This document discusses descriptive research design. Descriptive research aims to observe and describe phenomena as they occur naturally without manipulation. It can be used to identify problems, justify practices, and develop theories. Descriptive studies describe characteristics like frequency, percentages, averages without relating variables. Types include univariate, exploratory, and comparative designs. Limitations include inability to determine causation and potential for bias. The document provides an example of a descriptive study evaluating nursing students' knowledge and attitudes about Alzheimer's disease.

1. PRESENTED BY
MRS ARIFA T N
FIRST YEAR M.Sc NURSING
MIMS COLLEGE OF NURSING

2.  Second broad classification of experimental
research design
 Descriptive research is the Exploration and
description of phenomena in real life
situation
 It provides an accurate account of
characteristics of particular individuals,
situations or groups

3.  Research approach and research design are
two terms that are frequently used
interchangeably
 Research design: Broader plan to conduct a
study
 Research approach: important element of
the research design

4. Research
design
Qualitative Quantitative
Experimental
Non-
experimental
Descriptive
design

5.  The second broad class of non experimental
studies
 purpose of descriptive studies
 is to observe, describe, and document aspects
of a situation as it naturally occurs and
sometimes to serve as a starting point for
hypothesis generation or theory development.

6.  Used to observe the phenomenon occuring in
its natural setting without any manipulation
or control
 Designed to gain more information about
characteristics within a particular field of
enquiry
 Provide an impression of a situation as it
occurs in natural setting
 Does not involves manipulation of variables ,
and variables are studied as they exist in the
real world

7.  Used to develop theories
 Identify problems with current practice
 Justify current activities or practice
 Make judgment or determine other practices
in similar situations
 Bias prevented through operational definition
large sample size ,random sampling
technique, valid and reliable research tool
and formal date collection methods

8.  It includes;
 Identification of phenomenon on interest
 Identifies variables within the phenomenon
 Developing operational definitions of variables
 Describing the variables leads to an
interpretation of the theoretical meaning of the
findings and development of the hypothesis

9.  Univarient descriptive design
 Exploratory design
 Comparative design

10.  Descriptive studies are undertaken to
describe the frequency of occurrence of a
behavior or condition rather than to study
relationships
 Univariate descriptive studies are not
necessarily focused on only one variable

11.  Eg :Researcher might be interested in
women’s experiences during menopause
 The study might describe the frequency of
various symptoms, the average age at
menopause, the percentage of women seeking
formal health care, and the percentage of
women using medications to alleviate
symptoms.

12.  Purpose
There are multiple variables in this
study, but the primary purpose is to describe
the status of each and not to relate them to
one another.
 Two types of descriptive study from the field
of epidemiology
 Prevalence studies
 Incidence studies

13.  Prevalence studies
Prevalence studies are done to
determine the prevalence rate of some
condition (e.g., a disease or a behavior, such
as smoking) at a particular point in time.

14.  The formula for a point prevalence rate
(PR) is:
Number of cases with the condition or
disease at a given point in time / Number in
the population at risk of being a case x K
 K is the number of people for whom we
want to have the rate established (e.g., per
100 or per 1000 population).
 Denominator is the size of the sample, and
the numerator is the number of cases with
the condition, as identified in the study

15.  Incidence studies
Incidence studies are used to measure the
frequency of developing new cases.
Longitudinal designs are needed to
determine incidence because the researcher
must first establish who is at risk of
becoming a new case—that is, who is free of
the condition at the outset.

16.  The formula for an incidence rate (IR) is:
 Number of new cases with the condition or
disease over a given time period / Number at
risk of becoming a new case (free of the
condition at the outset) x K
 Relative risk is an estimate of risk of
“caseness” in one group compared with another.
Relative risk is computed by dividing the rate for
one group by the rate for another

17.  Exploratory design is used to identify,
explore, and describe the , existing,
phenomenon and its related factors
 It is not only a simple description or the
frequency of the occurrence of a
phenomenon, but its in-depth exploration
and a study of its related factors to improve
further understanding about the less
understood phenomenon

18.  Eg: an exploratory study to assess the multi
dimensions of fall and home safety measures
for elderly people living in selected
communities in the city of ludhiana

19.  Comparative descriptive design is used to
describe variables and examine differences
in variables in two or more groups that occur
naturally in setting
 It involves comparing and contrasting tow or
more samples of the study subjects on one or
more variables often at a single point of time

20.  Comparative design compares descriptive
data obtained from different groups which
have been formed using gender, age ,
educational level, medical diagnosis or
severity of illness
 Eg : a comparative study on health problems
among rural and urban people in district
dikaner, Rajasthan

21. Clarify the purpose of the study and carefully
construct a research question
Identify the research design
Describe the population of
interest
Clarify the variables of
interest
Determine a measurement procedure
and manage the data collection process

22. Design a process for
maintaining integrity
Use appropriate analytic
tools
Report the analysis
accurately
Draw the conclusion that
are appropriate

23.  Not considered as the strongest design
 These types of studies cannot provide strong
conclusion about causality –a condition necessary
for support of a nursing intervention
Uses
 Assessment
 Diagnosis
 Care planning
 Intervention
 Evaluation of out come

24.  Subjects and participants are observed in a
natural and unchanged environment
 A pre-causer to future research because it
can be helpful in identifying variables that
can be tested
 Data collection allows for gathering in-depth
information that may be either quantitative
or qualitative in nature. This allows for a
multifactor approach to data collection and
analysis

25.  Results in rich data that is collected in large
amounts
 Surveys can be used in companies and
organizations to study in beliefs , attitude,
behaviors and habits of members of a target
audience company and or other organization

26.  Participants may not be truthful or may not
behave naturally when they know they are
being observed
 Cannot be used to correlate variables or
determine cause and effect
 Confidentiality van be an issue
 Researcher bias play a role in many ways
 No variables are manipulated, therefore
statistical analysis is not possible. Because of
this some scientists regard descriptive
studies as unreliable and un scientific.

27.  The results are not repeatable and typically
the study cannot be replicated
 Findings may be open to interpretation

28.  A transversal descriptive study was carried
out by department of nursing of National
Institute Of Mental Health and
Neurosciences, India with 122 randomly
selected nursing students from banglor to
evaluate nursing students knowledge and
attitude towards individuals with
alzemeimers disease and dementia. The
participants have inadequate knowledge of
dementia, how ever they have positive
attitudes towards patients with dementia
giving way to improving their knowledge
related to their disease.

30. 1. K.SUSAN, GREY.R,BURNS.N,UNSERSTANDING
NURSING RESEARCH BUILDING AN EVIDENCE
BASED PRACTICE,6TH ED.MISSOURI;ELSVIER
SAUNDERS;2015.P.212-217
2. POLIT.F,JATANO.C,NURSING RESEARCH
GENERATING AND ASSESSING EVIDENCE FOR
NURSING PRACTICE,10TH
ED;PHILADELPHIA;WOLTERS
KLUWER;2017.P.304-6
3. SHARMA K,NURSING RESEARCH
ANDSTATISTICS;NEWDELHI;ELSEVIER;2011.P.114-
16