Introduction
Before a research is carried out, the researchers must identify the research topic or study they are going to conduct. They should also put into consideration the location of their research, the field, their mannerisms and many other things. All this knowledge should be prior conducting the study so that there can be a foundation for the study that will be carried out. This helps in identifying the key aspects and will be able to help one know what to focus on; this knowledge will act as guidelines throughout the research. In this case, the research is about the Hispanic women in the US and their health practices.
Title
The title of the study is health practices of adult Hispanic women. The title of this report is a good one because the report is about how adult Hispanic women take care of their health. The title highlights the objective of the study which is health practices and highlights the target group under study which is the Hispanic women.
Abstract
The abstract was clear and to the point since it summarized the main features of the report. For example, it summarized the number of respondents and their views of good health. The Hispanic women associated good health with exercises and nutrition.
Introduction
Despite modern treatment ways, the report shows that many women still undergo traditional and cultural ways of treatment. This makes the problem statement easy to identify and unambiguous. When conducting a study or interviewing someone, it is important to protect the identity of the respondents. This helps the respondents to open up without fearing what they disclosed might one day be exposed. The key things to protect include personal information like their home telephone numbers, individual residences, and full names. In this study, adequate steps were taken to safeguard the identity and privacy of the respondents.
Literature review
The literature review is aimed at providing facts on health issues on Hispanic women. The study mainly sources information from textbooks, journals, publications and projects on guidelines of health problems. The literature review is also outdated since the report was done in 1996.The literature review of this study lays a foundation for new studies because it was conducted in 1996 and a lot have changed over the years.
Research questions
The study used specific research questions to collect data from the respondents. The nurses asked the women four research questions during the interview. What are the things you keep yourself healthy based on or related to your culture? What are the things you do to be healthy and maintain health? What things do you to keep yourself and your family safe? What are the things you do to prevent disease and promote health?
Method research design and research tradition
This sector presents a detailed description of the selected research design. It describes the research strategy and methodology i.e. what was done and how it was done. The study used research tradition like reliability which is the degree in which results from the data analysis represent the facts about the study.
The test -retest technique was used to test the reliability of the research instruments; the test involved taking the women the same questions four times at different intervals and by the same nurse. This gave the nurse a clear picture and clarity of the responses. The researcher observed that the instrument measure the research phenomena consistently i.e. the questionnaire was stable over time hence reliable. The study applied Qualitative and Quantitative data analysis techniques to analyze data. This ensured that the data was analyzed in a systematic way to come to some useful conclusions and recommendations. Data obtained from the questionnaires, document analysis was coded, organized, analyzed and presented using frequency tables, and percentages.
The study also followed research traditions and approaches. Other studies conducted regarding healthcare use common approaches like ethnography, grounded theory, phenomenology, case study, and action research. In this study, Spradley’s interviewing techniques were used, which focused on four descriptive questions. There is a lot of evidence on reflexivity on the research traditions carried out. There is a lot of relationship between the traditions and the questions being asked by the interviewers. A purposive sample was used when studying the Hispanic women in the country. The Hispanic women who participated are from New Mexico County, and their ages range from 25-40 years. The population of the county is majorly the Hispanic at 43% while the young people make up the majority of the Hispanic population.
Sample and setting
The report used a simple random sampling method. This type of sample design ensures that each unit gets a chance of being selected. The main goal of a systematic sampling method is to prevent biases during sample selection.
Data collection and measure
The main goal or objective of the study is to investigate the health practices of adult Hispanic women. The nurses used a questionnaire to collect the data. A questionnaire is a tool that helps gather data over a large sample.
The questionnaire is the most appropriate research tool as it allows the researcher to collect information from a large sample with a broad background; the findings of the report remain confidential, save time, with no opportunity for bias since they are presented in paper format. The researcher personally administered the research tools after a prior visit that assisted in refining timings of the questionnaire. This helped provide a rough picture of what to expect. The researcher presented the respondents with enough time to answer all the questions. Lastly, the researchers made their participants aware that they were being recorded.
Procedures
The intervention was adequately described and rigorously implemented and developed. Additionally, there is evidence of fidelity and response. The use of easy to understand tables, interviews helped in minimize biases. This is because the respondents were given an opportunity to explain and express themselves fully without holding back information. The nurses who were collecting the data were well trained too and knew the right questions to ask the participants.
Enhancement of rigor
The researcher used information that was credible and auditable. Six nurses were used in the study, and they had to interview each respondent close to five times. The nurses were also fluent in English and Spanish to ensure there was no language barrier or distortion of messages.
Result data analysis
The study applied Qualitative and Quantitative data analysis techniques to analyze data. This ensured that the data was analyzed in a systematic way to come to some useful conclusions and recommendations. Data obtained from the questionnaires, document analysis, was coded, organized, analyzed and presented using frequency tables, and percentages. The researcher also ensured there was no business and treated each respondent with professionalism.
Findings
This study applied stratified random sampling techniques. The sample size of the interview used was 90% of the Hispanic population who lived in the urban areas. The study was about the Hispanic women and their health practices. The county offered the best sample for the study where many of them lived and had an average of between $17000 and $40000. The majority of the women in the area have children aged above 30 years (Higgins & Learn, 1999). A majority of them are literate since most have graduated from either high schools or colleges, this shows that they are aware of their health lifestyles. The population makes the perfect sample for a study about the healthcare practices of Hispanic women. The research procedures are clearly outlined in the study as there are processes that are followed.
The research used some of the best methods that are required when conducting an interview or study. The interviewers made sure they covered all fields that are required to carry out the study. The women are Hispanic, and the researchers made sure they had multi-linguals who will interview in either Spanish or English. This was to ensure that all the necessary questions are asked, and the right feedback was given. The women were interviewed between four to seven times to make sure that there was credibility, and audibility was captured. The six nurses who were conducting the interviews were to make sure that there was credibility in their interviews, therefore, they are the ones who interviewed personally the women all those times.
Theoretical integration
The interviews were tape-recorded in all the sessions by the interviewers so that the audibility and all the information could be captured for future reference. At each session, some data from the previous session was reflected back on to make sure that the information given was credible. For the two women who were interviewed in Spanish, two translators were due to the job of translating to minimize errors. There was a similarity of 98% between the two translators, so the translation was approved for use. The main methods used were questionnaires, observations, and interviews.
Discussion
All the major findings of the research were interpreted and discussed within the context of prior research. For example, the Hispanic women study was based on an earlier pilot study of the program and its effectiveness preliminary evaluation. According to the study discussions, both the findings interpretations are consistent with the limitation of the report. The nurses tried to minimize the limitations of the study by conducting the interviews many times.
In the study’s implications, it was found out that the adult Hispanic women perceived their health to be in relation with their lifestyles. It was also discovered that they took better care of their families than they took care of themselves. The health care providers should not make any assumptions based on the Hispanic women’s views on their health.
Implications / recommendation
The researchers do not discuss the importance of the study in the clinical practice. However, they suggest that there is a need for further research.
Global issue
The report was written using a language which can be read by many readers. The authors ensured that the report was supported by credible literature to support their claim and it was well structured for future critical analysis. An easy to interpret table is provided to show and describe the flow of participants in the study. The authors used their methodological experience and qualification to enhance the readers’ confidence during the interpretation and findings of the report.
Summary assessment
Although the study has its limitations, the value of the results is credible because they are supported by the many literatures. Also, the study contributes meaningful evidence regarding the fact that Hispanic women treat many illnesses using home remedies. This argument is useful to nursing because some of those methods can be adapted. Although the study was conducted many years ago, some of the evidence obtained can still be used today.