The sample for a rigorous qualitative study is not as large as the sample for a rigorous quantitative study. The researcher stops collecting data when enough rich, meaningful data have been obtained to achieve the study aims

“The sample for a rigorous qualitative study is not as large as the sample for a rigorous quantitative study. The researcher stops collecting data when enough rich, meaningful data have been obtained to achieve the study aims” (Grove, Burns, & Gray, 2013). “A substantial sample may be required to generate power sufficient to demonstrate significance” (Grove, Burns, & Gray, 2013) for a quantitative study. “Small scale quantitative studies may be less reliable because of the low quantity of data” (Mcleod, 2018)

Qualitative question: How do eating disorder patients with bulimia nervosa perceive cognitive behavioral therapy during their inpatient stay? Moving forward with this research question I would need patients who are in an inpatient setting, ones with bulimia nervosa, and I would perform interviews with those patients. The questions I would ask would include open ended questions allowing the patients to answer anyway they felt and me not persuading them to answer a certain way causing bias in the study.

Quantitative question: In patients with an eating disorder, specifically bulimia nervosa, how does the side effects of the mental illness affect the patients overall health? If I were to move forward with this question I would need to have patients who are diagnosed with an eating disorder, specifically bulimia nervosa. I would look at the research out there currently showing the different side effects on the body that comes from the disease. I could compare those stats with statistics from an inpatient unit on those eating disorder patients. This way I could show what is the current research on the disease and then have real examples to show for the research.

References:

Grove, S. K., Burns, N., & Gray, J. (2013). The practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier/Saunders.

Mcleod, S. (2018, December 05). Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/qualitative-quantitative.html