Descriptive Research Flashcards
what is descriptive research mainly looking at?
characteristics
no interventions
what are the uses for descriptive research?
define subject characteristics
measure data trends
validate existing conditions
what is descriptive research often used for?
to provide foundations for future research
what kind of data collection is used in descriptive research
prospective/retrospective
what data collection methods are used in descriptive research
longitudinal or cross sectional
questionnaires, interviews, direct observation, databases
what are the major disadvantages of descriptive research
easy to find bias
limited scope
mainly the “what” about a topic, not really the “why”
what are the types of descriptive research
case report descriptive survey developmental research normative research qualitative research
what is a case study report
describes interesting, new and unique cases
cannot generate any conclusions or causality
what does a case study report help do
helps understand unusual patient conditions
highlight innovative interventions
generates and tests theory
provides crucial foundation for future clinical research
what is a descriptive survey
aims to provide overall picture of group characteristics through use of surveys
what can descriptive survey involve
correlation interpretations regarding association among certain variables
how is data commonly collected for a descriptive survey
surveys
what is developmental research
involves description of developmental change and sequencing of behaviors in people over time
what is normative research
aims to describe typical or standard values for characteristics of a given populations
how is normative research typically expressed
as mean within range of acceptable values (outcome measures)
