Running head: QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 1

Quantitative and qualitative research

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QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 2

Do patients value nutritional therapy? A quantitative study in type-2 diabetes patients

Introduction

Patients who have Type 2diabetes always value other types of intervention that they feel

are more important. The first intervention they adhere to is pharmacotherapy treatments. Patients

combine this type of treatment with insulin or their hypoglycemic agents. The management of

diabetes II requires intervention from all teams including physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and

dieticians. Patients are advised to value self-care. The purpose of the study is to find out whether

type2 diabetes patients value or adhere to Nutritional therapy. Therefore, the author used

quantitative research through face-to-face interviews to come with the final assessment.

The authors used quantitative assessment method to come up with the study population.

The assessment of the participants was done by the trained dieticians. The selected sample

participants were 66 but 4 declined. The number dropped to 62 patients both male and female.

The participants were from the diabetes clinic in the municipality of Faro. The age for the

sampled participants was below 85 years (Shepherd et al. 2010). This means that the study

utilized a wide range of age groups in the research which is perfect for a quantitative study.

The article used the interview as part of their research method. The interview was done

face-to-face (Shepherd et al. 2010). The use of face-to-face interviews was an excellent choice

since it provides accurate screening of information being provided. It is easy to determine

whether the interviewee if giving false information. In other words, it provides accurate data.

With the use of face-to-face conversation, it was easier for the study to keep focus and capture

the emotions and behaviors of interviewees. However, standardized methods were used to collect

data based on weight, height and waist circumference. In writing the finding the study utilized
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national food compositions tables. It also provided data in numerical by analyzing information

using IBM-SPSS software version 20.0. The software characterized the final results in mean

values.

The final findings indicated that intake of sugars among type 2 diabetes had a mean of

109.4g. It accounts for 19% of daily energy intake which is higher than recommended. The

adherence to pharmacotherapy was 70-80 % while physical activity was only 25% (Shepherd et

al. 2010). This suggests that a huge percentage of type2 diabetes patients do not adhere to

nutritional therapy. The theoretical background that the study represents is that Type 2 diabetes

patients face a lot of problems in adhering to nutritional therapy. Self-care of the patients has

become a problem and need great intervention from the dietetics physicians. The limitation of

the study is that it did not utilize other methods of quantitative analysis.

The author recommended the future research to address ways in which educational,

psychosocial and economic aspects prevent or hinder compliance of nutritional

recommendations. The strength depicted in the study is that it utilized face-face interviews

which provide accurate data. It also used statistical tools that can help calculate the results into

mean value. The limitation of the study is that it avoided the use of questionnaires. It might be

the reason why the 4 participants declined. The recommendation is that the study to use

questionnaires in conjunctions with interviews because some of the participants are cautious of

physical conversations. The questionnaires provide high data set analysis and ensure

demographic respondents are in accordance with the survey population.

2nd part

Perspectives on schizophrenia over the lifespan: a qualitative study

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Introduction

The article is a qualitative study conducted by a combined research team of academic

researches, community members and clients with mental health. It has always been difficult to

know how adults perceive changes of schizophrenia over time. It is because some people claim

their symptoms improve over their lifespans. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to find out

how adults perceive changes associated with schizophrenia. The article is a perfect example of a

qualitative study. Despite some limitation that might be presented the author used the right

methods of qualitative study such as interviewing.

The methods used by the author were assessment, sampling and interviewed. In this case,

the author recruited the participants from databases of organization and universities such as

intervention research and the University of California (Braz et al. 2017). At first, the participants

had to undergo a structured diagnostic assessment to confirm the existence of schizophrenia.

Therefore, a group of 32 individuals was selected based on the sample size estimate based on

age, gender and ethnicity. The living condition was also part of sampling estimate. They were

then scheduled and interviewed. The sample age of the selected individuals was 50 years.

The sampled participants were interviewed depending on their place of preference. The

first procedure used was semi-structured interviews. Demographic questionnaires were also used.

The data analysis was done by processing the audiotapes through coding consensus and

comparison. In the final qualitative finding it was evident that during the early course of

schizophrenia the participants experienced losses, confusion, and Escapism (Braz et al. 2017). In

the middle course, the patients gained insight. Therefore, there was a sign of improvement on the

symptoms. The individual also developed self-management skills and adapted to social
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relationships. In the present course or future, individuals with schizophrenia had much hope,

accepted their condition and also showed despair.

Despite the results of the article the limitation can be seen in the sample age. The sample

of participants was only restricted to older people of 50 years (Braz et al. 2017). The participants

should have come from different age groups because the average age of onset schizophrenia is

18 years. The theoretical background of the study is to show how individuals who are at 50

years of age perceive changes of schizophrenia. Based on the results the author recommends new

psychological and policy-based approaches to help individuals with schizophrenia experience

long term course. The new approaches should help reduce symptom and lead to recovery.

The strength of the study is that it utilized major approaches of qualitative methods such

as the use of questionnaires and sampling. The limitation was only encountered in the selection

of the participants. Therefore, it is recommended to eliminate the research bias based on age. It is

very important to include different types of ages in the sample. Qualitative research needs a wide

range of complementary methods. Therefore the study should also include a case study from

multiple types of data sources as part of the research.

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References

Braz, N., Nascimento, T., & Gomes, E. (2017). Do patients value nutritional therapy? A

quantitative study in type-2 diabetes patients. International Journal of Diabetes and

Clinical Research, 4(2), 1-6.

Shepherd, S., Depp, C. A., Harris, G., Halpain, M., Palinkas, L. A., & Jeste, D. V. (2010).

Perspectives on schizophrenia over the lifespan: a qualitative study. Schizophrenia

bulletin, 38(2), 295-303. Pinto, E.,