Good Essay On Qualitative Methods In Health Research

In the case of an investigation of depression in adolescents using qualitative research method, the method would investigate the situation using an exploratory approach. Here, the study would formulate a hypothesis that is broad and looks at the whole picture. In this case, the hypothesis for the adolescents suffering from depression and the different aspects of experience would be wide to enable all the possibilities to be identified during data collection and analysis. The study would also focus on the whole picture when it comes to describing different aspects of the study being undertaken. The study would strive to provide a detailed and complete description of depression among adolescents and the different aspects of their experience. The qualitative method would also be exploratory in that it works with all the possible aspects of the findings and does not want to come to a conclusive finding (Marvasti, 2004).
On the other hand, the quantitative approach would focus on counting features and classifying them into statistical models that can explain what the researcher observes during the entire study. In this case, the researcher would investigate the topic by developing a narrow hypothesis that only encompasses the specific aspects of depression in adolescents that he or she wants to address. The study will be focused on specific aspects of depression and not on the whole picture as can be the case in a qualitative study. The study focus for a quantitative research method will be on a number of aspects and not merely a study of depression among young persons. The study can, therefore, be on adolescents from a particular ethnic group like African Americans or Hispanics. It focuses on a specific aspect of the population and not the whole group. The investigation will be done with the aim of finding conclusive results that will attempt to explain a particular aspect under research. It does not pave way for future possibilities, but aims at coming up with a conclusive investigation that provides scientifically backed information to justify a certain behavior in the adolescents with depression.

Research questions

The research questions in the case of qualitative method would focus on the asking questions on why adolescents behave in a certain manner when they have depression. Therefore, the questions in qualitative studies would focus on explaining why adolescents behave in a certain way and how the different aspects in their lives impacts on their coping abilities. Therefore, the study would take a whole picture approach when designing the questions to ask the participants. It will try to structure questions in a way that will give the participants an opportunity to give responses that will give an understanding of why different aspects of depression affect adolescents and how the different experiences affect them. The questions are not pre-determined. On the other hand, the research questions in a quantitative research study would be focus on obtaining numerical data. Therefore, in this case, it would focus on questions that would help the researcher identify how many adolescents suffer from depression, how many are impacted by certain aspects of depression and how these experiences impact on coping mechanisms employed by each adolescent. The questions will be focused on specific areas of depression in adolescents and not on different aspects that can possibly come up during the survey. It wants to find data on specific aspects of depression in adolescents. The questions asked in a survey for example are pre-determined to give answers to the

Sample recruitment

In regards to sampling, qualitative methods of study will pick only a small number of people to participate in the study. This is because the study takes a lot of time and the researcher has to interact with the participant at one point or the other. Therefore, it is possible that the researcher will want to work with roughly twenty to thirty participants in order to get all the quality data he or she requires in regards to the study. The researcher may also want to ensure that the adolescents participating in the study qualify for the study by checking on some factors that can help him or her understand them and their answers during the research (Legewie & Schervier-Legewie, 2004).
On the other hand, the selection for quantitative research is specific and targets a certain group in a population. This means that during the selection of possible participants in a sample, the researchers look for certain distinguishing aspects in the adolescents that will give them precise answers that the study is looking for. The sampling of participants for a qualitative approach will try to find participants that have the characteristics they are looking for that can shed a light to some of the issue that were identified earlier on in different qualitative studies. . The sample size for quantitative study methods is also broad and will be divided into different groups that will provide data for comparison.

Data collection

In a qualitative research the data collection will be done primarily by the researcher as he or she is the main data collection instrument. Therefore, the data collection employed by most researchers can either be individual interviews, structured and non-structured questions and interviews, use of narratives, documentary analysis, and observation through a participant. Other methods of data collection include; focus groups or research in archived records. In any of these cases, the researcher is in control of data collection and he or she can be subjective during the process. In the case of a research study on adolescents with depression, the researcher can decide to collect data through interviews, document analysis (Miller & Fredericks, 2012). On the other hand, the approach of a researcher using quantitative approach would be to use questionnaires or surveys. He or she can also employ measurements and tools that will facilitate collection of numerical data.

Data analysis

The data collected from qualitative methods are in word form because they mostly arise from interviews and videos that produce videos. The data can also be in form of images. Therefore, during the analysis of data, most of the data will be analyzed in graph forms and figures to reflect on the different data collected during the research. Therefore, it is highly probable that data analysis in the case of qualitative methods will be non-numerical (Miles Huberman 2009). On the other hand quantitative methods of study will focus on numerical analysis of data. Here, the researcher will work with the numbers and statistics that arise during data collection. At the end of the analysis the most of this data will be in different tables showing different results.

Inferences and generalisations

In a qualitative research method, the findings cannot be generalized to the larger population due to the small number of participants and difficulty in using numerical inferences from the data collected. On the other hand, quantitative research methods can be generalized to the larger population.

Grounded theory

Grounded theory comes from inductive data that arises from corpus of data. The main aspect is to do the induction properly to ensure that the theory can fit at least one data set well. In a grounded theory approach, a researcher takes on a case-oriented perspective rather than a variable approach. Therefore, each case id taken as a whole and variables are assumed to interact as independent units interacting in complex ways. A comparative orientation is also part of the case-oriented approach where cases that appear similar in variables but show different outcomes are taken under comparison to determine where the casual difference exists. According to the developer of the grounded theory, Strauss, the success of the grounded theory is on the steps or the process of its construction (Peirce, 2002). The logic of grounded theory is to go through an aspect over and over again by reading and re-reading the data in order to discover labels and their inter-relationships. The first logic of the theory is open coding and it is part of the analysis process of the data. The main aim of open coding is to identify, name, categorize and describe different phenomenon in a text. The process of open coding is to identify nouns, adjective and adverbs and so on. All these will help in developing a general theory from the abstract aspects of the data. It is important to have fairly abstract categories in addition to very concrete ones, as the abstract ones help to generate general theory. The other logic of the theory is axial coding. This entails relating different codes of things like properties to one another by combining both inductive and deductive reasoning. The main purpose is to fit different things into a generic relationship.
Selective coding is the other logic of grounded theory, and entails choosing a category and making it the core category based on the belief that a core concept exists. It finds a common line that can help draw the story forward and outward. The other aspect of the grounded theory is memos that helps one when analyzing documents as they write short noted on corpus data. Process is also important according to Strauss and Corbin. The two state vehemently that paying attention to the process during a research is paramount (Bryant, 2009). The grounded theory is very useful and applicable in a qualitative research as it provides all the necessary steps to guide the researcher during the process of data collection and most importantly data analysis. It is evident in the grounded theory that data analysis in a qualitative research requires a logic approach that will facilitate correct data analysis from the different materials of data collection.

Health professional

My dream since I was a child was to work in the health sector. My dad was a doctor and my mother a nurse. Therefore, since I was a young child, I was exposed to the health sector. I used to with my dad to work and I could see how the patients respected him and depended on his opinion hoping he would miraculously heal them. To the patients coming to the health facility, the doctor was their last hope and the feeling that I could help others feel at least better than they did when coming to the hospital became one of my life long dreams. This was not the only reason for my passion in the health sector. Every day, my mother would come home from hospital tired, but content. As I grew up I asked her why she was always happy yet she spent most of the time with sick patients who needed so much of her time. She used to tell me that she was happy that she could do something to help others who were not well. Through her love and care, she made a difference in the life of a person who was feeling down. She told me that it is important to work in a sector where one can truly feel and appreciate life. During the few times I went to her workplace, I saw how the nurses were always concerned of the well-being of their patients. As a result, I told myself that in future, I would also want to be in a position where I can help a person get back to their feet after being bedridden. It is all about having compassion and a caring heart that gives one a passion to do what most people cannot do.

References

Bryant, A. (2009). Grounded theory and pragmatism: The curious case of Anselm Strauss.
Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 10(3).
Legewie, H., & Schervier-Legewie, B. (2004). Research is hard work, it's always a bit suffering.
Therefore on the other side it should be fun. Anselm Strauss in conversation with Heiner.
Legewie and Barbara Schervier-Legewie. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum:
Qualitative Social Research, 5(3).
Marvasti, A. B. (2004). Qualitative research in sociology. An introduction. London: Sage.
Miller, S. I., & Fredericks, M. (2012). How does grounded theory explain? Qualitative Health
Research, 9, 538-551.
Miles, M., & Huberman, A. (2009). Qualitative Data Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publishers.
Peirce, C. S. (2002). Reasoning and the logic of things (edited by Kenneth Laine Ketner).
Cambridge: Harvard University Press.