Research Design and Its Main Types - Essay Example

Study Design and Methodology Quantitative question What is the rate of adoption and use of electronic record keeping across U.S hospitals in their bid to improve efficiency in medical practice?Study designSampling criteria refers to those characteristics of the elements that we want to study we are determined beforehand and which are essential to qualify an element to be part of the sample. In this study, any hospital will qualify to be part of the study (Babbie, 2010). However, the hospitals must be in the U.S. and should have been in operation for the last five years.

The sampling procedure for this study will be the simple random sampling. Hospitals will be identified across the country and numbered. They will be then categorised according to counties. Five hospitals will be selected from each of the county and the selection will be done by picking the hospitals at an interval of two on a list. After every two hospitals on the list the next will be the one to be studied. The sample size will consist of 100 hospitals which are expected to be studied in this research.

The bigger the sample sizes the better because errors will be minimized and the results of the study could be a clear representation of the actual state on the ground and could also be used in other studies. However a bigger sample size means a bigger budget and more time to carry out the study.In protecting research participants, a number of things are going to be considered. Protecting them will begin from the time the sample will be selected, to collection and use of the information gathered.

In selecting the participants, reasons will be given why they should be included in the study, how they were brought into the study in order to avoid coercion, they will be required to give consent before participating in the study, they will also be told of the research procedure and any risks they may face together with the benefits that they will get for participating in the study. In the use of the data gathered anonymity will be ensured and no names will be mentioned in the study. This is aimed at protecting the participant’s identities and thus confidentiality will be maintained from collection, to storage and disposal of the data gathered.

The study plans on using structured questionnaires that will be used to gather data on the hospitals selected. This method has been selected because it will be easy to administer the questionnaires. The data gathered will be reliable as they will only be given to five people who manage the hospital to increase validity and objectivity. Everything will be done by the researcher as he will be there to ensure that the questionnaire is filled appropriately by clarifying details that may not be understood.

The constructs or variables in this study are categorised into two: the independent and the dependent variables. The independent variable is the rate of adoption which is a measure of the use or EMR’s over time. The dependent variables are time, the hospitals surveyed, patient knowledge and efficiency. All these will be measured in the study and their impact on the others assessed. The level of measurement for these variables may vary but essentially the variables are simple to measure and assess.

Some of the operational definitions will include, what electronic record keeping is, who are health care providers, what efficiency is, what patient knowing refers to, rate of adoption and medical information technology.ReferencesBabbie, E. R. (2010). The practice of Social Research. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.