Does the title reflect the content?

The aim of this essay is to critique a Journal article by Abu Shosha, G., & Al Kalaldeh, M., 2018, titled Challenges of having a child with thalassaemia major: a phenomenological study. Journal of Research in Nursing. 23, 9-20.

Critiquing research is important in the field of nursing because nurses use research findings in order to learn new and effective means of practicing their profession. Practicing nurses depend on study results from research conducted by other professionals in the field to inform their decisions when serving the patients. However, not all research is useful as some researcher might introduce biases in the process of the study whether willfully or inadvertently and thus end up with faulty findings (Polit & Beck 2017). Therefore, a practicing nurse needs to critically examine the way the study was conducted to ensure that it was objective and that the findings are credible and reliable. The nursing profession has shifted towards evidence based practice which insists on utilizing processes and practices which have been proven to work (Ellis ,2013). The process of finding objective and clear working processes and practices is achieved through objective and reliable research thus the need to critically evaluate study findings before incorporating the same in their practice (Greenhalgh, 2014). The critique tool to be employed in the current study will be Caldwell et al. (2005) which has various steps, and the report will use only the steps relevant to the qualitative research as the research to be critiqued is qualitative in nature. The above article is an example of a qualitative research report that endeavors to establish the burden placed on the shoulders of caregivers involved in taking care of children suffering from a blood condition called Thalassaemia, a type of blood cancer. Thalassaemic people require lifetime treatment and have a lower quality of life compared to the rest of the society with the implication that the people taking care of them suffer greatly.           

The Title of the research paper is clear and it reflects the content of the paper and how the researchers would conduct their study.  The title of the report is “Challenges of having a child with Thalassaemia major: a phenomenological study”, and throughout the report, the authors deal with the burden on the shoulders of caregivers with children suffering from Thalassaemia Major. According to Polit, & Beck (2017), a good research title should give the reader a clear idea of the content of the study as well as the type of qualitative research used to conduct in it.  Also a research title should have various characteristics including being within the 15-word limit and the critique article passes that test it has only eleven words. The fact that the title is not written in title case might be a trying era and that fact cannot detract from the overall quality of the title.     

Are the authors credible?

The authors are credible judging from their titles. The authors, Ghada Abu Shosha and Mahmoud Al Kalaldeh are assistant professors in nursing at the university level. The fact of their being lecturers means that they are well aware of the issues under study and are also well versed with the process of carrying out research to come up with applicable results. Also, their expertise in the nursing profession indicates their ability to ask the right questions which might lead to the right findings. In addition, the publisher of the article is a recommended institution  in the United Kingdom ( Aveyard,2014)

The abstract summarizes most of the key points in the study. The abstract lays out the content of the research report clearly (Moule and Hek, 2011). However, the abstract was long due to the inclusion of unnecessary details. The authors first provide a brief description of the disease and how it affects the people taking care of children suffering from it. Second, they pointed out the content of the research but did not point out what the researchers’ aim to achieve at the end of the project. Third, the authors state the study’s research design which is descriptive phenomenology (Norlyk & Harder 2010).  The abstract highlights the methods used in selecting the participants of the study and the method used to gather the requisite data. The authors point out the analysis methods and then briefly describes the themes identified at the end of the study. A good abstract should contain the main points of the study to enable a reader to decide whether it is relevant to their needs (Aveyard & Sharp 2013).  

The rationale for carrying out the study on the burden of the Thalassaemia disease is not clear. However, the author seems intent on adding to the existing knowledge on the issue of the burden of caregivers of thalassaemic children. The rationale for the study is not clear as the authors do not indicate whether it is supposed to fill a research gap, offer a solution to the problem or help in the career development of the researchers. There are various aspects that characterized a good research rationale. First, the researchers must position their current study in the context of studies carried out on the issue to show its relevance. Knowing what others have done helps the researcher to find the research gaps that need filling through further studies (Moule & Hek, 2015). The second aspect deals with the issue of the usefulness of the study as research should aim at recommending solutions to an issue.           

Does the abstract summarize the key components?

A literature review is merged with the introduction and as such, there is no literature review per se. However, the cited sources in the introduction are up to date and relevant to the study. First, there is no dedicated literature review section in the research, and the researchers tuck in the literature review inside the introduction part of the research. The sources cited are inadequate and overall the literature review of the research is not clear.  The lack of a literature review title in the report is not necessarily a weakness as long as the issues that should be raised during the literature review are covered adequately in other sections of the report (Cutliffe & Ward ,2007). The authors cover issue related to literature review such as studies conducted on the same issue in other sections of the report.  A quality Literature review should cite mostly primary sources as they are peer reviewed and certified as credible (Cormack, 2000). The authors cited many primary sources during their research which is a strength of the study. The sources cited in Literature review need to be mainly primary sources from peer-reviewed journals to ensure that they are credible and reliable.  There is a paucity of references to literature on the issue and they study could have benefited from a wider literature review.     

The aim of the study is clear: the researchers were intent on exploring the burden faced by caregivers with children suffering from Thalassaemia.  However, it is not clear how the knowledge obtained from the study will either solve the problems identified or even fill the knowledge gaps that exist on the issue. The authors clearly state that the aim of their research is limited to identifying the negative impacts on caregivers of children living with Thalassaemic children. The aim of the research is an important aspect of a study as it informs the reader what to expect at the end of it. Also, the aim of the research acts as a guide to the researchers delineating the boundaries of the content of the study thus avoiding being side-tracked by extraneous information and issues (Burns & Grove, 2011).      

Most if not all the ethical issues in the study were considered. Starting with ethical approval from the relevant ministry. The researchers then indicate that sufficient explanation of the research, expectations, and rights of the participants resulted in informed consent from the participants. Also, the participants were informed of the digital recording but were assured of confidentiality and anonymity of the process (Gerrish & Lathlean 2015).  Additionally, the potential candidates gave consent to take part in the study and their confidentiality and anonymity  were  maintained ( Williman,2011).It can be contended that, the participants  may have  gave consent in the influence of the experience of severe stress they were going through.   Moreover the potential candidates were given information about the study , this demonstrate the good outcomes of the paper (Moule and Hek,2011).

Is the rationale for undertaking the research clearly outlined?

The methodology used in the study is neither identified nor clearly justified. The researcher simply writes the “methodology” title then proceeds to describe the research design. There ought to be a clear distinction between methodology and design (Parahoo, 2006). On the one hand, the methodology should provide the overall orientation of the study while the research design deals with the practicalities of the study such as sampling and procedures pertaining to data collection (Norlyk & Harder 2010).     The researchers employed qualitative technique to gather data from the participants. Qualitative research provided descriptions and feelings of the participants (Aveyard,2014). However, Silverman (2010) argued that qualitative research has experienced denunciation as insufficient in reliability and validity in its outcomes. Pilot study was conducted in order to improve the outcome of the research, also the semi-structured interview was employed as a method of gathering data. However, this method can be biased, the researchers might influence the participants.

Context: The main purpose of research is to ultimately add something of value to the field of study in question. In any field of study, there is a lot of questions that remain unresolved due to various issues including lack of appropriate technology or lack of access to the right information. To make qualitative or quantitative addition to already existing body of knowledge can be done either through answering some of the outstanding questions or proposing better means of getting to the information. The Philosophical background is, therefore, important in research.

Concept: Philosophical background refers to the expected value of the proposed research, especially in answering unresolved questions in the field of study. The philosophical background of a research is a concept which deals with the issue of difficult problems in a field which do not have easy or obvious solutions.  

Analysis: The authors do not succinctly state the philosophical background to the research, but they state the purpose of study as adding knowledge to the existing body of knowledge on the issue of Thalassaemia. The authors are not particularly interested in the wider issues in the field, and they are content in simply stating that the point of their research is to describe the sentiments of mothers taking care of children with Thalassaemia. The study’s philosophical background is not robust enough as it does not address a profound issue in the field of Thalassaemia or related disciplines  

Rationale for choice of design is adequate. Before a researcher conducts a study, he or she has to identify the data that he or she needs, which guides the choice of research design. The information that the researchers needed could only be gained through a phenomenological qualitative study design which the authors utilized.       

Is the literature review comprehensive and up-to-date?

Major concepts of the study have been properly identified. The main concepts in the study include the definition of the Thalassaemia and the burden involved in caring for such children. Also, the researchers described and defined the various concepts used in the study.  

Context of the study is outlined, though not adequately. Context of the study involves a clear and thorough description of the prevailing knowledge on the issue under study and the research done on the same. The researcher then identifies the research gap and proposes the kind of research he or she is proposing to conduct to try and fill the identified information gap. The research in the article under study provides only superficial context to their study. The context of the study is mainly deduced from the literature review, which in this case is not as comprehensive as it ought to be.     

The sampling method is not clearly defined as the authors simply state that they used purposeful sampling. The sample is described as constituting 23 mothers who were caregivers of children with the condition under study was drawn from two specialist hospitals in Jordan. The description of the sample may be adequate, but without clear sampling criteria stated, it is difficult to ascertain the objectivity of the study. Lack of a clearly stated sampling method introduces a risk of bias thus jeopardizing the reliability of the results. However, it is noteworthy that purposeful sampling is considered by researchers as one of the most effective as it provides rich information and broad insights into a phenomenon (Lanoë, 2002).

Auditability of data collection can also be referred to as the confirmability, a concept relating to how easy or difficult it is for another qualified researcher or any other reader to follow the whole research process and understand the researcher’s thinking. In qualitative research, the components of auditability includes the paper trail, documentation, transcripts, field notes, journals and diaries. The current study is a phenomenological which involves the extensive use of documentations such as transcripts which means that its method of data collection is auditable.       

The researchers applied  Colaizzi’s Strategy for phenomenological data analysis approach which is reliable in descriptive phenomenological studies. The Colaizzi’s developed the analytic tool in 1978. In Colaizzi’s analysis strategy, the researcher should strictly adhere to all the steps of the process to ensure reliable and valid results. The first step involved rereading each transcript several times to get a feel of the whole content. It was followed by noting down all the significant statements from each transcript that relates to the issue under investigation. From these significant statements, the authors deduced meanings which were then organized into categories, cluster of themes, and themes. The researchers would then integrate the findings into a comprehensive description of the occurrence or issue under study, in effect coming up with a description of the issue under study. The researchers then validated the results by getting back to the research participants and comparing their results with the participants’ feedback.

The researchers presented their findings within the discussion section and state that mothers taking care of children with Thalassemia undergo very difficult moments including extreme psychosocial distress, additional financial burden, and deficiency in its knowledge and sources.  The researchers posit that the findings of the study will help guide the service providers to widen their perspective and support to incorporate both the physical support to the children as well as the psychosocial support to the caregivers (mothers).      

The main reason for having a discussion section in research is to decipher and depict the centrality of your discoveries in light of what was at that point thought about the examination issue being researched, and to clarify any new understanding or experiences about the issue after you’ve mulled over the discoveries. In nursing research, the discussion sections provide the reader with an in-depth view of the information contained in the data collected from the participants (Cutliffe & Ward 2007). The discourse will dependably associate with the presentation by method for the exploration questions or speculations you presented and the writing you investigated, however it doesn’t just rehash or adjust the presentation; the exchange ought to dependably clarify how your examination has moved the reader’s comprehension of the exploration issue forward from where you abandoned them toward the finish of the presentation. The discussion section of the article is adequate as it provides a proper synthesis of the results and places the same in context (Aveyard,2014). In addition, interpretation was carried out and translating of data from Arabic to English has consumed time for the researcher

The method of data collection was auditable, this was evidenced by the researchers when they made a second contact by a telephone interview to traverse the accuracy of the results of the paper and to certify the validity and credibility  of the findings. Moreover, the researchers applied Thematic analysis outcomes , which were classified into various themes which gave a descriptive of   feelings from each participants. Furthermore, thematic analysis made the qualitative research  to be credibility and confirmability and to be trustworthy because of consistent  and precise method  through recording (Nowell et al, 2017).

Thick description of phenomena is the main aspect considered regarding transferability of results in qualitative research. Thick description involves clear and in-depth description of the researchers’ experience in the field which makes the research amenable to replication. This data enables the peruser to build the scene that encompasses the exploration ponder, from the everyday lives of members to the manner in which that certain inclinations may influence their reactions. It is useful to put what members express to the scientist into the setting of the encompassing social and social situations that the examination think about is surrounded around. This permits outside scientists and readers to make the transferability judgments themselves.   On the other hand, the sample of 23 potential candidates can not represent the wider population, therefore it may not be transferable to the wider population. The research was carried out in Jordan, hence the outcomes may not be transferred to United Kingdom because of culture and religious differences. Furthermore, during the translating the language from Arabic to English, the researcher can be biased by altering the data because the Arabic was in favour of the potential candidates, therefore this could affect the transferability of the findings. Inequalities among the potential candidates might affect the outcomes of the study, for instances the participants were young mothers and their experience was not depth, therefore the results cannot be transferable to mature mothers.

The conclusion is comprehensive as it adequately restates some of the main issues raised in the report. In a conclusion, an author is not allowed to introduce new materials that have not been covered in the rest of the report (Lanoë 2002). In their case, the authors of the report were ken when writing the conclusion section as they simply summarized the main points of the report including the issue of increasing cases of children with thalassemia, the effects of the suffering that mother taking care of children with the condition are passing through, and reiterating the role of health education for the mothers from healthcare providers.     

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the research report is well written with all the requisite sections of the report carefully laid out making the reading and following up of the contents easy. The structure of a quality research report should contain all the significant parts of a standard research including a proper title, an abstract, Introduction which also contains the aim of the research, literature review, methodology including a description of the sampling methods, methods of data collection, data analysis methods, Findings/discussion, recommendations and conclusion. The article Challenges of having a child with thalassaemia major: a phenomenological study has all the characteristics of a good qualitative research including a proper structure with all the requisite component parts. The few incidences of not strictly following the structural expectations of a research for instance the combination of the introduction and the literature review sections does not weaken the report or the research as the literature review continues throughout the text covering the essential part. One of the strengths of the research is that it employs many recent primary sources which increases its credibility and reliability.              

References:

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