Week 8 discussion
Discussion: Planning for Data Collection
Data collection is an important part of both quantitative
and qualitative research. Although the actual approach to gathering information
may vary, for either research design, researchers need to plan in advance how
the data will be gathered, reported, and stored, and they need to ensure that
their methods are both reliable and valid. As nurses review research when
considering a new evidence-based practice, it is important to be familiar with
sound collection practices in order to ascertain the credibility of the data
presented.
Consider the following scenario:
Nurses and other health care professionals are often
interested in assessing patient satisfaction with health care services. Imagine
that you are a nurse working in a suburban primary care setting that serves
10,000 patients annually. Your organization is very interested in understanding
the patient’s point of view to help determine areas of care that can be
improved. With this focus in mind, consider how you would create a survey to
assess patient satisfaction with the services your organization provides. You
may wish to consider variables such as the ease of accessing care, patient wait
time, friendliness of the staff, or the likelihood that a patient would
recommend your organization to others.
For this Discussion, you generate questions and an overall
plan for data collection that would be appropriate for a patient satisfaction
survey in relation to the above scenario.
To prepare:
Consider the guidelines for generating questions presented
in this week’s Learning Resources.
Review the scenario and formulate at least five questions
that you could use to evaluate patient satisfaction.
Reflect on the different methods or instruments that can be
used for gathering data described in Chapter 13 and Chapter 23 of the course
text.
Which methods or instruments would work well for the
scenario? Determine an appropriate sample size for the scenario.
By Day 3
Post the questions that you created for gathering
information about patient satisfaction based on the above scenario. Explain
which method or instrument you would use to gather data. Describe the sample
size appropriate for the population and how you would select participants.
Provide a rationale for your choices, and explain how you can ensure high
standard of reliability and validity.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
By Day 6
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different
days using one or more of the following approaches:
Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional
background information, and evidence.
Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings,
synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings
from the classroom or from your own review of the literature in the Walden
Library.
Validate an idea with your own experience and additional
sources.
Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from
the readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.
