Nursing Research I Lecture BSN 3-3: Qualitative Research and Pragmatic Approach

Research Approaches

• Qualitative research: gains insights into attitudes, beliefs, motivations, and behaviors to explore a social or human problem
• Pragmatic approach: combines quantitative and qualitative methods, recognizing their limitations and complementarity
• Quantitative research: positivist paradigm, tests hypotheses with measurable data
• Qualitative research: naturalistic paradigm, observes phenomena in natural environments

Conceptual Framework

• A framework based on multiple theories, crafted to study specific variables
• Conceptual definition: defines variables based on another author's definition
• Operational definition: defines variables based on their use in the study

Models and Frameworks

• Conceptual framework: shows relationships between independent and dependent variables
• Structural model: uses figures to represent relationships
• Verbal model: uses narrative descriptions of relationships
• Input-Process-Output model: shows how inputs lead to outputs

Hypothesis and Statement of the Problem

• A hypothesis is an educated guess predicting the relationship between variables
• It should generate the statement of the problem
• Types of statement of the problem: factor-isolating, descriptive, and comparative

Biases and Deception

• Full disclosure can lead to two biases: subjects providing inaccurate information (Hawthorne effect) and non-representative sample recruitment
• Covert data collection and benevolent deception can mitigate these biases
• Blinded and double-blinded experiments can reduce biases

Characteristics of Effective Titles

• Indicate the subject and scope of the study accurately
• Avoid abbreviations and create a positive impression
• Reflect the statement of the problem and scope of the study
• Identify key variables and suggest relationships between them