Determine Your Research Design

Sample Answer

The utilization of evidence-based practice in nursing has gained significant popularity in the modern world. Its increased use is attributed to the evidence that it results in enhanced outcomes in healthcare such as quality, safety, and efficient use of organizational resources. Due to this, nurses have to be well informed about the different types of research designs that can be used in generating evidence-based data.

Nurses can utilize study designs such as quantitative, qualitative, or mixed study designs to investigate practices that can form part of evidence-based care. However, the research focus influences the study design that will be utilized in conducting evidence-based research. Therefore, this research paper examines the value of the different study designs, why the mixed-methods design is suited to nursing, and the most appropriate research design that is suitable for my study.

The Value of Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Study Designs

Value of Qualitative Study

Qualitative study design refers to an approach to research where the researcher aims at answering questions about why and how a phenomenon is occurring. It operates under the assumption that the reality of the participants in research is socially constructed. This study design has significant value to nursing. One of the benefits of qualitative study designs is that it provides nurses with an understanding of the experiences of their patients. They use this understanding to tailor the care given in their settings to meet the needs of their patients.

The design can also be used to gain an understanding of the needs, behaviors, and predict the effectiveness of interventions in addressing the needs of diverse populations (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). Qualitative studies also provide findings that can be used in the development of standards of care, clinical guidelines, algorithms, appraisal tools, and intervention protocols in healthcare. These tools legitimize nursing practice. The other benefits of qualitative studies include providing recommendations that are used in improving clinical communication practices alongside refining quantitative research (Lützén, 2017).

Value of Quantitative Study Design

Quantitative study design is an approach to research that aims at testing theories developed from qualitative researches. It provides an accurate analysis of a research problem since there is the utilization of numerical data to understand the relationship between variables. The use of quantitative study design is associated with a number of benefits to nursing practice. Firstly, it validates or rejects theories. Theories provide assumptions on the manner in which care should be provided. They provide guidelines that determine quality in healthcare. Quantitative studies can be used to test theories that guide practice.

They are tested to provide insights into the manner in which they promote recovery and wellbeing of the patients. The other benefit of quantitative study design is that it provides nurses with an understanding of the relationship that exist between variables as well as their dynamic structure. The information on the relationship between variables enables nurses to explain the occurrence of observed phenomena in health. The other benefits of quantitative designs include their ability to provide reliable as well as factual information and enabling maximization of successful interventions in nursing practice (Leavy, 2017).

Value of Mixed Methods Design in Nursing

Mixed methods design is another approach to research that combines both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The use of this approach to research is attributed to a number of benefits to nursing. Firstly, it strengthens the depth as well as breadth of nursing research. This is mainly attributed to the fact that it combines the approaches to quantitative and qualitative research. The other benefit of mixed method research is its ability to overcome barriers to nursing research.

The methodology provides nurses with the opportunities to understand the complex experiences of their populations, epidemiology as well as the management of conditions affecting them. Lastly, the use of mixed methods research provides multilevel assessment of a health problem in a population (Oliveira et al., 2018). This can be seen from the use of combined research methods that explores a research issue in its depth to provide information on all the factors that influence the observed behaviors.

Why is Mixed Method Research Suitable to Nursing?

The use of mixed method research is suitable to nursing in a number of ways. Firstly, it provides a better understanding of not only the experiences of individuals but also the realistic factors influencing the experiences. The ability of nurses to provide optimum care is dependent on their ability to understand both the subjective and objective experiences of the patients. This can be achieved with the use of mixed method research, which combines both the qualitative and quantitative approaches to examining an issue.

Mixed method research is also suitable to nursing because it provides nurses with an understanding of the different perspectives that can be used to address issues in healthcare. The perspectives can be achieved in two ways. Firstly, quantitative research illuminates the important aspects on the phenomena under investigation. Qualitative study on the other hand underpins the development of hypotheses that will guide the investigation of the phenomena.

These methods provide nurses with diverse perspectives on the issue under investigation when mixed method research is used. Lastly, mixed method research is suitable to nursing due to its ability to solve complexity of research questions in healthcare. The combined approaches in this method make it easy to investigate clinical research questions that cannot be addressed using either qualitative or quantitative method alone (Bressan et al., 2017).

Research Method Appropriate for my Topic

Quantitative research design is the most effective for my proposed topic. The approach to investigating the topic will be based on deductive reasoning rather than inductive reasoning. It will be guided by hypothesis that will be proved at the end of the study. Quantitative approach is appropriate to the topic because of its objective nature. The aim of the intervention will be to determine the objective effects of the intervention. This will aid in determination of the effectiveness of the intervention.

The topic also operates on pre-developed theory that non-pharmacological methods are effective in managing pediatric pain. As a result, quantitative approach is effective for the topic to test this theory. The method is also effective for the topic because the data will be obtained in the form of numbers. The numbers will be analyzed using quantitative methods of research, hence, the suitability of quantitative design (Leavy, 2017). Therefore, it is expected that the adoption of the quantitative method will enable the acquisition of objective data on the effectiveness of the intervention.

Conclusion

In summary, research is an important part of evidence-based practice. Different methods of research can be used to investigate health issues. They include quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research designs. Mixed methods research is recognized to be the most suitable to nursing due to its rigor and combined use of both quantitative and qualitative methods. However, quantitative design will be utilized in investigating the proposed topic for my project.

References

• Bressan, V., Bagnasco, A., Aleo, G., Timmins, F., Barisone, M., Bianchi, M., … & Sasso, L. (2017). Mixed‐methods research in nursing–a critical review. Journal of clinical nursing, 26(19-20), 2878-2890.
• Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications.
• Leavy, P. (2017). Research design Quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, arts-based, and community-based participatory research approaches. Guilford Publications.
• Lützén, K. (2017). The value of qualitative methods in prioritised healthcare research.
• Oliveira, J. L. C. D., Magalhães, A. M. M. D., & MisueMatsuda, L. (2018). Métodos mistos na pesquisa em enfermagem possibilidades de aplicação à luz de Creswell. Texto & Contexto-Enfermagem, 27(2).