Free Essay: Quantitative Nursing Research Critique

The goal of any quantitative research study is to determine the relationship that exists between one item commonly referred to as the independent variable, and another that is the dependent and outcome variable. This kind of research is either descriptive where the subjects are only measured singularly or experimental where measurement is made before and after treatment. Specifically, a descriptive quantitative study focuses on the associations that exists between variables whereas the experimental one is focused on causality. For the study to be effective and indeed valid, it ought to, specifically, state the research problems. In this regard, it should be easier for the reader of that study to locate the research problem. As such, the research ought to clearly state the research problem. Additionally, the research problem should build on the information and literature review. More importantly, the purpose statements and questions should be worded appropriately so that it is easier to identify the key concepts of the study. Indeed, a good quantitative nursing research study should specifically state the population of interest.

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This paper will critically evaluate the article titled Household-related Hazardous Conditions With Implications for Patient Safety in the Home Health Care Sector (Gershon et al., 2008). This critique will be based on the clarity of the research problem as well as how easy it is to locate the problem. Additionally, how the problem statement builds on the introduction and literature review will be assessed. The wording of the problem statements will also be examined to see if the key concepts/variables are identifiable. Ultimately, whether it is easy to identify the population of interest will form the climax of this paper. The article will be critiqued using other two related articles. Abuse and Violence during Home Care Work as Predictor of Worker Depression (Trinkoff, 2008) and Examining the effectiveness of home-based parent aide services to reduce risk for physical child abuse and neglect: Six-month findings from a randomized clinical trial (Guterman et al., 2013)

The statement of the problem for the article (Gershon et al., 2008) is that the home healthcare setting serves two purposes; a household and a care-giving environment. As such, there is a concern that risks exists for the adverse events that could affect the health as well as the safety of the patients in the home healthcare. Additionally, the researcher states that the increasing frail of the elderly home healthcare patients may lead to more vulnerability to the adverse events that are associated with the settings. Specifically, issues such as medical errors, hazardous household conditions, and the potential harm due to patient falls are some of the problems that are stated by the researcher.

The problem that the researcher sought to solve is not clearly stated as the reader has to go through the introductory part to get to know what the researcher intends to do with the research. As such, it is hard for the readers to get a clear picture of the problems that exists and which the research conducted by the author will wish to encapsulate. This makes the quantitative research raise queries as to the ability of the researcher to define what he intends to research about and the factors underlying the research. When a comparison is made between this article (Gershon et al., 2008) and that of Trinkoff (2008), the issue of clarity of problem statement is laid bare. Specifically, Trinkoff (2008) clearly articulates the underlying problem by stating that there is increasing cases of abuse and violence in care work environments. This is the first statement of the article, which makes it clear to the mind of the reader on what the study seeks to show. The same case applies to the article of Guterman et al. (2013) where the problem is stated from the onset. Specifically, in this article, the prevention of physical abuse of children as well as neglect are presented as healthcare priorities. As such, the reader is aware of the problem that the research will be aiming to solve. These two article are, therefore, in clear contrast with that of Gershon et al. (2008) which does not have a clear and identifiable problem statement.

The statement of the research problem should be supported by the literature review. In this regard, the research by Gershon et al. (2008) seeks to do this by providing figures of the number of employees that are in the home care sector. Additionally, the projection of population in 2030 has also been provided with the aim of showing how the risks of the patients in the home care setting continue to become more and more as the longevity of life continues to increase. However, this does not necessarily build on the core problem, which is the increasing hazards that are evident in the homecare settings. Specifically, the literature in the article should be more concerned with cases of patient falls, as well as the aspects of the doubling of the home as a household and hospital at the same time. The major criticisms here is that the literature review does not really build on the problem that has been stated by the researcher.

A distinction is made between how the current article differs from the way it builds the literature review around the problem statement of the research with the research that was made by Trinkoff (2008). In this regard, Trinkoff (2008) seeks to establish that there is a connection between the various abuses and violence that are prevalent in the healthcare homes to the depression that the care workers experience. The author clearly builds on this problem statement by providing literature on the various risks that lead to these scenarios and the types of violence that exist in such homes. This is clear and precise and shows that the researcher is clearly focused on the main concepts of the study. However, this is no the case with Gershon et al. (2008) who gets out of the main concepts of the research and provides literature review that is very broad and irrelevant to the problem statement.

Guterman et al. (2013) shows a perfect example of how the problem statement should determine the kind of literature that a researcher should deploy. In his research, the researcher reviews literature on the various interventions that have been deployed to ensure that children under home care are not abused physically or otherwise by their carers. This literature builds on the problem of the lack of proper mechanisms to tame the cases of abuses and violence on children. This literature review is spot on as it clearly elaborates on the existing problem and how there is lack of a proper intervention that can be relied upon. Contrasted to the main research by Gershon et al. (2008), the research is indeed a good example that shows how indifferent the problem statement and the literature review are in this article.

The other point of critique for the research by Gershon et al. (2008) lies in the way that the purpose statements are amorphous. Actually, it is very hard to establish the aims and objectives of the research as the research states that the study seeks to assess and characterize the home healthcare patients. The major question that arises out of that is the importance of the characterization and assessment. Indeed, the research should have specifically, stated the purpose that the research would serve in concise terms. According to the stated objectives, the purpose seems to be less important in the healthcare. However, as an individual reads the text, he/she is able to understand the core objective of the study. This undoubtedly makes the wording of the purpose statements inappropriate and hence incomprehensible.

Trinkoff, (2008) shows how the wording of the purpose statement should be. Specifically, he states that the purpose of the study is to describe the prevalence of abuse and violence experienced by these workers as well as to examine its relation to depression. The use of the to shows the exact reason as to why the research is conducting the study. This wording is very important in showing that the research has a specific and identifiable reason that he/she seeks to conduct the current study. This shows how inappropriate the words used by Gershon et al. (2008) are in relation to the purpose of the research. Specifically, Gershon et al. (2008) states that the purpose of the study is to characterize. However, this characterization should actually lead to something worth of conducting a research.

The last critique of the research by Gershon et al. (2008) lies in the specification of the population of interests. Specifically, it is not easy for a reader to identify the population that the researcher is basing his research. Although there is mention of people like the elderly and home healthcare population, it is not established whether it is the children, the elderly or even the disabled. This leaves the reader in darkness as to the population that the results of the study can be generalized. Additionally, this makes the quantitative research even more questionable

This can be critiqued by comparing it with the research by Trinkoff (2008) who categorically states that the study populations are the healthcare workers. This outright statement of the population of interest makes the reader to have an easy time in trying to identify the problem with the population as well as how the results of the study can be generalized. The same case applies in the research by the Guterman et al. (2013) where the population of interests is stated as the families who have at least a child who is twelve years and below. This location of the population of interest without striving makes the research more appealing to the readers and hence attract more credibility. More importantly, the importance of the study is increased as those who wish to use the data have correct information on the population that the study was done.

References

Gershon, R. R., Canton, A. N., Raveis, V. H., Silver, A., Chen, C. C., Qureshi, K. A., ... & Stone, P. W. (2008). Household-related hazardous conditions with implications for patient safety in the home health care sector. Journal of Patient Safety, 4(4), 227-234.

Guterman, N. B., Tabone, J. K., Bryan, G. M., Taylor, C. A., Napoleon-Hanger, C., & Banman, A. (2013). Examining the effectiveness of home-based parent aide services to reduce risk for physical child abuse and neglect: Six-month findings from a randomized clinical trial. Child abuse & neglect, 37(8), 566-577.

Trinkoff, A. (2008) Abuse and Violence During Home Care Work as Predictor of Worker Depression.