Most physicians and patients put their trust in clinical and medical technologies to perform their duties, assuming they possess the necessary competence required. These professionals acquire the education during their time spent in clinical activities with their clinical instructors, who, in most cases, are always experienced individuals in clinical laboratory technology. This chapter covers several areas, such as the research design, the study population, the research setting, the sample used in the research, and the data analysis methods. The chapter also focuses on the research instruments and the procedure used with the tools, and finally, the data collection methods used to achieve this research. The methodology also covers the validity and reliability of the tests conducted during the research process. Finally, mentioning the ethical considerations undertaken when conducting the research is also essential.
Restating the research question:
The primary goal of the researcher was to identify several experiences of recently graduated students taking clinical Laboratory Technology programs and how these experiences impacted the delivery of their duties. To achieve this goal, the researcher focuses on three primary research questions. The research questions are outlined as follows:
- What challenges do the CLT graduates encounter once in the clinical setting?
- The second question the research ought to ascertain and answer is: How prepared are the CLT graduates in their roles in clinical settings?
- The final question is: Are there additional resources CLT graduates need to succeed in their careers?
Because the research is qualitative, there is no hypothesis to consider in this case.
Research design
The research design is defined as the plan that outlines the study procedure and how it can be conducted. In this case, the researcher pays attention to the issues raised at the beginning of the research. The research design adopted for this paper should help the participant and the audience anticipate the appropriate decision that will be undertaken to give a more specific validity and reliability. The design also looks at the anticipation of the significant problem that will be faced during the execution of the study so that it may be dealt with better (Busetto & Gumbinger, 2020). If the problem and challenges are not mentioned now, then the design to be deployed may fail to achieve the research objectives.
The main research design for the paper is the fundamental qualitative design. Kalpokaite and Radivojevic (2019) state that this design is used to conduct comprehensive analyses and investigations. The main aim of this research is to provide a full inquiry and use the phenomenon to understand the results provided by the design. The design also concentrates more on personal encounters, viewpoints, and interpretations. Using a fundamental framework will give the researcher the power to indulge in the intricacies of the entire topic; the researcher will make sense of what it means to achieve all the variables. The researcher will also manage to capture all the data that can give a complete understanding of the different experiences that Clinical laboratory technologies graduates have in their work setting.
The design also allows for the development of the theory through the understanding of the researcher and investigation of facts to get the patterns and trends that have been used to understand such topics. By thoroughly analyzing and understanding the counters of the clinical laboratory technologies, the researcher can cultivate a theoretical understanding of all the factors that impact their professional growth and development. This design also allows researchers to investigate the issue of social, cultural, and operational environments that affect and shape the graduates. The theories to be used in this case are the social cognitive theories, career theories, and theoretical frameworks. The SCCT is defined as a psychological framework that aims to make the process more accessible in an individual’s career (Lent et al., 2002). This theory was formulated in 1994 by a researcher known as the Lent Brown and Hacker. Moreover, the social cognitive theory promotes some level of engagement and structures that motivate an individual’s behavior.
This theory provides an introduction to different mechanisms used in the interaction by individual behaviors as well as the environmental factors that affect the behavior of a professional (Lent et al., 2002). Different researchers have expressed the interactions from different models. The theory includes three major interrelated models: the career development model, the choice-making model, and what is known as the persisting model. The entire process of defining this is that the idea is used to impact individual understanding of the topic to be discussed as well as the expectation of the researcher. Social cognitive theory is considered one of the most frequently applied theories in the first area of health (Schunk & DiBenedetto, 2020). It points to a deterministic correlation between individual behavior and their environment. The theory looks at all three elements dynamically and how they reciprocally interact in the same environment (Luszczynska et al., 2015).
The researcher may also use a mixed research design for the study. The hybrid design deploys the use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches to the research. The quantitative approach is more aligned with the numeric values and results, while the qualitative approach is more of a subjective explanation of the results. It is also important to note that quantitative alone may not be a suitable method for this research because it will only assess the changes in variables. The qualitative design will be used to fill the gaps that the researcher may face during the analysis. The researcher must make the quantitative techniques a fact that describes the entire relationship between the two variables and strengthens the relationship of the variables. The mixed method allows the researcher to get the dates, analyze the data, and achieve the findings. After getting the results, the researcher can draw the inference from the quantitative and the qualitative methods used.
The use of qualitative methods is more beneficial to understanding the terminologies and the definition of the questions that should be used to make sense of the result that the researcher will use. This is what is known as the explanatory strategy of the mixed method. Another essential thing to point out is what the researcher tries to achieve; the research explores the Experiences of Recently Graduated Students of Clinical Laboratory Technology (CLT) Programs. From this topic, two primary relationships must be tested: the relationship between what is learned in class and what is done in the field. Due to the relationship, the research may also use casual research design. This will assist the researcher in establishing the presence and the absence of the course and the effects of the relationship that may exist in the variables to be tested.
Based on the research design, the researcher must find a way of integrating the collected data. The integration that will take place majorly depends on the sequence method. The interpretation and presentation of this data may differ depending on how it is used. For instance, the qualitative data using a preceding literature review may give a wrong result if it is not fully discussed.
Research Setting/Context:
This Qualitative research explores the Experiences of Recently Graduated Students of Clinical Laboratory Technology (CLT) Programs; therefore, the primary setting will be school and hospital laboratories where this group can be found. In the school context, the graduate will be asked about their expectations when they graduate or after graduation, and this will be related to what is acquired in the real-life experience. It is also important to note that the researcher is purely meant for education purposes, and the data collected will be analyzed to provide insight into what the newly graduated medical laboratory technologies face when they graduate. The school or college setting will be helpful because there is a database that stores students’ data, and this data is beneficial for locating the right participants for the research.
The hospital setting is also perfect for gathering the correct data for analysis. In the hospital setting, the researcher will seek to get a deeper understanding of what happens and the experiences of the newly graduated candidates when they go for real-life experience in their areas of expertise. The graduate will also be required to give some information about how they interact with the other departments and how these departments are shaping their experiences. The hospital context is one of the best because it gives the newly graduated time to relate to the environment and the school environment.
Research Sample and Data Sources:
The researcher used different types of study samples. In the example, the participants chosen were recent graduates of clinical laboratory technologists who needed industrial experience to share their experience with the researcher. The researcher also used a variety of clinical instructors’ laboratory technology programs to supervise the graduates. The use of these professionals was justified by the fact that they could share the interaction with the newly graduated laboratory technologist. Before the research, the researcher contacted the university-based medical laboratory program directors to allow us to run some tests on their students. It is believed that some medical laboratory directors will help with the questionnaires. Due to this, the researcher sent the questionnaire to the directors on time for their consent.
Sampling Frame
A sampling frame is defined as the elements where the sample is drawn. It is a complete and very accurate list of members to study. As a researcher, it is essential to have such a list because the time spent to complete the study can be reduced significantly. Having the list also cuts the cost of the entire research. It is important to note that research can sometimes be costly, and having this list helps identify the specific participants of the study. The sample form is physically drawn to represent the researcher taking his sample. Before deciding on this list, the researcher had to look at different directions that dictated the model and the study’s objective. In as much as the study focuses on the clinical laboratory graduate experiences, the researcher also looks at another sampling frame to help explain some of the areas that the graduates may not demonstrate professionally, in this case, may help explain some problems faced by this graduate that they may not even present themselves.
Sampling Technique
In this case, the sampling techniques are dictated by the area of study, the medical field. Simple sampling techniques will be used. The second stage identifies the people relating directly to the Medical laboratory Graduates. The second sampling technique is the use of purposeful sampling. This technique states that those who make up all the participants may be called duty respondents (Denieffe, 2020). In this technique, the research will focus only on those who have the knowledge and can give the accurate information the study seeks. For this reason, the research is only interested in collecting data from those working within the Department of Laboratory Sciences.
Snowball sampling.
The researcher will also use the snowball sampling technique. This is a technique where the study participants are requested to assist the researcher in identifying other key indicators that could affect the research positively within the research topic. Simply put, the researcher may use external participants who may not be key people in his research to make an inference and analysis. In order to use this sampling method, the researcher must justify its use and the context in which the method is used. For this research, the snowball method is justified by the fact that the method will give extra information about the research topic. The target population will enhance the understanding of the study areas with much ease. This sampling method is beneficial because it helps minimize the risk of not getting the exact study samples.
For the qualitative research, the sampling included six professionals and instructors, and twelve participants were to be interviewed. For the accuracy of this study, we had to look for articulate and very knowledgeable individuals to participate in the process. The primary purpose of interpretative research is to make sure that there is a vibrant description and a good understanding of the responses given by the respondents. The study selected five people from the highest number of volunteers, based on the convincing and the number of years they have experienced. The researcher hoped to have a mixture of females and males for the Laboratory technologies. There was a wide phenomenon of volunteers in the first and second phases. Some volunteer are always good, but because of their distance, they may not be used for this research, and therefore, their input may not count.
Instruments and Procedures:
As stated earlier, this study involved both qualitative and quantitative data. Due to this, the researcher decided to employ the qualitative method as the primary research method. Most researchers noted that in a study like this, the assumption to be made is that the two sets of data will give different results. Therefore, the combination can provide a reasonable inference for the interpretation. The methods used for the quantitative data are the questionnaires and interviews. This is very important because they allow the respondent to reason before sending the response to the interviewer.
Questionnaires
The researcher employed a structured questionnaire in the data collection. Using structured questions is best for this kind of design because the respondents do not have room for deviation, making it possible for the researcher to compare their data. Moreover, using this tool will allow the researcher to collect more information from a broad group of people quickly, hence saving time for the entire exercise. Finally, the data collected using the questionnaire can be analyzed easily.
Data Collection Procedure
Before starting the process, the researcher must get permission from the community college authorities to have his research done. Obtaining this permission is a significant factor since the respondents will use it to assure them that the entire process is meant for academic purposes and cannot be used for other purposes. The permission from the community college is essential for the researcher because it gives them authenticity from the perspective of their target respondents. The license will be granted in the form of a cover letter attached to the questionnaire as they distribute it. After permission is granted, the respondents will be given the information before engaging in the research process. This is essential because it provides a procedure where the respondents’ consent must be obtained before they are involved in the research process. Consulting the respondent is a practice that goes with ethical conduct. No one should be forced to participate in research without consent because this is very unethical. This research targets more than 100 respondents, who are people who are directly involved in the clinical laboratory business or are recently graduated students. The type of sampling to be used in this case is purposive sampling. , the respondents are directly involved in their practice and have firsthand experience.
Pilot Testing
The piloting process is the research process that involves data collection to find out the validity as well as the reliability of the instrument used. The entire process consists of having the respondents who may not be directly involved in the research and inviting them to participate in the mini-research. This pilot research helps the researcher determine if the question they put in the questionnaire is enough for both the structure number and the number to give the researcher the information they need to get from their research. The research might also identify some level of ambiguity in the question, the sequence that the questions follow, or the structure of the questions (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). The research noted that there was always some level of danger after the study when they pointed out that the level of research questions was inadequate and may not answer the research questions. In this case, the entire process may be considered a waste of time, and to ensure the researcher avoids this, they have to carry out a pilot study. For this particular research, the pilot study will be conducted on the hospital premises, where the questions are related to what the professionals are doing. From the answer and the response gathered, it will be apparent to the researcher whether what is asked is related to the context.
Reliability of the Instrument
Reliability is the measure of the extent to which the instrument used will not bias the result. Therefore, the tools guarantee the consistency of what is measured across all the indicators. In this regard, the device should always measure what it should measure. Even if a different set of groups were presented under other conditions, the answer would remain the same without variations. The analysis of this pilot study is done using SPSS software, which will ensure that the measurement meets the threshold of the expected sizes (Fydryszewski & Ketchum, 2018).
Validity of Instrument
Measurement validity is defined as the extent to which an instrument can accurately measure a given concept and the scale it is supposed to measure. In this regard, while validity is a measure of what is supposed to be measured, reliability is about the extent to which a given scale.
Interview
The researcher used an unstructured interview method. The key areas to be considered were the recently graduated students in the field of medical laboratory technology. The researcher intends to interview fresh graduates in the medical laboratory science field, their instructors, and their field supervisors to share their knowledge of how they are performing in the industry. The use of unstructured interviews is essential because it ensures that a large group of people is captured and insight is given into the true nature of the situation. From the feedback given by the respondents, the researcher can explore areas that were unknown or growing regions that were not discovered, and they can be included in the research.
Data Collection
In this research, the data will be collected in two significant parts/ there will be screening, and demographics questionnaires and the analysis with the results of the interviews will follow. One of the additional steps to be considered to engage the participants is requesting the contact of the participants through the student alumni office. The college uses Congo’s database to store the information of all fresh graduates. The researcher will ask the department to filter all the contacts using specific criteria to get explicit references.
The researcher will email the participants from the email contact list linked to the questionnaires. The questionnaires will ask the participants demographic information and some questions related to their study. This will help the researcher to access the richness of the questions and knowledge in the interview. Another question that must also be in this questionnaire is whether the participants are willing to be contacted for follow-up purposes. The participants will be asked to provide their contact details if they agree. The researcher will contact them for follow-ups and ask them to sign the informed consent before the interviews (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011). The consent form to be signed is used for legal purposes just in case one of the participants sues the researcher; there will be a document to show that they consented to participate in the research process without any problem. This is the way data will be collected for this particular research.
Data Analysis and Presentation Methods.
The mythology also checks into areas of data analysis and interpretation of the data collected. Since the data in question is quantitative, there is a need to subject the data to a Tories analysis to get the trend followed by the entire data. The analysis procedure is also discussed because it gives the research an excellent ground to check a gap in the data and find answers to the research questions raised. The researcher used qualitative data analysis. The data is, therefore, objective and based on the observation and the respondents’ words. In this regard, the first stage of the data analysis will be done through a factored method that uses the link scale. Using the date ensures no redundancy and duplication of the data. Each question must be noted and answered per the research overview and expectations. The entire process ensures that the data the researcher collects is subjected to scrutiny and reduced correlation factors. There will be a correlation analysis. For instance, our research investigates the experience of a fresh graduating clinical medical technologist; from this, the researcher must find a correlation between the student experience at and outside school. What makes them effective while in school and not outside school? What is the difference between the school experiences, and how can they use this experience to bring a change into the workplace? Due to this issue, correlations measure the degree of association between the dependent and the independent variables.
Pearson correlation is one effective matrix that fits a qualitative study like this. Therefore, the researcher finds that using the Pearson matrix to draw the inference is best. The matrix gives some strengths and relationships. The r value will range between -1 and 1 in such a test. Due to this, we can get a zero as part of the feedback. In cases where the importance of R is positive, the variable use is increasing or decreasing in a similar direction.
On the other hand, the value of r is zero when there is a decreasing value. The second method of measurement is the chi-square. It promotes a significant level of a specified test. At this level, a critical value of 0.025 is substantial, which is always associated with the value of insignificance.
It is recommended that the number and values of the interview are recorded immediately after the despondence has been interviewed. The main advantage is that researchers become familiar with the responses while recording the results (Garcia & Talmon, 2020). Due to this, the researcher can develop some insight by pointing out fundamental concepts documented in the answers. If the researcher fails to record this interview, it means that the entire research is vulnerable and can be modified by an external party, and this will yield wrong results on the side of the entries research. The recorded data also promotes a certain level of validity of the qualitative data. When analyzing these interviews, the results will be given a thematic analysis. In this process, the data is used to elaborate the more information collected through other means. For this research case, the researcher used a questionnaire as an alternative means of collecting data. There is wide use of credibility in this research process because the rules and regulations made all the procedure regulations.
The data analysis in this case will also be done through an in-depth look at the mistake that could have been committed during the interview process. The researcher must use inductive and deductive methods to interpret the data quickly. As measured above, the chosen method is thematic analysis, which involves identifying parents, themes, and different categories within the data to be analyzed. Secondly, verbatim transcription and other interview results are used to review the establishment of familiarity with the data. There will also be a process of open coding; in this method, the researcher must create preliminary codes that will be used to record the number of participants, their essential ideas, and their experiences. The possible themes should be categorized using these codes (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011). It is also necessary to state that the pieces can be improved and polished through interactive rounds and to make a comparison and the debate to have a series of reflections and experiences relatable to the data to be presented.
In conclusion, the research must fulfill all the methodological criteria. The analysis might also identify some ambiguity in the question, the sequence that the questions follow, or the structure of the questions. It is also important to note that the researchers noted that there was always some level of danger after the study when they pointed out that the level of research questions was inadequate and may not answer the research questions. In this case, the entire process may be considered a waste of time, and to ensure the researcher avoids this, they have to carry out a pilot study. For this particular research, the pilot study will be conducted on the hospital premises, where the questions are related to what the professionals are doing. From the answer and the response gathered, it will be apparent to the researcher whether what is asked is related to the context.
References
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