Research design selection for three epidemiological and behavioral questions

¶ … alcohol and breast cancer?

Identify an appropriate research design

The fitting research design selected for this research question is the cohort design.

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the design

One of the strengths of the design is that enables the researcher to calculate the incidence of the disease being studied in exposure groups. In addition, the design enables the researcher to know the temporal series between exposure and consequence. One of the downsides of this research design is that it can be very costly and time consuming. Another downside is that it might necessitate the researcher to follow the state of several numbers of participants for a lengthy period of time. One other downside of the design is that it may be hard to ascertain a fitting exposed cohort and a fitting comparison group.

Provide a rationale for the design you selected

The rationale for this chosen design is that it is more often than not employed in medical sciences, such as this case. In general, the study encompasses one that is piloted over a period of time consisting of members of a population which the subject comes from and who are pooled by some commonality (Healy and Devane, 2011).

Question 2: What is the difference between self-efficacy scores in older adults who exercise and the scores of those who do not?

i. Identify an appropriate research design

The fitting research design selected for this research question is the case study design.

ii. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the design

One of the main benefits of this design is that it develops new theories, more so concerning psychological phenomena such as this case. In addition, this can be undertaken through pilot research or by undertaking case studies on their own. One other benefit of this research study is that it challenges customary theories. This enables the researcher to ditch the traditional way of thinking and come up with new and innovative theories. The downsides to it however is that it can be very time consuming and also costly to undertake this research design (Anastas, 1999).

ii. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the design

One of the benefits of this design is that an observational study permits a beneficial perception into a phenomenon and evades the moral and practical problems of setting up an enormous and awkward research project. The downside towards this is that since the participants are aware that they are being observed, they might choose to display false behavior or attitudes in this case (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994).

iii. Provide a rationale for the design you selected

The main rationale for selecting this research design is that it is usually flexible and does not necessarily have to be centered around a certain hypothesis. In addition, the researcher will be able to ascertain the behavior or attitude of the participants in an in-depth or comprehensive manner (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994).