The writers in this field are very well informed.  They have worked closely with well-known organizations in Australia like the Department of General Practice, Monash University, School of Science, RMIT University, National Ageing Research Institute in Australia. They have also been involved with many other studies related or not related to the topic being discussed. The topic of this research apparently has population samples being elaborated upon.

The summary was very well laid out because it utilized the basics which are background, methods, discussions, results, and conclusions. For wealth of knowledge to be valid, it is important for research to be involved especially for new and evidence-based knowledge. There is a high impute of investment on research by every health organization. This is true because the result from these investigations gives a boost in understanding and analyzing a hypothesis and present new speculated ways of improvement on each field. Let’s take for example in the health care, there are collective evidences from various studies on how to improve healthcare services to patients that are older and for this to happen, previous researches within that field have to be analyzed. That being said, even though new information from these researches are available not all of them are reliable or valid. For this reason, investigator need to access suitable research design in order to make their survey valid enough. Essential skills used in critiquing research is evident and important as they will help in determining if the surveys are usable and if they will give expected outcome. The purpose of this paper is to analyze Biezen, Grando, Mazza, and Brijnath’s (2019) article: “Visibility and transmission: Complexities around promoting hand hygiene in young children – a qualitative study”.

Determining the Stages of a Qualitative Research Process

            There are different systematic steps when it comes to implementation of a qualitative research process. These steps result in reliable outcomes being produced. First and foremost is the creation of a research question about the topic in question. Secondly, the stage of qualitative research approach demands a definite aim and objective of the survey. thirdly, is the step that involves a literature review being carried out. Conducting a literature review is very important as it helps us to figure out the unknown element about the topic. All information acquired will help  the research come up with research questions which will eventually give an insight into what the researcher aims to achieve at the end of the research. Fourthly, this phase includes the development of a research design whereby the researcher is needed to choose research study that most fits. one good example is the explanatory model which is suitable with the grounded theory (Gray, Grove, & Sutherland, 2017). In this phase, the investigator will confirm the best method of data collection relative to the research question.  The next step (5th step) is the data collection with regards to the research question under investigation. The final step is analyzing all information gathered and presenting the outcome of the research.

Identification of Merits and Limitations of Qualitative Research Models

            There are perks and limitation that comes with utilizing qualitative research depending on what the goals are. Qualitative research models entail the use of detailed description of the participants’ understanding, experiences, feelings and perceptions, (Rahman, 2017). The detailed information presented in qualitative studies helps one have a better understanding of the topic in question being investigated. A quantitative research model is focused on giving out information regarding the relationship between variables while, qualitative research explains why and how questions of statistical measures are being used. Besides, qualitative studies also let one to understand the question from the angle of the people or subjects that have experienced it.

            It is also argued that qualitative research design plays a big role in helping to understand from a holistic perspective. For example, Denzin and Lincoln did say that  a qualitative method is an interdisciplinary field that enlists a wide range of research methods, perceptions and interpretation of various technique of understanding human experiences (Rahman, 2017). Hence the reason why qualitative research model is used when investigating a research question.

            Another added advantage is that qualitative research design is also used with very little population where there are a few participants. Queiros, Faria, and Almeida (2017) did mention that the application of in-depth interviews requires only a small sample size to obtain useful and relevant information. Due to this, qualitative research methods it confirms that it can be used in areas of less populations with the criteria of inclusion in a sample.

            In as much as qualitative research methods have its advantages, they also have their own limitations, this reduces their rate of application in real life situation. According to Rahman, 2017, the approach in qualitative research lack ability to be generalized due to small sample sizes and also the components of the method used suggests that the samples of qualitative models are too minute to reflect measure the effect of a case-oriented evaluation (Vasileiou, Julie Barnett, & Young, 2018). Despite this reference, small sample size of qualitative research designs causes a limitation in the aspect of ability to generalize in the overall population they are representing.

            In addition, due to this effect, there is low credibility given by policymakers when surveys are being conducted to be used in qualitative research designs. In situations where research outcomes are needed, quantitative approaches are used by stakeholders to achieve their goals (Rahman, 2017). This is evident when national and state-level policymakers in the US give more and pay more attention to quantitative research works (Rahman, 2017).

Evaluating a Qualitative Study

Research Method

            The methodology of Biezen’s study, (2019), they adopted and utilized a cross-sectional qualitative research approach. This research model is appropriate for the study because it enables one to gain more understanding about the research topic in question. To buttress this point, Gray et al. (2017) did mention that a qualitative research model is adopted to obtain and utilize information to gain an insightful meaning about a specific cultural experience, historical occurrence, or situation. This connects the relevance of a qualitative research approach in correlation with the goal of the survey which is investigating perception, gaining knowledge and the expression of Healthcare provider and healthcare giver of young individuals and the impact of hand hygiene in the spread of infectious illnesses among the population of young children (Biezen et al., 2019). The goal of the research model is to obtain a detailed understanding and perception into the views of a particular selected sample population as opposed to generalization of outcomes from a targeted sample population pick up randomly. (Gray et al., 2017). Hence, we can say that the appropriate research method was selected by the authors in this research.

            For valid outcomes to be realized, it is very important to be aware of the impact of the sampling approach used in a study to be seen as a critical aspect in the realization of valid outcomes. Therefore, as noted in the survey there are two section of the target population, which includes primary healthcare practitioners and parents and caregivers of young children (Biezen et al., 2019). Primary healthcare providers include health practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, and family and maternal-child health nurse practitioners. The researchers incorporated a very diversified sampling approach whereby primary care health professionals are included. In the same light, Biezen et al. (2019) recruited parents and care givers in the applied purposive sampling whereby adverts were spread out to mothers’ groups and playgroups from southeast and east of Melbourne, Australia. From Grey’s definition, Purposive sampling is an approach used where researchers choose their participants, incidents, events, and elements in a research process (Gray et al, 2017) therefore, the use of purposive sampling was very convenient and suitable for this survey because information was gathered from specific population. Also, the utilization of purposive sampling in this study was useful because it allows the researchers to seek information from subjects who are very knowledgeable about the topic of the survey. Gray and others also confirmed that the process used in selection of the played a significant role by impacting on the quality of a research work thereby enumerating the importance of selecting the right sample that corelates the purpose to research study.

Data Collection Method

            According to Bizen et al, 2019, the method used to gather data in a particular research determines the quality of the information acquired.  Biezen and others utilized both focus group and interview method in data collection from the participant. Data was collected from 30 different primary care health providers using the interview method. According to grey, Gray et al. (2017) these interviews held was described as focused conversations whereby a qualitative researcher and participant were involved, using conversations. One advantage of using the method of interviews to collect data from health practitioners is that it permits the researchers to get a more detailed and deeper comprehension of the provider’s perceptions regarding the use of hand hygiene in preventing the spread of diseases and illness. Flick (2017) did enumerate that individualized interviews are the preferred data collection method when the need of obtaining a detailed and in-depth information about each of the participant. interestingly, these advantage is not observable in focused group as the researchers are able to perform the interview at their own convenient schedule and time say like their working hours. Sometimes the interview is performed at the comfort zone in places like their work place where they can familiarize themselves while connecting to the research topic. The location of interview being conducive is important because it can allow the participant to be expressive without any limitation whatsoever. Gray et al. (2017) had also suggested that it is very fair for location site selected to an interview to be a neutral place with private surroundings like the office area that will not bridge confidentiality. Five focus groups were used to generate data from 50 parents of young children (Biezen et al., 2019). The major strength of using focus groups is that they are able to present different perpectives and experiences, and understand which subjects in a study are reveal during their interview session (Flick, 2017). As a result, these methods of data collection continuously the appropriate approach relative to the study as they give very detailed understand of the topic being researched and studied.

Data Analysis

            To evaluate the gathered information thematic analysis approach was used by the authors in the survey. Thematic analysis is mostly used in qualitative studies to identify non concrete information about about the phenomenon under investigation and therefor appropriate for the study (Gray et al., 2017). Based on evaluation, the researchers analyzed different themes regarding the subject matter of their study. All participant quite agreed that hand hygiene was very important especially in reducing and eventually eradicating the spread of diseases and illness reducing the progression of the disease. In addition, ethical approval was obtained by the investigators from the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee and consent from its participants (Biezen et al., 2019). The only factor that shows that the study meets the required ethical standard is when approval right is acquired.

One can conclusively say that a qualitative research design is helpful in acquiring in-depth information about a phenomenon. The authors did a great job in using good research method and data analysis approach hence reaching reliable outcomes. The results from their findings are valid and qualifies for use in the future should the need arise for an evidence base research.

References

Biezen, R., Grando, D., Mazza, D., & Brijnath, B. (2019). Visibility and transmission: Complexities around promoting hand hygiene in young children – a qualitative study. BMC Public Health, 19(398).

Flick, U. (2017). The SAGE handbook of qualitative data collection. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Gray, J. R., Grove, S. K., & Sutherland, S. (2017). Burns and Grove’s the practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

Queiros, A., Faria, D., & Almeida, F. (2017). Strengths and limitations of qualitative and quantitative research methods. European Journal of Education Studies, 3(9), 369-387.

Rahman, S. (2017). The advantages and disadvantages of using qualitative and quantitative approaches and methods in language “testing and assessment” research: A literature review. Journal of Education and Learning, 6(1), 102-112.

Vasileiou, K., Julie Barnett, S. T., & Young, T. (2018). Characterising and justifying sample size sufficiency in interview-based studies: systematic analysis of qualitative health research over a 15-year period. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 18(148 ).

It is very easy to depict that the writers of this article are well learned in this field. There are many studies previously conducted where they were clinically certified. The title of this research is apparent that its variables are distinguish and population samples were elaborated on. In this type of exploration, the general research type is a case-control design (Kashyap, Krishnan, Kaur, and Ghai, 2019). The summary was high-quality because it provided four elemental analysis basics which are objectives, methods, results, and conclusions. “Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that occurs in the cells of the cervix the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina. Various strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection, play a role in causing most cervical cancer (mayoclinic.org).” The aim of this study is to access the risk factor of cervical cancer in women.

The researchers utilized case-control research strategy in the article (Kashyap et al., 2019). Prior information or knowledge is fundamental in recognizing cervical malignant growth. The quantitative investigation does not have a specific section dedicated to the literature review. However, current references are used in the introduction section to describe, synthesize, and summarize the current knowledge. The framework is not unequivocally communicated in the examination. However, it can be extracted from explicit statements in the introduction section. It depends on a substantive hypothesis that several factors cause the cancer of the cervix. Even though the article failed to present a model, the information in the introductory part can be used in developing the following framework (see figure 1).

Case-control research strategy was utilized by the researchers in the article (Kashyap et al., 2019). It is therefore important to have a previous information and knowledge in recognizing cervical cancerous growth. There is no specific section dedicated to this quantitative investigation. Moreover, there are recent references used in the introduction section to describe, analyze and summarize the current knowledge. Unequivocally, the framework is not communicated in this examination but it can be extrapolated from direct statements in the introduction section as it depends on hypothesis reviewed that several factors causes the cancer of the cervix. Conclusively, the introductory part can be used to develop the framework (FIG. 1)

The objective of this quantitative study is to assess the risk factors for cervical cancer mostly in women aged 25-80 years (Kashyap et al., 2019). There were no research question and hypotheses while cancer of the cervix and risk factors were the variable. (risk factor is a variable related to probability for the likelihood of a disease to increase thereby increasing the chances of an individual developing a disease).

Demographic factors incorporate age, family type, house, religion, residence and educational status. This study aimed at determining the contribution of the demographic factors. In addition, the case-control technique adopted included women who were determined to have malignant growth and individuals who were determined to not have cervical cancer (control group). Here, extraneous factors were not identified and pilot study were not used.

Women who were determined to have cervical cancer and women who were not determined were used as the incorporation criteria. The sample size was 150 and equally divided between the two groups. Informed written consent was provided by the participant and approval to protocols was given by the IRB. Appropriate settings appropriate for the research was used.

A face-to-face interview question was used in the study and recorded using a yes-no strategy. This method is effective especially when one needs to obtain a valid and reliable response. One major procedure for collection of data using the inclusion criteria to enroll women that have been diagnosed with cervical cancer. Patients with no history of cancer at all were used as control and in preparation, the authors conducted a face-face-interview using a pre-planned schedule.

In terms of statistical techniques, to carry out the analysis SPSS was used. To analyze the collected information, descriptive statistics such as standard deviation, mode, mean, and median were used for data analysis. Chi-square test was also used to test the association between the two variables used by the authors in this study. Based on the investigation findings there was an immediate relationship between the two variables as the findings were very much consistent with the factors that attributes and associates to the evidence cervical cancer like illiteracy, lack of personal hygiene, early marriage, and history of sexually transmitted diseases.

There was no limitation in this article. Although there were discoveries based on utilization of past researches. Likewise, the study investigation provided experimental proof in regards to the risk factors in the everyday life. The study is easy to duplicate because the methods and design were sufficiently described by the researcher.

Determination of Strengths and Weaknesses of Quantitative Studies

            Cervical malignancy’s risk factors are vital to clinical practice and the research can be easily investigated.  Also, in this study the purpose is specific and clarified while focusing on filling the gap in information and early detection and the management, however, the examination was very easy to conduct. There was no review of the literature but the hypothetical information presented for the purpose and problems in the introduction section. In addition, there was identification of a brief synopsis while providing direction for forming research purposes. Also, the framework was not really clear but concepts were provided connecting the purpose of the research and the collection of clinical information to nursing practice.

As mentioned earlier, although hypotheses and questions were lacking, the goal was communicated plainly and was very coherently linked to the purpose of the analysis. The variables reflected the concepts, were not clearly defined and they depended mostly on previous researches and speculations.

The design used in this investigation was appropriate when it comes to acquiring information. It presented a method for examining the objective of the research. No treatment was required as the study examined two groups of women.  The downside to the validity of the design was not recognized however, the structure was related to statistical analysis and sampling techniques.

The purposive sampling strategy was satisfactory for delivering a representative sample (Gray, Grove and Sutherland, 2017). All subjects were given equal chances in the study as therefore no potential biases in the sampling method. No evidence of vulnerability of the understudied population which was included and the testing criteria were reasonable for the investigation. Sample size is 150, reasonable enough to disregard Type II error. No power analysis was conducted, the rights and privileges of the human subjects were protected and there was no refusal in the investigation.

A yes-no strategy was used and responses were counted to carry out the analysis.  The research questions addressed the concerns in the study. The sample size was adequate in recognizing any critical distinction and the outcomes were presented in an understandable way using figures and tables while being interpreted appropriately.

Finding regarding the objective were discussed by the authors. The discoveries were very significant, precise and substantial thereby making the conclusions to fit the results. There were no identified weaknesses identified. In conclusion, the author identified implications for practice and suggested quality recommendations for future.

Evaluating a Quantitative Study

            This quantitative study is based upon previous studies where cervical cancer has been a case evident among women and is being caused by numerous factors. There was no identified weakness in this study showing the success. Its current findings are based on the previous findings that numerous risk factors contribute to the cervical cancer. I Strongly believe that the discoveries of this investigation are valuable and credible and therefore can be relied upon for further investigation. Based on this finding, we can conclude that cervical malignant growth can be related to several risk factors including but not limited to residence, education, health services’ availability, early marriage, sanitary napkins, washing of genitalia after sex, and many sexual partners. However, early identification of cervical cancer has not yet been known. The authors effectively discussed the ramifications of the research discoveries for practice (Gray, Grove and Sutherland, 2017). In conclusion, awareness should be created based on this research for the public to be aware and these findings can be readily used in clinical practices and advanced investigation for future research.

References

Gray, J. R., Grove, S. K., & Sutherland, S. (2017). Burns and Grove’s the practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

Kashyap, N., Krishnan, N., Kaur, S., & Ghai, S. (2019). Risk factors of cervical cancer: A case-control study. Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing, 6(3), 308–314.