Quantitative and Qualitative Nursing Research
Research in nursing is just similar to any other type of research in other fields. The typical examples of research include qualitative and quantitative research methods. These two research methods differ in the purpose and data analysis methods (Grove, & Gray, 2018). Both research methods aim to identify answers to hypothetical questions in a bid to find solutions to problems and situations which are inherent in healthcare.
The purpose of the qualitative research method is to describe a problem or situation from the participant’s point of view (Rutberg & Bouikidis, 2018). Often it is based on subjective data—quantitative methods of analysis aim at finding objective answers to problems and situations. The research is based on statistics and numbers which can be referenced. Quantitative methods identify cause and effects relationships between data sets, while qualitative methods identify the link between different opinions by trusted researchers and other scholarly literal sources.
Data analysis for qualitative methods uses inductive reasoning, while quantitative methods use deductive reasoning (Salvador, 2016). This means that qualitative methods use a wide range of information to conclude something while quantitative uses a hypothesis or a research question to reach a logical condition (Fain, 2017). The numerical data collected in quantitative research methods is analyzed through measures search as standard deviation, variance p-tests, and t-tests. In contrast, the qualitative research method would depend on consensus from the opinions of people.
An example of a research question for quantitative methods includes crossing legs on the blood pressure of an individual when measured. An example of a research question for qualitative research would be: How does hope influence women with advanced ovarian cancer? The quantitative research question may have a hypothesis which states that crossing legs increase blood pressure.
References
Fain, J. A. (2017). Reading, understanding, and applying nursing research. FA Davis.
Grove, S. K., & Gray, J. R. (2018). Understanding Nursing Research E-Book: Building an Evidence-Based Practice. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Rutberg, S., & Bouikidis, C. D. (2018). Focusing on the fundamentals: A simplistic differentiation between qualitative and quantitative research. Nephrology Nursing Journal, 45(2), 209-213.
Salvador, J. T. (2016). Exploring quantitative and qualitative methodologies: A guide to novice nursing researchers. European Scientific Journal, 12(18).