15 POWERPOINT SLIDES + SCRIPT: Successful Data Collection Tools

Data Collection Process

The process of data collection forms an integral part of any research study. The data collection process involves gathering and calculating data on different aspects of interest to the research in a clearly defined systematic way that allows for answering the stated research questions, testing a theory, and evaluating outcomes. Data collection can be conducted through various techniques that include interviews, observations, and the issuance of questionnaires. A quality data collection process is particularly vital as it improves the validity and accuracy of the study outcomes and findings. The writer found this study Training Nursing Skills: A Quantitative Study of Nursing Students Experiences before and after Clinical Practicum, focuses on the research according to Solvik & Struksnes (2018) and analysed the data collection process involved.

Patient safety requires that nursing students be well prepared before making any encounters with patients. Solvik & Struksnes (2018) note that nursing students who have a mechanism for internship in simulation laboratory practice may have a more positive experience in the clinical setting. As such, the authors note that various clinical laboratory practice models have been fashioned to meet the prerequisites and learning strategies for the students. According to Solvik & Struksnes (2018), the purpose of the research study was to investigate and test two varying learning sessions concerned with the bed and bath procedure. The research study is both descriptive and quantitative and utilizes elements from clinically controlled samples. The data collection process for the research study involved administering two different questionnaires to a population of 160 randomly selected first-year students. The questionnaires administered were answered within six months intervals of each other and the findings assessed.

Although measuring the complexity, ambiguity, and often fluctuating social reality can be daunting, questionnaires have been utilized as a methodical approach for the collection of information from a set of individual participants through their responses to specific questions provided. As researchers are more likely to be consumed in the collection, processing, and presentation of data, questionnaires are essential in helping shed light on the questions and phenomenon that triggered the research study in the first place (Wright, 2017). This mode of data collection is an economical way of accumulating information for both the sender and the recipient based on the time, effort, and costs therein. Moreover, the method allows for wide coverage and is particularly useful when the respondents are many and spread over a vast geographical area. Further, the method fosters rapidity in data collection and is especially useful and cost-effective where repetitive information has to be composed at regular intervals.

However, despite the numerous benefits associated with using questionnaires for research, the process has various negative consequences, including the risk of manipulated or incomplete entries. Further, questionnaires allow for limited responses as the participants should have a considerable knowledge regarding the subject. The limited personal contact in dealing with questionnaires may also result in inadequate responses when the questionnaire is mailed or have a low number of returns altogether. The risk of unreliability is equally high if the subject misinterprets the question or gives an incomplete or indefinite response. Nonetheless, according to Solvik & Struksnes (2018), the questionnaires proved effective in the research, as a majority of the nursing students recorded exercises as a good preparation step for practice.

Reference

Solvik, E., & Struksnes, S. (2018). Training nursing skills: a quantitative study of nursing students experiences before and after clinical practice. Nursing research and practice, 2018. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/nrp/2018/8984028/

Wright, K. B. (2017). Researching Internet-based populations: Advantages and disadvantages of online survey research, online questionnaire authoring software packages, and web survey services. Journal of computer-mediated communication, 10(3), JCMC1034. https://academic.oup.com/jcmc/article/10/3/JCMC1034/4614509