HS 2801 Notes - Qualitative & Quantitative Studies PDF

Week 9 Qualitative studies - Quantitative research uses structured, hypothesis driven approaches to gather data that can be statistically analyzed - Numbers focused - Testing existing hypotheses - Qualitative research - Uses in depth interv...

Week 9 Qualitative studies - Quantitative research uses structured, hypothesis driven approaches to gather data that can be statistically analyzed - Numbers focused - Testing existing hypotheses - Qualitative research - Uses in depth interviews, focus group discussion, participant observation and other unstructured or semi structured methods to explore attitudes and perceptions. Identify themes and pattern - Answer the why and how - Formulate new theories In health studies, qualitative studies aim to: - Improve health promotion programs - Clinical processes (best care plan) - Social change that may improve health - Perception of health and disease - Why they adopt health related behaviours - How they make health related decisions - Phenomena can not be directly measured - Must be careful of the ways researcher’s thoughts, experiences, biases, and assumptio shape the design and interpretation of their research studies Philosophical orientation - Ontology: Nature of reality (extend from realism to relativism; objectivity to subjectivity) - Explain how researcher defines reality and truth - One reality - realism objectivism → multiple realities - relativism and subjectivism - Realism: What medical treatments reduce chronic pain in patients? The focus is on finding treatments that have measurable, objective effects, like medications that lower pain levels.  - Relativism: How do patients define successful pain management? “Success” depends on each person’s perspective and what matters most to them.0 - Epistemology: Nature and definition of knowledge and truth (positivism vs. interpretivism vs. critical theory) - The study of knowledge - Explains how a researcher what is real and true - Positivism (reality can be measured) → constructivism/interpretivism (reality must be created/interpreted) - Positivims: The researcher uses a structured survey to assess the effectiveness of a new pain medication in reducing chronic pain. - Constructivism/interpretivism: The researcher conducts in-depth interviews with a smaller group of individuals who have chronic pain to understand how they perceive and manage their pain. - Methodology: Approach to data collection and analysis - Quantitative: put a value on entities, use of statistics to study relationships, focus on reproducibility and generating evidence - Qualitative: meaning of phenomena, focus on why and how - Axiology: Nature of values - Quantitative study: assumes rigorous procedures can control the impact of values and biases on study outcomes - Qualitative researchers assume that a researcher’s values affect the study - Take time to examine their own backgrounds, beliefs, perspectives, and biases to: Make informed decisions about the methods they use/ their own role in the study/ how to interact with study participants and interpret data - Should align with the foals of the study and the selected theoretical paradigm Theoretical paradigms - Theoretical perspective that inform researchers in their study design, data analysis, and interpretation - Positivism: Researchers have a realist perspective (a single reality)/ reality can be measured/ used in quantitative studies - Constructivism/Interpretivism: Researchers have a relativist perspective (multiple realities)/ understanding how various groups of people interpret reality/ used in qualitative studies Qualitative study designs - Phenomenology - Exploring how individuals interpret and find meaning in their own unique life experience and feelings - Perspective of participants - Methods: In-depth interviews, examining transcripts to identify meanings and themes - Researchers may put aside preconceived ideas about reality in order to be open to new meanings that might be expressed  by participants (Bracketing) - Grounded theory - Inductive reasoning process - Use of observation to develop general theories that explain phenomena - Simultaneous data collection and analysis - No predetermined sampling strat - Data collection until data saturation (reaching the theory) - Ethnography - Systematic study of people and culture in natural environments - An anthropological approach to develop an insider's view of the way members of a sociocultural group understand their world - Use participant observation methods to understand groups collective experiences, values, beliefs and behaviours Case study (diff from case report and series) - Use of multiple data sources to examine and understand one person, group or event in detail - Observations - Interviews - Historic records - Sometime before preparing case report or case series Mixed method studies - Elements of both quantitative and qualitative methods in one single study - Parallel collection of quantitative and qualitative data and the compare the results and interpret them - Sequential collection of data - Some qualitative studie are embedded within quantitative study