Quantitative Plans - Essay Example

The critical elements of an excellent quantitative design include the setting, sample, control, and independent and dependent variables. The design should indicate the representative location or setting where the sample will be collected. This caters to the errors that may emanate from the distribution of anomalies. The sample is the data collected for the study. It should be indicated in the quantitative design the sampling methods that will be applied, the population that the sample will represent, and how the sample size will affect the final results (Rezaie and Schwebel 537). The quantitative designs should identify the potential influences that may affect the dependent variable in relation to the independent variable. The confounders should be controlled to ensure that the analytical inferences apply. The independent variable is the one believed to have an impact on the phenomenon being investigated. All quantitative designs should satisfy the independent variable. The dependent variable is the one that researchers anticipate to make observations. The dependent variable should be specified in the quantitative design because the research idea is to construct a project that brings out the relationship between the two variables. Internal validity focuses on the extent to which the effects reflected in the study represent reality rather than resulting from the extraneous variables. The threats to internal validity include history, maturation, and testing. History represents an event that occurs during the study and can impact the responses of the participants. Maturation indicates that participants become older, wiser, more hungry, and depressed. The effect being investigated may also change depending on the number of times the tests are conducted. The design of the outcome research first requires the researcher to identify the perspective on which the conclusion will be arrived. Evaluation alternatives should also be established and ranked depending on their probabilities of occurrence. The probabilities can emanate from expert panels, clinical trial data, and literature reviews (Rezaie and Schwebel 539). A sensitivity analysis is carried out once the data is collected and analyzed. These components can be applied in the formulation of health plans and measuring the cure rates for certain diseases. Outcome research is also effective in identifying the patient functional status and the obligations of daily living and outpatient visits.