Hi. I want to create a research proposal assessing the perceived level of stress among a certain group of nurses during COVID-19. (For example, I might focus on Research Nurses who were deployed to work in the wards / ICUs to directly care for patients, yet they have minimal or zero experience in directy caring for patients placing them in stressful situations).
This obviously would related to qualitative study, but I have discovered the Perceived Stress Scale by Cohen which is a quantitative tool.
How can I convince my lecturers to sway to my quantitative approach to this study (because it is easy and straightforward, and they did suggest a qualitative approach)?
I am new to Research, so I am trying to keep my proposal essay as simple as possible.
Thank you for all you advice and suggestions.
I am sure that there quite a few perceived stress scales out there, but for a quantitative study you would need to have a relatively large N to produce statistically significant results. Do you have the resources to generate data from hundreds of participants?
David L Morgan Yes, I am working in a hospital under one big company (with four hospitals under it actually). Do you think a quantitative research proposal is logical if I plan to use the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)?
Hi Daryl,
A phenomenological research approach would be appropriate if you are considering qualitative research. Phenomenology explores experiences of participants and would require a limited number of participants as we dive deep into their lived experiences using semi-structured or in-depth interviews.
Presumably perceived stress would be your dependent variable, so the next step would be to develop hypotheses about the independent variables that could affect the level of perceived stress. For example, differences between research and non-research nurses, or research nurses who work on ward versus ICUs, or the effects of some measure of experience in caring for patients, etc.
Daryl - just wondering - is this for a BN Honours, Masters or PhD? The HDR level will often dictate the methodology, in nursing research, and perhaps why your lecturers/?supervisors are steering you down a certain path. While 'easiness' should not be the sole determining factor in choosing your approach - many would consider a qualitative descriptive exploratory study (with a small sample size) 'easier than a survey design with a relatively large sample population - as David has suggested. Babu has suggested phenomenology. However, a quality phenomenological study is just as 'intensive', if not more, than a cross-sectional survey.
Perhaps these two attached chapters on common quantitative and qualitative approaches to nursing and midwifery research may assist.
Dean Whitehead Thank you so much for your clarification. I believe you are totally right. I am doing a Level 7 (Masters Level) Research module (only) in the UK and I am tasked to create a research proposal.
That being said, would it seem bad / wrong / quite illogical if I try to defend my stance for a quantitative approach even if I would use the Perceived Stress Scale? I work in a hospital with 3 other 'sister hospitals' (under one big company) so I believe gathering of large data should be okay (100 nurses) if I do intend to finish the whole masters in Nursing.
Kindly let me know your thoughts and thanks for the link to the PDFs too! 😊
Or should I refine my research Question and title by taking away the word "perceived" just to sway things to quantitative?
Daryl - if this is a proposal for a 'hypothetical' study - then I would argue that you could choose any methodology. The task, then, is purely to present a solid justification and rationale for the adopted methodology - and highlight how it is a good 'fit for task'. Perception can be both an abstract and 'concrete' variable - so you could use it for either quant or qual. That said, terms such as opinion, belief, value etc are more abstract and qualitatively grounded.
@Daryl Eborda. I suggest the recommendation of Dean Whitehead, that quantitative or qualitative can be applied to your study. I agree that perception can be investigated quantitatively or qualitatively.
As you are on development of proposal stage, you can select any appropriate methodology which you think is preferable, for which you will forward rational and tangible evidence and then try to convince him/her with your evidence.
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