Introduction
Kleptomania is a reticent disorder that medical practitioners have been overlooking for sometime now. Kleptomania refers to a disorder that makes people become obsessed to impulse stealing. Various researches have been seeking to determine causes, symptoms, and treatment measures of kleptomania. The most effective way to conduct a research aimed at determining symptoms and treatment of kleptomania would be through a qualitative research design because qualitative study technique has the ability to assess the intricacy of human mannerism coupled with creating a deeper comprehension of symptoms of ailments or disorders.
Qualitative research sample for determining the treatment of Kleptomania
Evidence-based approach is a common practice amongst most modern medical practitioners. Since medical research calls for researchers to tackle several social and physical aspects, it would be appropriate to utilize qualitative research design. Using qualitative research is suitable for it allows a researcher to evaluate his or her experience. Furthermore, information collected through qualitative data analysis is distinctive to a specified context and is rarely copied, and thus it is a reliable source of collecting information (Johnson & Waterfield, 2004).
According to Merriam (2009), the selection of an appropriate sampling method will be subject to the research topic, scope of research, and the nature of materials to be gathered. By considering the latter factors, the most pertinent technique for collecting the sample would be through convenience sampling. Under this method, participants will be composed of individuals at different places as well as volunteers. However, this aspect does not imply that hypothetical ideas borrowed from previous researches will not be included. Therefore, the sample for investigating symptoms and treatment will comprise literature related to kleptomania coupled with interviews of medical experts who handle kleptomania issues and its victims. The subjects who double as victims will entail individuals undergoing treatment and those recovering from the disorder. Furthermore, the study will consider relatives and friends of the participants (Johnson & Waterfield, 2004).
Notably, in the presentation of the sample, the facts must be clear and detailed to ensure reliability as well as transferability. Nonetheless, assembling the subjects will not aim at having a statistical depiction; however, it will seek to illustrate the assortment of the participants. This element indicates why the size of the subjects will not be based on the assumption that “more is better” for it may result to superficial assessment. Any research conducted under shallow analysis does not depict the distinctive significance of the sample. However, if I use minute information in the study, then some essential outlook and themes may not be retrievable. Therefore, the issue of size will be one of the overriding factors during the study, and thus it will be highly influenced by the specific intent and background of the study (Merriam, 2009).
Since the prevailing factor is that the research sample should be adequate to create depth instead of breadth, the number of participants should not raise disputes as long as it is apt. However, the sample must also incorporate the disadvantaged. The intent for including this group of the society will be to promote the ideologies of encouragement, empowerment, and liberation in the context of qualitative inquiry. Nonetheless, this move does not preclude the powerful and the advantaged lot in society. In a bid to avoid biasness in the sample selection, social relations and processes will be deliberated and impartiality observed during the selection. The research will consider balanced weights for the miscellaneous perspectives. Therefore, in the selection of the participants, factors such gender, age, race, and ability will be balanced without depicting a particular sub-group as possessing the truth (Johnson & Waterfield, 2004).
When collecting data from participants, for instance through interview, certain aspects must be considered to evade cases whereby the interviewer governs the contents and process. The availability or absence of a scholar has a particular impact in building and allocating authority in the study process. Therefore, it is important to employ both postal questionnaires and face-to-face interviews in the quest to have a detailed research. Participants may encounter difficulties in revealing some issues in the presence of a researcher, especially if the issue defines one’s morality. The presence of a researcher may obscure data, as the subjects may be dishonest in revealing some information about their experience with kleptomania. The availability of a researcher does not determine the entirety of the collected data. Therefore, it would be appropriate to use postal questionnaires on certain participants such as victims of kleptomania and their relatives so that they can disclose as much information as possible (Beckett & Clegg, 2007).
Postal questionnaires would be unsuitable when retrieving data from medical experts. Face-to-face interviews would help a researcher to get answers on areas that he or she does not understand. The former would encourage superficial responses because psychologists or psychiatrists may respond to the questions at an inconvenient time. In face-to face interview, the presence of a researcher cannot influence the medical practitioner to give distorted answers, as his or her responses are factual. Therefore, I will use the two modes of interview, but their application will depend on the nature of the participants and their willingness to use either postal questionnaires or face-to-face interview.
Conclusion
Even though medical practitioners have been discounting kleptomania, there have been efforts to study methods of treating it. Through convenience sampling, qualitative research incorporates impartial selection of member of the society, issuance of postal questionnaires, and face-to-face interviews, and thus it underscores the most pertinent technique of devising methods to treat the disorder. However, the collection of the sample should create depth instead of breadth.
References
Beckett, C., & Clegg, S. (2007). Qualitative data from a postal questionnaire: Questioning the presumption of the value of presence. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 10(4), 307-317.
Johnson, R., & Waterfield, J. (2004). Making words count: The value of qualitative research. Physiotherapy Research International, 9(3), 121-131.
Merriam, S. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. California, CA: John Wiley & Sons.