
How is retention measured?
How is successful role transition measured?
Qualitative research is an academic approach to describing the lived experience of participants in research from the viewpoint of the person involved. There were five approaches to qualitative research listed in our reading assignment which include: phenomenological research, grounded theory research, ethnographic research, exploratory-descriptive qualitative research, and historical research (Gray, Grove, & Sutherland, 2017). “To address the need for the nursing faculty shortage, many nursing schools are looking to experienced clinicians to transition to part-time and full-time nurse educators. These nurses often assume the nurse educator role with minimal guidance. Although this problem is not new, the gap in identifying specific challenges and resolutions that novice nurse educators encounter has not been resolved” (Brown & Sorrell, 2017). It is of importance to help channel resources that help initiate resolutions to resolving this big problem which further impacts the nursing shortage. It is essential to hire and retain highly qualified nursing faculty for schools of nursing (SON).
Explain why you chose that particular methodology and how it would be useful to the qualitative research topic you selected.
The selected qualitative research topic chosen for review by this writer was related to challenges of the novice nurse educator’s transformation from clinical practice expert to classroom expert. The qualitative methodology utilized for this research would be phenomenological research. “Phenomenological research is defined as inductive, descriptive qualitative methodology developed from phenomenological philosophy for the purpose of describing experiences as they are lived by the study participants. This topic was chosen because it provided information that was relative and purposeful to this writer’s scholarly research project. The information would be useful in that it would provide invaluable insight on ways to mitigate the challenges and increase recruiting and retention for new novice nurse educators. In turn this will help alleviate or decrease the nursing faculty shortage as well as impact the nursing shortage.
Identify and elaborate on the challenges (related to ethics, credibility, management, funding, etc.) you might encounter if you were to engage in this research project?
A number of challenges may impact the process or the study inclusive of the institutional review board (IRB) approval and recruiting a large enough sample of participants for the study. Phenomenological research is also very time consuming for both the participants and researchers. These studies must be protected from both participant bias such as when utilizing a snowball affect technique. Since this sampling is more of a convenience sampling which is, “Inviting participants from a location or group because of the ease and efficiency” (Gray, Grove, & Sutherland, 2017). Another challenge is researcher bias such as when using a purposive technique. The main goal is to choose an approach which yields robust data, findings, and knowledge in non-numerical form.
Describe the strengths and weaknesses of your selected research method (phenomenology, ethnography, and grounded theory) in terms of the research project you selected.
The strength of the phenomenology is that is reveals a great deal of information in the unveiling of themes within the data collected. The researcher seeks to gain enough rich and meaningful data in the process to add to existing research or even expand on new findings. Also another strength of this type of research is the small sampling size warranted. There are multiple weaknesses regarding this methodology however one paramount weakness is the subjectively of data analysis shown in relationship to the researcher. The researcher is responsible for decoding or interpreting the meaning of the data gathered. Lack of theoretical sufficiency can also impact the study.
Discuss at least one other qualitative method that could be used to research your selected topic.
Another qualitative method such as exploratory-descriptive qualitative study could also
be utilized to address the specific research questions and problems related to new novice
educators transition into the academic environment as faculty. This method may or may not utilize a theoretical
framework. This method relies on data from recorded interviews to answer questions about the identified
hypothesis.
Formulating a Qualitative Research Study Reference(s):
Brown, T., & Sorrell, J. (2017). Challenges of Novice Nurse Educator’s Transition from Practice to Classroom. Teaching and Learning in Nursing 12, 207-2011. doi:10.1016/j.teln.2017.03.002
Gray, J., Grove, S., & Sutherland, S. (2017). Burn and Grove’s the Practice of Nursing Research: Appraisal, Synthesis, and Generation of Evidence. St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier.
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