Identification of Sampling, Validity, and Reliability

Identification of Sampling, Validity, and Reliability

 The sampling technique, reliability, and validity of the two articles will be discussed in this assignment.  The first article, titled Stress Management for Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis, from the PRIME nursing website, will be summarized.   This article’s sampling technique, concerns about its reliability and validity, and the possible presence of flaws or discrepancies will be reviewed.  Researchers use a sample of individuals to represent the population since it is impossible to survey or test all people. Since sampling doesn’t include everyone in the community, errors can always occur. “Validity and reliability of research and its results are important elements to provide evidence of the quality of research in the organizational field” (Hayashi, Abib, & Hoppen, p. 1).  Validity and reliability are separate elements. Hence a study can be valid, but not reliable and vice versa.  A high-quality study is both valid and reliable. A selected qualitative study will be summarized, and its trustworthiness will be discussed in this assignment.

Discussion

Research Sampling

It is unrealistic research the entire population.  Researchers use a sampling method to obtain information about the whole community based on the results they get from the subcategory or a sample of the people.  It is essential to choose a sample and method that represents the population.  There two types of sampling techniques are probability sampling and non-probability sampling (Tappen, 2016).  Random or probability sampling allows all individuals to have a chance to participate in the research and allows the researcher the ability to generalize the outcomes from the study. However, it is more time consuming and expensive to do a probability sampling.  On the other hand, the non-probability sampling or non-random

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sampling doesn’t give a chance to all the individuals to be selected to participate in the research study (Tappen, 2016).  There is a higher chance of ending up with a non-representative sample, which gives non-generalized outcomes.  The non-probability sampling is cheaper and more convenient.  The sample size is the number of individuals that are observed by the experiment or survey (Tappen, 2016).  The large sample size is needed for the statistic to be accurate and reliable if representing a large population.

Research Reliability and Validity

 Even though the validity and reliability terms are used interchangeably, there are precise differences between them. The reliability shows consistency and the validity shows if the tests measure accurately what they are supposed to measure (Patten, 2016).  Sometimes tests that are valid are not necessarily reliable.  Validity is more visible in a quantitative research than in qualitative research studies.  “As there is diversity within qualitative research methods and techniques, there is no universally accepted criteria to assess validity in qualitative studies; its usefulness is also questioned” (Hayashi et al., p. 1).  There are several types of reliability and validity. It is necessary to consider reliability and validity when selecting a research design and planning the methods.

“Stress Management for Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis “on Prime Nursing Website

 This study describes a 40-year-old woman whose rheumatoid arthritis was successfully controlled for about one year.  Then she developed several flareups and swelling in her hands’ joints.  Around the same time, she was experiencing a higher level of stress and was worried that her anxiety was making her symptoms worse.  According to this study, the literature review on other studies has revealed a strong association between stress and the worsening of symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.  Based on these studies, some other studies were reviewed that showed behavioral interventions that can decrease the rheumatoid arthritis symptoms by reducing stress levels.  This study further describes how tai chi, yoga, and education can decrease patients’ stress and improve rheumatoid arthritis symptoms most of the time.  This study reports that some studies show those who performed tai chi didn’t show any significant improvement of symptoms. This study mentions that further future studies are needed to assess the benefits of behavioral stress reduction in managing rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. 

 There is no apparent sample in this study. Hence there is no sampling technique used in this study.  This study is mainly describing a concise summary of other literature reviews.  The validity or the reliability of this study can not be assessed since there is no method or sample in this study.  Since the reliability and validity of this study can’t be established, the findings of this study cannot be generalized to the whole population.  There are many flaws in this study.  This study is missing a sample, techniques and instruments, statistical treatment, and methodological approach, and lack the evidence to support the conclusion. 

Summarizing a Qualitative Study and Identifying Its elements of Trustworthiness

 Burkeand Patching (2019) conducted qualitative research and explored the life history methodology in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS).  This study was performed to get knowledge about the life history of patients that have RRMS.  Burke and Patching (2019) mentioned that other researches like this research had been performed before this study.  However, they had only provided information about patients’ present living conditions and experiences, not their past.  They also mentioned that in one study, only female participants were used.  This research was performed because more study was needed to evaluate the past and present life of patients with RRMS using a sample that included both male and female.  Thirteen participants, ten females, and three males were interviewed about their past and present life experience while having RRMS.  The life history method was used in this study to get comprehensive information about everyone’s life history from past to present.  The study participants chose the interview locations, such as their homes or park.  They were all asked to describe their experience with this chronic disease.  Eight study themes, such as starting the symptoms and coping with the illness, were formed based on the data obtained from this study.  Each patient had a relapse of the disease at a different time interval and various symptoms. Hence, these themes were not always starting the same way, followed the same steps, or end up the same way for each patient.  Burkeand Patching (2019) obtained a lot of valuable information about the experience of patients who have RRMS.   This information is very useful in improving nursing interventions and practice.

References

• Burke, T., & Patching, J. (2019). Exploring life history methodology in chronic illness: A study in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing (Online), 36(4), 45-52. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2246701550?accountid=34574
• Hayashi, P., Jr, Abib, G., & Hoppen, N. (2019). Validity in qualitative research: A processual approach. The Qualitative Report, 24(1), 98-112. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2171118565?accountid=34574
• Stewart, H., & Gapp, R. (2017). Exploring the alchemy of qualitative management research: Seeking trustworthiness, credibility and rigor through crystallization. The Qualitative Report, 22(1), 1-19. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1867932452?accountid=34574
• Tappen, R. (2016). Advanced nursing research: From theory to practice (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Barlett Learning.