Strategies For COPD Exacerbation Management

Study Objective

Discuss About The Methods For Behavioral And Social Sciences.

Williams, Hardinge, Ryan, & Farmer (2014) study indicated that there are no previous studies have failed to identify a consensus on how exacerbations can be managed since they have been criticized as having poor methodological quality to identify strategies that patients can use. These studies yield no important literature and results on the research topic since their findings have not been proven worth of generalization.

The study focused on reducing hospital admission for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) through developing strategies that can be used to manage exacerbations.  The researchers sought to develop methods that patients can use to manage exacerbations at home thus reducing complications that make them come to hospital or be readmitted. The researcher believed that by teaching patients how to detect this problem and taking proper medical approaches, they can reduce the number of times that they get admitted thus reducing the overall burden on practitioners.  Methods For Behavioral And Social Sciences Essay Paper

1. Overview or research design
2. Aim of the research

The aim of the study was to analyze the methods used by patients to assess exacerbations and how they respond medically.

The study used a qualitative interview-based approach to gather data on the patients. This was through simple data collection methods of interviews that were recorded and transcripts extracted for analysis.

One major characteristic of the qualitative interview-based approach method is the use of in-depth interviews. This approach allows the researcher to use open-ended questions to gather information on the topic of study (Megan, Garro, Sasson, & Morrow, 2016).

Another characteristic is the questioning theme that the researcher uses. In this method, the researcher organizes questions in an overarching theme where each theme has an intent statement of what the researcher seeks to achieve (Creswell, 2012).

The study design was relevant to the study since it was focused on analyzing everyday reality of patients and the variables that exist between the variables that they face. This led to collection of conclusive results for the study that can be replicated anywhere else (Alasuutari, 2010). The interview technique used to collect data allowed the researchers to collected data based on central themes that relate to the topic of study.

2. Sampling
3. Characteristics of the participants

The participants of the study were patients who had been admitted at one point in the hospital with COPD and had the experience of managing it. These participants were gathered from pulmonary rehabilitation programs, admission records and general practice data from nurses.The inclusion, exclusion criterion

Data Collection Methodology

The inclusion-exclusion criterion was based in patients who had COPD management experience or understood how to manage the situation

The importance of the exclusion inclusion criterion is to ensure that the study uses the right participants for the study (Franklin, 2012). This allows the researcher to generate a purposive mechanism for recruiting the participants and leaving out to those who do not qualify.

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Williams, Hardinge, Ryan, & Farmer (2014) used both purposive and snowball sampling to generate the research respondents for the study. Purposive sampling was the nature of respondents that were to be used in the research. By developing a criterion to be used in inclusion-exclusion criterion, the researcher used purposive sampling. However, as the study went on, the researcher used snow ball sampling for recruiting the purposively sampled respondents in the study.

The role of purposive sampling is to allow the researcher to choose the respondents of the study that have the likelihood of revealing the intended results (Bryman, 2015). The researcher has the freedom to develop a criterion that meets the needs of the research. For example, using the criterion of gender, age, lengths or frequency of admission and COPD severity. On the other hand, Voicu (2011) suggests that snow ball sampling allows the researcher to start with a small sample of participants who lead to increased respondents in the study by recommending others or allowing the researcher to recruit participants until a level where the number is enough (Weathington, Cunningham, & Pittenger, 2015). This reduces biases since the researcher deals with the existing respondents and moves to the other group as time goes on.

3. Data collection
4. How the data was collected

The data was collected through in-depth interviews in patient’s homes which was audio recorded and transcribed into text. The questions in the research were open-ended allowing the researcher to ask questions easily based on the response of the study.

1. What specifically did the research do?

The researchers started by seeking approval from the Ethics Committee and research access from Oxford Health NHS Foundation to recruit the participants through a clinical trial thus picking only those who met the exclusion inclusion criterion. After here the consent of each patient was requested through signing a consent form (Williams, Hardinge, Ryan, & Farmer, 2014). From here the researcher rolled out the snow ball which led to recruitment of participants until saturation was reached.

1. How the data collection fits the study

The interview process meets the requirements of the study since it allows responded to give first-hand accounts of the strategies that they use to manage exacerbations. This process allows the researcher to ask follow up questions and seek clarity where the responses are not clear. By having the ability to control the interview, the researcher can focus on determining the best way to frame questions to meet respondent needs (Shaughnessy, Zechmeister, & Jeanne, 2011). For example, the study indicated that the respondents had difficulties understanding the term exacerbations.

1. Pros and cons of interview methods

Participants

Interviews allow the researcher to obtain detailed information for the study. By collecting the information directly from the respondent the researcher can obtain detailed information by asking follow up questions in the study. Since the research captures both verbal and non-verbal responses, the data collected is informative and conclusive as compared to any other data collection method.

The interview process also allows the researcher to explore any causes in the problem.  Through probing and asking follow up questions, the researcher has higher chances of gathering causes of the problem under study as compared to any other method.

Further, interviews offer flexibility for both the researcher and the respondent. The researcher can tailor the interview process to accommodate the concerns of the researcher since the method is flexible (Bhakar & Nathani, 2015). Questions can be asked in any format thus not limiting the respondent to a fixed line of responding. It also allows the respondent to give all the information required for the study thus improving the quality of the research.

However, the method is limited by the quality of data that the interviewer can collect. Since it relies on probing skills to collect adequate data, the researcher can fail to meet the needs of the research if they are not experienced in interviews (Babbie, 2013).

The method can also be costly since the researcher has to move from one point to another in search for responses.

1. Alternative method

Questionnaires can be used as alternative data collection methods where the respondent is presented with a set of questions that focus on the study.

4. Data analysis/results
5. How data was analyzed

The research interviews were audio recorded and transferred to NVIVO 10 for analysis. A grounded theory approach followed by constant comparative method, open, axial and selective coding were used to identify theoretical links between the findings.

1. Importance of having an applicable method for qualitative research
2. Qualitative research is more challenging than quantitative research since the findings have to be codified in a way that can be analyzed to find relevance to the research problem. An applicable method for research simplifies the research and ensures that the researcher can gather and analyze the data properly.

The researchers mentions the subjective nature of the study as the main rigor in analyzing the research findings since most researchers question the reliability of such data.

1. Findings

The findings indicated that the patients could identify exacerbations using clinical parameters and symptoms. The knowledge of patients in management pf exacerbations increases as they continue to experience them. The study also reported that patients had the experience of managing exacerbations and seeking clinical assistance in case they faced difficulty. Proper management of COPD challenges allows patient to live with exacerbations as a way of life.

1. Application of the findings

Colquitt & George (2011) suggests that a grand challenge must have findings that can be applied within the field of study. The findings of the study can be used in developing of patient exacerbations strategies for managing COPD. Since the findings indicated that the ability to manage exacerbations reduces hospital admission. Then it means that preparing nurses for patient education can increase the ability of the patient to manage the conditions after discharge and avoid readmission. This means that healthcare professionals can increase clinical outcomes by teaching patients to manage exacerbations.

References

Alasuutari, P. (2010). The rise and relevance of qualitative research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 13(2), 139-155.

Babbie, E. (2013). The practice of social research. Belmont, . Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.

Bhakar, S. S., & Nathani, N. (2015). A Handbook on writing Research Paper in Social. New Delhi: Bharti Publications.

Bryman, A. (2015). Social Research Methods. London: Routledge.

Colquitt, J., & George, G. (2011). From the editor publishing in amj—Part 1: Topic Choice. Academy of Management Journal,, 54(3), 432-435.

Creswell, J. (2012). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Franklin, M. (2012). Understanding Research: Coping with the Quantitative-Qualitative Divide. New York:: Routledge.

Megan L. Ranney, M. M., Garro, A., Sasson, C., & Morrow, K. (2016). Interview-Based Qualitative Research in Emergency Care Part II: Data Collection, Analysis and Results Reporting. Academic Emergency Medicine, 22(9), 1103-1112.  Methods For Behavioral And Social Sciences Essay Paper