Strengths Weaknesses Research Methodology -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Strengths Weaknesses Research Methodology? Answer: Introduction The main purpose of this paper is to critically analyze different research methodology and find out an appropriate methodology for the research thesis on the topic of sleep quality study. Research on this topic is significant because it is a unique topic area which is focusing on variations in the quality of sleep and its impact on health. Hence, this research can also give an insight into factors that disrupts good quality of sleep. The first assignment was related to literature review on the selected topic and this assignment is concerned with working out appropriate methodology for the research topic. The paper provides an idea about the research problems and then reorganizes the research problem according to collected literature. In the second section, analysis of different types of research methodology is presented. The third deals with analysis of existing methodologies in collected literature. The final sections provide an insight into the methodology chosen for our research t hesis. Research problems and collected literatures My research thesis is on the topic of sleep quality study. Sleep quality is a term that describes a persons satisfaction with sleep patterns. It is a complex phenomenon that deals not only with quantity of sleep, but also with other sleep related experience such as sleep initiation, disruptions in sleep and refreshment after waking from sleep (1). A good quality of sleep is essential for healthy mind and body, however disruptions in sleep is associated with fatigue, tension and other issues for affected people (2). However, there are many issues that come in the way of good sleep quality. One such issue in the topic of sleep quality is the high incidence of sleep disorder and insomnia and its impact on health of people. Hence, incidence of insomnia and its impact on health is one of the research problems. Research literature has given insight into the risk of infectious and inflammatory disease and all-cause mortality due to sleep disturbance. Such evidence needs to be examined by pu blic health staffs because 25% of the US population suffers from insomnia and 10% of them are diagnosed with chronic insomnia (3). Therefore, high incidence of sleep disturbance and risk for adverse health consequences may increase the health burden. Hence, this research problem needed to addressed in the research for the topic sleep quality study. Sleep quality of an individual is also affected due to poor routine or environment. Sleep timing and quality is also affected due to inappropriate shift timing. Hence, shift work is one of the research problem related to the topic of quality sleep. A study done on shift workers has revealed large incidence of sleep difficulties or lack of sleep in people doing night shifts. It affects their circardian clock and inability to synchronize with internal clock of the body creates problem for students (4). Other sub-problems seen in the research topic is that certain medical conditions, use of chemical and environment around people also act as a barrier in good sleep. Hence, in relation to the problem of adverse impact of sleep on health, the research thesis will help in designing appropriate methodology to understand differences in health of individuals with good sleep and those having sleeping disorders or other problem. Organization of collected literature Research problem Sub problem Collected Literature High incidence of sleep disorder and insomnia in people Difference in subjective meaning of sleep quality in different individual Adverse impact on health Role of shift work on sleep problems Light as a disruptor in sleep Impact on daytime functioning and quality of life (1) (3) (4) (5, 6) (7) Sleep disorder due to effect of medical condition Role of chemical substance Role of medical condition in sleep quality (9) (9, 10) Compare and contrast of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies: The methodology chosen for research differs on the basis of research objective and core purpose of research. Qualitative research methodology is selected when the main purpose of research is to uncover thoughts, opinions and motivation of people in relation to specific social phenomenon. It is a form of exploratory research that favors researchers to get in-depth idea about research problem and get clear idea about the problem. Such research mainly deals with non-numerical data to interpret meaning from participants response to a phenomenon. Qualitative research methodology can be conducted by different methods such as interviews, survey, focus groups, open-ended questionnaires and content analysis. As this method requires researchers to collect in-depth perception about any event, it is done with small sample size (11). In contrast to qualitative research, quantitative research is done when the main purpose is to quantify attitudes, opinion or behavior of participants related to phenomenon. It mainly deals with number or objective stance to determine the relationship between independent and dependent variable. The main advantage of quantitative research methodology is that it favors doing research with large sample size and using measurable data to analyze facts and opinion. This kind of research can be done by means of surveys, face-to-face interviews, longitudinal studies and systematic observation (12). The main difference between quantitative and qualitative research methodology is that quantitative methodology is based on objective stance whereas qualitative research methodology is based on subjective stance. Hence, qualitative research favors interpreting subjective experience of participants, whereas quantitative methodology facilitates collecting objective data from participants. With respect to sample size, quantitative research method favors taking large samples compared to qualitative methodology. Another strength of quantitative research methodology is that the research can be conducted in short time frame, however qualitative research is a time consuming process (13). In terms of analysis, qualitative methods rely on inductive process to formulate hypothesis, whereas quantitative method relies on deductive process to test hypothesis. As quantitative method provides observed effects of a condition, it is more generalizable compared to qualitative methods which provide opini on-based result. In the context of validity and reliability, it can be said that for both research methods, this is dependent on the rigor used in research (14). Method selected for thesis project As my research is mainly concerned with exploring different aspects of sleep quality in insomniac and good sleeper, I plan to adopt qualitative research methodology for my research project. Qualitative research methods favor in-depth exploration of opinions. Hence, qualitative research methodology will help me to collect data from different groups of participants regarding sleep quality, impact of sleep quality and factors affecting sleep. The advantage of taking two groups of good sleepers and insomniac is that it will help in to differentiate between sleep quality and health impact in healthy people and those with sleep problems. It will help me to collect enough data for each group of participants. I can do cross sectional survey with two groups of participant and my formulation of survey questionnaire and analysis of the data will determine the quality of my research. Cross-sectional study is useful to study health characteristics in a population at a given time. This method is p roposed to address the core objective of my research. Review, analyze and summarize the existing methodologies reported in the collected literatures There are many problems related to sleep quality such high incidence of sleep disorder, adverse impact on health, impact on quality of life and impact on circardian cycle. However, I would like to conduct research with the issue of impact of sleep on quality of life and daytime functioning. Working on this sub-problem is relevant to my research objective, as reviewing research literature in this area will help me to determine all factors that disrupts sleep in good sleepers and insomniacs. Analysis of selected methodology The Subjective Meaning of Sleep Quality: A Comparison of Individuals with and without Insomnia My main aim of my first research literature was to determine the subjective meaning of sleep quality among people with insomnia and normal sleepers. Although lot of research has been done on sleep quality among good sleepers, however understanding the perception of sleep among insomnia patient is crucial to promote recovery of insomniacs. To conduct the research, qualitative approach was used by following Speak Freely procedure and Sleep Quality Interview procedure to collect data. Speak Freely procedure helped in getting data related to participants description of good and poor quality sleep. Sleep quality interview questioned participants regarding different sleep variables. Sleep diary was also maintained where participants had to answer questions related to sleep quality on seven consecutive nights. The results mainly showed that similar sleep quality variables defined by both groups and insomnia group judged sleep mainly on quality of sleep (1). The key weakness in the methodolo gy was completion of multiple comparisons due to qualitative approach. However, the replicability of such research is low because of large data on sleep quality. Evening exposure to a light-emitting diodes (LED)-backlit computer screen affects circadian physiology and cognitive performance My second study focused on examining effect of evening exposure to LED-backlit computer screen on circadian physiology and cognitive performance. Research in this area was important because many people sit for longer time in front of computer screen in their office. Hence, investigating its impact of alertness, cognitive performance and melatonin level was important. This study was done by taking balanced crossover design. Young male volunteers between 19-35 years age had to fill out questionnaires related to health, sleep quality and sleep behaviors. The study protocol was to carry out experiment study with participants for two week where the focus was to expose participants to computer screen light. All participants had to report 6 hours prior to bedtime and they had to complete cognitive task as well as 5 hour screen exposure episode before (5). The study was based mainly on quantitative approach, however the main limitation in this methodology is that the researcher has made rese arch process very complex by taking lot of exercise after exposure. It is hard to replicate such studies considering technical complexity of the research. The main aim of the third literature was to assess the impact of disease, pain and psychological factors on self-reported sleep disturbance in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Quantitative approach was used to collect data related to medication use, disease activity and pain, psychological functioning and sleep disturbance. Data was analyzed using SPSS 19.0 and sleep disturbance variable was examined using multiple regression approach (9). The use of quantitative research approach was useful in predicting that pain and depressive symptoms are more important predictors of sleep disturbance. It established clear links between sleep disturbance variables and participants. Relevance of the reviewed methodologies Among the methodologies reviewed in research literature, literature 1 is most relevant to my study because it focused on evaluating sleep perceptions in normal sleepers and people with insomnia. My research objective is very close to this aim too. Literature 2 is found partly relevant to my research as it gives an insight into role of light exposure on sleep problems. It is found partly relevant because although it gives idea about factors affecting sleep, however quality of life parameter is not closely addressed. I find literature 3 not to be relevant to my study because it focused on evaluating sleep disturbance in people with rheumatoid arthritis, however my research sample does not include this group. Literature Research problem Methodology Subproblem Relevance Literature 1 High incidence of sleep disorder and insomnia in people Qualitative Difference in subjective meaning of sleep quality in different individual Strongly Relevant Literature 2 High incidence of sleep disorder and insomnia in people Quantitative Light as a disruptor in sleep Partly relevant Literature 3 Sleep disorder due to effect of medical condition Role of medical condition on sleep quality Not relevant Propose own methodology for research problem I propose to use cross-sectional qualitative research methodology by use of survey questionnaires to collect data from two groups of participants. I want to use a survey questionnaire which is very specific to my research objectives and I aim to see how factors related to sleep disturbance differs in both group. Benefits and limitations of methodology Benefits: Ability to direct explore opinion of people with insomnia Reliable source as realistic opinion can be provided High reliability Easy to administer surveys Limitations Chances of biasness due to different opinions of different people Influence of culture and background on study results Chances of error in data Framework of methodology After analysis of different methodology used in research, qualitative research design has been chosen to evaluate the factors affecting sleep quality. The use of qualitative approach by means of survey questionnaire has been chosen to explore and interpret different factors affecting sleep and the condition that significantly challenged people in having good sleep. Two participants have been chosen to understand how definition of sleep quality and factors affecting sleep changes in people with good sleep and those with insomnia. Both open and closed ended questionnaire has been planned for the research to get detailed data related to specific barrier to sleep. On this basis, the factors will be categorized on the basis of severity. Thematic analysis will help in systematically arranging and discussing different factors influencing sleep quality. Reference Harvey AG, Stinson K, Whitaker KL, Moskovitz D, Virk H. The subjective meaning of sleep quality: a comparison of individuals with and without insomnia. Sleep. 2008 Mar 1;31(3):383-93. Pow J, King DB, Stephenson E, DeLongis A. Does social support buffer the effects of occupational stress on sleep quality among paramedics? A daily diary study. Journal of occupational health psychology. 2017 Jan;22(1):71. Irwin MR. Why sleep is important for health: a psychoneuroimmunology perspective. Annual review of psychology. 2015 Jan 5;66. Vetter C, Fischer D, Matera JL, Roenneberg T. 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