Qualitative and Quantitative Study on Workplace Support and Medical Errors

Guided questions Answer Template
Guided Question Qualitative Study Quantitative Study
1. Aim and Significance
(5 marks 200 words)
a. What was the aim and
significance of the study?
The aim of the Smeulers, Onderwater,
Zwieten, & Vermeulen (2014) article was
to study the experiences and perspectives
of nurses on preventing medical errors. A
good aim of the study needs to be clear
for the reader to see and it needs to be
related to the main topic of the study.
This means that the researcher must
present a research problem that meets the
needs of the research (Kush, 2014). Thus
the aim is to determine the perspective of
nursing practitioners on medical errors.
The Sahaya, Hutchinson, & East (2015) study is
focussed on understanding how workplace support
influences the medical practice by reducing errors
that practitioners face. The significance of this study
is to determine how support relationships in the
workplace especially for newly graduated nurses are
important in reducing medical errors in the
workplace during practice. By understanding the
nature of relationships that exist in the workplace,
the study proposes recommendation that are deemed
fit for meeting the challenges that such practitioners
face at work. According Howell (2013) suggests that
a good study is supposed to address the research
problem by proposing solutions that need to be
adopted to solve the problem being addressed. Thus
through the relationships that exist between the
professional and work the study proposes a

mechanism for improving work relationships and
reducing errors.
2. Methods (10 marks
700 words)
a. Identify the research
design used in the study
and was it appropriate for
the issue discussed?
This research used the case study
approach since it offers the best
mechanism for studying the research
problem and population. Thus this allows
the researcher to gather data directly from
the respondents while at the same time
working with them. In this case the data
collected is real time which improves the
reliability of the study and the data that
will be presented (Babbie, 2013). When
using case studies, surveys are the best
method for collecting data since they
allow the researcher draw the required
sample from the large population whose
findings will then be generalised to the
whole study. Thus this study the
The study used survey based exploratory and
descriptive research design because the nature of the
research problem presented different variables that
needed to be addressed. In this case, the success of
the study is based on how the researcher
contextualises the study and understands the factors
that revolve in the study. The study started with
exploratory research where the researcher focusses
on collecting the baseline information or
groundwork information that informs how the
descriptive study will be done. Thus the researcher
has to establish the groundwork information that will
inform the descriptive study. on the other hand, the
descriptive study is used to measure the association
between the different variables that exist in the
research problem (Check & Schutt, 2012). Thus the

researcher narrowed down to a smaller
population and then the findings of the
study were used to generalise to the whole
population.
association that was being tested in this study was
the relationship between practitioners and the
outcome of reduced medical errors. Thus this
method of study offers the best outcome that
completely explores the research problem to achieve
the desired results.
b. Discuss the sampling
technique, inclusion and
exclusion criteria used for
the selection of sample in
the study
The sampling plan used was snowball
sampling where the researcher recruited
the respondents of the study via email.
The email responses were received on a
rolling basis and when the minimum
number of responses was reached the
study commenced. Snow ball sampling
fits this study since it allows the
researcher to recruit the respondents on a
rolling basis until the minimum threshold
has been reached before the study
commences. This means that for one to
qualify to participate in the study being a
registered nurse was mandatory. Thus
snowball sampling made it easier to
recruit the respondents since only the
The main focus on the respondents was recent
nursing graduates from any of the Australian
university schools of nursing. Emails were obtained
from the university where a link for the survey was
send to the nurses for them to respond. Those
interested confirmed their interest and went ahead to
participate in the study. A sample of 50 nurses was
used which is the minimum requirement for a study.
Thus the researcher purposively sampled out this
population from the rest to use them in studying the
research problem. Thus this number was the basis
for the study since the study was started immediately
after the minimum number had been achieved.

registered ones were entered into the
system. (Cohen & Arieli, 2011). This
method is better as compared to others
since as the respondents respond to the
study survey, their data is documented to
wait for the researcher to obtain the
minimum before the study can begin.
c.Explore the data
collection method and its
appropriateness to the
research design of the
study
Semi-structured questionnaires were used
in the study with a variety of questions
about the topic. However, at the end of the
interview, the researcher allows the
respondent to reflect on their nursing
process thus allowing the researcher to
validate the collected data and at the same
time draw some insights on what had not
been clearly answered. According to
Creswell (2012), semi-structured
interviews offer the best research tools
since they allow the researcher to question
the respondent and follow any leads that
might provide useful information on the
topic. Further, when paired with
Since this study relied on institutional information,
then the study survey was done through a link send
to the graduates email with a set of questions that
they were supposed to respond to. The submission
was then hosted by
Qualtrics® online platform an online platform on the
university. Singleton & Straits, (2009) argue that
surveys is the best research method since it makes it
easy to collect quantitative data through use of a
scaled questionnaire for measuring the attitudes and
views of the respondent. The questions are organised
in an order that allows the respondent to answer each
question that leads to the other until the end of the
research. The reason why this research tool is the
best is that it allows the researcher to state their