happytoexist

I am taking a class in my 3rd year of university called research methodology. the first lecture discussed nursing research, the role it has within the profession and in healthcare. A large part of the research was about types of research and the main paradigms that researchers subscribe to. There is the positivist paradigm and the naturalist paradigm. Each camp has its own views about reality. Positivists are empirical and objective, believing " . . . that there is reality out there that can be studied and known . . . objective reality exists independent of human observation." (Loiselle & Profetto-McGrath, 2011). They are called determinists as they believe that phenomena not random but have antecedent causes and they use an approach that involves realiance on orderly, rigorous procedures with tight control over situations to test predictions about the nature of phenomena and they relationships among them. (Loiselle & Profetto-McGrath, 2011). Positivisists use quantitative research methods, meaning they find ways to measure phenomena so that they can use statistics to analyze data. Naturalists are presented as a countermovement to positivism. The naturalistic researchers, reality is not a "fixed entity" but rather a construction of the individuals participating in the research ( (Loiselle & Profetto-McGrath, 2011). They are relativist thinkers who posit "if there are always multiple interpretations of the reality that exists in people's minds, then there is no process by which the ultimate truth or falsity of the contractions can be determined." They believe that knowledge is maximized when the researchers and the participants are close to one another. They listen to voices and interpretations of those under study because they think that subjective interactions are key to understanding phenomena (Loiselle & Profetto-McGrath, 2011). These researchers use QUALITATIVE methods. My professor revealed her bias toward Qualitative research methods throughout the lecture. Her tone and word choice are what lead me to believe she had a bias. When speaking about QUALitative research methods she words like: we, us, our patients. When she spoke about QUANTitative research she used words like they and them. She said something like, "they think all people are the same, they treat people like numbers and not unique individuals". Two other professors, with whom I have discussed the possibility of performing and publishing research as an undergraduate, have leaned heavily toward the naturalist worldview. They seem to discourage quantitative methods. My analysis of the situation: Qualitative research has a place in any social research area. It is often used to simply explore groups and populations of people gain insight as to what phenomena may exist. Which sets the stage for people who do actual science to produce credible information about our world. For some reason qualitative research is presented as an equal methodology. If we are seek to be intellectually honest we should simply describe it as what it is. A method in which a researcher gathers subjective information from a very small group people or even a single person, then presents a subjective interpretation of that information. I think the undue respect given to qualitative research is largely the fact that it is an easy way for a Professor to appear productive. Math takes to much effort. Why would a person (a person as Hobbes sees people) put in the effort and time to publish quantitative research when they can produce qualitative papers 4 times as fast? Publishing Quantitative research requires the use of math/statistics while qualitative research can be as easy as writing a glorified blog post. The pay is the same for either way. Nursing is also dominated by women who constantly seek to validate their profession. They want to be seen as professionally equal to physicians and even express feelings of moral superiority claiming they love and truly care for their patients. Yes, it is important that patients feel like their healthcare providers actually care about them because it fosters a belief in ones ability to overcome disease. It is also simply nice for patients to be around kind people, but flattery, warm feelings, and bad acting don't cut the cancer from their bellies or prevent micro-organisms from overwhelming their systems. To do that you need to draw from 100's of years of truth (that which is rational consistent and empirically verifiable). So now that I have had my rant. Do you think the naturalist paradigm (qualitative research) should be considered truth?

A research ethics review board is a group experienced researchers and ethicists who are responsible for ensuring that proposed research does not violate the rights of or harm any human subjects involved in the study. Most Universities have research ethics review boards on campus. There are also some government research ethics councils. In Canada all research involving human subjects must meet the ethical standards of the TCPS2 (Tri-council policy statement 2). I am not sure about the US but I am sure it is very similar. I am sure research ethics review board would help you clear up the SPAM question. The reason for standardized ethics review processes is to prevent horrible things from being done to people "in the name of science". If you google "tuskegee syphilis experiments" or "Stanford prison experiments" you will understand why ethics review is important. If you don't have social science research experience you may be best to seek out someone who can help you and who has the name, credentials or connections to publish credible results. It might be hard to find tenured researchers/professors who aren't busy with other projects but there are probably many prospective PhD students who are looking for a project like yours for their dissertation. You will want to take steps to protect your intellectual property so that you don't get Scooped (i.e. Professor Dillydally the sociologist tells you it is stupid idea and 3 months later publishes a paper on it, giving you no credit). Good luck! If you end up publishing a paper make sure you give me a shoutout in the acknowledgments section. Here are some links that might help clarify the Ethics Review process. http://www.pre.ethics.gc.ca/eng/index/ A great way to find scientists to help you would be to make an account on ResearchGate. It is like facebook for scientists. You can make an account, seek out the appropriate research partners and message them. https://www.researchgate.net/home.Home.html

I really like this. It is very creative and funny. You mentioned stolen land which invoked some thoughts about the racist policies in Canada. Consider the following scenario: You have a friend (Tom) who is completely naive to Canadian history and wishes to attend a Canadian University. You are helping him with scholarship applications when he notices that he is missing out on a considerable amount of scholarships and bursaries because he does not meet the genetic/racial requirements. Tom is appalled by what he sees because he comes from an advanced society that values race equality, he understands that race has nothing to do with job or academic performance. He is suddenly hesitant about coming to a Canadian University in fear of experiencing intense discrimination from these 'First Nations' people who he imagines must be Canada's majority race. He does not want to come to Canada anymore because he thinks he will have a difficult time finding a good job after graduation because of racial discrimination. He says, "Racism and bigotry must be rampant in Canada if schools, governments and scholarship donors openly favour people of certain genetic heritage." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wish the Canadian people could start over with a clean slate in which all people of all genders, sexualities and races were afforded equal opportunity. I understand that there has been some horrible things done in the past and that those actions, like residential schools, have contributed to disadvantage for first nations people. However, affirmative action may not be the solution. Affirmative action causes a positive feedback loop of racism within society; non-first nations people are envious of the small advantages afforded to first nations which intensifies racism. In response more affirmative action is applied to compensate for the intensified discrimination which only intensifies the envy and discrimination.

I need some clarification. Can you please define "cold-outreach emails"? I assume the "cold" just means that they are not a real person and isn't describing that callous or insensitive language was used in the emails. Were these outreach emails requesting jobs or business partnerships? I would also like to know more about your sample. If you are planning on publishing this study please do not feel pressured to prematurely disseminate your data. This certainly could be good evidence to imply favouritism of women. However, if you did not receive ethics approval from a research ethics review board before conducting your research the results may be discredited. I think this is an amazing social science research project, are you planning on publishing your results in an academic Journal?

Thank you Kurtis! You are totally right about my withholding from philosophical conversation. It is likely best for me to refrain from forcing such conversations on my co-workers and family but this forum can be a great escape for me. Last night I wrote my official resignation letter for the LDS church. I even went so far as to print it, sign it and seal it in an envelope addressed to LDS member records in Salt Lake City! I don't know if I have the guts to send it just yet though. The instructional website I used was www.mormonnomore.com which warns of the cascade of events that will follow sending the resignation letter. I can expect to be contacted by local church leaders who will want to dissuade me and although I have requested confidentiality I do not expect that my request will be honoured. My experience with the church has taught me that there is no such thing as confidentiality. When I was 18 my LDS friends and I frequented the bar scene. When one of them decided that they needed to confess there sins, even if they confessed to a different bishop, I would be summoned to an interview with my bishop because "the spirit" had told him I needed help. I have a strong feeling when member records informs my old bishop of my resignation "the spirit" will whisper to my family, my LDS employer, and my LDS volunteer Fire department chief (who also use to teach me in seminary). I am afraid I will be ostracized in almost all areas of my life and I don't want to lose out on the opportunities afforded me by LDS community members. I am very thankful for my summer job and my volunteer opportunities, they help me fund my education and make valuable contributions to my CV. If it weren't for them I would definitely not be living in the same small town I grew up in. Officially leaving the church is nothing more then a self awarded symbolic victory. My reason for leaving the church is simply because it isn't true and I do not want to associate myself with an organization founded and maintained by falsehoods. It is also self satisfying to not allow them to use my name to bolster their statistics. Name removal will also relieve some mild pestering from missionaries and "home teachers" reaching out to someone they think needs help, but that is only a mild annoyance. So, is it worth it? I feel like I am better to tough it out until I finish my undergraduate degree and no longer have any use for the opportunities this community offers. "You will break your poor mothers heart" is what my friend said on Sunday when I told her that I wanted to officially resign. I do not want to hurt my mother but I know any suffering my apostasy would cause is her own fault. That is my conundrum. I apologize for the lack of philosophical subject matter. Thank you for making me feel welcome Kurtis. PS: Feel free to critique my writing. I know it is bad and would love to improve.

My introduction: I am a young male in my 20's living in Canada with three years of undergraduate education under my belt. I listen to Freedomain Radio to escape the boredom of my summer job. Boredom includes the monotony of swing a hammer all day and also the distasteful conversation that goes along with the job. I can't wait for school to start again! My education: 1 year at University "A" while playing CJFL football. 2 years at College "A" completed and I now look forward to 2 more years at University "B" to complete my bachelors. I also possess an Emergency Medical Responder certificate and volunteer as such on the ambulance in my community. Why I love philosophy? In my undergrad program we are required to take one philosophy class called "ethics". That class made me fall in love with thought. My whole life until that class had been a storm of "just so" and "or else" morality, the exploration of ethical theories in that class both scared and fascinated me. ex-Mormon: I am technically not an ex-mormon yet. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints still has my name on their meticulous records and uses my data to bolster there member count and to pester me with visits from missionaries and home teachers. However, I am hesitant to send the official request for removal of membership because of my position in the community and my relationship with my family. My co-workers at my construction job are all active members and although they enjoy having philosophical discussions, if said discussions call into question anything related to the church all bets are off. For prudence sake I now avoid such topics. The discussions we have had about the existence of god, vaccine efficacy, and circumscision generally all end with something like, "Well, we cant anything know for certain, and my opinion is just as valid as your so called evidence." Which I am forced to accept because our power tools are not very useful for accessing online libraries and databases in order to verify any evidence cited. So thats fun, helps pass the time and we all end up happy because we are truly just arguing for the sake of managing boredom and there is no sense holding any grudges. So that is me in a nut shell. Thanks for welcoming me to the forum(s). -happytoexist