Aspects of Gallstone Disease - Essay Example

QUANTITATIVE ARTICLE CRITIQUE Contents Introduction 3 Article A cross sectional study on causes and risk factors of gallstone disease among patients with symptomatic Cholilithiasis (Harish, 2014). 3 Research Scope & Literature Review 3 Research Methods & Methodologies 4 Data Analysis & Applicability to Research Questions 4 Presentation of Findings 5 Discussions & Theorisation 5 Article 2: Dietary habits as a risk factor of gallstone disease in Serbia (Davidovic, et al., 2011) 6 Research Scope 6 Literature Review 6 Research Methods and Methodology 7 Data Analysis & Applicability to Research Questions 7 Discussions & Theorisation 8 References 9 Introduction This paper is a critical analysis and review of two quantitative peer reviewed journals. It will include the critical review of the research approach that is used in the study. This will include a review of the data analysis, research methods and other elements. Article 1: A cross sectional study on causes and risk factors of gallstone disease among patients with symptomatic Cholilithiasis (Harish, 2014). This article sets out to review the prevalent risks that lead to cholilithiasis in Nepal. Therefore, the study examines the causes and the risk factors related to these causes of gallstone disease (GSD). The study is conducted through the use of cross-sectional study in a major Nepalese hospital and this includes the assessment of the trends through a statistical analysis package which provides results of important trends and processes. Research Scope & Literature Review The Introduction of the essay appropriately identifies the features and elements of the disease in question, GSD. The authors of the article appropriately establish the role of the disease in the context of the community and society at hand. The sociological and biological elements of the disease is discussed thoroughly and three important variables are introduced: 1. Age dimensions; 2. Gender dimensions and 3. Substance abuse variables. These issues are discussed critically and appropriately through the evaluation of existing data and other scientific journals. This is authoritative because the utilisation of secondary sources build on credible and established sources and it is applied appropriately to provide important guidance to an existing research (MacFarlene, et al., 2014). The critical review of concepts and theories in the introduction give way for the formulation of a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a tentative statement that is tested for its truthfulness and falsity in a research (Lam, 2013). In this paper, the writer seem to make a very vague statement which does not seem to provide a very strong hypothesis that can be used as a basis for proper theorisation. It states that “There will be a significant association between selected demographic variables and risk factors of cholilithiasis”. In symbol terms the study is to evaluate the relationship between demographic variables and risks of GSD. The independent variables are the demographic variables whilst the dependent variables are risks of GSD. However, they are not clearly defined and aligned appropriately showing some tendencies of randomness and arbitrariness in the eventual conclusion. Research Methods & Methodologies The study utilises a cross-sectional study method. A cross-sectional study is a descriptive study in which disease and exposure statuses are measured simultaneously in a given population (Kern, et al., 2013). This comes with some inherent challenges and issues like the descriptive nature which could be subjective and the consistency of cases as every individual patient has different features and every case has differing levels of severity The timeframe of the study was a 4-month period in the year of the study and the sampling could be said to be the universal population of the reported cases in the period. This is because Manipal teaching hospital is the only specialised facility in the country that handles such cases. Therefore, the sampling is robust and supports generalisation in a strong sense. Data Analysis & Applicability to Research Questions The data analysed include information taken from case sheets. This provides important information about their social lives and under several headings. This means the article was written with reliable figures and information as they were official. However, the accuracy of the research is based on the internal consistencies of the data collection information and any issues with such data are naturally going to be transmitted to the research conclusions. This could affect the reliability of the findings. The second element is that data was analysed with SPSS’s descriptive statistics. This is highly simplistic and it represents a very shallow view of things because descriptive statistics are extremely general in nature and as such, the utilisation of this approach will have issues with the validity of the findings because using such general approaches mean that some specific and critical pointers of a given project might not be apparently visible. Hence, this approach is limited by the fact that it can only provide a generalist view of the situation and very limited critical findings. Presentation of Findings The findings are presented in a very visual form and this means that the findings are compared and provide a strong impression on the reader. However, the charts and tables came with very little descriptions. Hence, the layman or some professionals from other backgrounds (particularly Western readers) of this journal article are likely need extra interpretation to understand it. Discussions & Theorisation The discussions are somewhat very unconvincing. The approach used for each of the discussions is highly subjective and opinionated. Most scientific professionals will call the article extremely prescriptive as it does not really use a strong scientific basis and theoretical framework to interpret the findings. However, the theorisation seem to be some somewhat logical. This is because it provides an explanation of major patterns that sufficiently show important trends in the GSD patients. The recommendation is also very simple but provides clues on how future research can be conducted. Article 2: Dietary habits as a risk factor of gallstone disease in Serbia (Davidovic, et al., 2011) This journal is steeped in finding an approach through which the preventive aspects gallstone disease (GSD) can be identified and utilised to help people of high risks to avoid the disease and ease the suffering of the people who have it. Research Scope The introduction focuses on the role of nutrition and the environment as agents of determining the fate of people who are at risk of getting the GSD. Hence, the discussion builds on these fundamental points and defines the fundamental research questions. The study does not hypothesize. Rather, it involves an original research into the study of the levels of energy intakes and proportion of certain macronutrients and its dosage as a means of interference in the development of GSD. This seeks to meet the aim of formulating a theory on the relationship between nutrition and the development of gallbladder stones. This approach provides some kind of an exploratory study and inquiry into how an inducted situation might yield results under observed circumstances (Shaw, et al., 2013). Literature Review The literature review in this study is somewhat based on very technical studies and previous studies that were conducted into related matters. This provides broad definitions and important concepts and ideas that are used to build up a strong argument. This is important in exploratory research because such discussion give credence to previous studies and shows the reader what studies have already been done and the position the research at hand occupies (Creswell, 2013) Research Methods and Methodology The sample was taken from a small hospital in Belgrade and this means the sample is not holly representative of the country as other situations and circumstances could occur elsewhere. However, due to the exploratory and the inductive nature of the study, sampling population and type was not really the most important variable since generalisation is not highlighted in such a situation. Another important observation about this article is that the study was to involve a comparative analysis, hence there was a control group that was similar to the interest group that was study. A control group involves a group of people with a similar demographic characteristic as another that are compared and critiqued in a research project (Ayling, et al., 2015). The study is to examine the results of the intake of certain kinds of foods on the level of health of the different uncontrolled group and the controlled group. This is to provide important findings that can be used to show the reactions of the body to these intakes and how the body breaks down things and react in relation to the bladder of the human body. Data Analysis & Applicability to Research Questions The results are presented statistically over a 24-hour period of time and this culminates in an equation that is used to analysed and critique the findings. Therefore the percentages of the intakes and reactions are critiqued in absolute terms for each of the two genders of patients. Then the results are also analysed critically in relation to the control group. This helps to draw and show up important findings and trends that are utilised to analyse and interpret the findings. The data analysis on page 42 does not seem to reflect the fundamental research questions and to the layman, this clearly has some lapses and issues that might make it difficult to connect and link the variables for a thorough descriptive statistical analysis presented in the ANOVA framework. The basis of the standard deviation, whether one-way or not was not stated clearly. So it appears that these statistical data are independent in their presentation and there is little evidence of how these information work together to answer the research questions. The analysis was done across people who consumed food over a 12-hour period and those who did not consume foods and how it affects individuals over a 24-hour timeframe. Several variables were subjected to testing in the multivariate analysis and this culminated in finding the biggest most important variable or activity that affects patients’ statuses. The methodology is not very clear to the layman with limited knowledge of statistics. This is somewhat different from Harish’s study which used straightforward descriptive statistics. However, in this paper, the discussions and theorisation provided a more simple and a fairly understandable interpretation of the findings. Discussions & Theorisation The discussion identify that the weight of a patient is a major factor that determines the levels of energy and its usage within the individual plays a role in identifying the extent to which energy usage might go. However, it was identified in the discussion that there is a relationship between the energy levels and the diet levels. This shows that there was some kind of inherent factor that causes changes in the levels of suffering of GSD patients. Hence, the discussions reviewed cases where doctors used various forms of dietary restrictions to control the extent of the suffering of GSD patients. Theories were formulated on the basis of three variables – energy intake, diet regularity and fat-intake. These are three variables that were not clearly introduced in the introduction. However, the findings show that these variables are somewhat significant and important in helping patients to get a control over their statuses in GSD cases. References Ayling, K. et al., 2015. How standard is standard care? Exploring control group outcomes in behaviour change interventions for young people with type 1 diabetes. Psychology and Health, 30(1), pp. 85-103. Creswell, J. W., 2013. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. 3rd ed. London: SAGE. Davidovic, D. B., Tomic, D. V. & Jorga, J. B., 2011. Dietary habits as a risk factor of gallstone disease in Serbia. [Online] Available at: http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0354-950X/2011/0354-950X1104041D.pdf [Accessed 31 December 2014]. Harish, B., 2014. A cross sectional study on causes and risk factors of gallstone disease anomg patients with symptomatic Cholilithiasis. [Online] Available at: http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0354-950X/2011/0354-950X1104041D.pdf [Accessed 31 December 2014]. Kern, L. M., Malhotra, S. & Barrón, Y., 2013. Accuracy of Electronically Reported “Meaningful Use” Clinical Quality Measures: A Cross-sectional Study. Annals of Internal Medicine, 158(2), pp. 77-83. Lam, C. M., 2013. Theoretical and Practical Justifications for Poppers Non-Justificiationism. Childhood, Philosophy and Open Society, Volume 22, pp. 7-39. MacFarlene, B., Zhang, J. & Pun, A., 2014. Academic integrity: a review of the literature. Studies in Higher Euducation, 39(2), pp. 339-358. Shaw, S. Y., Blankchard, J. Y. & Bernstein, C., 2013. Association between Early Childhood Otitis Media and Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease: An Exploratory Population-Based Analysis. Journal of Pediatrics, 162(3), pp. 510-514. Read More