Critiquing quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods studies
It is important to take into account the goal of the study when choosing a quantitative approach. You have mentioned the following types of quantitative approaches:
- They are experiments that test the effectiveness and safety of new medical treatments or drugs. These trials usually involve assigning randomly participants to control or treatment groups and evaluating outcomes, such as the mortality rate or improvement of symptoms.
- Research used for evaluation: Evaluation research evaluates the efficacy of policies or programs. The evaluation research is conducted with experimental and quasi-experimental designs, collecting data about program inputs and activities.
- Research on health services and outcomes: This research type focuses primarily on the evaluation of healthcare systems, services, or interventions. This type of research involves the analysis of large datasets, and uses statistical methods to assess the impact on different approaches in health care.
- Assessment of needs: This study is used to determine gaps and deficiencies in programs or services. Surveying stakeholders or analyzing service use data, as well as conducting focus groups, can be used to conduct needs assessments.
- Studies that replicate previous findings or seek to confirm them are called replication studies. It is important to validate the research results and build confidence that the conclusions are robust.
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