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The Type of the Research Design
In this study, the correlational research design is used. The key feature of this type is that the correlational statistics to describe and measure the degree or association between two or more variables or sets of scores are exploited (Creswell 12). It means that the task of primary importance is to trace the connection among the variables and explain it. In the context of correlation research model, one may use the data gathered by the observational method, for example, the archives of the previous research (Grove, Gray, and Burns 153).
The research under discussion illustrates this possibility. As the authors point out, they refer to the baseline data obtained from a longitudinal study of postpartum weight patterns in participants of different ethnicities (African American, Hispanic, and White women) to test for psychosocial predictors of gestational weight gain (GWG) and birth weight (Walker and Kim 263). In other words, the researchers’ primary intention is to examine whether the correlation between psychosocial thriving variables and GWG and birth weight in lower-income women and their children is found and whether it is positive or negative. Another purpose reported by the authors is to understand to what extent ethnicity makes an impact on GWG and birth weight.
Instruments
In this study, the authors use a wide range of instruments. According to the article, the first of them is the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) that helps recognize and scrutinize the depressive syndromes (Walker and Kim 266). Nowadays, the large body of academic literature and many research papers refer to this instrument as one of the effective solutions to assess depressive symptoms that may be used along with other scales. There are no limitations associated with the population or diseases that may be diverse. For instance, diagnostic interviews, HADS-D ≥ 8, HADS-D ≥ 11, and CES-D ≥ 16 are listed as possible instruments (Krebber et al. 123). The authors themselves also prove the effectiveness of the selected instrument. They explain their choice by the fact that CES-D has been used as a well validated measure in relation to various community samples and, what is more important, pregnant women (Walker and Kim 266). The evidence taken from the academic literature is present. Consequently, one may say the choice of this instrument is good and justified by the prior research results.
The next instrument marked by the authors pertains to the assessment of the women’s health-related lifestyles. It is the Self Care Inventory that gives the opportunity to gain the information about a number of health behavior aspects by means of surveys. Similar to the previously described instrument, it is also used to assess the behavior of patients with different diagnoses. Presenting their findings, the authors often evaluate the instruments, and the Self Care Inventory is usually one of the most popular options since it is considered to be simple, effective, and suitable for different patient categories (Fleck 140).
The authors of the analyzed article also rate the Self Care Inventory high. In accordance with their findings, it is “an omnibus health behavior survey” (Walker and Kim 266). It implies that all aspects of health behavior are covered. The effectiveness of this instrument is also exemplified by the past investigations concerning maternity. The attention is drawn to the fact that eating habits, substance use and smoking, recklessness, personal care, sleep/rest, and exercise during the past month are usually included, but the researchers also add some items from the National Health Interview Survey, and the extended version is used (Walker and Kim 267).
Later on, health-related lifestyle is analyzed via the Food Habits Questionnaire. Its advantage is, again, the opportunity to use it in different contexts, for example, children’s and adults’ eating habits (Bel-Serrat et al. 269). Because nutrition is one of the main indices of one’s lifestyle, it should be measured separately. The main issue is the measure of fat intake habits over the last few months. The researchers prove the necessity to use this instrument: its validity is supported by the correlation with fat intake (Walker and Kim 267). Consequently, the instrument may be useful to add some information to health-related lifestyle facts.
Further, the authors describe the necessity to collect the data related to the maternal height and weights. The hospital questionnaires become the important instrument to obtain this information. It is emphasized that the majority of them were completed in the hospital setting, and the participating women responded to them before the discharge: only a few questionnaires were sent from home because of the early or rushed discharge. Consequently, the data are likely to be reliable owing to the opportunities to register the exact indices.
Hospital records are the final instrument pertaining to this study. It is underlined that birth weights were taken from the hospital records and converted into grams (Walker and Kim 267). However, the reliability of these data is not addressed. These data are presumably considered to be relevant and exact.
Overall, the authors of the article use the correlation research design. They describe several instruments and manage to assess their reliability.
Works Cited
Bel-Serrat, Silvia, et al. “Relative Validity of the Children’s Eating Habits Questionnaire – Food Frequency Section Among Young European Children: The IDEFICS Study.” Public Health Nutrition 17.02 (2014): 266-276. Print.
Creswell, John W. Research design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2013. Print.
Fleck, Laureen M. “The Nutrition Self Care Inventory.” Bulletin Luxembourgeois des Questions Sociales 29.1 (2012): 139-154. Print.
Grove, Susan K., Jennifer R. Gray, and Nancy Burns. Understanding Nursing Research: Building an Evidence-Based Practice. St. Louis: Elsevier Health Sciences, 2014. Print.
Krebber, A. M. H., et al. “Prevalence of Depression in Cancer Patients: A Meta‐Analysis of Diagnostic Interviews and Self‐Report Instruments.” Psycho‐Oncology 23.2 (2014): 121-130.
Walker, Lorraine O., and Minseong Kim. “Psychosocial Thriving During Late Pregnancy: Relationship to Ethnicity, Gestational Weight Gain, and Birth Weight.” Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing 31.3 (2002): 263-274. Print.
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