data collection

self-report

observation

biophysiologic measures

• structure
• quantifiable 
• researcher obtrusiveness 
• objectivity

• unstructured interviews
• semi-structured interviews 
• focus group interviews
• life histories 
• critical interviews
• think-aloud method
• diaries and journals

™Conversational, totally flexible

™Use of grand tour questions

™Use of a topic guide

™Interviews in small groups (5 to 10 people)

™Led by a moderator

™Narrative self-descriptions of life experiences

™Often a chronology

™Focuses on specific incidents that had a discernible impact on some outcome

™Means of collecting data about cognitive processes as they unfold (e.g., clinical decision-making)

• ™Data are collected with a formal instrument.
• - interview schedule
• - questionnaire

™Questions are prespecified but asked orally.

Either face-to-face or by telephone

™Questions prespecified in written form, to be self-administered by respondents

™Closed-ended (fixed alternative) questions 

™Open-ended questions

• –e.g., “Within the past 6 months, were you ever a
• member of a fitness center or gym?” (yes/no)

–e.g., “Why did you decide to join a fitness center or gym?”

™Dichotomous questions

™Multiple-choice questions

™Cafeteria questions

™Rank-order questions

™Forced-choice questions

™Rating questions

™Lower costs

™Possibility of anonymity, greater privacy

™Lack of interviewer bias

™Higher response rates

• ™Appropriate for more diverse audiences
• ™
• ™Opportunities to clarify questions or to determine comprehension

™Opportunity to collect supplementary data through observation

• - scales
• - likert scale
• - semantic differential scales

used to make fine quantitative discrimination among people with different attitudes, perceptions, traits

™Consist of several declarative statements (items) expressing viewpoints

™Responses are on an agree/disagree continuum (usually 5 or 7 response options).

™Responses to items are summed to compute a total scale score.

™Require ratings of various concepts

™Rating scales involve bipolar adjective pairs, with 7-point ratings.

™Ratings for each dimension are summed to compute a total score for each concept.

™Used to measure subjective experiences (e.g., pain, nausea)

™Measurements are on a straight line measuring 100 mm

™End points labeled as extreme limits of sensation

™Biases reflecting the tendency of some people to respond to items in characteristic ways, independently of item content

–Social desirability response set bias

–Extreme response set

–Acquiescence response set (yea- sayers)

–Nay-sayers response set

a tendency to agree with statements regardless of their content by some people.

a tendency to disagree with statements independently of the question content

a tendency to consistently express extreme attitudes or feelings [e.g., strongly agree], leading to distortions because extreme responses may be unrelated to the trait being measursed

a tendency to consistently misrepresent attitudes or traits by giving answers that are consistent with prevailing social views

™Participants sort a deck of cards into piles according to specific criteria.

™Cards contain statements to be sorted on a bipolar continuum (e.g., most like me/least like me).

™Usually 50 to 100 cards; usually 9 or 11 piles

™Brief descriptions of situations to which respondents are asked to react

™Descriptions are usually written “stories.”

™Respondents can be asked open-ended or closed-ended questions about their reactions.

™Aspects of the vignettes can be experimentally manipulated.

™Strong on directness

™Allows access to information otherwise not available to researchers

™But can we be sure participants actually feel or act the way they say they do?

™Activities and behavior

™Characteristics and conditions of individuals

™Skill attainment and performance

™Verbal and nonverbal communication

™Environmental characteristics

• ™Qualitative studies: Unstructured observation in
• naturalistic settings

–Includes Participant observation

™Structured observation of prespecified behaviors

™Leininger’s Four-Phase Sequence:

–- Primarily observation

–- Primarily observation with some participation

–- Primarily participation with some observation

–- Reflective observation

™Logs (field diaries)

™Field notes

™Methodologic notes

™Theoretical notes (or analytical notes)

™Personal notes

a daily record of events and onversations

• are broader and more interpretative notes
• represents the observer's effort to record information and to synthesis and understand the data

are objective descriptions of events and conversations, and the context in which they occur

documents researchers' personal experiences, reflections, and progress in the field, and can serve different purposes

documents interpretive efforts to attach meaning to onservations

are reminders about how subsequents observations should be made

are comments about the researcher's own feelings during the research process

–Formal systems for systematically recording the incidence or frequency of prespecified behaviors or events

all behavior of a specific type recorded and each behavior is assigned to one matually exclusive category

specific behaviors, nut not all behaviors, recorded

descriptive continuum, typically bipolar

• at specific times
• upon the occurrence of certain events
• after an observational session [global ratings ]

sampling of time intervals for observation

1. random sampling of intervals of a given length 

2. systematic sampling of intervals of a given length

observation of integral [essential] events

• excellent method for capturing many clinical phenomena and behaviors 
• potential problem of relativity when people are aware that they are being observed
• risk of observational bias [factors that can interfere with objective observation]

- in vivo measurments

- in vitro measurements

performed directly within or on living organisms [e.g., blood pressure measurements]

performed outside the organism's body [e.g., urianlysis ]

• strong on accuracy, objectivity, validity, and precision
• may be cost-effective for nurse researchers
• but caution may be required for their use, and advanced skills may be needed for interpretation