NURSING RESEARCH/THEORY - QUANTITATIVE VS QUALITATIVE

Quantitative Research
"Quantitative research is a systematic process used to gather and statistically
analyze information that has been measured by an instrument. Instruments are
used to convert information into numbers. It studies only quantifiable concepts
(concepts that can be measured and turned into numbers)." It examines
phenomenon through the numerical representation of observations and statistical
analysis.
Classification Schemes:
Descriptive studies
Exploratory studies
Explanatory studies
Predictive studies
Clinical trials
Langford, R. ( 2000). Navigating the Maze of Nursing Research . Elsevier.
Example of Quantitative Research
Hinkle JL.Variables explaining functional recovery following motor stroke. J Neurosci
Nurs, 2006 Feb;38(1):6-12
Abstract: Few well-designed descriptive studies focus exclusively on patients after
motor stroke. This study describes a cohort of participants after motor stroke and
assesses the extent to which five key variables explain the variation in functional
recovery 3 months after stroke. Prospective data were collected (N=100) on age,
lesion volume, motor strength, cognition, and poststroke function during the acute
care hospital admission. Instruments included magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to
provide a measure of lesion volume, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and
the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination (NCSE) to measure cognitive
status, and the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) to measure motor
strength. The Functional Independence Measure (FIM) was used to measure baseline
function and functional recovery 3 months after stroke. Descriptive and hierarchical
multiple regression analyses were used to describe the cohort and predict functional
recovery. The means for key variables during acute care were 65 (+/-15) years of
age, lesion volume 21.5 (+/-44.7) cm3, NIHSS 6.34 (+/-3.55), MMSE 24.38 (+/-4.82),
NCSE 64.33 (+/-13), and FIMTM 94.05 (+/-19.31). Age, cognitive status, and initial
function accounted for 42% of the variance in functional recovery 3 months after
stroke. Results indicate that neuroscience nurses need to add cognition to their
focus during the fast-paced acute phase of care following motor stroke.

Qualitative Research
"Qualitative research implies a focus on qualities of a process or entity and
meanings that are not examined or measured in terms of quantity, amount,
frequency, or intensity. Qualitative research can mean the analysis of open-ended
questions that respondents are asked to write on a survey. It also can refer to what
is thought of as naturalistic research, a general label for qualitative research
methods that involve the researcher going to a natural setting, that is, to where the
phenomenon being studied is taking place."
Qualitative research includes many methods:
Phenomenology: the study of lived experiences
Ethnography: systematic study of cultures
Grounded Theory: data are collected, analyzed, and used to develop a theoretical
explanation and generate hypotheses for further research.
Historical method: examines social phenomena by studying their historical context
or their past.
Case Study: in-depth description of essential dimensions and processes of the
phenomenon being studied.
Cohen, M.Z. (2006). Introduction to Qualitative Research. In LoBiondo-Wood, G.,
Haber, J. (Eds), Nursing research. Methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based
practice (pp 131-132). St. Louis: Mosby Elsevier.
Example of Qualitative Research
Harrison, T., Angel, J., Mann, A. (2008). Mexican American women aging with
childhood-onset paralytic polio. Qualitative Health Research , 18(6),767-74.
Abstract: In this study the life histories of 11 Latinas of Mexican American descent
aging with permanent impairment related to childhood-onset paralytic polio were
explored. These women, age 45 to 62 years, were interviewed 3 times each. Field
notes, audiotaped interviews, life course charts, and demographic data were used
to collect data chronicling childhood to present day. In the results we present a
thematic representation of the societal and cultural influences on the life course
trajectories of these women.
Quantitative Vs Qualitative Research
"Broadly speaking, quantitative research is thought to be objective whereas
qualitative research often involves a subjective element. It is thought that in
gaining, analysing and interpreting quantitative data, the researcher can remain

detached and objective. Often this is not possible with qualitative research where
the researcher may actually be involved in the situation of the research."
Consider a study being undertaken into waiting times in the Accident & Emergency
(A&E) Department of a hospital.
A quantitative study, measuring how long people wait, can be purely objective.
However if the researcher was wanting to discover how patients felt about their
waiting time, they would have to come into contact with the patients and make
judgements about the way they answered their questions. If the researcher asked
the patient "how are you feeling having waited an hour to be seen by the doctor?"
they would almost certainly register the patients non-verbal behaviour as well as
document the response; in this way the researcher is adding a subjective element to
the study.
Quantitative research is inclined to be deductive. In other words it tests theory.
This is in contrast to most qualitative research which tends to be inductive. In other
words it generates theory.
Using the A&E waiting time example again, the quantitative approach might test the
hypothesis that " Patients attending this A&E department do not wait for more than
one hour to be seen by a doctor". A qualitative approach which explores the feelings
of patients who wait an excessive time to be seen by the doctor might generate the
theory that "patients who experience an excessive wait to be seen by the doctor
experience an enlargement of the symptoms that brought them to the department".
Quantitative designs of research tend to produce results that can be generalised.
Using our A&E example, we should find that, at least for the department under
consideration, the results of the quantitative study tend to hold true. Providing, of
course, that the research was conducted in an appropriate manner using
appropriate sampling techniques.
However, qualitative studies tend to produce results that are less easy to
generalise. This has to do with the problem of the sample used at the time. We all
know, for example, that our feelings about waiting can change dependent on our
particular set of circumstances. Even if the researcher encountered the same group
of clients on another day, they may find different results. Generally, it is difficult to
generalise with qualitative results.
Lastly here, the most obvious difference between quantitative research and
qualitative research is that quantitative research uses data that are structured in
the form of numbers or that can be immediately transported into numbers.
If the data can not be structured in the form of numbers, they are considered
qualitative. (Note that qualitative data can sometimes be handled in such a way as
to produce quantitative data. e.g. the researcher exploring feelings of patients can

analyse the responses in clusters that are negative or positive so as to produce a

figure/percentage of negative patient and positive patient feelings).
When a researcher selects their approach to a study it should be a reflection of
which approach is most suitable for the topic under consideration. However it is also
reasonable to suggest that it also reflects the bias of the researcher. The majority of
medical research is quantitative (and considered to produce "hard", generalisable
results) while much of nursing research is qualitative (and considered to produce
"soft" results).
QUANITATIVE RESEARCH VERSES QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Quanitative Qualitative
Systematic Systematic
Objective Subjective
Deductive Inductive
Generalisable Not generalisable
Numbers Words
Large sample sizes Smaller sample sizes