Quantitative and Qualitative Nursing Research - Free Paper Example

There are many differences between quantitative research and qualitative research, especially in the nursing discipline, both for research purposes and in the methods used for data analysis. Qualitative research data is all about quantities and numbers. In contrast, qualitative research data is descriptive and is normally concerned with an observable, but immeasurable phenomenon such as language (Foss, & Ellefsen, 2016). When it comes to their differences in purpose, it is important to note that quantitative nursing research tries to determine the statistically significant correlations and addresses the research questions by describing and measuring based on objective observation and measurement. Its main concerns are to establish causations and correlations. For nursing research, some of the concerns would be to prevent disability and disease, to eliminate symptoms and pain caused by a disease, and most importantly, to improve end-of-life and palliative care (Bockmon, & Riemen, 2017). However, qualitative nursing research is concerned with the generation of information that would help nurses make clinical decisions. In a nutshell, the fundamental focus of qualitative nursing research is on both patient's and health practitioners' experiences.

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When it comes to data analysis methods, these two research designs still have a wide difference. Data analysis is done for quantitative nursing research by making statistical inferences and numerical comparisons (Foss, & Ellefsen, 2016). On the other hand, qualitative nursing research is essentially interpretive and endlessly creative in its data analysis methods. In qualitative nursing research, the researcher does not leave loads of empirical data and continues to pen down his/her findings; he/she must construct his qualitative interpretations. He/she would then be required to apply various techniques such as grounded theory, content analysis, and discourse analysis to derive sense from his/her data. In general, qualitative research data is analyzed based on the description's themes, as reported by the informants (Bockmon, & Riemen, 2017). For my future research in my advanced nursing role, one example quantitative research question that I would like to investigate is: “Do the Race and Gender of a Patient Play a Role in Pain Management?” However, suppose I would have to do qualitative research. In that case, the most probable question that I will investigate is: “How do African Americans experience the search for help for their mental health concerns?”

References

Bockmon, D. F., & Riemen, D. J. (2017). Qualitative versus quantitative nursing research. Holistic nursing practice, 2(1), 71-76.

Foss, C., & Ellefsen, B. (2016). The value of combining qualitative and quantitative approaches in nursing research using method triangulation. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 40(2), 242-248.