Critique of qualitative research guidelines and nursing study design

Korkiakangas, E.E., et al., (2010). Motivators and barriers to exercise among adults with a high risk of type 2 diabetes -- a qualitative study. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences: 62-69. This article addresses the prevention of Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Lifestyle changes can generally prevent this form of the disease, and exercise and a good diet (along with weight loss) are important. There were 74 subjects in this study, and they were counseled as a group and recorded in order to provide information for the qualitative analysis. Exercise was seen as a highly significant issue for these people, but they had to enjoy it and find reasons to continue with it, or they would simply slip back into old habits and avoid working out. When they had social interactions with others, they were better able to find reasons to work out. Conclusions drawn by the study included the fact that people who were high risk for type 2 diabetes were very positive about working out and getting healthy so they could avoid their health risks. That boded well for their futures and for what they would teach to their children when it came to exercise and eating habits.

The problem in this article is both clearly stated and significant to research done into nursing and other types of health care. There is a definite correlation between people who are overweight and the incidence of type 2 diabetes (Balducci, 2010; Hawthorne, 2008; Korkiakangas, 2010). Because that is the case, studies such as this one address the issue from the standpoint of how diet and exercise (both of which will also generally cause weight loss) can affect a person's risk for the disease. Diabetes is a serious illness, and while type 1 cannot be prevented, type 2 is a preventable disease that can be avoided and/or reversed when people make appropriate changes to their lifestyle (Davis, Forbes, & Wylie-Rosett, 2009; Smyth & Heron, 2006). Exercise is a big part of those changes, and can make the most difference in how a person lowers his or her risk for type 2 diabetes.

The purpose of the article is also clearly stated. The goal is to determine whether exercise plays a significant role in the lives of people who are attempting to avoid type 2 diabetes, and how getting more exercise lowers the risks of those individuals (Korkiakangas, 2010). Whether they want to exercise and whether they enjoy exercise also matter a great deal, because people who do not enjoy exercise and who do not feel as though they are deriving benefits from it will often stop exercising, even if they have been warned about the dangers of doing so. Not everyone who does not exercise will get type 2 diabetes, of course, but a sedentary lifestyle coupled with a poor diet and extra weight can contribute strongly to people who are unhealthy - and type 2 diabetes is one of the main health problems they will generally develop (Balducci, 2010). The research question is broad enough to be acceptable for a qualitative study, because there are many ways in which the question could be addressed. There is more to the issue then just whether people exercise and whether they have type 2 diabetes.

There is plenty of room for expansion of the data collected, and for the researchers to consider various facets of the information collected from the study. The design follows the qualitative approach that was used by the researchers, and the subjects were obtained following methods consistent with what qualitative methodology requires. When locating subjects for qualitative methodology, it is often easier to recruit them as a group, where they can share their information and opinions with the researchers and with others in the group (Korkiakangas, 2010). The counseling setting is appropriate for the study. It provides more opportunity for the researchers to see and hear honest reactions to others and to what is happening in the lives of individual participants. The way the data was collected also worked well for the qualitative approach, because a group setting provided more honest answers for any issues that were faced by the participants. Since they were not one-on-one with only the researchers, they were more likely to share experiences with other people who were also in the study (Korkiakangas, 2010).

That allowed for information to be presented that might have otherwise been overlooked, which meant that the researchers had even more data to consider. Any time a study is qualitative in nature, the more data that can be collected from the participants the easier it is to get good information (Korkiakangas, 2010). While there is often no need to completely inundate the researchers with information they may not use, having more data allows the researchers the opportunity to more clearly define and articulate what was important to those who were participants in the study. By doing that, the researchers ensure that they get enough good information and that they are able to draw strong conclusions from the collected data and the way in which it is analyzed. Conclusions drawn with too little data are weak, and they are often challenged by other studies. Because that is the case, the study itself can be called into question. With this study, strong conclusions were able to be drawn by the researchers, making the study a more potent force in the war against diabetes.

The human subjects' rights were highly protected, because any information linking them to study results was only known by the researchers (Korkiakangas, 2010). That was very important in this study, because it dealt with health. Patient and health information is generally protected, and even unprotected information can be something that individuals do not want to disclose to the public. With that being the case, those who were involved in the study needed to be assured that their information would not be provided to others in any way that could link it back to them. Diabetes is a serious and important illness to discuss, but it is also something that is highly personal to many people (Balducci, 2010; Smyth & Heron, 2006). How much a person exercises or eats, how much that person weighs, and any other medical conditions he or she may have are issues that have to be carefully considered when it comes to the disclosure of information. It is not surprising that the majority of people prefer to keep that information private, and studies such as this one allow for that while still providing more information regarding how to accurately and appropriately fight diabetes with diet and exercise.