Determining the Type of Research Methods to Use

Nursing Discussion Posts Regarding Data Collection and Analysis It is possible to use a word processor to analyze qualitative data (LaPelle, 2004), an idea that is appealing because of the implied simplicity and because it is comparatively inexpensive.

As I understand it, a qualitative data analysis tasks include the following major steps: Coding and retrieving data; inspection of data to prepare for indexing; creating hierarchies of categories by indexing; review and editing of the theme codes; including face sheet data about individual respondents (if interviews or surveys have been used) through demographic coding; relating the demographic data from the face sheets to the conceptual codes; quantifying the frequency of the instances of the codes; and annotating the text or narrative (MacQueen, et al., 1998) The terminology is a bit esoteric, but the process of qualitative data analysis is iterative so it helps me to think of the data as passing through a series of funnels, with divergence and convergence acting as basic processes at each funnel, so to speak.

LaPelle, N.R. (2004). Simplifying qualitative data analysis using general purpose software tools. Boston, MA: University of Massachusetts Medical School. MacQueen, K.E., McLellan, K., Kay, K., and ilstein, B. (1998). Code book development for team-based qualitative analysis. CAM Journal, 10, 31-36. Regarding Phenomenological Research Some authors seem determined to make qualitative data fit into a quantitative box. Often this is because their research focuses on using quantitative analysis on the qualitative data, such as responses to structured surveys.

But I think this can miss the point of why qualitative research approaches are used and what the outcomes provide. Phenomenological research studies the first person experiences of individuals and the meanings that they attribute to those experiences (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). In their seminal work, qualitative researchers spoke about "thick, rich description" to address the importance of the individual narrative or account (Glasser & Strauss, 1967). When the responses of individuals participating in a qualitative research study are reduced to numbers, there is potential to lose a substantive body of information.

Glaser, B., and Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago, IL: Aldine. Lincoln, Y.S., and Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sag Regarding Dissertation Research Method The process of determining who will participate in a research study generally involves a cascading process that engages at several coalescing steps (Kotler, 2003). The products at each of these steps include: a sampling plan, sampling unit, sampling frame, and sample.

Collectively, all the processes and steps that are involved in identifying and obtaining a sample are known as the sampling plan. From the sampling plan, the researcher identifies a sample unit, which is essentially the group of potential research participants or respondents from which the.