Stroke: Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Article Review

It was also found that higher levels of education were associated with a greater sense of well being across the dimensions.

Using the prior quantitative information as a guideline, Clarke proceeds to the qualitative section of her research with the attempt to shed more light on aspects of the stroke experienced wither not researched in the prior study or that were left with ambiguous explanation. While admitting that it would have been ideal to use the participants from the original CSHA, it was not possible. So she found a group of eight stroke survivors who were culled from a group of 250,000 individual patients from the Sunnybrook, and Women's College Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada. Of these eight, five had more sever impairments due to hemiparesis or hemiplegia, the remaining three were higher functioning, this gave the study a broader base to compare. The subjects were also recruited with regard to the abundance or lack of social support as well as their level of education, as these were contributing factors that the CSHA had discovered.All admitted that their life had changed after the stroke and that the above factors were certainly relevant to their well being, they also indicated that the adaptive strategies provided by rehabilitation therapy or their own efforts were also a major factor in the sense of self-efficacy.

One of the most important aspects of this study was the use of the quantitative findings to guide the qualitative research. By doing so Clarke was able to shed further light on her research and discovered that while physical and social support was certainly a necessity, the emotional support given by either family, friends or caregivers, was a major contributing factor for the subjects overall sense of well being. This was missed or left un-addressed in the quantitative phase.

References

Clarke, Philippa. (2003) "Towards a greater understanding of the experience….....