I have selected Bipolar Disorder as the topic I am going to focus on when choosing and analyzing my quantitative articles. Bipolar disorder is a cause of concern because it causes much struggles and grief among many families in the country. Therefore, researching and learning about it will be a great contribution to healthcare. Once a researcher has a study topic and resources, the next critical part is an effective study design. A good design helps to ensure that quantitative research conducted is valid and successful. In my discussion, I will choose two quantitative research articles that talks about bipolar disorder from the college library and evaluate the study designs used.
Article One
Bonnington, O., & Rose, D. (2014). Exploring stigmatization among people diagnosed with either bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder: A critical realist analysis. Social Science & Medicine , 123 , 7-17.
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The study by Bonnington & Rose, (2014) was conducted with the aim of identifying and explaining the prevalence of stigmatization associated with bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder diagnosis. This is a quantitative article which employs a Quasi-experimental design known as descriptive analysis. The researchers are seeking to describe the situation around a phenomenon or a variable. For example, the researchers did not begin with a hypothesis. They only developed one after completing the data collection process. In this quasi-experimental study, twenty nine BP or BPD were randomly recruited and interviewed to collect data. The data were then analyzed thematically (Bryman, 2017).
To observe stigma and discrimination among patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder, the researchers used a temporal framework in their study. This framework incorporated a structure that situation the patient experiences. The study has two main limitations. The first limitation is that there was not a research question at the beginning (Bonnington & Rose, 2014). Research questions help to form the basis of a research process and provide guidelines. Lack of the research question, in this case, might have complicated the study process. Secondly, this is non-experimental research. Therefore, it has a weak ability to support causal inferences.
Article Two
Woller, N. M. (2016). Emotional Dysregulation and Adaptive Skills Among Siblings of Bipolar Children.
This article is another example of a quantitative article with quasi-experimental study design. Data were collected and analyzed using a matched comparison study by grouping the children into two; with bipolar siblings on one group and without bipolar siblings on the other. The researchers wanted to establish how bipolar siblings show emotional dysregulation and adaptive skills. This is a study which has two variables, and it seeks to determine the cause-effect relationship between the variables (Woller, 2016). According to the research questions and hypothesis at the beginning of the study, there are fewer adaptive skills and more emotional dysregulation among bipolar children who live with non-bipolar siblings. The researchers used a matched comparison study here two groups of children were used. One group was made of bipolar siblings, and the other had non-bipolar siblings. The researcher then concluded that children with bipolar siblings show more emotional disturbances than those without bipolar siblings (Woller, 2016). The strengths of this study include strong research questions at the beginning, good comparisons, and proper interventions. The limitation was lack of randomness in assignment meaning that the results are less conclusive.
Conclusion
Choosing a study design is one of the most important steps when conducting research. Using a wrong study design has the dangers of skewing the results and making the experiment has no worth. This is why researchers need to be keen and thorough when collecting data and determine the best study design by weighing the pros and cons of all the available designs. In nursing, research evidence is used to support evidence-based practice. Therefore, nursing researchers are required to be keen and careful when conducting studies. The most commonly used study designs in nursing research include descriptive, correlational, and experimental research designs.
References
Bonnington, O., & Rose, D. (2014). Exploring stigmatization among people diagnosed with either bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder: A critical realist analysis. Social Science & Medicine , 123 , 7-17.
Bryman, A. (2017). Quantitative and qualitative research: further reflections on their integration. In Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research (pp. 57-78). Routledge.
Woller, N. M. (2016). Emotional Dysregulation and Adaptive Skills Among Siblings of Bipolar Children.
