Based On This Week's Reading Share A Qualitative Research Ar

Based On This Weeks Reading Share Aqualitative Research Articlethat

Based on this week's reading, share a qualitative research article that is useful and applicable to your practice. Critique and evaluate this article based on the credibility, auditability, and fittingness proposed by Guba & Lincoln in Chapter 6 of your textbook. Review Table 6.2 in your textbook and discuss each point in relation to your qualitative research. Consider whether you have an article that uses qualitative research and analyze it accordingly.

Paper For Above instruction

Introduction

Qualitative research plays a vital role in exploring complex phenomena within healthcare and clinical practice, providing rich, detailed insights that quantitative methods may overlook. As practitioners aim to understand patient experiences, perceptions, and contextual factors influencing health outcomes, selecting credible and fitting qualitative studies becomes essential. This paper critically reviews a selected qualitative research article, examining its credibility, auditability, and fittingness based on Guba and Lincoln’s frameworks, specifically referencing Table 6.2 in the textbook. The goal is to evaluate its applicability to clinical practice and determine the robustness of its methodological quality.

Selected Qualitative Research Article

The article chosen for this critique is “Exploring Patients’ Experiences with Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” published in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality. This study investigates patient perceptions, challenges, and benefits of telehealth services, which is highly relevant given the increasing reliance on telehealth modalities. The qualitative design involved semi-structured interviews with 20 patients from diverse backgrounds, analyzed through thematic analysis to identify core themes.

Credibility of the Study

Credibility refers to the confidence in the truth of the findings and the extent to which they accurately reflect participants’ perspectives. The authors addressed credibility through prolonged engagement, member checks, and triangulation. They conducted interviews until thematic saturation was reached, ensuring comprehensive data collection. Member checks were performed by sharing preliminary themes with participants for validation, enhancing authenticity. Additionally, triangulation was achieved by comparing interview data with clinical records, ensuring consistency across sources. The clear documentation of the data collection and analysis processes supports the study’s credibility, aligning with Guba & Lincoln’s criteria.

Auditability of the Study

Auditability pertains to the transparency and traceability of the research process. The authors demonstrated auditability by maintaining a detailed audit trail, including raw data, coding schemes, and decision logs. They provided a rich, thick description of the context, participant demographics, and methodological procedures, allowing other researchers to follow their steps and verify findings. An external auditor’s review confirmed that the study’s procedures were logical and well-documented, reinforcing trustworthiness.

Fittingness of the Study

Fittingness concerns the applicability of the findings within specific contexts. The researchers explicitly linked their findings to clinical practice, emphasizing how understanding patient experiences with telehealth can inform service delivery improvements. They acknowledged limitations related to sample size and geographic location but justified their focus by the relevance to current healthcare challenges. The study’s rich contextual descriptions support its transferability to similar settings, meeting the fittingness criterion.

Discussion

Analyzing this article through Guba and Lincoln’s framework reveals a well-conducted qualitative study with robust credibility, auditability, and fittingness. The use of participant validation and triangulation enhances trustworthiness, while transparent documentation supports auditability. Its relevance to contemporary healthcare practices underscores the importance of understanding patient perspectives in telehealth, informing nurse practitioners and healthcare providers on optimizing virtual care. However, limitations such as small sample size suggest the need for caution in generalization, a common challenge in qualitative research (Barbour, 2018).

This critique emphasizes the importance of rigorous qualitative methodologies to produce reliable, applicable insights that can improve clinical practice. Selecting studies that adhere to these criteria ensures that practitioners rely on evidence that genuinely reflects patient experiences and contextual realities. As healthcare continues to evolve, especially amidst global health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, qualitative research remains a critical tool for capturing nuanced understanding that informs compassionate, patient-centered care.

Conclusion

The reviewed study exemplifies high-quality qualitative research, demonstrating strong credibility, auditability, and fittingness as outlined by Guba & Lincoln. Its findings provide valuable insights into patient experiences with telehealth, which are applicable to improving healthcare delivery. Critical appraisal of such studies ensures that clinicians and researchers can confidently integrate qualitative evidence into practice, ultimately enhancing patient outcomes and responsiveness in healthcare settings.

References

  • Barbour, R. (2018). Reclaiming evidence: qualitative research, public health and policy making. Evidence & Policy, 14(3), 347-366.
  • Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. Sage Publications.
  • Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage Publications.
  • Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage Publications.
  • Shenton, A. K. (2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Education for Information, 22(2), 63–75.
  • Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. Sage Publications.
  • Silverman, D. (2016). Qualitative research. Sage Publications.
  • Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E., & Moules, N. J. (2017). Thematic Analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(1), 1-13.
  • Guest, G., MacQueen, K. M., & Namey, E. E. (2012). Applied thematic analysis. Sage Publications.
  • LeCompte, M. D., & Schensul, J. J. (2010). Designing & conducting ethnographic research. Rowman Altamira.

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