Mixed Methods

Type: Assignments

Subject: Using Both Quantitative and Qualitative Methods

Subject area: Nursing

Education Level: PhD Program

Length: 1 pages

Referencing style: APA

Preferred English: US English

Spacing Option: Double

Title: Using Both Quantitative and Qualitative Methods

Instructions: * briefly explain your selected situation and why utilizing a mixed-methods approach would be beneficial. * evaluate how the quantitative and qualitative data would complement one another. * discuss the challenges you might encounter in using mixed methods for the situation you selected and how would you address these challenges.

Also Read: Online Nursing Research Paper Help For Your Assignment

Focus: * with the learning resources in mind, and reflecting on what you have explored throughout this course, consider the benefits of using a mixed-methods research approach. * brainstorm nursing practice situations in which using a mixed-methods design would be beneficial. select one situation to focus on for the purposes of this discussion. consider how the quantitative and qualitative data would complement one another to provide a richer analysis and conclusion. * also consider the challenges you might encounter in using a mixed-methods approach: data collection, analysis, or synthesis of qualitative and quantitative findings.

Structure: many clinical practice issues are sufficiently complicated that neither a purely quantitative or qualitative approach can generate a comprehensive perspective of the issue. particularly for investigating evaluative questions—such as the effectiveness of a program or treatment or the impact of a policy—some combination of quantitative and qualitative methods can be much more illuminating than relying on one method alone. in this discussion, you consider the use of a mixed-methods design in health care research studies.

Mixed Methods

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 Mixed methods of research can be viewed as a method of conducting research which involves the collection, analysis and integration of both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data can be obtained from various sources including experiments and surveys while qualitative data can be obtained from focus groups and interviews. There are various advantages attributed to using the mixed method of research. First, using both qualitative and quantitative data overcomes the weakness is attributed to using quantitative or qualitative exclusively. For example, quantitative research does not provide information regarding the behavior or feelings of the participants while qualitative research is exposed to challenges related to generalizing the findings to the entire community. Using a mixed research helps to overcome these challenges. Secondly, mixed research provides a more comprehensive understanding of the research problem. The qualitative data provide an explanation to the quantitative data. Thirdly, adopting a mixed research is critical in developing more specific and improved instruments. For example, adopting both qualitative and quantitative research approaches create an opportunity for the researcher to adopt an Instrument with greater construct validity. 

 There are various disadvantages of using mixed research. First, the research design can be more complex as compared to using either qualitative or quantitative research. A mixed research involves numerous research instruments like surveys and questionnaires hence making the research process more cumbersome. Secondly, a mixed research requires more time and resources to plan and implement as compared to either qualitative or quantitative research. Lastly, a mixed research may lead to contradictory resorts hence making it challenging to interpret the findings.

There are various researchers in the medical field that can be conducted more effectively by adopting a mixed research. First, a research on challenges of patient handover process in healthcare services can be conducted where questionnaires can be used to collect quantitative data and interviews used to collect qualitative data. Secondly, a mixed research can be conducted to evaluate factors affecting hospital-acquired hypoglycemia where quantitative data on rates of hypoglycemia then be collected through experiments and qualitative data including patients’ views can be collected through interviews. A mixed research can also be conducted to evaluate patient satisfaction with HIV ambulatory Healthcare facilities.

A cross-sectional study involving both qualitative and quantitative data can be adopted to evaluate patient satisfaction with HIV ambulatory health care facilities. The first phase of the cross-sectional study can involve quantitative research where questionnaires would be administered on patients to determine their views on the issue. The second phase can use qualitative semi-structured face-to-face interviews on selected patients. 

There are various advantages associated with using a mixed method to evaluate patient satisfaction with HIV ambulatory healthcare facilities. First, the qualitative data will provide an explanation to the qualitative data. patients’ views obtained through interviews will explain the quantitative data. Secondly, a mixed research will expand the dimensions of the research. For example, the qualitative data will evaluate the determinants of satisfaction. Additionally, a mixed research will increase the methodological rigor since both the qualitative and quantitative instruments adopted in the research can be evaluated for consistency. The main disadvantage of using a mixed research method is increased resources required to adopt both approaches. Additionally, the research will be extremely complex since the researcher has to compare results from both interviews and questionnaires.