Introduction
This paper aims to assist the team of researchers working on conducting a research study for Novant Healthcare Systems. The paper introduces various research methods and types of designs, explaining how they can be applied within the healthcare industry. Firstly, the paper addresses each particular research method, including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method designs. The first section provides definitions of key terms, explains qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method research designs, and gives specific examples of the related research questions. Secondly, the paper contains an organized classification of different designs related to each discussed method. Finally, the last section describes how qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method designs can be implemented within the healthcare services field.
Qualitative research design methods
The first research design to be discussed in this paper is the qualitative method. Researchers state that qualitative design refers to “broadly stated questions about human experiences and realities, studied through sustained contact with the individual in their natural environments and producing rich, descriptive data that will help us to understand those individual’s experiences” (as cited in Renjith et al., 2021, p. 1). The primary purpose of the qualitative method is to understand how people behave and their experiences. In relation to the decision-making process, this research design focuses on questions of “how” and “why,” exploring, narrating, and explaining various phenomena and making sense of the complicated reality (Renjith et al., 2021). Studies utilizing the qualitative method usually aim to achieve results by understanding human behavior’s complexity.
Quantitative research design methods
The quantitative method completely differs from the qualitative one as the former focuses on accuracy and numbers, measuring them to reach the desired research results. Rutberg and Bouikidis (2018) believe that the key word for the quantitative method is “measure,” while qualitative designs focus on “perception” (p. 209). Quantitative research can be an exceptionally effective tool in cases involving a lack of existing knowledge or unanswered questions. Primary instruments utilized within quantitative research design are standardized questionnaires and experiments aimed at collecting numeric information (Rutberg & Bouikidis, 2018). A researcher applying this method within their studies can have control over the implemented variables, environmental state, and research questions. Furthermore, quantitative research can contribute to developing a hypothesis – “a description of the anticipated result, relationship, or expected outcome from the question being researched” (Rutberg & Bouikidis, 2018, p. 211). Thus, the primary purpose of quantitative research, in most cases, is to identify how the variables and the outcomes are related.
Mixed-method research designs
Some particular studies cannot be completed with the help of quantitative or qualitative methods alone, which is why researchers often use them together, creating a mixed-method research design. According to Sahin and Ozturk (2019), mixed-method appeared “as a third research method which involved the use of both quantitative and qualitative research methods for research problems that cannot be answered by a mono-method perspective” (p. 302). The method utilizes both paradigms that have been discussed previously to help researchers reach definitive results in highly complex studies. Researchers believe that mixed-method design is able to balance two different research methods and significantly decrease their limitations (Sahin & Ozturk, 2019). The usage of this design can be crucially helpful in particular study settings.
Examples of research questions
A researcher can choose which method they intend to apply within their study based on the research question that the study aims to answer. For example, it will be reasonable to use a quantitative method if the study seeks to identify the heart rate of a person right after they have drunk a 12-ounce coffee cup. Then, researchers who want to determine a specific population’s preferences between coffee and tea might want to utilize the qualitative method. Finally, complex studies that need to examine a particular question from both perspectives simultaneously usually require the implementation of the mixed-method. A researcher who wants to identify the effects of consuming a caffeinated beverage before going to bed will need to use quantitative analysis to measure physical effects and qualitative analysis to explore participants’ feelings and experiences.
Organizing types of designs
Although there are only three research methods discussed in this paper, each of them has several different types. For example, quantitative studies can be experimental, isolating the identified phenomenon and conducting a randomized experiment; quasi-experimental, absent of randomization but including interventions to determine whether they can make a difference; and non-experimental, related to observations of the phenomenon without conducting experiments (Rutberg & Bouikidis, 2018). Then, types of qualitative research correlate with their respective field and include ethnography, phenomenology, grounded theory, historical research, and case studies (Rutberg & Bouikidis, 2018). Finally, types of mixed-method research depend on how quantitative and qualitative methods are combined within the study: equal and dominant types determine the significance of using each different design, while concurrent and sequential types relate to the priority of each method’s application.
Qualitative designs in healthcare
Various research designs discussed previously can be implemented in many fields, including the healthcare industry. According to Caronna (2010), different qualitative methods’ applications can help researchers and scientists to improve their comprehension of healthcare organizations and their functionality. For example, when Computed Tomography Scanners (CTS) were first introduced in Barley’s organizational ethnography of 1986, radiology departments in healthcare facilities significantly changed, making technicians and radiologists reconsider their professional relations (Caronna, 2010). Furthermore, qualitative designs enable scientists to identify different views and values, providing a valuable perspective on the way healthcare professionals perceive and utilize changes (Collin, 2010). Understanding how healthcare organizations work and operate requires the collection and analysis of data on multiple levels, and qualitative research designs can contribute considerably.
Quantitative designs in healthcare
Quantitative research designs can also be efficiently implemented in the healthcare services field. Rutberg and Bouikidis (2018) report that quantitative methods “can range from clinical trials for new treatments and medications to surveying nursing staff and patients” (p. 210). For example, this research design can be utilized to measure patients’ heart rate or blood pressure after administering a newly-introduced drug to examine its positive and adverse effects, impact on the body, potential contradictions, and other elements. The data acquired from such studies can help healthcare professionals, including nurses and physicians, to perform more effectively in the workplace, providing them with new information and increasing positive patient outcomes.
Mixed-method designs in healthcare
Finally, mixed-method research designs are applicable in the healthcare industry, as well. For instance, this method can be utilized to explore and analyze the impact of a particular medical intervention designed to decrease the drug addiction level (Creamer, 2018). Quantitative designs can help clinicians measure the patient’s physical indicators and make the corresponding conclusions, while qualitative analysis can help understand the patient’s own feelings, significantly contributing to the psychological side of the treatment. Successful usage of mixed-method research designs may be the key to resolving the most challenging issues and answering the most complex questions in the field of medical services.
Conclusion
Overall, all the methods described in the paper, namely quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method research designs, are significant for the modern scientific community as they can considerably contribute to conducting different studies and answering various research questions. Quantitative methods are helpful for measuring important indicators, qualitative methods are based on perception, helping researchers understand people’s feelings and experiences, and mixed-method designs can be successfully applied within studies that cannot reach definitive results without implementing both quantitative and qualitative methods simultaneously. Aside from everything else, the research designs discussed are effective in the healthcare industry, helping scientists and clinicians to explore human health and medicine more efficiently. Thereby, the team of researchers working in the Novant Healthcare Systems can significantly benefit from the application of various research methods within their research study.
References
Caronna, C. A. (2010). Why use qualitative methods to study health care organizations? Insights from multi-level case studies. In I. Bourgeault, R. Dingwall, & R. De Vries (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative methods in health research (pp. 71-87). SAGE Publications.
Collin, J. (2010). Qualitative contributions to the study of health professions and their work. In I. Bourgeault, R. Dingwall, & R. De Vries (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative methods in health research (pp. 53-70). London: SAGE Publications.
Creamer, E. G. (2018). Enlarging the conceptualization of mixed method approaches to grounded theory with intervention research. American Behavioral Scientist, 62(7), 919-934. Web.
Renjith, V., Yesodharan, R., Noronha, J. A., Ladd, E., & George, A. (2021). Qualitative methods in health care research. International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 12(20). Web.
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.
Sahin, M. D., & Ozturk, G. (2019). Mixed method research: Theoretical foundations, designs and its use in educational research. International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 6(2), 301-310. Web.