Chapter 13: Descriptive and Exploratory Research

Descriptive

Exploratory

Experimental

Describe Find Cause Populations Relationship and Effect Case study Developmental Research Normative Research Qualitative research Correlational, Predictive research

Descriptive/Exploratory Research

Purpose:
To describe a phenomenon To explore factors that influence and interact with it

Descriptive Research
Document conditions, attitudes, or characteristics of individuals or groups of individuals

Descriptive Research

Exploratory Research:
Focuses on the relationships among these factors Descriptive and Exploratory Research: May be combined, depending on the research question Are considered nonexperimental or observational research (no data manipulation)

Retrospective and Prospective Research

Retrospective Research
Data have been collected in the past

Prospective Research Data are collected in the present (longitudinal studies) Prospective research is more reliable than retrospective

Descriptive Research

Purpose of descriptive studies:

Document the nature of existing variables How they change overtime Structured around a set of guiding questions Descriptive data provide the basis for classifying data and for further questions

Case Studies
Purpose In-depth description of an individuals condition or responses to treatment Can also focus on a group, institution, or other social unit Case series- an expansion of a case study (several similar cases are reported)

Case Studies
Most often: Case studies emphasize unusual patient problems or diagnoses that present interesting clinical challenges A case study is an intensive investigation designed to a analyze & understand factors important to the:

Case Studies
Etiology, care, and outcome of subjects: Background, present status, and responses to intervention

Case Studies
It begins with a: full history, delineation problems, symptoms, and prior treatments, demographic and social factors that a relevant to the subjects care and prognosis

Case Studies
Literature should be cited to support treatment Documentation of all interventions, subjects responses, and and10 followup should be complete Data could be quantitative or qualitative, or both

Case Studies

Major Contributions:
Information generates hypothesis A thorough analysis of a single situation may lead to discovery of non obvious relationships Case law may lead to a conceptual form

Case Studies
Provides an opportunity for understanding the totality of an individuals experience Limitations:

Limited generalizability from one case to another due to lack of control

Developmental Research
Involves the description of developmental change and the sequencing of behavior in people over time (Erickson, Piaget) Methods used to document change:

1. Longitudinal study- follows a cohort of subjects over time

Developmental Research

Advantage of longitudinal method:

Ability to accumulate data through intensive documentation of growth and change in the same individuals Disadvantages: Money, long term commitment, attrition, and confounding variables

Developmental Research
2. Cross-Sectional Method- studies a stratified group of subjects at one-point in time This method is used more often than longitudinal method because its efficiency as subjects are tested once at the same time

Developmental Research

Disadvantages of Cross-Sectional method:

Selection of subjects (results reflect extraneous factors) Cohort Effects (effects are not age-specific but rather generation or time of birth)

Developmental Research
Provides valuable information for generating correlational or experimental hypothesis/es Generates developmental theories

Normative Studies
Purpose: To describe typical or standard values for characteristics of a given population Directed toward:

A specific age group, gender, occupation, culture, or disability

Normative Research

Norms are usually expressed in terms of:

Mean (within a range of acceptable values) Normal nerve conduction velocity of the Ulnar nerve is expressed as 57.5 meters/sec, with a normal range of 49.5 to 63.6 m/s

Normative Research

The norm is used as a basis for: Prescribing corrective interventions Predicting future performance
Researchers must be aware of sampling biases

Qualitative Research

Quantitative Methods:
Based on Logical positivism Concept/constructs can be measured and assigned numbers

Qualitative Methods: Based on observing the complex nature of humans

Qualitative Research

Purpose:
To understand the patients perspective To describe how individuals perceive their own experiences within a specific context To seek an understanding why something occurs (Phantom pain)

Qualitative Research

Methods of Data collection:

Interviews Observations

Data Analysis and Interpretation

Data are recorded in the narrative Content analysis Themes

Qualitative Research

Measurement error
In terms of judgments not numerical equivalency

Sampling Size

Exploratory Research

The systematic investigation of relationship among two or more variables Purpose: To describe relationships To predict the effects of one variable on another To test relationships that are supported by clinical theory

Exploratory Research

Exploratory research is guided by a set of hypotheses

Operational definition Statistical testing

Exploratory Research

The foundation of exploratory research is the process of:

1. Correlation Measures the degree of association among variables A function of covariation of the data (the extent that one variable varies directly or indirectly with another variable)

Exploratory Research
The strength of this relationship is measured by a correlation statistic Pearson Correlation r (how close the correlation coefficient is to +1or -1 2. RegressionPredicts the score on an outcome variable by knowing the values of other variables

Chapter 13

Now you know all about Descriptive and Exploratory Research