Qualitative and Quantitative Research in Nursing

Running head: QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
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Qualitative and Quantitative Research in Nursing
Name:
Institution:

QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
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Qualitative and Quantitative Research in Nursing
A1 Quantitative Article: Poti, J. M., Duffey, K. J., & Popkin, B. M. (2013). The association
of fast food consumption with poor dietary outcomes and obesity among children: is it the
fast food or the remainder of the diet?–. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 99(1),
162-171.
Introduction Poti, Duffey, and Popkin (2014), aim to determine whether
the consumption of fast food itself can lead to overweight
and obesity among children. The consumption of fast food
has long been associated with fatal health outcomes, but it
has never been clear whether it is actually the fast food or
other foods that cause the adverse health condition. As
such, the study compared the independent association of
fast food with overweight and obesity against the impact of
the remaining dietary intake. The author has articulated the
background of the study well enough and the research can
be understood.
Review of the Literature There is no literature review section in this research but the
author has reviewed several literatures in the introduction.
A total of 31 literature items have been reviewed under
various topics. These topics include the prevalence of
obesity among USA children; trends in fast food intake;
nutritional quality of fast foods; comparison between fast
food consumers and nonconsumers; and, the factors
influencing the consumption of fast foods. The last topic
identifies literature pointing to the gap of the study
indicating that factors influencing the consumption of fast
foods may also influence dietary behaviors outside the fast

QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
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foods restaurant. The study notes that no relevant research
had been done to establish whether fast foods are indirectly
associated with weight gain or it might be just a marker for
other unhealthy lifestyles associated with obesity among
children. The article gives substantial knowledge about the
research topic.
Discussion of Methodology The research was a quantitative study. The author describes
the study as an experimental research that sampled a cross-
sectional population of 4466 US children between the age
of 2 years and 18 years who participated in the 2007-2009
NHANES. The study uses “the CDC 2000 sex-specific
BMI-for-age growth chart” to define the BMI status of its
target population (p 163). Accordingly, overweight is
indicated by BMI between the 85th and 95th percentiles,
while any BMI at or above the 95th percentile is defined as
obese. Foods were categorized based on “the USDA Food
and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies version 4.1
(2007-2008) and 5.0 (2009-2010)” (p 163).
Data Analysis SAS was used for Cluster analysis to define fast food
consumers and non-consumers. The cluster analysis was
restricted to several food groups that are typically
associated with obesity which led to the identification of
two distinct clusters labeled as Western and Prudent dietary
patterns. Other statistical analyses were done “using Stata
12 (Stata Corp)” (p 164). As such, several quantitative