Research plays a critical role in the scientific world, discovering and describing various phenomena, events, causal relationships, thereby promoting the resolution of numerous issues. It can be applied in many industries, especially healthcare, education, psychology, social science, marketing, and business overall. Nevertheless, depending on a research question, scholars use different research designs, including interviews, surveys, cross-sectional, or quasi-experimental studies, to collect and examine data related to the target topic. This paper concerns the following question: What actions intercept individuals from engrossing in suicidal behavior? The chosen research type that is suitable for the given question is qualitative research.
The Main Steps in Qualitative Research
A research method is an integral part of the study, containing procedures and techniques for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to gain in-depth insight into a particular topic. When examining data, qualitative research aims at gathering and investigating information about meanings, lived experiences, behavior, and social phenomena and interactions (“Research methods,” 2020). In particular, this type of research is beneficial in understanding how and why phenomena or events occur and explaining necessary actions.
The first step in qualitative research is to define a pertinent and clear question or, in other words, what to study. The second step can be an overview of existing literature to obtain a better understanding of the research topic and its critical aspects (Sauro, 2013). In the third stage, researchers should select the design of the study, including participants, the sample size, the research method. In qualitative research, the method can comprise interviews, surveys, contextual inquiries, observations, focused groups, phenomenology, and others. The fourth step is directed at collecting and analyzing data using one of the research approaches. Analyzing data usually assumes coding related themes, ideas, and concepts and conducting content analysis. The fifth stage includes synthesizing, generating, validating findings from employed research. The final step is providing a report on outcomes, uncovering and underscoring the core points of the study.
Research Approach
The best approach to gather necessary data related to the research question is a literature review. A literature review is an examination of scholarly sources, such as books, peer-review journal articles, reports, reliable websites, and other relevant publications, on a particular theme. It focuses on the current knowledge, which facilitates detecting specific concepts, methods, interventions, or gray areas in the target field. It is worth noting that a literature review does not imply only summarizing overviewed sources; furthermore, it analyzes, critically evaluates, and synthesizes the whole retrieved data to gain a comprehensive understanding (“Literature reviews,” n.d.). The indispensable elements of the literature review include structure outline and inclusion criteria. In this regard, the sample can comprise articles connected with suicide preventive strategies, best practices, interventions, elements, as well as problems thwarting therapy’s effectiveness.
In terms of the present research question, a literature review helps find essential information about recent achievements in suicide prevention policy. In particular, it can be directed at revealing the most advanced practices and strategies applied by the global scientific community to avert suicide intentions. In addition, a review can provide useful information about widespread obstacles, prevalent issues, and the primary points needing urgent consideration when performing therapy or counseling. It also contains other relevant statistics and the description of terms and tendencies that can support developing appropriate preventive activities. In general, literature reviews equip scholars and clinicians with a handy guide to a studied issue, with useful information and definite acts emerged for the recent years.
The Explanation of Potential Data
The literature review can target systematic reviews, case studies, cross-sectional research, action research, surveys, and observations. Besides, potential studies should be conducted for the last five or, at least, ten years. As mentioned above, studies should comprise terms related to the theme, that is, actions that prevent suicides among adolescents. Besides, sources should indicate widespread reasons, factors, and adverse environments contributing to suicide intents.
The Usefulness of the Literature Review
Suicide intent is an individual’s complicated behavior formed under many interrelated inner and outer determinants, including social environment, persons’ characteristics, mental disorders, and others. Most practitioners and therapists encounter difficulties in comprehending a substantial evidence base connected with suicide prevention interventions, especially evaluating their effectiveness and relevancy. In this regard, the literature review can provide them with information about the necessary actions and activities, allowing to reduce suicide intents and improve patients’ well-being. For example, Menon et al. (2021) recommend that consultants focus on recognizing depression and suicide risk in individuals to provide timely therapy. The researchers also offer the most commonly used practices for suicide prevention, such as awareness programs, gatekeeper training, screening, media strategies, hotlines, and pharmacological and psychotherapeutic approaches. Moreover, the literature review can contain the description of these practices and particular interventions, herewith considering multiple challenges, factors, settings, and other aspects many clinicians face in their workflow. Overall, it can serve as a handy guide for consultants who work with patients, parents, risk groups, policymakers, and the public.
Conclusion
In summary, the paper has examined the research design for the following question: What actions intercept individuals from engrossing in suicidal behavior? The paper has provided specific steps to conduct qualitative research, including defining a clear question, existing literature overview, selecting study design, collecting and analyzing data, and reporting findings. A literature review has been selected as a research approach to detect and describe the most advanced interventions for averting suicide intentions.
References
Literature Reviews. (n.d.). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Web.
Menon, V., Subramanian, K., Selvakumar, N., & Kattimani, S. (2018). Suicide prevention strategies: An overview of current evidence and best practice elements. International Journal of Advanced Medical and Health Research, 5(2), 43-51. Web.
Research methods: What are research methods? (2020). The University of Newcastle, Australia. Web.
Sauro, J. (2013). 7 Steps to conducting better qualitative research. MeasuringU. Web.