I. Discussion 1: Focus-Existing Qualitative Studies

You will begin this week with a general examination of qualitative strategies and methods. You will explore qualitative studies to obtain a more in-depth look at qualitative methods and their application.

For this Discussion, you will consult and review two qualitative studies to determine the ways in which they could inform your potential research. Perhaps these studies may provide a model, research instrument, theoretical framework, or research question that might inform your own evolving thinking on your potential research.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Return to your literature review and peruse any qualitative studies you found.

• Conduct additional searches through the Walden Library for relevant qualitative studies that pertain directly to your topic or to related topics and could inform a quantitative study of your topic.

Post a 350- to 500-word synthesis of twoqualitative studies that includes how the study might contribute to your own potential research topic, either directly or tangentially. Explain how the research instrument, theoretical framework, and research questions from each study inform your research approach. Also, post at least two questions that will elicit suggestions and further responses from your colleagues.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the reading(s) and/or media segment(s) and use APA format.

II. Discussion 2: Focus-Qualitative Method and Designs

Qualitative inquiry is descriptive. It attempts to capture the multiple perspectives that construct reality, focusing on human motivations, descriptions of settings, and perceptions of experiences. Qualitative methods allow for participant feedback to provide insights into the nuances of culture and the meaning behind its various elements.

In this Discussion, you will compare qualitative methods with the quantitative methods you studied last week.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review Chapter 9, "Qualitative Procedures," in the Creswell text.

• Review the media programs:

o Qualitative Methods: Two Examples
o Interview techniques

• Review Qualitative Design and Analysis found in the Research Design and Analysis area of the Research Resources and Tutorials webpage.

• Consider how quantitative and qualitative strategies and methods/procedures are similar and different.

• Consider which types of research questions would be served by a qualitative strategy of inquiry and why.

• Consider the reasons for the popularity of qualitative methods in your discipline.

Post a 350- to 500-word analysiscomparing quantitative and qualitative methods of research, evaluating the strengths and shortcomings of each method.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the reading(s) and/or media segment(s) and use APA format.
Read a selection of your colleagues' postings.

Respond to at least two of your colleagues' postings. In your responses, be sure to do the following:

• Address the content of each colleague's analysis and evaluation of the topic, as well as the integration of relevant resources.
• Address the question(s) posed by each colleague for further discussion.
• Analyze the relationship between each colleague's posting to other colleagues' postings or to other course materials and concepts, where appropriate and relevant.
• Include proper APA citations.

III. Response:

Please respond to these 3 colleagues' postings.

In your responses, be sure to do the following:

• Address the content of each colleague's analysis and evaluation of the topic, as well as the integration of relevant resources.
• Address the question(s) posed by each colleague for further Discussion.
• Analyze the relationship between each colleague's posting to other colleagues' postings or to other course materials and concepts, where appropriate and relevant.
• Include proper APA citations.

Colleagues' postings1:

Synthesize twoqualitative studiesthat include how the study might contribute to your own potential research topic, either directly or tangentially:

Users of an electronics health record (EHR) and maintained privacy of the records play a significant in how a hospital functions. Eikey& ET. al., (2015) used a qualitative approach with a somewhat structured interview process. This study will be helpful to my research because it focuses on the technology acceptance model. Also, the study is specific to hospitals and compares the users of the technology as well the IT staff. I will be taking a similar approach, but will be looking at the implementation of security protocols and how those are or are not followed by the users and why.

In addition, Hantayani& et. al., (2016) evaluated a similar approach using the TAM concept, except they used a comparison of private and government facilities in Indonesia. The study took two general areas of hospitals, those that are privately owned and those owned by the government. The premise of the study looks at the issues that are apparent in the search for the correct process within each of the two areas, government and private hospitals. I will use the similar tactic of comparing facilities, but I don' think I will use private and government, as I feel getting the security protocols of a government may be challenging. Therefore, I will be using a comparison on the size of the hospitals and how they view security in various ways.

As similar in both studies, I will also be using an interview with a survey added to the study to gather my participants.

Explain how the research instrument, theoretical framework, and research questions from each study inform your research approach:

Both of the studies selected used an interview/survey approach to gather data. The use of TAM will also be used in my study to look at how users do or do not accept the way the technology will function with the restrictions of the security added to their workflow. Additionally, in my study I will show how the added security will have an impact on how the IT department carries out education and the actual creation of the policies. The research questions have a similar tone to what I would like to address. The two research questions look at the comparison of the end user and EHR or the influence security plays into the daily workflow. Either way my research question will have to do with the implementation of security policies and impacts of the end users workflow.

Also, post at least two questions that will elicit suggestions and further responses from your colleagues:

Would it be worth the time to consider government entities for the search of security protocol? I am concerned that I will not get a lot of data due to the restricted access.

Should I video tape and audio record the interviews? Why?

Would it be worth adding an observation time to the study (i.e. watch the end users during their work)? What would I gain or lose?

References:

Acceptance model of a Hospital Information System. (n.d.).

Eikey, E., Murphy, A., Reddy, M., & Xu, H. (2015, January 12). Designing for privacy management in hospitals: Understanding the gap between user activities and IT staff's understandings.

Colleagues' postings2:

Post a 350- to 500-word analysiscomparing quantitative and qualitative methods of research, evaluating the strengths and shortcomings of each method.

When looking to start a quantitative inquiry a researcher views a general topic for research (i.e. Information Security). After the topic is found then the research has to define a research question that will be addressed in the study (Choy, 2014). In comparison, a qualitative approach will have the researching looking at a more philosophical approach to a research question (2014).

The two respected approaches have their own purpose and reason to use when conducting research. In the initial phase of collecting the data a research would collect the data, and in the quantitative approach the research will get a lot of data that will then have be to analyzed and meaning placed aside it. Also, when using the quantitative approach the researcher has to use the collected data, consider different interpretations of the data, and background knowledge of the topic.(Neuman, 2006).

Some of the weakness that come from using the qualitative approach is that the interviewer need to have a fairly confident approach to asking questions and have good interviewing skills. While this can be a problem, because the skills of interviewing can take time, these are skills that can be acquired. One of the many benefits to using a qualitative approach allows for more information to be obtained, because open-ended questions are used and elicit more information (Yauch and Steudel, 2003).

When using the quantitative approach, researchers rely on the data and can evaluate the data quickly and save time (Yauch and Steudel, 2003). On the other hand, using a quantitative method means the research has to use large groups to gather the data. In a general sense, this is not an issue. However, because there is such a large group used, and the same people are not from that same large group - say in a one community - it is difficult to say how many people are actually impacted in one given community (ACAPS, 2012).

Reference:

ACAPS (2012) Qualitative and Quantitative Research Techniques for Humanitarian Needs Assessment.

Choy, L. T. (2014). The Strengths and Weaknesses of Research Methodology: Comparison and Complimentary between Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science,19(4), 99-104. doi:10.9790/0837-194399104

Neuman, W. L. (2006) Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches 6th Edition, Pearson International Edition, USA.

Yauch, C. A. and Steudel, H. J. (2003) Complementary Use of Qualitative and Quantitative Cultural Assessment Methods, Organizational Research Methods, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 465-481.

Colleagues' postings3:

Wise (2011) sum it up quite nicely by explaining that qualitative research is exploratory research that provides insights and seeks to explain underlying reasons. It helps foster ideas or hypotheses for future quantitative research. She goes on to elaborate that qualitative research is used to reveal trends in thought, opinions, and motivations. The data collection methods are unstructured such as focus groups, interviews, and observations. The sample size is usually small and selection aims to fill a quota. Qualitative research allows the in depth exploration of a topic (Sheragy, 2017). It is often less expensive than quantitative research because fewer participants will suffice which in turn creates flexibility in location and timing. Sheragy does point out that one disadvantage is that qualitative research can't generalize the findings to a broader audience. Thus, qualitative research is best suited for the earlier phases of the study and quantitative research is recommended for the latter part of the study (Explorable, 2017). Qualitative hypotheses are broad and seek to provide the whole picture. Whereas quantitative research has a narrow hypothesis that uses a focused description with a conclusive research type.

Quantitative research quantifies a problem by generating data that can be transformed into usable statics (Wyse, 2011). Wyse states that it is used to quantify attitudes, behaviors and other variables that can facilitate the results being generalized from a larger population. Facts and patterns are derived from measurable data. Data collection involves surveys online and paper, interviews, and longitudinal studies. It involves faster data collection and analyzation speeds that can be generalized to the entire population (Sheragy, 2017). Quantitative research can provide trusted statistics vital to planning. Sheragy also points out that it can be anonymous which is key when dealing with sensitive issues. On the other hand, quantitative research cannot probe for answers because it doesn't provide specific details that qualitative research can (Research Optimus, 2017). It focuses more on the classifying of countable features and then the construction of statistical models to provide explanation for what has been observed (Explorable, 2017).

References

Explorable. (2017). Quantitative and qualitative research.

Research Optimus. (2017). Qualitative vs. quantitative research.

Sheragy, K. (2017). Pros & cons of qualitative & quantitative research.

Wyse, S. (2011, September 16). Difference between qualitative and quantitative research.