Qualitative study and research are widely used in the collection of non-numerical data
Qualitative study and research are widely used in the collection of non-numerical data, for instance, data about life experiences. It is, therefore, applied in terms of interviews, observation, and case study, among other methods. Through these methods, meaningful ideas can be associated with the data of interest. Qualitative methods tend to address questions about life experiences, meaning, and perspective, mostly from the standpoint of the participant. The research investigate beliefs, attitudes, and concepts of normative behavior. The method also seeks background information or an institutional perspective. Conversely, the method uses in-depth interviews to elaborate a condition, experience, or an occurrence from a personal point of view. Therefore, this method seeks to find information about particular life situations and phenomena by utilizing open-ended conversations. Physical security then again portrays the safety efforts introduced to guarantee unapproved access to office, hardware, and assets, and to shield workers from potential physical health dangers. Conducting qualitative research requires a prior explanation of the problem, relevant data collection approaches, adherence to data analysis steps, strict observation of ethical issues, and focus on elements of trustworthiness in research.
Problem Statement
Every institution needs significant security physical security measures that ensure the absolute security of those staying or working within the vicinity of such facilities. A hospital set up should include a security plan that accounts for the entire building, data networks, environmental controls, security controls, and all the telecommunication systems that serve the hospital. Some of the most important aspects to consider in hospital security include perfect fire mitigation plans, electrical and power plant locations and safety, and physical access to network servers. There have been rising cases of hospital insecurity in different countries. Hospital shootings have been reported to be in the leading breaches of hospital physical security. Dharapak (2017) reports that between the years 2001 and 2015, there have been around 250 hospital shootings. Property and supply theft have equally been on the rise, owing to the limited security in most hospitals (Dharapak, 2017). Additionally, infant abductions have been reported in the past, as unauthorized individuals can access newborn babies.
Further, research indicates a total of 320 abductions in the mothers’ hospital rooms, of which 8% ended in violent afflictions on the mothers (NCMEC, 2017). The physical security of patients has been poor condition as well, as indicated by studies that highlight how poorly laid water pipes and electricity cables have undermined patient safety (York & Macalister, 2015). Hospital design physical security problems have significant implications on patients, healthcare personnel, hospital visitors, and implicates the entire image of the health facility. Therefore, there is a need to design proper measures that ensure maximum security. This study is relevant to my field of research and worthy of doctoral-level study since the problem affects the entire community, and the only ways to establish the reasons behind the problem is through research using appropriate methodologies.
This paper will describe four major causes of hospital design physical security, and how the application of qualitative study is most applicable for the data collection.
Purpose statement
This paper will describe four major causes of hospital design physical security, and how the application of qualitative study is most applicable for the data collection.
Research Questions
- What are the major gaps that cause hospital physical security breach, and how can they be fixed to mitigate the problem?
- What are the recent unexperienced physical security issues in hospitals lately and why?
Use of Qualitative Methodology
I intend to use in-depth interviews for data collection in this study. In-depth interviewing is a qualitative research technique characterized by intensive discussions with individuals to explore their perspectives on a particular idea or situation of concern. In matters of security, interviews have been the most employed in data collection. One of the advantages of using in-depth interviews as compared to the other methodologies is the more productive understanding of a situation as a result of personal interaction with the participants (Williamson, 2018). Open-ended questions present the respondent with the opportunity to share their own opinions and experiences, hence the ability to derive more in-depth information.
Additionally, when respondents share experiences, the data is more specific and reliable. Secondly, in-depth interviews allow an interviewer to read non-verbal cues from the respondent to determine more information beyond the verbal information given (Williamson, 2018). The response rate of personal interviews is also higher than the other methodologies, as a limited number of respondents tend to evade answering. Besides, ambiguity can always be clarified through direct follow-ups or telephone calls. Therefore, in collecting data and researching hospital security systems, interviews would provide the most relevant information needed.
The research design that I choose to conduct qualitative research is grounded theory design. This design examines specific empirical phenomenon or occurrences. Tie et al. (2019) asserts that grounded theory is applicable while using interviews since the design identifies vital elements of a particular event. The first advantage of grounded theory design is that the design can help in determining actual occurrences and experiences, such as security problems that have occurred in a particular organization (Bryant, 2017). Secondly, Chapman et al. (2015) affirm that grounded theory identifies a situated nature of knowledge and the dependent nature of the practice, hence highly applicable in investigating aspects that influence the operations organization. Additionally, the research design provides a significant description of a situation by acknowledging the particular areas of conflict and contradiction. These aspects of ground theory present the research design as the most appropriate for the research of security systems in a hospital.
Participants for this research shall be selected from different hospital facilities through purposive sampling. The participants will include patients in the hospitals, health facility staff, and subordinate staff, and selected members of the hospital management team. The research shall employ purposive sampling in data collection, whereby people who we think are most likely to experience hospital security, or those most likely to be affected by hospital security will be interviewed. Purposive sampling is more applicable in this research since it allows for more natural generalization of the sample as compared to random sample where a limited number of participants have the characteristics or experience or knowledge that relate to hospital security being studied (Etikan, 2016). The interview participants shall be divided into different groups. Initial interviews shall be conducted on different groups at different times. Notably, different questions shall be administered to different groups considering their positions in their healthcare facilities.
Steps of Data Collection
As mentioned above, data shall be collected through interviews, which will be done in semi-structures. This implies that different groups will be interviewed differently based on the survey questions. The steps of data collection, however, will include an initial step of clarifying data collection goals. In this case, the goals will be to solve physical security problems in hospitals. Secondly will be developing operational descriptions and procedures, which involve the sampling plan stated above, and what aspects of security to be measured. For instance, in this case, these aspects will be the location of the perimeter wall, security personal, and security alert systems, among others. The third step is the validation of measurement systems. The fourth step will be commencing the data collection based on the plan and laid strategies laid in the first three steps. The last step involves continuous improvement of measurement systems and ensuring that data collection guidelines are being adhered to by those in charge of data collection.
Ethical protection of Human Subjects
One ethical issue that will have to be observed is the right to informed consent. Ethically, this pertains to providing full relevant information to the participants and letting them willfully agree to take part in the interview. Moreover, no participant shall be forced to answer questions that they are not comfortable with, as they are allowed to comply within the comforts of their personal values and limits. Secondly, the right to confidentiality and anonymity will be observed. Considerably, every participant deserves their rights to be anonymous owing to the privacy of information that they may give. In order to maintain the privacy of the participants’ personal lives, ethics demand that the participants are accorded anonymity by concealing their identity.
Additionally, the principle of beneficence has to be observed. This principle dictates that the research is meant to make lives better but not to harm the participant by preventing internal harm or potential harm, based on what the participant defines and values as harmful. Conversely, vulnerable groups will be observed so as not to breach the ethical boundaries regarding vulnerability. According to Mclain et al. (2018), in a hospital set up, this group will include the critically ill, children, the aged, or the mentally incapacitated.
Steps in Data Analysis
The steps that will be involved in the data analysis include the organization and preparation of data collected. Secondly is the review and exploration of data to ascertain relevance to the study issues. The third step involves the creation of initial codes. The grounded theory involves a constant comparative analysis, which comprises of an initial stage of comparing incident to incident in each code. The incidences in one category shall be compared against each other, then compared against incidences in other categories. Coding will then be used to identify similarities and concepts in the data, which will be used in drawing inferences.
Fourthly is the review of codes and revising. The last step of data analysis will be the presentation of themes in an interconnected style.
Addressing the Four Elements of Trustworthiness
Credibility will be addressed in this research through the use of triangulation. Credibility is determined by how accurate the research findings are. Therefore, to ensure the credibility of information, interview responses from medical assistants and personnel will be compared with those from the patients and subordinate staff and other groups to establish the standard data.
Transferability will be addressed by the use of thick description in terms of a detailed account of experiences. Through this method, the research will be able to demonstrate that the research findings can be applied in other contexts.
Conversely, the research will address confirmability by providing an audit trail that elaborates on the steps of data analysis. This approach will provide a justification for the decisions made.
Finally, the research will address dependability by employing an inquiry audit. According to Gunawan (2015), if research does not address dependability, it raises possibilities of replication of a study by other people. The inquiry audit approach will involve bringing in outside parties such as professionals to review and examination of the entire research and data analysis processes to establish the consistency of the findings.
Qualitative research provides the best approach to data collection and analysis for the case study. The problem identified in this study is limited physical security in hospitals. To establish the causes and the possible solutions to the problem, therefore, the use of qualitative study methodology is highly applicable. The methodology for data collection is the use of interviews on a sample of participants purposely drawn from hospital settings. The research identifies and observes related ethical issues in data collection and addresses the four elements of trustworthiness in research. Additionally, strict adherence to data collection procedures and data analysis steps are significant for the end result of the research.