Critical Appraisal of a Research Article

Answer

Critical Appraisal of a Research Article

Introduction

This is a critical appraisal of a qualitative research article that aims to determine the soundness of the study as well as its application to resolving the research problem. The analysis focuses o the content and structure of the different parts of the research study including the title, abstract, literature review, research methods, findings and the discussions of the findings. The analysis seeks to establish the relevance of the research study to the existing body of knowledge in the field under study and how the author used the study to fill the research gaps identified within the report (Andersson & Hansebo, 2009). The essay further analyzes the appropriateness of the research structure used within the study to the topic of study in order to suggest if any improvements to the study are necessary. Another area of evaluation includes the process of selecting participants in the study as well as ethical considerations that must be followed in accordance with ethical research guidelines. A crucial part of the essay is the recommendation of improvements that should have been addressed by the author, which are identified and addressed in this essay. The final essay is a critique of the chosen article acknowledging its strengths and highlighting its weaknesses.

Qualitative study: Porter, E. (1999). ‘Getting up from here’: frail older women’s experiences after falling. Rehabilitation Nursing. 24(5) 201-206.

Title

The title indicates that the study is about very old women as represented by the term “frail old women,” which is also an indicator of the population under study. The word ‘falling’ indicates that the research is about the human experience of falling in a population of old women. The fact that the title refers to the experiences of human beings indicates that this is a qualitative research project that seeks to quantify the amount of suffering endured by older women and the process it took for them to recover after falling. Common research trends prove that human experiences are best measured using qualitative research methodology.

Author

The author Eileen J. Porter, PhD, RN, FGSA Professor Emerita is an expert on gerontological nursing, and the experiences of older women who live alone. She studies the health-related issues of older women with the objective of finding ways in which such women can easily reach for help. Most of her publications are targeted at resolving the problems of older women who face numerous risks due to the fact that they live alone. She has also published on the issue of home-care for the older women (Porter, 1999). These affiliations indicate that she must have done a thorough job of analyzing the experiences of older women who fall as it is her area of expertise. As an expert in the experiences of older women, I expect that the article will be filled with practical advice on the issues at hand and that it will be very educational to me.

Abstract

The abstract clearly identified the aim of the study which was to research the experiences of elderly widows who had fallen in their homes. The abstract also indicates that the research is a study of the phenomenon of falling as it affects elderly women; it is also referred to as a phenomenological study (Merighi, de Oliveira, de Jesus, Souto & Thamada, 2013). From the abstract it is evident that the data was collected through personal interviews with the participants who shared their experiences with the researcher. The abstract also shows that the results of the study revealed that the women’s biggest challenge was getting up after falling down and that they utilized different methods to get up. Most of the women contacted people who were willing to help them get up given that the women were living alone at their homes. The conclusion drawn from the abstract is that by understanding the experiences of elderly women who have fallen, people can be able to relate effectively with elderly people who have fallen. The abstract also infers that caregivers and nurses can learn how to better analyze the risk of falling in elderly people who live alone.

Literature review

The author reviews the literature by analyzing past studies that focus on a dichotomous interpretation of human behavior then proceeds to indicate the shortcomings of such an approach in analyzing the experience of falling in elderly women. She also reviews research studies that looked at the human aspect of control in terms of external control and internal control, which she partially agrees with, before explaining that such an approach may not be feasible for studying frail older women (Verdejo & Calvo, 2014). She supports the ecological and phenomenological approach proposed by Husserl and Gibson, which she uses to identify a research gap where her study fits. The review indicates that she has used both primary and secondary sources within her research. This is relevant as the secondary sources are important for background data, while the primary sources are the basis of her research.

The literature review provides a context for the research problem by elaborating on previous research within the same field and showing what lacks in the existing literature. The literature review enables readers to build a case for the relevance of the research in the area of elderly people studies (Gallagher & Carey, 2012). The research problem is of crucial significance to the aspect of phenomenological research studies relating to elderly people given that it is a field where minimal research has been done. The research problem shed light on the struggles the elderly women who live alone undergo from the impact of falling and how they are able to recover from such falls.

The literature is critically appraised given that the author not only looks at the findings of the studies reviewed, but also at the shortcomings of each study. The author approaches the different studies n a neutral manner looking at the positive contributions of each of the previous studies and highlighting specific shortcomings (De Guzman, et al, 2012). She appreciates the work of other authors and builds her study on the previous work of two authors who conducted closely related studies. She uses the work of other authors to create a framework for her own research.

Methodology and methods

The purpose of the study is to help caregivers understand the experience of elderly women who fall and try to get up from the floor, while living alone. The author believes that nurses who have such an understanding will be able to show compassion to elderly women who have fallen and help assess the risk of falling for frail old women under their care. The methodology of research, which involves the analysis of secondary source of data, enables the research to address the aim of the study by allowing her to examine the falling experiences of frail elderly women as documented in previous research (Evangelista, et al, 2014). The sampling method for the study is suitable because the sample population meets and exceeds the requirements of the study and the initial study was closely related to the current study. The data collection procedure is clearly explained with no details left out as to how the researcher aggregated the data used in the study. The author uses a simple data analysis method, which is appropriate given that she was choosing her sample from a preselected pool of 25 participants. I believe that the researcher followed ethical practices by using data from participants who had given their written and verbal consent.

Results

The author clearly states the findings of her research in terms of the falling women achieving their intentions. The author clearly states how frail old women who focused on getting up from their falling positions use the surrounding environments of their homes to get up. She also explains how women who focused on getting help tried to make themselves comfortable in their fallen positions as they waited for help to arrive. It is important for the findings of a research study to be clearly stated followed by a brief dialogue explaining the context of the findings so that a reader can grasp the full impact of the research study (Bayik & Uysal, 2010). The findings are highly credible given that the author uses statements from the participants own confessions as the basis of her findings.

Discussion limitations

The author discusses the findings of her study thoroughly by linking her findings to findings from other studies. She also explains how her findings differ from the findings of other authors while being very similar to the findings of other authors. She also shows how her findings build on the similar findings of others to increase the body of knowledge on the falling experiences of frail elderly women (Yamaji & Demura, 2013). The author admits that her study is limited to frail old women who live at home and suggests that further research should be done on elderly women in different environments.

Conclusion

The conclusion, which is aptly titled ‘clinical implications,’ flows smoothly from the discussion of research findings to the application of the findings in clinical practice. The author demonstrates how her research is applicable to caregivers and nurses who help elderly women by understanding their intentions and motivations when recovering from falling experiences. The research findings could also help caregivers adjust an elderly woman’s home environment to protect her from the risk of falling within her home. The author also recommends that research be conducted on elderly women in different environments.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this article critically analyzes the research study conducted by Eileen Porter on the struggle of frail old women who are victims of falling and documents their reactions to falling and how they fight to get back up. The essay includes an analysis of the major parts of the research study starting with the title and ending with an analysis of the research conclusions. The essay analyzes how the title gives clues about what the study is about; an analysis of the authors affiliations reveals that she is an expert on issues relating to the lives of elderly women.  An analysis of the abstract reveals an outline of the study followed by an appraisal of the literature reviews and the methods applied by the researcher. The appraisal reveals a direct correlation between the literature review and the research methodology, which leads to analysis of the research findings. The full appraisal reveals that the researcher built a strong case for her research title backed up by adequate research to get an in-depth perspective of how elderly women react to the incidences of falling that they are prone to. The study provides an appropriate clinical application of the research findings within the conclusion.