Reply 1
According to Schmidt (2018), validity and reliability are crucial components to a well-developed research study. Validity refers to how much a concept relates to real life, whereas reliability is how much an experiment yields the same results when repeated. Qualitative and quantitative studies, though different in approach, still draw validity and reliability. Quantitative research is structured and objective, relying on data and measurements. Qualitative research is less structured and more subjective, relying on text, in depth information, and can include focus groups or interviews (UTA, 2020). Benefits to utilizing both qualitative and quantitative research in point towards each method filling in the gaps of where the other seems to lack. “Quantitative data can give baseline information to aid researchers in selections of patients to interview, while qualitative data can provide researchers understanding of barriers and factors to patient recruitment and retention” (Doorenbos, 2014). However, if a study is utilizing both methods of research, there might be a mix of data collection leading to inconsistencies in objective collection and issues with validity (McNiff and Petrick, 2018).
Doorenbos A. Z. (2014). Mixed Methods in Nursing Research : An Overview and Practical Examples. Kango kenkyu. The Japanese journal of nursing research, 47(3), 207–217.
McNiff, P. and Petrick, M. (2018). Quantitative research: ethics, theory, and research. In Grand Canyon University (Ed). (2018). Nursing research: Understanding methods for best practice. Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs433v/nursing-research-understanding-methods-for-best-practice/v1.1
Schmidt, M. (2018). Measurement, statistics and appraisal. In Grand Canyon University (Ed). (2018). Nursing research: Understanding methods for best practice. Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs433v/nursing-research-understanding-methods-for-best-practice/v1.1
University of Texas Arlington. (2020). Qualitative vs quantitative research. https://libguides.uta.edu/nursingresearch
Reply 2
Nursing research is conducted by using different types of methods such as qualitative, quantitative, experimental, quasi-experimental, correlation, and descriptive method. Qualitative research is considered as exploratory research for the deep understanding of the research problem and provides a way for quantitative research. In some studies, both qualitative and quantitative methods used in the studies are called Mixed methods of study.
Advantages of Mixed Method:
- Using both qualitative and quantitative method minimizes the weakness of the study. It increases the exploration and statistical analysis of the study.
- Mixed method increases the availability of research tools that helps to collect more comprehensive data.
- The results are validated more accurately and show additional evidence for supporting.
- Mixed methods combine thinking as well as reasoning.
- The findings are illustrated in both words as well as number.
- Mixed method reduces personal biases.
Disadvantages of Mixed method:
- Using both qualitative and quantitative method is time-consuming.
- Researchers need to be well-versed in both the data.
- More resources to be used for collecting both types of data.
- The result findings should be illustrated clearly for the better understanding of the audience.
References:
Rahman, M. S. (2020). The advantages and disadvantages of using qualitative and quantitative approaches and methods in language “testing and assessment” research: A literature review.
Queirós, A., Faria, D., & Almeida, F. (2017). Strengths and limitations of qualitative and quantitative research methods. European Journal of Education Studies.
Driscoll, D. L., Appiah-Yeboah, A., Salib, P., & Rupert, D. J. (2007). Merging qualitative and quantitative data in mixed methods research: How to and why not
Reply 3
To start, when both qualitative and quantitative research methods are used together, they make up what is referred to as mixed methods (Helbig, 2018). “This type of research study is common in health care because emotions and feelings may play a part in the study being performed: love, anger, or pain cannot easily be quantified” (Helbig, 2018, para 54).
A major benefit of using the mixed method in combination of the qualitative and quantitative method is that when using all three, or triangulation design, is its efficiency because you kill two birds with one stone, collecting both sets of data simultaneously, which can also be a disadvantage (Doorenbos, 2014). Afterwards, when the data has been collected, a team of researchers including those with expertise in qualitative and quantitative data can have access to the data and interpret it in a more efficient manner (Doorenbos, 2014).
Disadvantages of using mixed methods for research include the great amount of effort needed as well as the expertise of the researcher to collect both qualitative and quantitative data simultaneously (Doorenbos, 2014). At the same time of the data collection, the difficulty of giving each kind of data an equal amount of importance when collecting it provides another disadvantage or difficulty for the researcher.
References
Doorenbos, A. Z. (2014). Mixed Methods in Nursing Research : An Overview and Practical Examples. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4287271/.
Helbig, J. (2018). History and process of nursing research, evidence-based nursing practice, and quantitative and qualitative research process. In Grand Canyon University (Ed.)., Nursing research: Understanding methods for best practice.. Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs433v/nursing-research-understanding-methods-for-best-practice/v1.1