chapter 13: descriptive and exploratory research descriptive exploratory experimental describe find...
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Chapter 13: Descriptive and Exploratory Research Descriptive Exploratory Experimental Describe Find Cause Populations Relationship and EffectCase study Developmental Research Normative Research Qualitative research Correlational, Predictive research
Descriptive/Exploratory Research Purpose:
– To describe a phenomenon– To explore factors that influence and
interact with it Descriptive Research
– Document conditions, attitudes, or characteristics of individuals or groups of individuals
Descriptive Research
Exploratory Research:– Focuses on the relationships among these
factorsDescriptive and Exploratory Research:
May be combined, depending on the research question
Are considered nonexperimental or observational research (no data manipulation)
Retrospective and Prospective Research Retrospective Research
– Data have been collected in the past
Prospective Research
Data are collected in the present
(longitudinal studies)
Prospective research is more reliable than retrospective
Descriptive Research
Purpose of descriptive studies:– Document the nature of existing variables– How they change overtime– Structured around a set of guiding
questions
Descriptive data provide the basis for classifying data and for further questions
Case Studies
Purpose In-depth description of an individual’s
condition or responses to treatment Can also focus on a group, institution,
or other social unit Case series- an expansion of a case
study (several similar cases are reported)
Case Studies
Most often: Case studies emphasize unusual
patient problems or diagnoses that present interesting clinical challenges
A case study is an intensive investigation designed to a analyze & understand factors important to the:
Case Studies
–Etiology, care, and outcome of subject’s:
–Background, present status, and responses to intervention
Case Studies
It begins with a: full history, delineation problems, symptoms, and prior treatments, demographic and social factors that a relevant to the subject’s care and prognosis
Case Studies
Literature should be cited to support treatment
Documentation of all interventions, subject’s responses, and and10 follow-up should be complete
Data could be quantitative or qualitative, or both
Case Studies
Major Contributions:– Information generates hypothesis– A thorough analysis of a single situation
may lead to discovery of non obvious relationships
– “Case law” may lead to a conceptual form
Case Studies
Provides an opportunity for understanding the totality of an individual’s experience
Limitations: – Limited generalizability from one case to
another due to lack of control
Developmental Research
Involves the description of developmental change and the sequencing of behavior in people over time (Erickson, Piaget)
Methods used to document change:1. Longitudinal study- follows a cohort of
subjects over time
Developmental Research
Advantage of longitudinal method:– Ability to accumulate data through
intensive documentation of growth and change in the same individuals
Disadvantages:
Money, long term commitment, attrition, and confounding variables
Developmental Research
2. Cross-Sectional Method- studies a stratified group of subjects at one-point in time
This method is used more often than longitudinal method because its efficiency as subjects are tested once at the same time
Developmental Research
Disadvantages of Cross-Sectional method:
• Selection of subjects (results reflect extraneous factors)
• “Cohort Effects” (effects are not age-specific but rather generation or time of birth)
Developmental Research
Provides valuable information for generating correlational or experimental hypothesis/es
Generates developmental theories
Normative Studies
Purpose: To describe typical or standard values
for characteristics of a given population Directed toward:
– A specific age group, gender, occupation, culture, or disability
Normative Research
Norms are usually expressed in terms of:– Mean (within a range of acceptable values)– Normal nerve conduction velocity of the
Ulnar nerve is expressed as 57.5 meters/sec, with a normal range of 49.5 to 63.6 m/s
Normative Research
The “norm” is used as a basis for: Prescribing corrective interventions
Predicting future performance
Researchers must be aware of sampling biases
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Methods:– Based on ‘Logical positivism”– Concept/constructs can be measured and
assigned numbers
Qualitative Methods:
Based on observing the “complex nature of humans”
Qualitative Research
Purpose:To understand the patient’s perspectiveTo describe how individuals perceive their
own experiences within a specific context To seek an understanding why
something occurs
(Phantom pain)
Qualitative Research
Methods of Data collection:– Interviews– Observations
Data Analysis and Interpretation– Data are recorded in the narrative– Content analysis– Themes
Qualitative Research
“Measurement error” – In terms of judgments not numerical
equivalency
Sampling
Size
Exploratory Research
The systematic investigation of relationship among two or more variables
Purpose: – To describe relationships– To predict the effects of one variable on
another– To test relationships that are supported by
clinical theory
Exploratory Research
Exploratory research is guided by a set of hypotheses– Operational definition– Statistical testing
Exploratory Research
The foundation of exploratory research is the process of:1. Correlation-– Measures the degree of association among
variables– A function of covariation of the data (the
extent that one variable varies directly or indirectly with another variable)
Exploratory Research
The strength of this relationship is measured by a correlation statistic
– Pearson Correlation r (how close the correlation coefficient is to +1or -1
2. Regression-
Predicts the score on an outcome variable by knowing the values of other variables
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