NURS 8201 Sampling

In the world of data collection, sampling can be defined as a tool that is used to indicate how much data to collect and how often it should be collected. It defines the samples to take in order to quantify a system, process, issue, or problem. Sampling is used to represent a section of the population data gathered for research and study. It is used to represent a specific member of population to be represented within a study. According to Barratt & Shantikuma (2018), sampling is a method that allows researchers to infer information about a population based on the results in of a subset of the population, without investigating every individual. Individuals selected are representative of the whole population, making it easier to obtain high quality and balanced information.

In the current island of Guam, it is home to a diverse population and the researchable populations that are present in my area of practice include the high percentage of Chamorro, Filipinos, and Micronesian residents within the population of 170,000. Stratified sampling is one of the more appropriate approaches for my research study because in this method, the population can be divided into subgroups with different measures expected to vary and ensure representation from all groups of population. It is a probability sampling technique in which the total population is divided into homogenous groups or strata to complete a sampling process. The sample selected may be based on several factors such as scale, practicality, and accuracy. I choose this sampling criterion because the studying of health outcomes differs from the different population and is considered proper for an island that has only three hospitals. This results into more realistic, accurate estimation, and reduce chances of bias.

According to Qualtrics (2021), stratified sampling helps analyze a chosen sample population that reflects the groups in the chosen participant population. One example towards my research study would include demographic studies to determine which population is commonly susceptible to sepsis, if they would benefit with an implementation of a sepsis protocol, and studying their likelihood of being admitted in the intensive care unit. According to an observational research study by Yeun et.al., stratified sampling is the choice of random sampling when deciding whether patients should be admitted in the ICU relative to age, sex, income, and eligibility status (predictive of mortality, co-morbidity, and cognitive function status), and their high risk or low risk sub-groups for ICU triage (diagnosis, medical treatment, inpatient or outpatient).

Stratified sampling advantages include helping analyze differences based on shared characteristics such as race, gender, nationality, level of education, and age group. These sample sizes would then assist in defining the ratio sample so that it is proportionately measured, decreasing overlap, and allows researchers to draw an effective size from each strata or subgroups from different demographic factors (Elfil & Negida, 2017). Also, it would assist in obtaining samples representing the minority/under-represented populations. Some of its disadvantages include increased of selection bias due to holding prior knowledge about population, the random sampling may not accurately represent the full population or the population being represented and this type of sampling strategy may be time consuming.

Reference(s)

Barratt, H & Shantikumar, S. (2018). Methods of sampling from a population. Epidemiology

Health Knowledge Studies. Retrieved from https://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/research-methods/1a-epidemiology/methods-of-sampling-population

Elfil, M. & Negida, A. (2017). Sampling methods in clinical research: An educational review.

Archives of Academic Emergency Nursing. 5(1). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5325924/

Qualtrics (2021). How to use stratified random sampling to your advantage. Experience

Management Article. Retrieved from https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/research/stratified-random-sampling/

Yuen, K., Hyun, L., Yeon, L., Bo Ram, Y., & Hyun, K. (2019). Survival rates following medical

intensive care unit admission from 2003-2013: An observational study based on representative population based sample cohort of Korean patients. Medicine. 98(37). Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/md-journal/fulltext/2019/09130/survival_rates_following_medical_intensive_care.22.aspx

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The sampling method is part of the quantitative research methodology that involves the collection of samples from the study population. The samples selected should always be a representation of the population under the study. Stratified sampling is one of the methods that can be used to draw a sample from the population under the study (Lynn, 2019). To address challenges associated with the use of stratified sampling, there is the need; there is need for researchers to identify the right population and develop appropriate tools for data collection (Ureña & Georgiev, 2018). Identifying the homogeneous groups for the research process is also necessary for enhancing the challenges associated with the stratified sampling process. Besides Chamorro and Filipinos, Polynesia and Micronesia may be considered the ideal population of study for the research problem. One of the strengths of the stratified sampling method is greeter precision compared to other methods. One of the main problems associated with the data collection or sampling method is difficulty identifying appropriate strata (Cao & Shen, 2020). Simple random sampling would be the best alternative data collection method in the research.

References

Cao, L., & Shen, H. (2020). CSS: Handling imbalanced data by improved clustering with stratified sampling. Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience, e6071. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpe.6071

Lynn, P. (2019). The advantage and disadvantage of implicitly stratified sampling. Methods, data, analyses: a journal for quantitative methods and survey methodology (mda), 13(2), 253-266. https://doi.org/10.12758/mda.2018.02

Ureña, C., & Georgiev, I. (2018, July). Stratified sampling of projected spherical caps. In Computer Graphics Forum (Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 13-20). https://doi.org/10.1111/cgf.13471

Using a Systematic Approach to Treat Drug Dependency

In conducting a research study on the prevalence of addiction, I would apply the systematic sampling and data collection approach. The systematic method of data analysis organizes data in a methodical manner (Winsett & Cshion, 2013). For example, studying the rate of heroin addiction among students in a particular university would be necessary to use questionnaires in data collection. Confidential ways of collecting feedback from the questionnaires are used to ensure the answers given are accurate. Systematic counsellors understand that the victims of drug addiction are autonomous and competent persons. The behavior of addicts makes perfect sense to them from their point of view. This humane ideology of the study population lays the basis for rehabilitation (Lempp, 2020).

Ethical challenges may be encountered during the study on addiction. Such challenges manifest as researchers compare studies of drug use across a different population with inhabitants from diverse backgrounds. This challenge is common when forming an exotic capacity for ethical analysis and apparatus for oversight and confidentiality of participants. The susceptibility of participants, communication on freedoms during the study, problems with disclosure, and authentication issues are some of the study’s challenges. Race and language barrier is other obstacles that researchers may encounter in obtaining a sample from this population (United Nations, 2004).

In addressing these challenges, I would draft highly confidential questionnaires. For example, a dropbox may be used by the study population in an institution to drop questionnaires once they have recorded responses. In addition, the questionnaires should not require the participant to fill in their details to maintain anonymity. Before undertaking the study, it would be advisable to explain their rights to privacy and discretion to the participants. In this way, any infringement can lead to legal action. Lastly, the researchers may post the questionnaires in different languages according to the population that is being studied. Another step may involve hiring translators to help the researchers break the language obstacle with participants.

In conclusion, it is essential to understand that systematic counseling is more effective than other methods because it creates a calm environment. Drug dependency victims do not feel the pressure to quit immediately. As a result, its success is attributed to rational decision-making by clients and willingness to change on one’s terms.

References

Lempp, H.P. 2020. Drug Addiction, the Systemic Approach, and the Concept of “Acceptance.” published in Journal of Systemic Therapies Vol. 15, 2/1996, p. 24-35. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305187577_Drug_Addiction_the_Systemic_Approach_and_the_Concept_of_Acceptance

United Nations. 2004. Ethical Challenges in Drug Epidemiology: Issues, Principles, and Guidelines. https://www.unodc.org/pdf/gap_toolkit_module7.pdf

Winsett, P.R. & Cashion, K.A. 2013. The Nursing Research Process. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5647190_The_nursing_research_process

This is insightful; the sampling method selected is appropriate for the research problem under the study. The systematic sampling method involves the identification and selection of elements from the ordered sampling frame (Sayed & Ibrahim, 2018). One of the most common forms of systematic sampling is the equiprobability method. Identifying the right population for the research is one of the approaches that can be used to address the challenges associated with obtaining samples from the identified population (Räty et al., 2020). In other words, there is the need for the researchers to identify a homogenous population for the study. Besides, adherence to ethical practices will be necessary for addressing the challenges associated with the research approach. Another population that can be used in the study is the drug addicts in the mental health clinics. The use of questionnaires is one of the data collection methods identified. The strength of this method lies in the ability of the researcher to collect first-hand information (Paradis et al., 2016). Through the use of questionnaires, information or data collected can be easily compromised. Besides the use of questionnaires, interviews can be used to collect data from the research respondents.

References

Sayed, A., & Ibrahim, A. (2018). Recent developments in systematic sampling: a review. Journal of Statistical Theory and Practice, 12(2), 290-310. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1080/15598608.2017.1353456

Räty, M., Kuronen, M., Myllymäki, M., Kangas, A., Mäkisara, K., & Heikkinen, J. (2020). Comparison of the local pivotal method and systematic sampling for national forest inventories. Forest Ecosystems, 7(1), 1-17. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40663-020-00266-9

Paradis, E., O’Brien, B., Nimmon, L., Bandiera, G., & Martimianakis, M. A. (2016). Design: Selection of data collection methods. Journal of graduate medical education, 8(2), 263-264. https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-16-00098.1

NURS 8201 Sampling