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Module 2

The document outlines the components and considerations of quantitative research design, including study design, classifications, and critiquing methods. It details experimental, quasi-experimental, and nonexperimental designs, along with sampling strategies and measurement techniques. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of data collection, analysis, and the validity of research findings.

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Carley Smith
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4 views9 pages

Module 2

The document outlines the components and considerations of quantitative research design, including study design, classifications, and critiquing methods. It details experimental, quasi-experimental, and nonexperimental designs, along with sampling strategies and measurement techniques. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of data collection, analysis, and the validity of research findings.

Uploaded by

Carley Smith
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Quantitative Research Design

Study design
 Provides a plan for answering the research question
 Includes plan for study setting, participant selection, study procedures, variable measurement, data
collection, data management, data analysis

Considerations
 Intervention
 Comparisons
 Potential confounding variables (other variables that could be the explanation for what you are
finding; if so, can you control them?)
o Controlling study context
o Controlling participant factors (randomization, homogeneity, matching, statistical control)
 Blinding
 Data collection times –
o Cross-sectional (all at one time)
o Longitudinal (longer, change over time)
 Relative timing – prospective vs retrospective
 Location

Classifications
 Experimental
 Quasi-experimental
 Nonexperimental

Experimental designs
 Requirements:
o Intervention
o Control
o Randomization
 Experimental group
 Control group
 Examples:

 Advantages
o Testing cause-and-effect relationships
 Disadvantages
o Control vs practical significance
o Generalizability
o Need to randomize participants

Quasi-experimental designs
 Requirements:
o Intervention
o Control
 Examples:

 Advantages
o Practical
o More acceptable to participants
o Can use when it’s unethical to randomize participants
 Disadvantages
o More difficult to make causal inferences

Nonexperimental designs
 Requirements:
o None
 Types:
o Correlation studies - Study relationships between variables that are not manipulated;
correlation does not prove causation
 Cohort design
 Prognosis or etiology questions
 Start with exposures and follow over time to see what outcome is
 Case-control design
 Look at past to see what exposures were
o Descriptive studies – Observe, describe, and document a phenomenon
 Advantages
o Very practical
o Efficient way to collect large amounts of data
 Disadvantages
o Cannot make causal inferences
o Self-selection

Critiquing a quantitative study design


 Does the design match the research question/hypothesis?
 What are the strengths of the design?
 What are the limitations of the design?
 Validity:
o Statistical conclusion validity
 Low power
 High attrition
o External validity
 Can the study be practiced in real life?
 Plan, scope, etc.
o Construct validity
 Intervention and context – are these appropriate for study?
o Internal validity
 Did IV really cause DV?
 Threats to internal validity
 Temporal ambiguity: Can we say one variable really happened first?
 Selection
 History: Did something happen in the world that count impact your
outcome?
 Maturation: Things that happen organically over time
 Mortality/attrition: Loss, more people in one group than the next, etc.

Sample and setting


Sampling plan
 Population
o Target (entire group)
o Accessible (portion that you have access to study)
 Sample (Smaller subset of accessible)
 Nonprobability (Not random)
 Convenience sampling
 Easy, might not be fully representative
 Quota sampling
 Enroll a # of people, and ensure you enroll enough and
picking number of people for each group
 Consecutive sampling
 Enroll based from order
 Purposive sampling
 Hand selection of appropriate patients
 Probability (Random sampling)
 Simple probability sampling
 Have a list, randomly pick numbers
 Stratified probability sampling
 Subgroups, pick randomly
 Systematic sampling
 List of everyone, pick every 5th person on the list, etc.

Sample size
 Power – How many subjects are needed for research
o Sample size
o Attrition – Loss of people
Setting
 Laboratory vs real setting

Critiquing a quantitative sample & setting


 Is there a clear description of the sampling strategy provided?
 Is this a representative sample?
 Is there an appropriate number of subjects?
 Is there a clear description of the setting?
 Is the setting representative of where care would be provided?

Measurement & Data Collection


Measurement of variables
 Levels of measurement –
o Nominal: NO ranking or ordering
 Ex: Race, yes/no, gender, religion, political party, hair color
o Ordinal: Orders/range *the order is more important than the number
 Cannot say the things are equal size between each other
 Ex:
 Grades: A, B, C, D, F
 Pain scale: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
 Good, fair, poor
 Strongly agree, agree, disagree
o Interval/ratio: Can take on any number within a range
 Ex:
 Length, weight
 Reliability – Consistency that an instrument measures
o Stability: Similar results on separate occasions
o Internal consistency: Crohn Bacs Alpha
o Equivalence: Interrater reliability
 Validity – Degree to which instrument measures what it is supposed to be measuring
o Face validity: Does the instrument make sense?
o Content validity: Is tool fulling encompassing
o Criterion-related validity: Does score on tool relate to external criteria
o Construct validity: Can tool differentiate between groups?

Data collection
 Existing records vs original data
o Pros: Easier, can look back in charts
o Cons: Can’t add additional information (documentation, variable, etc.)
 Original data
o Self-report
 Interviews (get more data most likely) vs questionnaires (good for sensitive topics)
 Open-ended vs close-ended
 Investigator developed vs validated tools
o Observation
 Categories
 Rating scales
 Observational sampling
o Biophysiological measures
 In vivo: In a living person (BP, SpO2)
 In vitro: Removed from person and tested later (blood work)

Critiquing a quantitative measurement & data collection plan


 Can I trust the data?
 Does the data accurately and validly reflect the variables under study?
 Is the reliability and validity of measures reported?
 Is there a clear description of the data collection procedures provided?
 Was the best method of data collection used?
 Were efforts made to enhance the data quality?

Quantitative Research – Data Analysis


Descriptive statistics
Xample: Please check the box representing your income:
 High (>$100,000/year)
 Medium ($30,000 - $100,000/year)
 Low (<$30,000/year)
Frequency distributions:

Measures of central tendency:

Variable data:

Inferential statistics
 Hypothesis testing
o Develop null and research hypotheses
o Choose a level of significance
o Determine which statistical test is appropriate
 What is the research question/hypothesis?
 Identify the independent and dependent variables
 Identify what levels of measurement the variables were measured
 Identify whether a parametric or non-parametric analysis is appropriate
o Run analysis to obtain test static and p value
o Make decision about whether to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis
o Make a conclusion

Critiquing quantitative data analysis


 Can I trust the results?
 Does the analysis make sense considering the variables measured?
 Are there multiple comparisons?
 What is the statistical significance of the findings?
 What is the clinical significance of the findings?

Literature Synthesis Project Example


Picot question
Among children with central lines (p), does receiving a daily bath with chlorhexidine (I), as compared to
receiving a daily bath with soap and water (c), affect rates of clabsis (o) during an inpatient admission (t)?

Step #3 of EBP Critically appraise the evidence


Cincinnati Children’s.org -> evidence
James M Anderson Center of HS excellence: The Legend’s System

1. What time of question is my picot?


2. Pick what each article is
3. Review the sheet and rate the article

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