NURS 6052: Essentials of Evidence-Based PracticeFrank BashumikaWalden UniversityApril 10, 2019Week 7 ” Initial Discussion Post Qualitative Research DesignsQualitative research has been defined as an in-depth naturalistic examination of social phenomena (Sherman and Webb, 1988). According to Ely et al (1991), qualitative’ implies a direct concern with experience as it is lived’ or felt’ or undergone’ Qualitative research, then, has the aim of understanding experience as nearly as possible as its participants fee it or live it. The qualitative research directly focuses on peoples’ experiences in their day to day lives.
Several qualitative research study designs exist: grounded theory, ethnographic, narrative or descriptive, historical, case studies, and phenomenology.Qualitative and mixed methods research, although low on evidence, provides useful insights into healthcare issues and questions as it generates rich information and data that may not be possible to get from a pure quantitative study (Laureate, Producer, 2012l). This discussion will analyze a published research study that was conducted with one of these qualitative research study designs. Selected ArticleCrane, S.
, Haase, J.E., and Hickman, S.E. (2018). Parental experiences of child participation in a phase I pediatric oncology clinical trial: We don’t have time to waste. Qualitative Health Research Journal, 29(5): 632-644. Content SummaryConducted in the Midwest United States between March and December 2016, the study involved a sample of 12 participants, parents of children with cancer who had participated in PITs. The sample size was not pre-determined but was deliberately allowed to go on until data analysis yielded thematic redundancy, or what Dr. Kristen Mauk refers to in this week’s media as data saturation ” when participants keep saying the same thing over and over again (Laureate, Producer, 2012l). This was typical of phenomenological studies (Crane, Haase, and Hickman, 2018; Polit & Beck, 2017). Sampling, however, deliberately included both the parents who had had positive and those who had had negative PIT outcomes. After a pilot interview with one parent, the main study was undertaken involving parents who were recruited from two pediatric academic centers in Midwest US and parents who were recruited from national childhood cancer support and advocacy groups. The study was carried out mainly through phenomenological interviews with open-ended questions that provided clear, rich, and description of participants’ experiences (Crane, Haase, and Hickman, 2018). Interviews were audio-recorded and professionally transcribed. Follow-up calls were made to participants after which the participants completed a demographic form electronically. The data were qualitatively analyzed with some statistical presentation. The study found that participants were mainly concerned about time as their child underwent PIT; they did not have time to waste. It was found that PIT participation fostered parents’ hope against their children’s cancer even though parents were realistic in their expectations of direct benefits from PIT participation. Only one of the participants had a negative perspective of the PIT. Parents did not regret their child’s participation in PIT and would be willing to encourage other parents to consent to their cancer-stricken child’s participation in PITs. PIT researchers and pediatric oncologists would find the study findings encouraging. The study was limited by the lack of racial, ethnic, social, and gender diversity.Qualitative Research Design UsedThe qualitative research design used in the study under discussion is descriptive phenomenology as the study was aimed at describing the meaning of experiences lived by parents of children with cancer who had undergone phase I clinical trials (P1Ts). Appropriateness of the DesignPhenomenology design was appropriate for the study under consideration because the design is best suited to a study that requires information directly from subjects who are living or experiencing the phenomenon under investigation (Padilla-Daz, 2015). How Ethical Issues in the Study were AddressedOn the question of whether it is ethical for children to be subjected to PITs, the researchers felt that experiences of participants in the trials should be understood even as they acknowledged that no studies had been done on PIT consenting in children.Parents whose children had died within 60 days were excluded.Parents had to be above 18 years of age and had the capacity to consent to their participation in the study.The institutional research board approved the study prior to screening and enrolling subjects.Experienced pediatric oncology clinical research professionals were involved in recounting participants.How Study would have been Different with a Quantitative DesignThe difference between quantitative and qualitative is that numeric data is the focus in the former and a deeper understanding and description of subjects’ experiences is the key focus of the latter (Cleland and Durning, 2015). If the quantitative design were used, the collection of data would have been through structured questionnaires as opposed to semi-structured interviews. The study would have generated numeric data which would have been analyzed statistically rather than thematically. ReferencesCleland, J.A. & Durning, S.J. (2015). Researching medical education. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.Crane, S., Haase, J.E., and Hickman, S.E. (2018). Parental experiences of child participation in a phase I pediatric oncology clinical trial: We don’t have time to waste. Qualitative Health Research Journal, 29(5): 632-644. M., Anzul, M., Friedman, T., Garner, D., and Steinmetz, A.M. (1991). Doing Qualitative Research: Circles within Circles, London, FalmerLaureate Education (Producer). (2012l). Qualitative and mixed methods research designs. Baltimore, MD: Author.Polit, D.F. & Beck, C.T. (2017). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (10th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.Sherman, R.R., and Webb, R.B. (1988). Qualitative Research In Education: Focus and Methods (Explorations in Ethnography). RoutledgePadilla-Daz, M. (2015). Phenomenology in educational qualitative research: Philosophy as science or philosophical science? International Journal of Educational Excellence. 1(2): 101-110. Accessed on April 9, 2019, at HYPERLINK “