Qualitative critique essay sample

This study examined qualitative research on “ Pregnancy and protection: Perceptions, attitudes and experiences of Australian female adolescents” to determine designs and methods used and to discover emergent themes across study. Most of the study reviewed was described as qualitative or phenomenological by design and included samples comprising of Australian females participants exclusively. Based on analysis of the collective primary findings of the sample research studys, three themes were identified: (a) Perceptions, (b) attitudes and (c) experiences of Australian female adolescents. Overall, the study revealed that most adolescent females perceive pregnancy as a rite of passage and a challenging yet positive life event. This qualitative study needed involving participants from same ethnic backgrounds, perceptions relative to adolescent pregnancy and, about decision-making relevant to pregnancy resolution, intimacy, and peer relationships.

TitleThe title of the study which is as follows “ Pregnancy and protection: Perceptions, attitudes and experiences of Australian female adolescents” accurately reflects the study because rules have been the subject of considerable research. Authors have conducted the large-scale and systematic study of sexual attitudes and experiences of Australian female adolescents.

AbstractAbstract covers the required information provide clear understanding of the topic explaining methods, finding, and basic purpose of the study and final comments given in concluding part. The information found within the research study is accurate but incomplete and outdated. An adequate critique on this topic of pregnancy and protection must begin ultimately from the socially radical recognition that the only scientifically verifiable differences between men and women are in the mechanics of biological reproduction, and that all other apparent differences are therefore caused by cultural and social conditioning.

Problem statement and purposeThe purpose of the research study is clearly defined although the problem in the research study is not clear. Authors of the study have given a slight touch to clarify the issue. In fact the significance regarding the problem has not been identified to give clear understanding of the problem to a reader.

Literature ReviewThis research study is an initial experiment in conceptual literature review. It contains a general overview of concept mapping; a review of concept and the report reviews a large body of literature on the uses of Concept referrals on sex education. The project’s overall objective is to create a sound foundation for future accounting standards that are principles-based, internally consistent and internationally converged. Basically a conceptual framework is used in research to outline possible courses of action or to present a preferred approach to an idea or thought. For example, the philosopher Isaiah Berlin used the ‘ hedgehogs’ versus ‘ foxes’ approach; a ‘ hedgehog’ might approach the world in terms of a single organizing principle; a ‘ fox’ might pursue multiple conflicting goals simultaneously.

Alternatively, an empiricist might approach a subject by direct examination, whereas an intuitionist might simply intuit what’s next. Conceptual frameworks (theoretical frameworks) are a type of intermediate theory that attempt to connect to all aspects of inquiry (e. g., problem definition, purpose, literature review, methodology, data collection and analysis). Conceptual frameworks can act like maps that give coherence to empirical inquiry. Because conceptual frameworks are potentially so close to empirical inquiry, they take different forms depending upon the research question or problem.

MethodsQualitative research is often regarded as a precursor to quantitative research, in that it is often used to generate possible leads and ideas which can be used to formulate a realistic and testable hypothesis. This hypothesis can then be comprehensively tested and mathematically analyzed, with standard quantitative research methods. For these reasons, these qualitative methods are often closely allied with survey design techniques and individual case studies, as a way to reinforce and evaluate findings over a broader scale. One example of a qualitative research design might be a survey constructed as a precursor to the paper towel experiment. A study completed before the experiment was performed would reveal which of the multitude of brands were the most popular. The quantitative experiment could then be constructed around only these brands, saving a lot of time, money and resources. Qualitative methods are probably the oldest of all experimental techniques, with Ancient Greek philosophers qualitatively observing the world around them and trying to come up with answers which explained what they saw.

Some reviews and metasyntheses of qualitative studies have been done [Barroso and Powell-Cope 2000, Field and Marck 1994, Jensen and Allen 1994 and Sleutel 1998], but established and systematic guidelines, aside from critique and evaluation of methodology and quality of the components of the study, are lacking [Sandelowski et al 1997]. [Sandelowski et al 1997] stated, “ In general, studies should not be excluded for reasons of quality,…there are wide variations in conceptions of the good, and in quality criteria” (p. 368). Research studies were not excluded based on their scientific merit to avoid exclusion of research studys germane to the purpose of this study. However, universal standards for qualitative research study as described by [Polit et al 2001] were considered when selecting research studys and discussion of overall quality of the studies reviewed.

Criteria for inclusion of research studys in the sample included the following: (a) published in a peer-reviewed journal from 1990 to 2000; (b) cited in nursing or related literature; (c) main focus on topic of adolescent pregnancy or parenthood; and (d) primary use of qualitative methods for data collection and analysis with emphasis on narrative data. Potential research studys were obtained by accessing the following computer databases: Cumulative Index for Allied Health and Nursing (CINAHL), Psychological Literature (PsycINFO), PubMed, EMBASE, Social Work Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, and ERIC. Key words used included adolescent pregnancy and teenage pregnancy paired with other terms such as qualitative, grounded theory, phenomenology, ethnography, hermeneutic, and descriptive research.

Database searches combined yielded 91 research studys for possible inclusion in the sample. Of those 91 research studys, most were cited in all databases. Although a number of studies (ranging from 2 to 478, depending on which search words were used) were cited as qualitative studies, many of them were descriptive, nonexperimental, and used quantitative methods. Abstracts of research studys were read to determine whether to obtain full texts of the studies. If the abstract of an research study revealed the exclusive use of standardized data collection tools, subscales, and other quantitative measures, the research study was not reviewed further. Research studys that focused on adolescent pregnancy and primarily employed qualitative methods were evaluated for possible inclusion in the sample. Based on the criteria for inclusion, the researchers selected 22 research studys for the final sample.

InterviewsYes there were 68 semi-structured interviews that were conducted in this research study. These interviews were conducted with a fairly open framework which allow for focused, conversational, two-way communication. They can be used both to give and receive information. Unlike the questionnaire framework, where detailed questions are formulating ahead of time, semi structured interviewing starts with more general questions or topics. Relevant topics (such as cookstoves) are initially identified and the possible relationship between these topics and the issues such as availability, expense, effectiveness become the basis for more specific questions which do not need to be prepared in advance. Not all questions are designed and phrased ahead of time. The majority of questions are created during the interview, allowing both the interviewer and the person being interviewed the flexibility to probe for details or discuss issues. Semi-structured interviewing is guided only in the sense that some form of interview guide, such as the matrix described below is prepared beforehand, and provides a framework for the interviewValidityQualitative techniques are extremely useful when a subject is too complex be answered by a simple yes or no hypothesis.

These types of designs are much easier to plan and carry out, useful when budgetary decisions have to be taken into account. The broader scope covered by these designs ensures that some useful data is always generated, whereas an unproved hypothesis in a quantitative experiment can mean that a lot of time has been wasted. Qualitative research methods are not as dependent upon sample sizes as quantitative methods; a case study, for example, can generate meaningful results with a small sample group. Whilst not as time or resource consuming as quantitative experiments, qualitative methods still require a lot of careful thought and planning, to ensure that the results obtained are as accurate as possible. Qualitative data cannot be mathematically analyzed in the same comprehensive way as quantitative results, so can only give a guide to general trends. It is a lot more open to personal opinion and judgment, and so can only ever give observations rather than results.

Data analysisThematic approach of data Analysis was used for this research study it is an approach to dealing with data that involves the creation and application of ‘ codes’ to data. The ‘ data’ being analyzed might take any number of forms – an interview transcript, field notes, policy documents, photographs, video footage. As I said before, there is a clear link between this type of analysis and Grounded Theory, as the latter clearly lays out a framework for carrying out this type of code-related analysis. ‘ Coding’ refers to the creation of categories in relation to data; the grouping together of different instances of datum under an umbrella term that can enable them to be regarded as ‘ of the same type’.

DesignFor the purpose of this study qualitative research design was utilized. Modern sexuality educators and researchers use innovative approaches to qualitative social research using their own technological tools (Hewson et al 2003) pointing out that Internet moderated methods offer the potential to observe a vast number of participants from unlimited distance and a variety of cultures cheaply and time-efficiently. Moreover, data collected from chat rooms or websites can be directly loaded into Atlas-ti sociological studies software (Thomas Muhr, www. atlasti. de) for analysis from anthropological, legal, medical, linguistic, criminological, theological and educational sciences perspectives. Atlas-ti saves time and money incurred in transcribing by inputting directly from Internet. Research techniques which seek insight through mainly verbal data rather than scaled, calibrated measurements can nonetheless be valid. Analysis may well be interpretative, subjective, impressionistic and diagnostic.

For some, this is considered too loosely structured and therefore not useful. Yet, as we know from the example of publication bias, it is also possible to provide complete uselessness based on hard statistics. The new ICT setting of sex, while driven essentially for commercial purposes, has an inevitable psycho-pedagogical and social function. Modern research design asks (a) what types of sexuality-related information are shared by users of a medium, (b) how sexuality related information is framed, expressed, deconstructed and understood, and (c) what are the implications of ‘ sexuality on the Internet’ for policy-makers, educators and health professionals? SampleA purposive sample is used for this research study that is a sample selected in a deliberative and non-random fashion to achieve a certain goal. In a focus group, for example, you may want to consciously seek out respondents at both ends of a spectrum (as well as some in the middle) to insure that all viewpoints are adequately represented.

You might also preferentially recruit subjects who have the best knowledge and experience in an area. In addition to focus group studies, purposive samples are often used in pilot studies. A purposive sample shares the same weaknesses as a convenience sample and you will have difficulty making strong quantitative inferences from such a sample. For example: the study has defines that a purposive sample comprising three sub-groups of sexually active females aged 14-19 years was recruited from adolescent antenatal and postnatal services (pregnant-continued), termination services (pregnant-terminated), and youth sexual health services (never-pregnant) in the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia.

Ethical ConsiderationNot at least not by researchers. But … competitors have clearly done their homework and identified the established markets for the commerce sex. So, it could be said that marketing forms of monitoring and evaluation are valid as part of a qualitative study design. Meaning? For example, the development of comprehensive sexuality education curricula needs to takes into account not only the universal developmental tasks of puberty, adolescence and adulthood, but also the consumer characteristics and sexual idioms which are familiar to the intended beneficiaries in their respective cyber-cultural settings. This involves a clear definition of comprehensive sexuality education, which recognizes the competing influence on intended beneficiaries of ICT-based commerce of sex on the one hand, and traditional, religious, inter-generational and cultural concepts about sex on the other. A sample in which the individual units are selected by some purposive method.

It is therefore subject to biases of personal selection and for this reason is now rarely advocated in its crude form. t isn’t always possible to undertake a probability method of sampling, such as in random sampling. For example, there is not a complete sampling frame available for certain groups of the population e. g. the elderly; people who are attending a football match; people who shop in a particular part of town. Another factor to bear in mind is that many of the probability sampling methods described above may mean that researchers would have to undertake a postal or telephone survey delivery or might be expected to go from house to house. We will discuss some of the problems of low response rate later on in this workbook, but you might find that a probability sample with a poor response rate doesn’t in the end give you a particularly good representation of the population being examined.

FindingsIn addition, the findings of the research study are independently read and reread by each researcher several times to search for and develop emergent themes across the collective findings and to identify any differences or contradictions. On multiple occasions, the researchers discussed their independent assessments of the findings of each study and impressions about development and definition of themes in order to reach consensus on their interpretations. The review and analysis was written and revised several times, which served to explicate the study results and provided further opportunity for analysis and synthesis of the data.

LimitationsIn this study, although common themes are identified from the sample of articles as a whole, it is important to note that it is somewhat problematic to compare phenomena from studies that focus on different aspects of adolescent pregnancy and include varied sample populations. The authors experienced some difficulty in describing and interpreting a few of the studies reviewed due to vague explanations of the complex findings. Despite these limitations, the findings of this review and analysis yielded data that further develop research relevant to the phenomena of adolescent pregnancy and provide some direction for future study.

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