Explain what factors must be assessed when determining the credibility of quantitative studies.

NUR699 Explain what factors must be assessed when determining the credibility of quantitative studies.

NUR699 Evidence Based Practice Project

Week 3 Discussion

DQ2 Explain what factors must be assessed when determining the credibility of quantitative studies. Which factor is t Read More

he most important? Why?

ORDER NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT:NUR699 Explain what factors must be assessed when determining the credibility of quantitative studies.
Why was the study undertaken?
Whether the aim of the research was to generate income, lobby for a policy change, evaluate the impact of a programme or develop a new theoretical framework, this will influence the research questions, data collection and analysis, and the presentation of the results. In order to make best use of the findings and place them in context for your use, it is advisable to bear the aim of the study in mind.

Who conducted the study?
A myriad of organisations in the field offer intelligence that feed into the decisions in our daily work. It is therefore important to look at who has conducted the research, and if the organisation or individual in question has the expertise required for conducting research on the topic. Additionally, assessing if the organisation has an interest in a specific research outcome is a good practice. If so, the research should be transparent in demonstrating how the different stages of the study were conducted to guarantee its objectivity.

NUR699 Explain what factors must be assessed when determining the credibility of quantitative studies.
NUR699 Explain what factors must be assessed when determining the credibility of quantitative studies.

How was the data collected?
In the social sciences, structured interviews and self-completion questionnaires are perhaps the two most common ways of collecting quantitative data. How the individuals in the sample, ie those approached to be surveyed, have been identified is crucial in determining the representativeness of the results. There are two main types of samples, namely probability and non-probability samples. A probability sample is a sample in which every individual in the population has the same chance of being included. It is also a prerequisite for being able to generalise the findings to the population (see below).

To illustrate the difference, let us say you survey first-year students by asking student clubs to share the survey on social media. Since this non-probability snowball sample has a greater likelihood of reaching students active in such clubs, the results won’t be representative or generalisable.

Is the sample size and response rate sufficient?
The bigger the sample size the higher the likelihood that the results are precise. After a sample size of around 1000, gains in precision become less pronounced. Often, however, due to limited time and money approaching such a large sample might not be feasible. The homogeneity of the population further affects the desired sample size; a more heterogeneous population requires a larger sample to include the different sub-groups of the population to a satisfactory degree. The response rate is a complementary measure to the sample size, showing how many of the suitable individuals in the sample have provided a usable response. In web surveys, response rates tend to be lower than in other types of surveys.