Smartphone Uses by Health Professionals - Essay Example

Smart Phone Uses by Health Professionals Research Methodology and Procedures Methods The first step taken is to come up with the appropriate research method. Researchers have the option of using the quantitative methods, the qualitative methods or the incorporation of both methods. Although each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, the qualitative method is more engaging as compared to the quantitative method (Crewell 5). The study will incorporate the quantitative and the qualitative methods so that we are able to make a stronger conclusion as compared to using one method. Due to the limitation of resources, the research will target small health organizations and individual health professionals. For the health organizations, we will target the senior-most manager we can reach and the average healthcare professional from the same organization. This will enable us to compare the feedback given by the parties so that we can analyze/validate the differences found (Creswell 10). For the individuals, we have decided to target as many individual health professionals as possible from the diverse organizations, departments and other institutions. This kind of diversity encourages diverse responses, thus enabling us to make a more solid conclusion as compared to limiting our participants. Procedure Our research question concentrates on the effectiveness of smart phone applications by health professionals. Since we are using the quantitative and the qualitative research methods, we settle to use the questionnaires, which fall under the quantitative method and the interviews, which fall under the qualitative method. We have prepared fifteen questions on the questionnaires. Most of the questions are open-ended questions so that we can allow the participants to be speculative. Such questions encourage personal opinions too. In order to allow comparison, most of the questions appearing in the questionnaires are in the interview form. However, we will interview different people from those answering the questionnaires. This allows diversity (Creswell 20). Additionally, most of these people do not have a lot of free time so they only have time to do one of the activities. It would also be easier if one was to convince a potential participant that, they were only supposed to answer a questionnaire that was only fifteen questions long, than telling one which is way above that number. Our target is to get at least three health providing organizations and one hundred health professionals. We will incorporate the top management in an organization so that they can convince the employees to take part. By using this approach, we will be able to get more participants as compared to convincing individuals to take part. Questionnaires will be sent to the participants through their emails, mails, text messages, hand deliveries or picking them up in a designated area at the workplace. These methods of issuance will allow the participants to give answers to the various questions, at their convenience. The questionnaires will be distributed one and a half months before the time they are expected to be submitted, to ensure that the participants gain ample time to answer the questions. The submission date will be stated one month before the due date of the research submission. This will give use adequate time to analyze the data collected. It will also give an allowance for late submissions. We are targeting doing as many one-on-one interviews as possible. We want to carry out the interviews to the top management of the organizations. Since most of the managers already asked to take part are not comfortable with recording the interview, we will write down the answers received from the interview questions. However, a lot of keenness will be involved in order to avoid distractions. We will also interview the health professionals. Interviews will either take place face to face or through the use of phones (landline or cell-phone). However, we want to have as many face-to-face interviews as possible since they are more productive, as compared to the other forms of interviews. They allow the interviewer to analyze the bodily expressions, which are sometimes good in a research. Additionally, they give room for clarity in cases where participants are not clear of the questions asked. Furthermore, actions such as smiles, head nods laughter and talking back to the interviewee enable the interviewee to be more at ease and hence, be more honest with the answers (Creswell 35). In some cases, participants feel more comfortable answering a question verbally than writing it down as writing it down makes them feel as though they are doing an exam. The questions in the questionnaires and interviews will dwell on the advantages, disadvantages and the recommendations of improvement as long as health care is concerned. The questions may also spread to assessing whether, there are as many healthcare professionals, who have the smart phones and who use them, as was anticipated. The questions will also gauge whether the right factors have been put in place in order to ensure that the use of smart phones is effective and efficient. Additionally, the questions may briefly enquire whether the health professionals prefer other forms of technology apart from the smart phones as far as improving healthcare is concerned. The results of the interviews will be collected immediately after the interview is over. However, the questionnaire results may take more time due to the speed of the individual participants. The participants will be given a duration of one month to answer and submit the questionnaires. This early submission will answer give us enough time to analyze the data collected. It will also allow us to compare or collect more data, in case of any discrepancies or inadequacy. The confidentiality of the participants will be respected. The participants will be assured about this before taking part in the activities. Ensuring that their personal life, for example their identity’ will be withheld will allow them to be more open and honest, as they answer the questions asked. The questionnaires will not require the participants to put up their names or their personal addresses for those who are not comfortable with it. However, they will be encouraged to put down their residential area from a general perception. For example, a participant may state that he/she resides in Brooklyn. We intend to get at least a hundred participants. This means that we are targeting over a hundred responses. Work Cited Creswell, John W. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Los Angeles: Sage, 2009. Print. Read More