For this assessment, you will craft a qualitative research question based on the hospital-acquired condition you selected for the Research Problem and Purpose Statements, as well as examine qualitative methodologies and data collection strategies that would enable you to answer your research question. There is no length requirement for this assessment. Most submissions that fully address all scoring guide criteria will be two to five pages in length.

Introduction

Note: The assessments in this course build upon each other. Therefore, you are strongly encouraged to complete them in the order in which they are presented.

Qualitative research uses inductive reasoning based on an exploration or observation. The focus is typically on the researcher investigating the reasons why something happened. The information comes from interviews or observations. The answers emerge as more information is discovered. You could relate it to the work of a detective who gathers facts and organizes them to find patterns that lead to explanations for events.

In this assessment, you will continue to expand your understanding of a research framework in the context of qualitative research by analyzing and evaluating research questions in qualitative studies. You will also continue to analyze the interrelated elements of a research study making the connection among theory, problem, purpose, and, now, qualitative research questions and design.

Instructions

For this assessment it is suggested that you build upon the work that you did in the Research Problem and Purpose Statements assessment.

The assessment has two distinct parts:

Part 1: Qualitative Research Question

Relevant Scoring Guide Criteria:

• Formulate a qualitative research question.
• Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and respectful of the diversity, dignity, and integrity of others and is consistent with expectations for health care professionals.

For this section, you will formulate a research question that is appropriate for a research project that will use qualitative methodologies. Remember the HAC that you used in your Research Problem and Purpose Statements assessment for this course. Your research question should align to the problem and purpose statements that you developed in this assessment. A well-written research question should be a single statement.

When examining or creating qualitative research questions, the following checklist may be useful:

Qualitative Research Question Checklist

• Does the purpose statement fit logically with the problem statement? Are there similar words, or does it seem to address a different topic?
• Do the research questions align with the method and design of the study? For instance, are words like perception used that would automatically reject a quantitative study?
• Do questions seek to describe responses to the variables described in the study?
• Do the questions begin with the word why?
• Do the questions focus on a single phenomenon?
• Do the questions include exploratory verbs?
• Is the language nondirectional?
• Are the questions open ended?
• Do the questions specify the participants and research site?

Part 2: Qualitative Methods and Data Collection

Relevant Scoring Guide Criteria:

• Identify relevant qualitative methodologies that will support answering a research question.
• Describe qualitative data collection tools or strategies that are appropriate for answering research questions.
• Explain the importance of methodologically relevant data collection to a research plan as a whole.
• Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and respectful of the diversity, dignity, and integrity of others and is consistent with expectations for health care professionals.

For this section, you will draw upon your readings about qualitative methods and data collection to first identify specific qualitative methodologies that will enable you to answer your research question. You will also discuss specific qualitative data collection tools or strategies that are appropriate for answering your research questions. Questions to consider when looking for tools and strategies and tools include:

• What is your research question specifically trying to answer?
• How does the specific HAC impact the types of tools and strategies that would work best?
• How does the health care setting that the research project will be occurring in impact the types of tools and strategies that would work best?

Lastly, this section should include a review of why it is important to a potential research plan as a whole to ensure that your data collection plan is relevant to your chosen methodology.

This section should be two to five pages in length, depending on the level of detail required to fully present your methodologies and data collection tools and strategies.

Additional Submission Requirements

• Structure: Include a title page, table of contents, and reference page.
• Length: There is not length requirement for this assessment. Most submissions that fully address all scoring guide criteria will be 2 to 5 pages in length.
• References: Cite at least five current scholarly or professional resources. You may find the Search by Methodology guide helpful.
• Format: Use APA style for references and citations.
  • You may wish to refer to the following APA resources to help with your structure, formatting, and style:
    • Evidence and APA.
    • APA Paper Template [DOCX].
• Font: Times New Roman font, 12 point, double-spaced for narrative portions only.

• Competencies Measured

  By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

  • Competency 1: Explain the different types of health care research methodologies.
    • Identify relevant qualitative methodologies that will support answering a research question.
    • Describe qualitative data collection tools or strategies that are appropriate for answering research questions.
    • Explain the importance of methodologically relevant data collection to a research plan as a whole.
  • Competency 2: Develop a research question based on a hospital-acquired condition.
    • Formulate a qualitative research question.
  • Competency 4: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and respectful of the diversity, dignity, and integrity of others and is consistent with the expectations of health care professionals.
    • Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and respectful of the diversity, dignity, and integrity of others and is consistent with expectations for health care professionals.

    • ETHODOLOGY BASICS

      Every research project uses a methodology. Once the researcher has chosen a specific research question, the methodology provides the rules and actions for the actual investigation and analysis of results. A researcher may use a Quantitative, Qualitative or Mixed methodology.This page contains a tutorial and knowledge quizzes about methodology. Use the left navigation menu to find the following pages:Qualitative: Resources and search strategies to find research articles that use qualitative methodology.Quantitative: Resources and search strategies to find research articles that use quantitative methodology.Mixed Method: Resources and search strategies to find research articles that use mixed methods.Ebook List: Directs you to our list of library books that will help you better understand the various methodologies, including how to conduct original research for a doctoral dissertation or capstone project.

    • Qualitative Research Questions and Methods Scoring Guide

      CRITERIA	NON-PERFORMANCE	BASIC	PROFICIENT	DISTINGUISHED
      Formulate a qualitative research question.	Does not describe a qualitative research question.	Describes a qualitative research question.	Formulates a qualitative research question.	Formulates a qualitative research question, providing specific examples.
      Identify relevant qualitative methodologies that will support answering a research question.	Does not list qualitative research methodologies.	Lists qualitative research methodologies, but their relevance to a specific research question is incorrect or unclear.	Identifies relevant qualitative methodologies that will support answering a research question.	Identifies relevant qualitative methodologies that will support answering a research question and offers a brief rationale for why the identified qualitative methodologies are relevant.
      Describe qualitative data collection tools or strategies that are appropriate for answering research questions.	Does not identify qualitative data collection tools or strategies.	Identifies qualitative data collection tools or strategies, but their relevance for answering research questions is unclear or inappropriate.	Describes qualitative data collection tools or strategies that are appropriate for answering research questions.	Describes qualitative data collection tools or strategies that are appropriate for answering research questions and offers a brief rationale for why the data collection tools or strategies are appropriate.
      Explain the importance of methodologically relevant data collection to a research plan as a whole.	Does not describe targeted data collection.	Describes targeted data collection, but does not offer a full or clear explanation as to its importance to a research plan as a whole.	Explains the importance of targeted data collection to a research plan as a whole.	Explains the importance of targeted data collection to a research plan as a whole. Notes areas related to a research question where targeted data collection will be valuable or potentially challenging.
      Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and respectful of the diversity, dignity, and integrity of others and is consistent with expectations for health care professionals.	Does not communicate in a manner consistent with expectations for the health care profession.	Communicates in a manner consistent with expectations for the health care profession.	Communicates in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and respectful of the diversity, dignity, and integrity of others and is consistent with expectations for health care professionals.	Communicates with exceptional clarity in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and respectful of the diversity, dignity, and integrity of others and is consistent with expectations for health care professionals.