The phrasing of a research question is of utmost importance. Learn how to critique research questions. youstudynursing.com/ Research eBook on Amazon: amzn.to/1hB2eBd Check out the links below and SUBSCRIBE for more youtube.com/user/NurseKillam FINER criteria. PICOT format. Decide if the question is actually the driving force behind the study. Quantitative research questions may be about relationships among variables, comparing groups or describing reality. Qualitative research questions are about experiences and people's ways of organizing, relating to and interacting with their contexts. Quantitative research is either experimental or non-experimental. Often quantitative researchers test causality to answer questions about the relationships among variables. Experimental research is designed to test causality. If your question asks about how variables are related a randomized control trial is the best option. RCTs have a classic experimental design and are sometimes simply referred to as experimental studies. RCTs have optimal control because participants are randomized, there is a control group and the researcher administers the intervention. When critiquing a study about causal relationships among variables you can almost always say that the best design was not used if it was not a RCT. The exception would be if an intervention was not ethical. If your study has a question about the impact one variable has on another but it is impossible to do a RCT for pragmatic reasons a Quasi experimental study can be done. Quasi experimental studies are like RCT wannabes ... They have an intervention but not a control group or randomization. When it is impossible to do an experiment there are some descriptive non-experimental designs that may be used to explore possible relationships among variables. Descriptive non-experimental studies simply describe something that already exists. They measure variables of interest to describe them through quantifying them. Quantitative descriptive research may more specifically aim to describe what exists or to explore possible relationships among variables. Qualitative research focuses on people's experiences and perceptions. But there are different ways to look at an experience. The choice of a methodology depends on the purpose of the research. If your question is about what it is like living through some experience the best methodology is likely phenomenology. Phenomenology is all about in depth look at the essence of lived experiences with a particular phenomenon. However, if your question is about the experience of a single individual narrative inquiry would be better than phenomenology. Narrative inquiry is specifically designed to explore the life of an individual. Narrative inquiry questions should ask about someone's story. If your question is about how an experience is shaped by a particular cultural or social group then ethnography is the best choice. If your question is about understanding an issue or problem using a group of people a case study may be a more appropriate design. Case studies examine issues within a specific system, which could be a setting or context. If your question is about some kind of process it's a good bet that grounded theory is your best design. Grounded Theory is all about examining basic social processes. "Qualitative descriptive" is a pretty general and safe label that is often used since one could argue that all qualitative research is descriptive in nature.

Be the first to comment