Discussion Assignment
Compose an original discussion post that addresses the following:
Earlier in the course, you learned that your research design depends on the central purpose of your research. The research design will also align with the research questions. Consider the design of quantitative research and the methods associated with this approach and:
Provide a brief introduction to a health science topic you might like to research, including at least one quantitative research question you might like to examine associated with this topic.
Discuss the data collection techniques that you might use to answer your research question. Support your post with readings from this unit or other relevant sources.
Note: In Weeks 3, 4, and 5, you are asked to identify a topic and develop corresponding Research Questions each week. Please identify a different topic for each Discussion in Weeks 3, 4, and 5 so that you can narrow down your topic in Week 6.
Your Discussion should be a minimum of 200 words in length and not more than 300 words. Please include a word count.
Use APA citations and references for the textbook and any other sources used; you should use at least 1 APA citation and reference, but you can use more if needed. Refer to the UoPeople APA Tutorials in the LRC for help with APA citations. You are required to post an initial response to the question/issue presented in the Forum and then respond to at least 3 of your classmates’ initial posts. You should also respond to anyone who has responded to you. Don’t forget to rate the postings of your classmates according to the Rating Guidelines. Review the Discussion Forum rating guidelines to see how your classmates will be rating your post.
After posting an appropriate, meaningful, and helpful response to your three classmates, you must rate their posts on a scale of 0 (unsatisfactory) to 10 (excellent).
10 (A) – Excellent, substantial, relevant, insightful, enriching, and stimulating contribution to the discussion. Also, uses external resources to support positions where required and/or applicable.
8 – 9 (B) – Good, quite substantial and insightful, but missing minor details which would have otherwise characterized it as an excellent response.
6 – 7 (C) – Satisfactory insight and relevance, but required some more information and effort to have warranted a better rating.
4 – 5 (D) – Limited insight and relevance of the material; more effort and reflection needed to have warranted a satisfactory grading.
0 – 3 (F) – Unsatisfactory insight/relevance or failure to answer the question, reflecting a poor or limited understanding of the subject matter and/or the guidelines of the question.
The rating scores are anonymous; therefore, do NOT mention in your remarks the separate rating score you will give the peer. The instructor is the only person who knows which score matches the comment given to a peer. Some classmates may worry that some peers will not provide a fair rating, or be unable to provide accurate corrections for grammar or other errors. It is the instructor’s responsibility to ensure fairness and accuracy.
Introduction
Quantitative inquiry involves data in the form of numbers. This numerical data is collected through experiments, survey instruments, or content analysis. Quantitative research is primarily concerned with the measurement of variables outlined in the planning stage of research. Further, quantitative research is deductive in nature and requires that one begin with abstract concepts and use empirical data to represent such theories or ideas (Creswell & Creswell, 2017; Neuman, 2011).
An example of quantitative research is the ‘Patient satisfaction survey’ conducted to get answers to questions like how much time doctors took to see their patients, how was the overall experience of patients in the clinic, and so on.
Quantitative research may be experimental or non-experimental. Experimental research attempts to test cause and effect. Specifically, experimental research involves a scientific approach to research that involves a hypothesis and the manipulation of one or more independent variables in order to measure the effects on a dependent variable. In contrast, non-experimental research does not involve the manipulation of variables. Instead, variables are measured as they occur naturally. Non-experimental research cannot demonstrate actual cause and effect relationships.
In this unit, you will explore quantitative approaches to research design, with specific attention to its definition and data collection.
References
Creswell, J. W. & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Jhangiani, R. S., Chiang, I. A., Cuttler, C., & Leighton, D. C. (2019). Research methods in psychology (4th ed.). Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU). https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/psychmethods4e/ licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Neuman, W. L. (2011). Basics of social research: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Publishing.
Reading Assignment
Chipeta, C. (2020, June 15). Best data collection methods for quantitative research. Conjoint.ly. https://conjointly.com/blog/data-collection-quantitative-research/
This webpage speaks about the best data collection methods used for quantitative research.
Ratelle, J.T., Sawatsky, A.P., & Beckman, T.J. (2019). Quantitative research methods in medical education. Anesthesiology, 131(1), 23-35. https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0000000000002727
This article explores quantitative aspects of research in medical education.
Jhangiani, R. S., Chiang, I. CA., Cuttler, C., & Leighton, D. C. (2019). Research methods in psychology (4th ed.). Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU). https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/psychmethods4e/ licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Chapters V, VI, VII, and VIII of this textbook provide an overview of experimental and non-experimental quantitative research, survey research, and quasi-experimental research methods.
Quantitative data collection: Best 5 methods. (n.d). Question pro. https://www.questionpro.com/blog/quantitative-data-collection-methods/
This webpage speaks about the need for quantitative data collection and its methods to collect data.
Quantitative Research: What it is, Tips & Examples (n.d.). Question pro. https://www.questionpro.com/blog/quantitative-research/
This article explains Quantitative research – definition, method, types, and examples.
Optional Reading
Price, O., & Lovell, K. (2018). Chapter 3: Quantitative research design. In Bee, P., Brooks, H., Callaghan, P., & Lovell, K. (Eds.), A research handbook for patient and public involvement researchers. Manchester University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526136527.00008 licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Chapter 3 of this text provides an introduction to quantitative research.
Video Resources
GM Lectures. (2020, August 14). Types of quantitative research designs ~GM lectures [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfi3Nrnpo-U
This video provides an overview of types of quantitative research designs.
PHILO-notes. (2020, November 20). What is quantitative research? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMmerEEeIc8
This video explains quantitative research in brief.
Jotform. (2021, December 21). Quantitative data collection methods [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LrRqi2m-dY
This video explains various Quantitative data collection methods.
