LU 1 Quantitative Research Process I

What is research sites ?

• it is the overall location of the research (of an entire community or an institution within a community) eg : Malay neighbourhood in Kuching or Sarawak general Hospital

• the site can be single or multisite (multisite : eg 9 primary schools in Bau district)

What is research settings ?

• it can be the same as research site (eg: Sarawak General Hospital)

• it is more specific and describe where the data are collected (eg: libraries at UNIMAS)

What are the type of research setting ?

• Naturalistic setting (used in qualitative studies where information are collected in the natural settings of the participants, eg: participant’s home)

• Laboratory setting (highly controlled settings with or without elaborate scientific equipment)

• Quasi-natural setting (such as hospital or similar facilities)

What are the building block of a study ?

• Concepts (Phenomena)

• Constructs

• Theories

• Conceptual models

• Framework

What is concepts and constructs in building block of a study ?

• concepts : abstract phenomena (eg : pain, coping (human behaviour or characteristics)

• concept = phenomena (term used in qualitative research) , variables (terms used in quantitative studies)

• constructs : abstract systematically invented for a specific purpose (eg : self-care in Orem’s model of health maintenance)

What is theory in building blocks of a study ?

• theory is a systematic, abstract explanation of some aspect of reality

What are the differences between quantitative and qualitative in terms of usage of theory ?

• quantitative study : researchers start with a theory, framework or conceptual model

• qualitative study : the product of the research is a theory

What are the type of framework in a study ?

• conceptual framework

• theoretical framework

What is conceptual framework ?

• the framework that researcher is developing after rigorous literature review & wanted to test the hypotheses associated with the framework

What is theoretical framework ?

• previous theories, frameworks, models that a researcher was reviewing during literature review

What is the purpose of conceptual framework ?

• to give a broader understanding of the phenomenon of a research problem

What is the purpose of theoretical framework ?

• theory used to guide the researcher in his/ her research to identify relationship among variables

• provide a context for examining a problem

• summarizes the existing knowledge in the field of inquiry and identifies the linkage among defined concepts

What is variables ?

• thing that researcher is really interested in that can be measured

• eg : physiological variables

• psychological variables

• sociological variables

What are the type of variables ?

• discrete variable

• continuous variable

What is discrete variable ?

• a variable that has a finite number of values between any two points

• countable number of distinct possible values

• eg : number of children (it is discrete because there is no such thing as 1.5 children), family size, class size

What is continuous variable ?

• variables that can take on a wide range of values

• eg : age (10.5 years, 51.6 years), weight, height

What are the types of variable based on level of measurement ?

• categorical variable (nominal variable, ordinal variable)

• continuous variable (interval variable, ratio variable)

What are the type of categorical variable?

• Nominal variable (data categories are represented by labels or name)

• no logical order eg : gender, blood type

• Ordinal variable (data categories are represented by set of labels or names(high,medium,low) that have relative values)

• data can be ranked eg: age group = infant (1), toddler (2), preschooler(3), teenager(4), adults(5)

What are the type of continous variable ?

What is independent variable and dependent variable ?

• independent variable (predictor variables, attributes of potential causes)

• dependent variable (outcome variable)

What is inclusion criteria ?

• the key features of the target population that the investigators will use to answer their research question

• eg : demographic, clinical, geographic characteristics

What is exclusion criteria ?

• features of the potential study participants who meet the inclusion criteria but present with additional characteristics that could interfere with the success of the study

What is conceptual definition ?

• it presents the abstract or theoretical meaning of the concepts being studied

• “what is it”

What is operational definition ?

• it indicate how the variables will be observed and measured in the actual research situation

• include tools, scales, scores

• “how is it measured?”

How to differentiate conceptual and operational definitions ?

• if the sentences includes :

• i) theory, meaning, explanation : Conceptual

• ii) scale, questionnaire, score, measurement : Operational