• Research Paper on:
    Qualitative Controversy: Participant Observation In Nursing

    Number of Pages: 13

     

    Summary of the research paper:

    13 pages in length. Qualitative research explores an area, collects data through observations and interviews with people and generates hypotheses. Working in the opposite direction as the quantitative research, in this method the researcher would first explore the geographic location collecting the data through interviews and observation, and then generate a hypothesis based on the data. The validity of such research can be tested by asking questions such as the importance of the subject, the methods used for collecting and analyzing data, and point of view of the researcher. However, even though the nursing industry is moving more toward qualitative research methodology, there still exist certain controversial issues pertaining to participant observation with regard to access, ethical issues, power and relevance. Bibliography lists 20 sources.

    Name of Research Paper File: LM1_TLCQualN.rtf

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    the quantitative research, in this method the researcher would first explore the geographic location collecting the data through interviews and observation, and then generate a hypothesis based on the data.  "Qualitative research methods are conducted in naturalistic settings. The qualitative research method should be selected and appropriately used according to the nursing problem and what is known about  the nursing phenomena to be studied" (Park, 2001). The validity of such research can be tested by asking questions such as the importance of the subject, the methods used  for collecting and analyzing data, and point of view of the researcher (Greenhalgh, 1997). "Nursing research is increasingly moving away from quantitative research methods, towards qualitative techniques, to describe  and give meaning to life experiences. Participant observation is a popular way of collecting data in qualitative research. Quantitative research methods concentrate mainly on issues of cause and  effect" (Martin, 1995, p. 44). However, even though the nursing industry is moving more toward qualitative research methodology, there still exist certain controversial issues pertaining to participant observation with  regard to access, ethical issues, power and relevance (Benner, 1991; Morse, 1994; Silva et al, 1995). II. BACKGROUND OF QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY Researchers who choose to use qualitative methods tend  to seek a deeper reality, inasmuch as their aim is to "study things in their natural setting, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings  people bring to them [by using] a holistic perspective which preserves the complexities of human behavior" (Greenhalgh, 1997, p. 740). The researcher, being the prime instrument of data collection,  would be responsible for collecting documents to be used in the study of documentary accounts of events, such as interviews and meetings. Using passive observation, which is systematic anthropological 

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