Week 7 Discussion: Continue Your DiscussionStudy Design
In designing a study, you will need to determine who the participants will be, how the concepts you are looking at will be identified and operationalized, and how you will collect the data. Part of this process includes selecting the data collection instrument that will meet your needs. This discussion will provide an opportunity to focus on study design.
Assume that you are a new social worker in an assisted living facility. In talking with one resident, you find out that they are often unable to find someone to help them during the night, have very limited access to food they consider healthy, are restricted from being out of their rooms during certain hours of the day and night, and do not have a reliable way to contact anyone outside of the facility. Furthermore, they state that the administrators of the facility tend to ignore their complaints. Using this information, consider the following:
- Which research method (qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, or other) would you use to find out more about what is happening at the facility? What anti-oppressive research principles will you apply? What are the benefits and limitations of the choice you made?
- Share an article, video, podcast, or other resource that addresses anti-oppressive research practices related to the aging population. What are some of the key take-aways you want others to know about?
- Share your ideas for the study you are developing for this course. What data collection tool(s) will you use? Who are the participants in your study? What questions will you ask (or be looking for, if you are observing)?
- How might you apply this week’s course content to your personal or professional life?
Response Guidelines
- Your Writing: Each post should show courtesy, be succinct, professional, well written and organized, using proper writing mechanics, grammar, and punctuation.
