QUANTITATIVE

RESEARCH DESIGN
FLORELIZ V. NGAYA-AN, PHD, RN
RESEARCH DESIGNS
▸ NON EXPERIMENTAL
▸ EXPERIMENTAL
▸ QUASI-EXPERIEMENTAL
DESIGN ACCORDING TO PURPOSE
▸ exploratory
▸ descriptive
▸ explanatory
▸ evaluation
DESIGN ACCORDING TO TIME
DIMENSIONS
▸ cross-sectional (involve the collection of data at one
point in time)

▸ longitudinal (collect data at more than one point in

time over an extended period)

▸ prospective
▸ retrospective
NON-
EXPERIMENTAL
DO BIRTH WEIGHTS UNDER
1,500 GRAMS CAUSE
DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS IN
NON EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
▸ CORRELATIONAL
▸ PROSPECTIVE (COHORT)
▸ RETROSPECTIVE
▸ DESCRIPTIVE
▸ DESCRIPTIVE CORRELATIONAL
CORRELATIONAL

▸ a correlation is an interrelationship or association

between two variables (a tendency for variation in one
variable to be related to variation in another.

▸ example: height and weight

▸ investigators do not control the independent variable, which
often already occurred
RETROSPECTIVE

‣ a phenomenon observed in the present is linked to

phenomena occurring in the past

“Comparing infants who died of sudden infant

death syndrome (the cases) with control infants
who did not.”
PROSPECTIVE

‣ starts with a presumed cause and then goes

forward to the presumed effect
‣ researchers start with samples of smokers
and nonsmokers and later compare the two
groups in terms of lung cancer incidence.
‣ more costly, but much stronger, than
retrospective studies.
“EFFECT OF PREGNANT
WOMEN’S NATURAL EATING
BEHAVIOR DURING THE
DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH

The purpose of descriptive studies is to observe,

describe, and document aspects of a situation.
PREVALENCE OF RISKY
BEHAVIORS AMONG
TEENAGERS
DESCRIPTIVE CORRELATIONAL
RESEARCH
‣ researchers seek to describe relationships among
variables, without attempting to infer causal
connections
“Relationships among co-occurring symptoms
(depression, fatigue, pain, sleep disturbance, and
cognitive impairment) and functional status in
patients with high-grade glioma”
STRENGTHS OF NON-EXPERIMENTAL
DESIGNS
‣ correlational studies play a crucial role in nursing
because many interesting problems are not amenable to
experimentation
‣ efficient and effective means of collecting a large amount
of data about a problem, experimenter looks at only a
few variables at a time
‣ Non-experimental work is often necessary before
interventions can be justified
IT WOULD BE
IMPOSSIBLE
TO COLLECT
EXTENSIVE
INFORMATION
ABOUT
PEOPLE’S
HEALTH
PROBLEMS
AND EATING
HABITS.
RESEARCHERS
COULD THEN
LIMITATIONS OF NON-EXPERIMENTAL
DESIGNS
‣ Inability to illuminate causal relationships with assurance
‣ Susceptible to faulty interpretation because researchers
work with preexisting groups that have formed through
self-selection
EXPERIMENTA
L DESIGNS
TEXT

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
▸ researchers are active agents not passive observers
▸ controlled experiment is considered gold standard for
yielding reliable evidence about cause and effects

▸ experimenters can be relatively confident about genuineness

of causal relationships because they are observed under
controlled conditions and typically meet the criteria for
establishing causality
DESIGN FEATURES OF TRUE
EXPERIMENTS
▸ Manipulation—researchers manipulate the independent
variable by administering an experimental treatment (or
intervention) to some subjects while withholding it from others.

▸ Use of Control Group-refers to a group of participants

whose performance on a dependent variable is used to evaluate
the performance of the experimental group (the group receiving
the intervention) on the same dependent variable.

▸ Random Assignment—the experimenter assigns subjects to

a control or experimental condition on a random basis
TECHNIQUES OF RESEARCH CONTROL
▸ CONTROLLING STUDY CONTEXT
▸ CONTROLLING INTRINSIC FACTORS
▸ RANDOMIZATION
▸ REPEATED MEAURES
▸ HOMOGENEITY
▸ MATCHING
▸ EVALUATION OF CONTROL METHODS
CONTROL

▸ alternative intervention
▸ placebo
▸ standard methods of care
▸ different doses or intensities of treatment
▸ wait list control group
▸ attention control group
TEXT

POSTTEST ONLY DESIGN

PRE-TEST - POSTTEST DESIGN
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MOTIVATIONAL
INTERVIEWING ON HAZARDOUS DRINKING IN A
SAMPLE OF RURAL PEOPLE AT RISK FOR
ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE
FACTORIAL DESIGN
COMPARING TWO THERAPEUTIC
STRATEGIES FOR PREMATURE INFANTS
CROSS OVER DESIGN

‣ involves exposing participants to more than one treatment.

‣ are true experiments only if participants are randomly
assigned to different orderings of treatment.

‣ has the advantage of ensuring the highest possible

equivalence among the subjects exposed to different
conditions
COMPARING THE PERFORMANCE AND
SAFETY FEATURES OF A NEW ONE-PIECE
CLOSED OSTOMY BAG WITH THOSE OF AN
ESTABLISHED BAG
STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF
EXPERIMENTS
▸ confidence with which ▸ artificial because of the
causal relationships can be requirement for
inferred randomization

▸ alternative explanations to a ▸ reductionist and artificially

causal interpretation can constraining human
often be ruled out or experience
discredited
▸ Hawthorne effect
QUASI-
EXPERIMENTAL
DESIGNS
INVOLVE INTERVENTION
LACKS RANDOMIZATION
MAY ALSO LACK CONTROL GROUP
QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
▸ NON EQUIVALENT CONTROL GROUP DESIGNS
▸ BEFORE-AFTER DESIGN
▸ AFTER ONLY DESIGNS
▸ TIME SERIES DESIGN
NON-EQUIVALENT CONTROL GROUP
DESIGNS
NON-EQUIVALENT CONTROL GROUP BEFORE-AFTER
DESIGN
NON-EQUIVALENT CONTROL GROUP
DESIGNS
NON-EQUIVALENT CONTROL GROUP BEFORE-AFTER
DESIGN

▸ The effect of introducing a new hospital-wide model of

care that involved having patient care facilitator be the
primary point person for all patients during their stay
NON-EQUIVALENT CONTROL GROUP
DESIGNS
NON-EQUIVALENT CONTROL GROUP AFTER ONLY
DESIGN

▸ The effect of introducing a new hospital-wide model of

care that involved having patient care facilitator be the
primary point person for all patients during their stay
TIME SERIES DESIGN
Collecting data over an extended period of time
STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF
QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
▸ practical ▸ results are less conclusive
▸ acceptable to a broader
group of people
VALIDITY

INTERNAL VALIDITY
▸ refers to the extent to which it is possible to make an
inference that the independent variable is truly causing or
influencing the dependent variable

EXTERNAL VALIDITY
▸ concerns inferences about the extent to which relationships
observed in a study hold true for different people, conditions,
and settings
THREATS TO INTERNAL VALIDITY
▸ history threat
some unanticipated event occurred while the experiment
was in progress and affected the dependent variable

▸ maturation threat
changes in the dependent variable due to normal
developmental processes operating within the subject as a
function of time
THREATS TO INTERNAL VALIDITY
▸ temporal ambiguity- a question of whether the independent
variable precedes the dependent variable

▸ selection threat
biases resulting from pre-existing differences between
groups

▸ mortality
Differential loss of participants across groups
TEXT

THREATS TO EXTERNAL VALIDITY

‣ Interaction effect of testing: Pre-testing interacts with the
experimental treatment and causes some effect such that
the results will not generalize to an untested population.

‣ Interaction effects of selection biases and the experimental

treatment: An effect of some selection factor of intact
groups interacting with the experimental treatment that
would not be the case if the groups were randomly selected.
TEXT

THREATS TO EXTERNAL VALIDITY

‣ Reactive effects of experimental arrangements: An effect
that is due simply to the fact that subjects know that they are
participating in an experiment and experiencing the novelty
of it — the Hawthorne effect.

‣ Multiple-treatment interference: When the same subjects

receive two or more treatments as in a repeated measures
design, there may be a carry- over effect between
treatments such the the results cannot be generalized to
single treatments.
SPECIFIC TYPES
OF RESEARCH
SPECIFIC TYPES OF RESEARCH
▸ MIXED METHODS RESEARCH
▸ RESEARCH THAT INVOLVES INTERVENTIONS
▸ RESEARCH THAT DOES NOT INVOLVE INTERVENTIONS
MIXED METHODS RESEARCH
▸ INSTRUMENTATION
▸ HYPOTHESIS GENERATION AND TESTING
▸ EXPLICATION
▸ THEORY BUILDING, TESTING, AND REFINEMENT
▸ INTERVENTION DEVELOPMENT
RESEARCH THAT INVOLVES
INTERVENTION
▸ clinical trial
▸ evaluation research (process, outcome, impact, cost)
▸ intervention research
RCT

▸ Phase I - occurs after the initial development of the drug or therapy and is
designed primarily to establish safety and tolerance, and to determine optimal
dose or strength of the therapy.
▸ Phase II - involves seeking preliminary evidence of controlled effectiveness.

▸ Phase III - full experimental test of the treatment— a randomized controlled

trial (RCT) involving random assignment to treatment conditions under tightly
controlled conditions.
▸ Phase IV - involves studies of the effectiveness of an intervention in the
general population.
NURSING INTERVENTION RESEARCH

▸ basic developmental research;

▸ pilot research;
▸ efficacy research;
▸ effectiveness research.

Whittemore and Grey (2002) have proposed a fifth phase involving

▸ widespread implementation and efforts to document effects on public

health.
▸ Process evaluation of a home visiting program for
older people with health problems.
▸ Outcomes of a 4-week pulmonary rehabilitation
program for older patients with chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD).
▸ Impact of the Savvy Caregiver program, a psycho-
education program for dementia caregivers that was
delivered to a group of caregivers in three states.
▸ Effects of a program of supplementary prenatal
care and home visitation, compared with
standard care.
▸ Caring-based nursing intervention for older
adults with advanced heart failure discharged
from acute care.
RESEARCH THAT DOES NOT INVOLVE
INTERVENTION
▸ outcomes research
▸ survey
▸ secondary analysis of data
▸ methodology research
▸ The effect of hospital-wide nurse staffing levels on
patient mortality, failure to rescue, and nurse-rated
quality of care in the United Kingdom
▸ Experiences and Perception of nurses practicing in
rural and remote regions of Canada
▸ Cost implications and predictors of success of
gathering follow-up data from a cohort of high-risk
adolescent girls who had been part of a reproductive
health promotion intervention.