Which of the following statements of purpose is most likely to be from a qualitative study?

Question

A) Explore lived experiences of refugee women and children from Afghanistan living in the United States
B) Investigate the effectiveness of music therapy for decreasing pain in post-operative adolescents
C) Compare the effectiveness of effleurage to therapeutic touch in decreasing maternal anxiety during an un-medicated vaginal birth
D) Evaluate the relationship between insurance status and number of emergency department (ED) visits

Answer 1

A
Feedback:
"Explore lived experiences of refugee women and children from Afghanistan living in the United States" is most likely from a qualitative study. A study whose purpose is to explore or describe some phenomenon is likely to be an investigation of a little-researched topic, often involving a qualitative approach, such as phenomenology or ethnography. The other answers are more likely to be from quantitative studies, as verbs such as test, evaluate, and compare suggest quantifiable variables and designs with scientific controls.