Quantitative Research Designs Flashcards
What are some quantitative research designs?
Experimental
Quasi-experimental
Non-experimental
What are some non-experimental quantitative research designs?
- surveys
- correlational studies
- developmental studies
- pilot studies
What does a experimental (randomized controlled trial) research design require?
Randomization, control group, manipulation or treatment.
What must be demonstrated in order to determine causality in an experimental research design?
Causal effect variables associated
Cause precedes effect
Relationship not explained by another variable.
When is a quasi-experimental design used instead of an experimental (RCT) design?
Used in situations where full experimental design is not possible.
What are the characteristics of a quasi-experimental research design?
Will have a control group with treatment.
Involves manipulation of independent variable.
Lacks randomization and/or control.
May use a non-equivalent comparison group (not randomly selected).
As a result, one cannot make causal inferences.
Why are experimental designs not the most common nursing research designs?
Not common because complexity of problems/experiments assume that all variables involved in phenomenon have been identified.
Not all variables can be manipulated or measured.
Difficult or impractical in naturalistic settings.
What is the purpose of non-experimental quantitative research designs?
Understand phenomena as they naturally occur, without researcher intervention (no manipulation)
- independent variables occur naturally
What is required for a non-experimental quantitative design?
Requires a large sample size
What is one limitation of non-experimental quantitative research designs?
Less ability to predict causal relationships.
When can survey designs be used?
Little is known about the variable(s)
How is data collected for a survey?
Data collected via questionnaire or interview.
What are some positive aspects of survey designs?
Can obtain great deal of info from large population in fairly economical manner (breadth but not depth).
Info is quite accurate.
What are some negative aspects of survey designs?
Does not give depth of information.
Must not attempt to determine causation.
What are some related term so survey designs?
Descriptive
Exploratory
Comparative
What is the purpose of a correlational design? (what does it do)
Provides a means of looking at relationships between variables that cannot be manipulated.
What does a correlational design identify?
Correlation, NOT causation
What are two categories of correlational design?
Descriptive correlation
Predictive correlation
What are developmental studies?
Types of correlational studies that look at data over time (as it develops)
How is data collected for developmental studies?
Chart audits, etc.
What are three types of developmental studies?
Cross sectional
Longitudinal
Retrospective
What are some reasons for conducting a pilot study?
Determine feasibility of conducting the study.
Develop or refine a research treatment.
Develop protocol for implementing a treatment.
Identify design problems.
Determine if the sample is representative.
Examine instrument reliability and validity.
Develop or refine data collection tools.
Check data analysis techniques.
