Descriptive: Qualitative Research and Participants
CHAPTER 3
Research design and methodology
3.1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter covers the research design and methodology, including sampling, population, establishing rigour during and after data collection, ethical considerations and data analysis. 3.2
RESEARCH DESIGN
Burns and Grove (2003:195) define a research design as “a blueprint for conducting a study with maximum control over factors that may interfere with the validity of the findings”.
Parahoo (1997:142) describes a research design as “a plan that describes how, when and where data are to be collected and analysed”. Polit et al (2001:167) define a research design as “the researcher’s overall for answering the research question or testing the research hypothesis”.
This study focuses on the opinion of nurses on pain in patients that suffer from dementia.
The research approach is non-experimental, qualitative, exploratory-descriptive and contextual. 3.2.1 Non-experimental research
According to Polit et al (2001:178), non-experimental research is used in studies whose purpose is description and where it is unethical to manipulate the independent variable.
Non-experimental research is suitable for the study of people in nursing for several reasons. First, due to ethical considerations manipulation of the human variable is not acceptable because of the potential for physical or mental harm to the participants.
Secondly, human characteristics are inherently not subject to experimental manipulation,
51
such as health beliefs and opinions. Thirdly, research constraints such as time, personnel and the type of participants, make non-experimental research more feasible. Lastly, qualitative studies do not interfere with the natural behaviour of participants being studied; the type of research question would not be appropriate for an experimental research (Polit et al 2001:178). In this study data were collected without introducing any treatment.
3.2.2 Qualitative
Research design and methodology
3.1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter covers the research design and methodology, including sampling, population, establishing rigour during and after data collection, ethical considerations and data analysis. 3.2
RESEARCH DESIGN
Burns and Grove (2003:195) define a research design as “a blueprint for conducting a study with maximum control over factors that may interfere with the validity of the findings”.
Parahoo (1997:142) describes a research design as “a plan that describes how, when and where data are to be collected and analysed”. Polit et al (2001:167) define a research design as “the researcher’s overall for answering the research question or testing the research hypothesis”.
This study focuses on the opinion of nurses on pain in patients that suffer from dementia.
The research approach is non-experimental, qualitative, exploratory-descriptive and contextual. 3.2.1 Non-experimental research
According to Polit et al (2001:178), non-experimental research is used in studies whose purpose is description and where it is unethical to manipulate the independent variable.
Non-experimental research is suitable for the study of people in nursing for several reasons. First, due to ethical considerations manipulation of the human variable is not acceptable because of the potential for physical or mental harm to the participants.
Secondly, human characteristics are inherently not subject to experimental manipulation,
51
such as health beliefs and opinions. Thirdly, research constraints such as time, personnel and the type of participants, make non-experimental research more feasible. Lastly, qualitative studies do not interfere with the natural behaviour of participants being studied; the type of research question would not be appropriate for an experimental research (Polit et al 2001:178). In this study data were collected without introducing any treatment.
3.2.2 Qualitative