Question:
Within a health topic of your choice, critically appraise the use of quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research. You should consider the advantages and disadvantages of each research approach within the health topic you have chosen including potential ethical, practical or legal barriers to their use. (1000 words)
Solution/Answer:
Question 4: Critical Appraisal of Quantitative, qualitative, and Mixed Methods Research
Quantitative
In the study of impact of culture to infectious diseases, the functional and the positive paradigm that determines this mode of inquiry is founded on the assumption that cultural reality possess objective ontology structure and people are answering agents to this particular objective environment. To determine the implication of culture to the infectious diseases, this method will entail counting and measuring all the events and carrying out a performance of a statistical; analysis to the existing numerical data (Mertens, 2014). This measurement is hence reliable, valid and generalizable in its original prediction of the causes and implications.
Quantitative approach merits include specific stating of research problem and generalizable terms, specification of clear and precise independent and dependent variables in the cultural and infectious diseases study. The issues of casualty of the infectious diseases can be identified through testing of culture hypothesis to arrive in more objective conclusions. In regard to demerits, this method fails in provision of information to the researcher on the situation where the culture and infectious diseases phenomena occurred (Pluye & Hong, 2014). The researcher equally lacks any control of the environment where the respondents offer the answers to the questions in the survey. In the research on infectious diseases and culture, it must be broad and adopt multiple facets which are not applicable in quantitative research. Quantitative research does not encourage the evolving and progressive investigations in this research leading to limited outcomes.
In regard to ethics barriers of the quantitative research methods, the study of infectious diseases will involve a continuous study process. However, to test the entire hypothesis, it demands a change in the middle of the research which is unethical. In addition, the selection of control groups to apply or not to apply in research is a major challenge (Sparkes, 2015). In regard to practical and legal barriers, it include collection of data without the adoption of appropriate controls, omission of controls pointed out by others, failure to data preservation for a long time which are all evident in health research on infectious diseases.
Qualitative In the study of infectious diseases, this approach focuses on the existing theoretical assumptions of the interpretative paradigm. This is based…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Please contact us to receive support and guidance on this assessment in full
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