Analysis of quantitative Study
Quantitative research entails quite a wide range of processes like the formulation of the research equation, through the data collection up to the interpretation and analysis of the data collected. The entire process has several stages that need keen attention and research discipline which is dictated by the research ethics.
Within the scope of this paper, several factors that guide research process will be discussed and direct reference made to the "QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH REPORT: Measuring awareness and attitudes among young Australians towards STIs, including HIV/AIDS" which largely observed the various tenets of research as will be discussed below.
The ethics in a research majorly concern the protection of the human participants in the process of data collection. There are several measures that should be taken to ensure that the participants are protected physically, emotionally and intellectually as well as personally if they choose to give personal and sensitive information that should not be divulged by the researcher. The following are therefore the varied ways of protecting the human participants during the research as discussed by David B., (2011):
The researcher should strive to avoid putting pressure on the respondents that may lead to anxiety as that will lead to either unpremeditated answers or involuntary participation. It is however prudent to get the consent of the participant if the researcher foresees his questions
In this article participants were given written and verbal information about the study and confidentiality, anonymity and withdrawal were reassured. All participants were fully informed and consented. Moreover, as the participant for this design is to permit the participants to ‘open up’ and discuss their experiences. It is crucial that any given time the participant should be permitted to discontinue with the interview if they feel uncomfortable. This is called as process consent, whereby the interview continuously negotiates with the interviewee to determine whether they are comfortable in continuing with the interview, (Polit and Beck, 2006). There are many ethical aspects to consider, the above is just one fraction used as an example, by simply suggesting that ethical guidelines were adhered to, does not illustrate ethical consideration. They did not show how to make the participant safe if they were difficult to manage.
This paper primarily concerns qualitative research, but we were asked to compare both qualitative and quantitative methods. During comparison, there are many noted differences in both study designs, but not many similarities. Qualitative research uses a subjective approach with a large sample population. It collects non-statistical data, using an unstructured or semi-structured technique (Nieswiadomy & Bailey, 2018). Quantitative research uses an objective approach and large, random, sampling to ask opinions in a structured way. The findings of quantitative studies are conclusive and used to recommend a final course of action (Nieswiadomy & Bailey, 2018). While it is hard to see similarities between the two, both methods aim to find a solution to a problem or question, the researcher doing the study may affect the outcome and an analysis of the collected data must be done (Souza, 2017). What many don’t realize is the connection amongst the two. You can say, both types of research build upon one another, meaning quantitative studies can quantify results found in qualitative research (Souza, 2017).
This provides a guideline that ensures that researchers minimize the amount of risk a study may impose to a participant. When planning a study, it is also important that each of the participants are provided with a sense of security and not placed at a disadvantage. When participants enter into a study, a level of trust is established, and their identities and the information they provide must be protected and never be used against them or exploited for any reason.
Failure to protect subject’s personal information, is an example of not complying the above two principles in the research industry. Researchers are in a position of dealing with a great deal of very personal information that their participants have agreed to disclose. Depending on the type of study, personal identifiers such as names, birthdates, places of residence etc. may or may not have to be collected. In situations where these data are collected, researchers may take several steps to ensure the confidentiality of their participants’
Our study will comply with standard ethical research procedures. We will obtain informed consent from our participants before they participate in our study. Our potential participants will be fully informed about what will happen during our study; in addition, they will understand the effects that our study will have on them and our research (Grinnell, Unrau, and Williams, 2014). We will not use bribery, deception, threats, or any other forms of coercion in order to gain participants for our study. The physical/emotional safety of the participants will come before the research; therefore, we will adhere to all ethical research procedures.
A number of key terms describe the system of ethical considerations that the modern research establishments have set up to protect the rights of research subjects. Voluntary participation and confidentiality are principles that demands that the respondents to be free from coercion in any way when participating in the research, protected in the raw data, and published
Informed consent is a method that was established to protect human participants. Bertha Schrems discusses the importance of informed consent in her article “Informed consent, vulnerability and the risks of group-specific attribution”. Research participants are sometimes threatened by abuse or exploitation and the possibility of harm through research. To
In defining quantitative research the term can be dichotomized. Firstly, research refers to creative, systematic work with the intention to increase the knowledge of man and thereby devise new applications (OECD, 2002). In addition Gray (1997) stated that research should improve performance and that the results should be
The Belmont Report establishes ethical standards for researchers seeking to involve human subjects (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1979). Among these standards is respect for persons- the right of people to be treated as autonomous agents (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1979). Privacy, anonymity, and confidentiality (PAC) fall under this standard (Farrimond, 2013). In research studies, privacy refers to an expectation that access to participants ' information will be limited to those that have a legitimate right to it (Farrimond, 2013). It is also expected that reasonable steps will be taken to prevent unauthorized access to the information. To expand on privacy, most studies allow anonymity- the removal of names and other identifying information (addresses, job titles, age) to protect the identities of participants (Farrimond, 2013). Anonymity increases the likelihood that potential subjects will agree to participate in a study, as they feel more comfortable disclosing information that may otherwise result in negative consequences (Farrimond, 2013). Confidentiality ensures study participants that their information will not be shared beyond the scope of the study (Farrimond, 2013).
In order to protect the subjects ethically and legally in this research project and in accordance with the ethical principles discussed above, researchers will obtain informed consent by describing all the potential benefits and risks of this study to the participants. The risks would include: 1) the possibility that the participants would have an increased level of distress and anxiety throughout the project, 2) the possibility of being identified as a participant in the research project, 3) the inconvenience of the project and opportunity costs such as using participants own gas to drive to an interview, 4) exploitation such as participants feeling pressurized to participate because of a sense of duty 5) Misrepresentation which means that
First and foremost the participants must be voluntary. In all ethical research when conducting research there must be willing participants. Research has shown that when participants volunteer they shouldn’t feel coerced, threatened or bribed into participation. Second, informed consent must be described at the onset of the study. Participants are told about the procedures and informed of any potential risks; there also should be documented in written form, ensuring the participant know about the experiment and can make informed decisions about whether or not they want to participate. Meanwhile, this can present problems in cases where telling the participants the necessary details about the experiment might unduly influence their responses or behaviors in the study. However, it is stated in this article which allows in certain instances, but only if the study would be impossible to conduct without the use of deception, if the research will provide some sort of valuable insight and if the subjects will be debriefed and informed about the study's true purpose after the data has been collected searchers Must Maintain Participant Confidentiality. Finally, while guidelines can provide some ethical standards for research, each study can pose different unique challenges. Likewise, confidentiality is a part of any ethical research. Participants need to be guaranteed that
The guidelines for the protection of human subjects used in research will start with privacy and confidentially. Protecting personal privacy is to protect the interests of individuals. Privacy addresses the question of who has access to personal information, and the use of personal information. Confidentiality is the limited scope in which a person’s private information is shared with others.
The quantitative approach to research has numerous principles that make it unique compared to other approaches. In this paper, I will break down many of the
Quantitative research is concerned with objectivity, tight controls over the research situation, and the ability to generalized findings (Nieswiadomy, 2008, p.
Figure 5 A boxplot showing the median length of research articles in each disciplinary domain