Chapter 13: Descriptive and Exploratory Research Descriptive Exploratory Experimental Describe Find Cause Populations Relationship and EffectCase study Developmental Research Normative Research Qualitative research Correlational, Predictive research
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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
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Descriptive Research
Exploratory Research:– Focuses on the relationships among these
factorsDescriptive and Exploratory Research:
May be combined, depending on the research question
Are considered nonexperimental or observational research (no data manipulation)
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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
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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
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Case Studies
Purpose In-depth description of an individual’s
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)
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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:
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Case Studies
–Etiology, care, and outcome of subject’s:
–Background, present status, and responses to intervention
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Case Studies
It begins with a: full history, delineation problems, symptoms, and prior treatments, demographic and social factors that a relevant to the subject’s care and prognosis
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Case Studies
Literature should be cited to support treatment
Documentation of all interventions, subject’s responses, and and10 follow-up should be complete
Data could be quantitative or qualitative, or both
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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
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Case Studies
Provides an opportunity for understanding the totality of an individual’s experience
Limitations: – Limited generalizability from one case to
another due to lack of control
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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
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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
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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
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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)
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Developmental Research
Provides valuable information for generating correlational or experimental hypothesis/es
Generates developmental theories
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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
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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
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Normative Research
The “norm” is used as a basis for: Prescribing corrective interventions
Predicting future performance
Researchers must be aware of sampling biases
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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”
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Qualitative Research
Purpose:To understand the patient’s perspectiveTo describe how individuals perceive their
own experiences within a specific context To seek an understanding why
something occurs
(Phantom pain)
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Qualitative Research
Methods of Data collection:– Interviews– Observations
Data Analysis and Interpretation– Data are recorded in the narrative– Content analysis– Themes
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Qualitative Research
“Measurement error” – In terms of judgments not numerical
equivalency
Sampling
Size
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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
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Exploratory Research
Exploratory research is guided by a set of hypotheses– Operational definition– Statistical testing
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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)
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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. Regression-
Predicts the score on an outcome variable by knowing the values of other variables
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Chapter 13
Now you know all about Descriptive and Exploratory Research
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