Data Collection and Management Techniques - Term Paper Example

The relationship between the successful use of articulate thought disputation (ATD) and the reduction of stress related to dysfunctional thought processes used by specific Social Problem Solving styles (SPSS) Name Institution Tutor Date The relationship between the successful use of articulate thought disputation (ATD) and the reduction of stress related to dysfunctional thought processes used by specific Social Problem Solving styles (SPSS) Qualitative research Qualitative inquiry is a general term for research methodologies defined as ethnographic, anthropological, naturalistic, field, or observation research (Lindlof and Taylor, 2002). This method emphasizes on the significance of looking at respondents in their natural condition (Lindlof and Taylor, 2002). These researchers study variables in their natural setting and attempt to interpret phenomena in terms of the meaning people ascribe to them (Denzin and Lincoln, 2011). The kinds of data that would be useful and relevant for this qualitative research plan The following type of data would be useful and relevant for this qualitative research plan; semi-structured interviews, where by the researcher conducts a fairly free outline which permit focused, informal, two-way interaction with the research participants. This kind of data is important because it starts with the general items, or topics then moves to specific items (Creswell, 2003). Structured interview questionnaires containing open comments can be used, where the researcher uses open-ended items to elicit responses (Creswell, 2003). Case study notes can also be used, where detailed analysis of an individual or a group of people especially for medical purposes can be conducted (Creswell, 2003). The researcher may also have an in-depth or unstructured interview (Creswell, 2003). Finally, information from focus group discussion can be used (Creswell, 2003). Qualitative data in this research plan will mainly be in narrative form bringing out the relationship between the successful use of articulate thought disputation (ATD), and the reduction of stress related to dysfunctional thought processes used by specific Social Problem Solving styles (SPSS). Reasons why observation is not appropriate way to collect data for this qualitative study Observation techniques are significant for appreciating people’s activities, roles and actions. However in this method, observations are not suitable in medical research, including this qualitative research (Fischer, 2005). Observation will not be useful in this research because it will be difficult for another individual to interpret the findings observed by the researcher. Another major challenge is that the method uses the researcher as a measuring tool and that most of the opinions are based on the researcher’s interests (Fischer, 2005). This method is also time consuming and requires a lot of prepared time for the research (Fischer, 2005). It also has the observer effect, whereby the observer might fail to report what actually happened, but record what they wanted to happen, which will in turn affects the validity and reliability of this research(Fischer, 2005). The appropriateness of Semi-structured interviewing this qualitative study An interview is a verbal exchange between the researcher and the research respondents (Fischer, 2005). Its success depends on the communication skills of the researcher, which includes the ability to pose questions, probe for responses, and make the respondent to speak freely (Fischer, 2005). As mentioned earlier semi-structured interviews is a method of qualitative inquiry that unites pre-determined prepared open items, which are questions that stimulate discussion with the opportunity for the researcher to search for particular topics or reactions (Fischer, 2005). This interview is based on a structured interview guide prepared by the researcher. This item helps the researcher to collect information concerning the medical challenges the respondents experience such as stress (Fischer, 2005). This kind of interviews allows the researcher and the respondents to understand how involvements work and how they can be developed and improved. It also makes the respondents to talk about the research topic, and bring up issues that the researcher had not considered (Fischer, 2005). Additionally, this type of interview offers valuable evidence from setting of respondents and the entire stakeholders involved as well as provide in-depth information whereby the researcher can prompt responses to understand what the respondents put across (Fischer, 2005). Lastly, this kind on interviewing makes use of predetermined items to provide uniformity in research (Creswell, 2003). A major challenge in this method is that the respondents might give information based on how they perceive the researcher in terms of age, gender, and background (Creswell, 2003). This problem also depends on the nature of topic under discussion explaining why it is important to state that the responses are mainly for the purposes of research and not intimidation (Creswell, 2003). Ethical issues in research Ethical issues in research involve the application of fundamental principles in research including several scientific researches, which involve human experiments and animal experiments (Lindlof and Taylor, 2002). It is important to consider ethical norms in research because they promote the research aims, and also they acknowledge knowledge and avoid errors in research (Lindlof and Taylor, 2002). Ethical issues promote the standards that are fundamental to cooperative work, such as belief, accountability, communal respect, and equality (Lindlof and Taylor, 2002). Most of the ethical issues help to guarantee that researchers are answerable to the community (Lindlof and Taylor, 2002). Finally, most of the ethical issues in research promote different significant moral and societal values, like communal responsibility, animal well-being, human rights, conformity with the law, physical condition, and safety of the respondents involved in research process (Lindlof and Taylor, 2002). Semi-structured interviews are best used for a small sample, and useful for studying specific situation like the relationship between the successful use of articulate thought disputation (ATD) and the reduction of stress related to dysfunctional thought processes used by specific Social Problem Solving styles (SPSS). In this situation, open-ended questions can be used to elicit information on the relationship between ATD and SPSS (Lindlof and Taylor, 2002). These questions will also help the researcher get more information and elicit discussion with the respondents. The plan will have the following protocol; the interviewer will introduce themselves, state the goals of conducting the research, the interview then starts with simple open-ended question, questions should be asked slowly to allow the respondent to explain their points. References maybe used to make the participants elaborate more on their responses. The respondents should also be respected, the researcher should ensure that they do not use closed ended questions because they will be difficult to transcribe. The researcher should always use How much, Why, How, When, Where, Where, questions to probe responses from the research participants. After covering all topics in the interview guide, the researcher then organizes the data into themes and narratives and then conducts data analysis. During an analysis of data from semi-structured interviews, the researcher transcribes and revisits the tape records or minutes recorded during the discussions. Since transliterating records in their wholeness can be a difficult task, the researcher can simply categorize and record the main topics that appear as he or she listens to the recorded tapes (Lindlof and Taylor, 2002). The researcher can categorize the data gathered using a logical framework centered on the topics talked about by the participants during the interviews (Lindlof and Taylor, 2002). The use of NVivo in managing data According to Welsh (2002), NVivo is mainly used in qualitative research to analyses rich text based data and multimedia information, where deep levels of analysis are conducted on a small case situation. It is mainly meant to help researchers organize and analyze non- numerical information. This software allows the researchers to categorize, sort and organize report (Welsh, 2002). It also examines associations in the information, and combines investigation with linking, influencing, searching, and modeling of data gathered (Welsh, 2002). This software will help in organizing, sorting and examine information from the respondents in this research. References Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2011). The SAGE Handbook of qualitative research ( 4th ed.). Los Angeles: Sage Publications. Fischer, C.T. (Ed.) (2005). Qualitative research methods for psychologists: Introduction through empirical studies. NY: Academic Press. Lindlof, T. R., & Taylor, B. C. (2002) Qualitative communication research methods: Second edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Welsh, E. (2002). Dealing with Data: Using NVivo in the Qualitative Data Analysis Process [12 paragraphs]. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 3(2), Art. 26. Retrieved from: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0202260. Read More