Peer Response
*questions to answer to respond to peers posts:
Comment on the suitability of your peer’s proposed research question(s) and research design. Has your colleague chosen the most appropriate qualitative design to answer the question(s) posed? Why, or why not? What other design option(s), besides the one you selected for your own post, would you recommend to study the proposed research question? Review the ethical issues your colleague raised in his or her post and suggest other issues that should be considered when conducting this research.
Identify an aspect (characteristic) of this topic you feel should be studied using qualitative methods.
According to the DSM-5 (2013), one of the primary symptoms of Dysthymia is poor concentration and/or difficulty making decisions. This is something that could lead to an issue with acquiring and maintaining a job, which is a crucial part of life. Any treatment should be addressing this specifically and how effective those treatments are in reducing this portion is something that deserves investigation. Lacking the ability to provide for one’s self and/or family is a basic need and deserves to be not overlooked.
Apply the scientific method to this research issue and develop a specific research question
While quantitative research methods are excellent at giving us hard numbers that show statistical significance, this particular issue also needs to have qualitative research applied to it, that way we can determine more precisely what the people need in terms of this specific issue arising from the disorder. The question that needs to be answered is: are the current treatments sufficiently helping dysthymia patients deal with the concentration/decision-making factor in order to maintain a job.
Create a feasible research design that includes plans for the sample selection, data collection, and data analysis
This research could benefit from a grounded theory approach, which is suited for event-oriented questions, such as this one (Frost, 2011). By utilizing a qualitative framework, we can use ethnographic fieldwork in order to observe the programs that are in place and perform both informal and formal interviews (of the patients within the programs), which will provide us with a more in-depth personal knowledge of whether the current programs are sufficient. Quantitative and qualitative approaches can be combined according to Frost (2011). By doing so it will allow us to see the “hard” data, which the agencies will require, and have a personal understanding of any underlying issues from a first-hand viewpoint.
Apply ethical principles to your design by explaining how this type of qualitative design may affect the participants in your study and how you will deal with sociocultural issues
Whenever you are dealing with any type of research there are always ethical issues that must be addressed. In this case, besides the standard informed consent issue, there is also the problem of the relationship with the subjects, and any additional problems that could arise. In some cases, they may be afraid of retribution from the supporting agency, which could further exasperate their current issues. The informed consent could take care of the retribution fear by explicitly stating protection against that fear when explaining it to them. The relationship that is built during the process is a harder one to mitigate; in some qualitative research, it is known that there must be further contact made with the subject in order to not cause an issue, due to the extent of the relationship that has been built during the process. Keeping this in mind the researcher must also adhere to certain guidelines and ensure that although a close relationship may be made between them and the subject, they must keep it on a professional level.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.) Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing
Frost, N. (2011). Ebook: Qualitative research methods in psychology: combining core approaches. ProQuest Ebook Central. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy-library.ashford.edu
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