2. Phases in Quantitative Research
I. The Conceptual Phase
II. The Design and Planning Phase
III. The Empherical Phase
IV. The Analytic phase
V. The Dissemination Phase
3. I. The Conceptual Phase: Step 1: Developing A Research Problem
Good research depends a great deal on good questions.
Most skillfully designed research product is of little value, without a significant or
interesting problem,
The qualitative researchers generally proceed from one broad topic of area of
interest to development of specific questions. Deductive thinking
Questions to be considered when selecting a research problem.
Substantive dimension...Is this research question of theoretical or clinical
significance?
Methodological dimensions...Can this question best be studied?
Practical dimensions…Are they adequate resources available to conduct this
study?
Ethical dimension. Can this question be studied in a manner consistent with the
guidelines for the protection of the Subjects?
4. Developing and Refining of a Research Problem
1. SELECTING A TOPIC
Research problems are usually developed on the basis of
a theory
an explicit suggestions from external source (VAP) / an expert
a felt need (BPP)
a question raised during clinical experience (Babies born with MSL→MAS)
passionately want an answer
something you read about in a journal
Selecting a topic depends on curiosity, imagination, insight and genuinty.
The actual process for developing the research topic is very difficult
Jolt down general areas of interest that comes to mind. E.g. Pain among
cancer patients, hospitalized children, birth preparedness, post partum
depression, etc.
5. 2. NARROWING THE TOPIC
Begin to ask questions to lead to a researchable problem
What is going on with?
what can be done to solve?
What influences?
What are the characteristics associated with?
What is the relationship between?
What factors contribute to?
3. EVALUATING RESEARCH PROBLEMS
There are no fixed rules to make final selection of research problems
Criteria to be kept in mind
3a. Significance of the problem
Does it generate new information ?
Is it an important one?
Will the result lead to any practical applications?
Will the result have any relevance?
Will the results of the findings links alter or formulate any nursing practices or policies?
6. 3b. Researchability of the problem
Not all problems can be investigated.
Eg. whether nurses should join unions
What are the nurses attitudes towards unionization?
Do young nurses hold more favorable opinions of the unions then older nurses ?
3c. Feasibility of addressing the problem
A problem that is both significant and researchable may still be inappropriate if
it is not feasible.
Feasibility depends on
Time and timing.
Availability of study participants.
7. Administrative clearances/Support
Ethical clearance
Required permissions of parents and guardians, or institutions
Facilities and equipment.
Money
Experience of the researcher
Ethical considerations
Criteria for Good Research Problem
the “FINER” criteria [ Hulley et al. 2007]
F – Feasible
I – Interesting
N – Novel
E – Ethical
R – Relevant
8. 4. FORMULATING FINAL STATEMENT
Declarative format.
Eg. A descriptive study on prevalence of Anemia among teenage girls studying in
Government Residential Schools of Telangana .
Interrogative format.
Eg. What is the influence of the level of hemoglobin on pin site infection among patients with
external skeletal fixators admitted in orthopedic wards of AIIMS, New Delhi?
9. Components or Framework
PICOT (Richardson et al 1995)
P- Population of the Study
I- Intervention
C- Comparison of Interest
O- The Outcome desired
T- Timeframe involved
Is there evidence that suggests gum-chewing postoperatively, compared to not chewing
gum, impacts postoperative ileus among patients recovering from abdominal surgery within
seven days?
10. PEO framework is commonly used in clinical studies (qualitative research questions)
P – population being studied
E – exposure to preexisting conditions
O – outcome of interest
EX: What is the effect of maternal anxiety levels during pregnancy on neurological development
disorders among children aged up to five years?
11. SPIDER: Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, Research type
Lived experience of sleep disturbances, fatigue and Quality of life among patients
undergoing Hemodialysis and the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy on their sleep,
fatigue and Quality of life in selected hospitals, Kerala.
FEATURES OF A PROBLEM STATEMENT
Clear, Precise and concise
States the variables, population and research setting under the study
12. The Conceptual Phase : Step 2: Reviewing the Related Literature
Quantitative research is typically conducted within the co ntext of previous knowledge.
Helps researcher to understand what is already known through a literature review.
LR provides a foundation upon which new knowledge is generally built
Familiarization with previous studies can be useful in suggesting research topics
There are five key steps to writing a literature review:
1. Search for relevant literature
2. Evaluate sources
3. Identify themes, debates, and gaps
4. Outline the structure
5. Write your literature review
13. Sources of literature
Primary Source
Secondary Source
Grey literature
Print sources – Indexes and Abstracts
Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature - CINAHL.
Dissertation Abstracts International -DAI
Masters Abstracts International - MAI
Electronic Sources
Online Catalogues.
Online Library Centre OLC.
Online databases (mega search engines)
internet explorer ,chrome, fire fox ,Web crawler, google scholar, bing
CINAHL databases, Medline call database of systematic reviews,
Online journals
American Nursing Journal, the Nursing Journal of India, Journal of Nursing Administration
14. The Conceptual Phase : Step 3: Defining Theoretical Framework
Theory is the ultimate aim of science.
Because transcends the specifics of the specifics of particular time , place and group of people
Aims to identify regularities in relationship among variables .
theories are useful in generating predictions that can be tested through empharical research.
Studies based on theories have broad significance and utility
Orem Self- care theory. A study to evaluate the usefulness and use of follow-up telehealth
medication counselling among a sample of community-based patients with Parkinson disease
Roy's adaptation a study to assess the quality of life as perceived by lung transplant candidates
and their caregivers.
Neuman’s systems model a study to assess stress in a group of critical care Nurses in Southern
India.
15. The Conceptual Phase : Step 4: Formulating Hypothesis
Hypothesis is a statement of researchers expectations about relationship between variables in the
investigation.
A hypothesis in other words, is prediction of expected outcomes
It states the relationship that the researcher expects to find as a result of this study.
Types
1.Simple VS Complex
People with high-stress levels will be more likely to contract a common cold after being exposed to
the virus than people who have low-stress levels.“
Eg: Pregnant women with higher incidents of emotional disturbance and stressful events during
pregnancy will be more likely to experience PE than women with lower incidents of stress.
2. Null VS Research
There is no statistically significant difference in developing common cold among people with high
or low levels of stress after being exposed been exposed to the virus.
There is a statistically significant difference in developing common cold among people with high
or low levels of stress after being exposed been exposed to the virus.
16. 3. Non directional VS Directional research hypothesis
Non directional research hypothesis There are differences between soap suds
enema and PEG enema solutions in mucosa irritation and subjective
discomfort
Directional research hypothesis There is an increase in mucosal irritation and
subjective discomfort with soap suds enema when compared to PEG enema
solution
Variations – level of significance and measurement tools
Formulation of objectives helps in formulating of Hypotheses
17.
18. II. The Design and the Planning Phase
The second major phase of a quantitative research project
The researcher makes a lot of decisions about methods and makes plans how he or she
actually collects the data.
The nature of the research question actually dictates the methods to be used.
Methodological decisions generally have critical implications for the validity and credibility
of the study findings.
Example observational studies- participant and non participant methods.
Flawed methods used to collect or analyze research data lead to false conclusions that
can not be generalized
19. II. The Design and the Planning Phase:
Step 5 :Selecting the Research Design
The research design is the overall plan for obtaining answers to the questions being studied
Handles some difficulties encountered during the research process.
It is highly structured and has tight controls to eliminate any effects of contamination
Wide variety of research designs are available, but broadly classified as - experimental research
and non experimental research
Eg. Interventional study, bran to one group and prune to an other to evaluate which method
facilitates elimination more effectively?
If researcher compare Elimination patterns of 2 groups whose regular eating patterns differed ...
then study would not involve any intervention.
Experimental – pretest posttest control group, posttest only control group, Solomon 4 group
Quasi experimental – non equivalent control group Time series design
Pre experimental – Pretest post test design, Case study
20. The Design and the Planning Phase :Step 6 : Identify the Population
population refers to aggregate or totality of all the objects, subjects, or members that
confirm to a set of specifications.
The population for the research study has to be during planning phase (to apply the
study findings)
Before selecting actual subjects , to be confident researcher needs to know what
characteristics the study participant should possess
21. The Design and the Planning Phase :Step 7 Specifying methods to
measure research variables
The researcher must develop a method to observe, or mention the research material as
accurately as possible.
carefully define research variables. that is operationally defining them- BPP on PI
select an appropriate method of operationalizing variables that is collection of data.
A variety of quantitative data collection approaches exist
bio physiological measurements.
self reports,
Observation checklists & recording .
Data collection methods are fairly structured and controlled
Involves the use of formal instrument that obtains exactly the same information from every
subject.
Reliability- consistency in measurement
Before Finalizing the data collection plan , the researcher must carefully validate whether the
chosen approach is likely to capture the concepts under the study accurately
22. The Design and the Planning Phase :Step 8: Designing the Sampling
Only a small fraction of population is selected as subjects, as it is more practical. Less costly and
affordable
Fully evaluate whether the chosen approach is likely to capture the concepts under study accurately
The adequacy of this sample criteria is its representativeness of the selected sample
Sampling procedures are designed to ensure that the selected sample has high likelihood of being a
representative
Probability and Non Probability Sampling Techniques
Simple random, Stratified Random, cluster or Systematic sampling techniques
Convenience, Purposive, Snow Ball Quota sampling techniques
When we are writing down our proposals , it is usually mandatory now for us to write sampling plans
The risk of selecting a sample is that it might not adequately reflect the behavior traits, symptoms or
beliefs of the population.
23. The Design and the Planning Phase :
Step 9 Finalizing and Reviewing the Research Plan.
The research plans reviewed by several individuals or groups before proceeding with the
actual implementation of the plan
Especially when the researcher is seeking financial support to conduct the study.
A formal proposal is made and it is usually got approved by committees (Grant, Ethical,
Research).
24. The Design And The Planning Phase :
Step10: Conducting The Pilot Study and Making Revisions
This is a very important and critical part of the study.
The objective of the pilot study is to recognize our identify any weaknesses or
inadequacies in the actual study.
This is launching into the actual study.
The researcher will know whether the technical equipment is functioning
if the questionnaires were used, whether the respondents are able to understand the
directions if there are any objectionable questions.
Ask the study participants regarding any concerns or reactions or impressions
about the project.
Once a pilot study is done, data is test
The final changes are incorporated and now the study is ready to be launched
26. Phases in Qualitative Research
1. Conceptualizing and planning
Begins with broad topic or area of interest that would be stated
This is usually an area or a topic that is not known very well
The topic is narrowed down based on self-reflection and discussion with colleagues.
Followed by literature review (usually done to no viewpoints rather than to know the information
itself).
This is followed by identification of the population, the setting.
2. Conducting the Qualitative study
The study design is selected (emergent design)
Various designs in qualitative research phenomenological studies - Ethenographic studies grounded
theory studies, historical studies
Sampling design are based on the data - type and size ( saturation point)
Pilot study Followed by data collection.
3. Analysis and Interpretation
ongoing, themes and categories are identified to build a descriptive theory of phenomenon
4. Disseminating the findings
28. References
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2021). Nursing research: generating and assessing
evidence for nursing practice. Eleventh edition. Philadelphia, Wolters Kluwer.
Nieswiadomy, R. M., & Bailey, C. (2016). Foundations of nursing research (7th
ed.). Pearson.
Pity koul, (2022).Textbook of Nursing research and Statistics, Jaypee brothers.
Hulley S.B et al (2013). Designing clinical Research, 4th edition, Wolter Kluwer
Sharma S.K (2020). Nursing research and statistics, 3rd edition, Elsever,
