Deck 14: Mixed Methods Research

Question 1

In a study of pain control and fatigue after hip replacement, what would the primary advantage be of conducting a quantitative descriptive portion followed by a grounded theory portion?

A)The results would be more difficult to understand but more scholarly.
B)It would force a multiple-authorship arrangement, assisting each scholar.
C)The researcher's analyses and interpretations will be of higher quality.
D)The time required to complete the study would be approximately double that of completing one that utilized only one method.

Answer 1

The researcher's analyses and interpretations will be of higher quality.

Question 2

A group of researchers investigate pet therapy use in the rehabilitation of traumatic brain injury survivors. The published results matrix displays convergence between the qualitative theme of "not being alone" and the quantitative result "external support." Additionally, the matrix reveals divergence between the qualitative theme of "starting anew" and the quantitative result "sadness." What do these findings tell the reader?

A)The quantitative results were obtained before the qualitative results.
B)The participants valued "not being alone" and "external support" similarly.
C)This was an exploratory sequential study.
D)Differences were noted between "starting anew" and "sadness."
E)The quantitative results in mixed methods research always represent frequency counts generated from the qualitative interviews.

Answer 2

The participants valued "not being alone" and "external support" similarly.
Differences were noted between "starting anew" and "sadness."

Question 3

A nurse is interested in learning more about a topic of interest. The nurse finds a published study on the topic that utilized a mixed methods strategy. The researchers for this mixed methods study found overwhelming similarities between the qualitative and quantitative results of the study. The nurse then finds two more studies on the same topic-one quantitative and one qualitative-in which the researchers reported divergent findings from each other and from the mixed method study results. What is the best explanation for why the mixed methods research results were similar but results of the two separate studies were different?

A)Methodological rigor is higher for mixed methods studies.
B)There is no room for individual interpretation in qualitative research, so the researcher must have made an error.
C)The mixed methods study results were derived from the same study participants.
D)Each of the studies had unique philosophical underpinnings, which likely influenced the kinds of questions that were posed.

Answer 3

Each of the studies had unique philosophical underpinnings, which likely influenced the kinds of questions that were posed.

Question 4

In a research study, burn patients either washed their own wounds or had them washed by nursing staff daily. Patients performed self-washing on alternate days. Pain was measured at intervals during dressing changes. Patients also were interviewed near the end of hospitalization, after all dressing change data had been collected, and analyzed from the theoretical perspective of symbolic interactionism, in order to determine what factors had made their pain more severe or less severe, under each condition. What study designs were used in this research project?

A)Grounded theory research
B)Explanatory sequential strategy
C)One-group pretest-posttest design
D)Mixed methods research
E)Time series repeated reversal design

Question 5

What is the best research approach for investigating the actual representation of Hispanic managers within healthcare institutions and the workplace beliefs and prejudices that perpetuate their disproportionate representation?

A)Mixed methods approach
B)Quantitative approach
C)Qualitative approach
D)Outcomes approach

Question 6

Quantitative experimental researchers often "brainstorm" after each study, discussing the findings with colleagues, in order to interpret them and create new theories and strategies for testing them. Then they proceed to the next study. This is similar to a sine wave-first quantitative, then qualitative, and then quantitative, and so on. This represents an informal and ongoing combination of what research strategies?

A)Mixed methods
B)Explanatory sequential
C)Blocking
D)Multiple causality
E)Content analysis
F)Exploratory sequential
G)Convergent concurrent

Question 7

What are valid reasons for selecting an exploratory sequential strategy research design?

A)The researcher is interested in both the relative occurrence of a phenomenon and the meanings ascribed to it.
B)On a two-person research team, each researcher is schooled in either qualitative or quantitative research methods.
C)There is little known about the topic, yet the researcher wants to be able to perform hypothesis testing.
D)The researcher is concerned that collection of quantitative data may bias data collected qualitatively.
E)The researchers expect to collect quantitative and qualitative data all at once.

Question 8

A nurse researcher is interested in the work of public health nurses (PHNs). The researcher first performs a qualitative phase of the study in which PHNs are interviewed about the skills and abilities needed for PHN practice. Data are analyzed, and themes are identified. In the next phase, the researcher creates a survey utilizing the themes derived from the interviews; the survey lists each skill with a Likert-type scale to rate the use and importance of the skill in PHN practice. Hundreds of PHNs complete the survey, and the quantitative data are analyzed. What is the best description of the type of mixed methods strategy employed by the researcher?

A)Exploratory sequential strategy
B)Explanatory sequential strategy
C)Convergent concurrent strategy
D)Methodological triangulation

Question 9

What is the principal disadvantage of mixed methods research?

A)Its results are impossible to integrate, so interpretation is highly subjective.
B)Because of its complexity, researchers from different research traditions must be called upon to collaborate, in order to conduct the study.
C)The time required to complete a mixed methods study is more than that which would be required for completing one that utilizes only one method.
D)Quantitative data usually are converted to qualitative data before analysis or interpretation, so that a cohesive analysis can be accomplished.

Question 10

A nurse at the local clinic notices that adherence to the treatment regimen for seizure disorder is more problematic in patients from one cultural group. The nurse develops a research team to explore this problem. The group plans to collect data via focus group interviews and questionnaires administered to participants at the time of the interviews. What is the best description of the type of mixed methods strategy employed by the researcher?

A)Exploratory sequential strategy
B)Explanatory sequential strategy
C)Convergent concurrent strategy
D)Methodological triangulation