The problem of the research is not clearly identified. Admittedly, the study is related to fall prevention, but researchers do not describe a specific issue that requires new medical interventions (Haas et al., 2012). It should be mentioned that the prevention of falls is one of the problems that nurses are supposed to address. Thus, they need to understand how exercises for patients are selected.
Researchers clearly identify the purpose of the study; in particular, one should speak about the examination of factors influencing the decisions of therapists when they prescribe exercises that are necessary for fall prevention (Haas et al., 2012).
The research question is broad enough for qualitative research design. At this point, scholars only want to identify a set of factors that influence the decisions of physical therapists. Yet, they do not try to test a hypothesis or measure the influence of different factors. Such studies can be useful for generating a theory that can be tested in a quantitative way (Supino & Borer, 2012, p. 10).
The scholars take a phenomenological approach to this qualitative study. Researchers, who adopt this strategy, want to identify common experiences of the participants when they work on a certain task (Carla, 2013, p. 85).
The researchers focused on those participants who could be regarded as the leading therapists in medical institutions (Haas et al., 2012). This approach to the selection of subjects is compatible with qualitative research.
The study was not carried out within medical institutions, because researchers interviewed the subjects via telephone. Nevertheless, this approach did not undermine the validity of the research.
The researchers rely on the semi-structured interview and this data collection method is consistent with qualitative research design.
Overall, the rights of subjects were properly protected. In particular, the researchers gained the informed consent of the participants. In other words, they explained the goal of this study and described the way in which the information would be used. It should be noted that informed consent is critical for the ethical approval of a study (Seidman, 2013, p. 64).
The researchers state that the data saturation occurred during the eighth interview in each of the groups (Haas et al., 2012). In particular, at this point, the researchers could not identify any new themes.
The scholars rely on the framework approach in order to analyze the responses of the participants (Haas et al., 2012). This method is suitable for the codification of data and identifying the major themes (Ebrahim & Bowling, 2005, p. 522). This method can be applied for the analysis of data derived with the help of semi-structured interviews.
There is evidence of scientific rigor; in particular, the scholars clearly identify the peculiarities of data collection procedures, analysis of information, and selection of the respondents. They also explain how they identified common themes.
The article does not include a section in which the authors’ conclusions are stated. Yet, this study shows that leading physical therapists adopt similar strategies while choosing exercises for patients. These strategies can be used for the identification of interventions that can eventually become best practices.
Overall, the scholars offer several suggestions for further research. For example, one can speak about the need to test the efficiency of methods applied by physical therapists. Thus, this research can be used as the basis of a quantitative study.
Reference List
Carla, W. (2013). Introducing Qualitative Research In Psychology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Ebrahim, S., & Bowling, A. (2005). Handbook of Health Research Methods: Investigation, Measurement and Analysis. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Haas, R., Maloney, S., Pausenberger, E., Keating, J., Sims, J., Molloy, E., & Jolly, B. (2012). Clinical Decision Making in Exercise Prescription for Fall Prevention. Physical Therapy, 92(5), 666-679.
Seidman, I. (2013). Interviewing as Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Supino, P., & Borer, J. (2012). Principles of Research Methodology: A Guide for Clinical Investigators. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media.