Quantitative Research Designs: Dr. Kristen Mauk – Quantitative research for evidence-based practice

Quantitative Research Designs: Dr. Kristen Mauk – Quantitative research for evidence-based practice

Discussion: Quantitative Research Designs

In order to find the best information on a topic, not only should you develop a question and search for resources, but you should also know how to analyze the value of the resources that you identify. There are different ways to evaluate resources, such as using the hierarchy of evidence, which you explored in Week 4 of this course. Another way to evaluate resources is to consider the appropriateness of the research design. Understanding how research designs contribute to the quality of a study is essential for being able to analyze resources when conducting a literature review or locating evidence for practice.

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In this Discussion, you consider the different research designs and evaluate how these designs have been used to research a specific topic. You also consider strategies for selecting an appropriate research design.

To prepare:

Review the information in the course texton quantitative research designs. Focus on the information in Box 9.1, “Guidelines for Critiquing Research Designs in Quantitative Studies” located on page 210 of the course text.

Select a topic from the list below and search the Walden Library to find two different quantitative research studies addressing that issue:

Caregiver stress

Anxiety in children

Sleep apnea

Depression in college freshmen

Rural health care issues

Post-traumatic stress syndrome

Traumatic brain injury in veterans

Health effects of environmental contaminants

Bipolar disorder

End-of-life ethical issues

Alternative medicine

For each of the sources that you select, identify the type of quantitative research design used, and evaluate whether it is the most appropriate approach to the research. Quantitative Research Designs: Dr. Kristen Mauk – Quantitative research for evidence-based practice

Consider the ramifications of choosing an inappropriate design for a research study.

By Day 3

Post the topic you selected, references for the two sources you identified, and the quantitative research design used in each. Critique the appropriateness of the design used and justify your comments with information from the Learning Resources. Discuss the ramifications of choosing an inappropriate design for a research study.

Required Readings

Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2017). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (10th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer. Quantitative Research Designs: Dr. Kristen Mauk – Quantitative research for evidence-based practice

Chapter 8, “Planning a Nursing Study”

This chapter focuses on the necessary steps for planning a research study. It describes different research designs and their key features and discusses how to plan for data collection.

Chapter 9, “Quantitative Research Design”

This chapter explores quantitative research in greater depth including the importance of experimental design and the role of randomization in conducting research. The chapter also describes quasi-experimental design and observational research. Quantitative Research Designs: Dr. Kristen Mauk – Quantitative research for evidence-based practice

Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2012m). Quantitative research for evidence-based practice. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 5 minutes.

In this video, Dr. Kristen Mauk explains specific quantitative research designs, methods, and considerations related to her Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) project. She discusses how she developed her research design and how she used sound quantitative research methods throughout her project.

 

Quantitative Research for Evidence-Based Practice Program Transcript

NARRATOR: Quantitative research includes any study or project that involves

the use of numerical data or information that can be described using numbers.

But having an effective research design is critical for the validity and success of

all quantitative research ventures. In this video, Doctor Kristen Mauk speaks

about the design of her DNP project, which explored the effect of education on

new nurses in a rehabilitation unit.

Doctor Mauk’s project can be considered a quantitative study, because it

involved comparing the numerical results from tests that nurses completed

before and after receiving educational materials, and then performing statistical

tests to check for significance in the findings.

KRISTEN MAUK, PHD: I found a unit that was nearby, and they had opened a

brand new rehab unit. And I collaborated with the nurse manager to see what

would be the best methods for them to learn. And she said that her rehab staff

didn’t really have a lot of training specifically in rehab. They were experienced,

wonderful nurses, but they were opening a new unit.

Well, my background was rehab, and I decided, ooh, well here was a good

problem. Would education make a difference in their knowledge about

rehabilitation? So that was my question. I designed, in collaboration with the

nurse manager and the administration and using all those techniques about

being a change agent, and communication, and people skills, we designed a

project that fit that unit.

So first I went to the literature and found that, yes, knowledge makes a

difference. If you’re educating nurses, yes, they will– if you give them education,

that will result in better knowledge. So I designed a pre- and post-test using a

tool that was already in existence to measure rehab knowledge. And I took 15

basic competencies of rehabilitation as set forth by the Association of

Rehabilitation Nurses. Quantitative Research Designs: Dr. Kristen Mauk – Quantitative research for evidence-based practice