Essential Research Methods for Social Work, Article Critique Example

A Process of Design Making by Caregivers of Family Members with Heart Failure Article Review

This article looks at the decision making process for caregivers of family members with heart failure. It focuses on the basis on which these caregivers make decisions pertaining to their ailing family member and how these decisions are affected by particular outside elements that might have distinct effect on how the sick family members is given particular attention to.

Statement of Purpose

This research has managed to protect the participants’’ rights by seeking informed consent from them before commencing with any research activities. Clinical trials endeavor to maximize good by taking into considering the techniques employed in seeking answers, the risks involved in employing these techniques and seeking informed consent from the participants of the clinical trials.

Research Design and Research Tradition

The research employs a qualitative analysis to illustrate the process of decision making by caregivers of family members with heart failure. The research mainly relied on the qualitative and deductive analysis of the information provided by the caregiver. Most of the information was recorded on audio tape, but some deductive information could be obtained by the interviewer on site. This design is purely qualitative with little quantitative techniques employed in the collection of data.

Methodologies and Sampling

The sample size is effective as it is a rough representation of the rarity of the phenomenon under research. The sample has been adequately diversified to ensure fair representation of the different stages of heart failure. The sampling method used is systematic sampling whereby the participants were systematically chosen to participate in the research study. The reason for this was to have equality in the representation of the sample population. The random sampling of the participants is so as to reduce the errors caused by biasness. This helps to authenticate the study results and findings.

The data collection process entailed detailed interviews in which participants were given the opportunity to provide as much possible information on a desired research area. The face-to-face approach is guaranteed to yield the highest possible response rate. Face-to-face interviews allows the researcher to build a rapport with the participants ensuring the maximum possible quality of data is collected (Walliman, 2007). In relation to this process of collecting data, the research procedures are initiated in varied environments. The researchers conduct the interviews in secluded places of privacy where the participant feels most comfortable. This is essential in ensuring the participant can share on issues that may be critical pointers in the analysis of the data collected (Rubin, 2013). Information collected in first-hand and requires no further manipulation for presentation.

Enhancement of Trustworthiness

The authors enhance trustworthiness of their research by having an open record of all the findings and procedures employed in conducting the research. In particular, the interview question and probes highlight the use of professional and ethical standards in conducting the research. The questions are structured in an order meant to ease the participant into the difficult and somewhat personal questions. The interview is ended on a light tone, allowing the participant to fully express their own passions, wishes and desires through the individuals they believe have been of most influence in their lives.

Timing and Duration of Obesity in Relation to Diabetes article Review

This article is centered on the relationship between diabetes and the timing and period of obesity amongst adolescence all through young adulthood. This study basically aims to provide useful information that strongly suggests on how such balance in data could help improve the ways by which obesity is diagnosed and treated accordingly depending on the age and situation that the patients are directly involved in.

Statement of Purpose

This article depicts the research had very little protection of human rights, especially for the participants. This is owing to the fact that the study has selected a sample from an existing database, The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. This requires little to no consent from the participants. This particular pattern of the study makes it easier for the researchers to adapt on particular considerations that would best fit the description of development that needs to be identified with regards the health case that the participants in the study are involved in.

Methodologies and Sampling

The research employed a quantitative analysis of data. The authors collected statistical data specified according to the desired parameters. These parameters define the aim of the research as they entail fundamental information on the different aspects of health. To support such research process, the study employed a considerably large population with samples taken from specific age groups. This large sample ensures a detailed analysis of the statistical information to be collected.

The data collected in this research was secondary in nature. An existing database was used where information pertaining to the 10,481 participants was recorded. Measurement of this information was completed through the application mathematical tools and procedures. These tools included the application of logistic regression models.The research entailed collecting secondary information from an existing database. This entailed the collection of data and conducting analysis through the application of different regression models. These regression models are designed to analyze specific aspects of the data collected.

The results gained from such a patterned aspect of the study insists on the creation of good results that determine the emergence of healthy culture among researchers as they find out more about the determinable course of comparison between obesity and the age range of the individuals being observed in relation to such situation. Through the implicative data collected from this study, it could be realized that diagnosing and treating obesity could be further improved through looking closely through the data and the background culture of the individuals being observed. With this in mind, this article hopes to improve the overall rate of attention given to individuals developing symptoms of obesity and be assisted with early on thus lessening the emergence of problems related to such aspect of health problem.

References

Padgett, D. K. (2008). Qualitative methods in social work research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Rubin, A. (2013). Essential research methods for social work. Belmont: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.

Sanford, J., Townsend-Rocchicciolli, J., Horigan, A., & Hall, P. (2011). A Process of Decision Making by Caregivers of Family Members With Heart Failure. Research and Theory for Nursing Practice: An International Journal, 25(1), 55-70.

Walliman, N. (2007). Social research methods. Los Angeles: Sage Publ.