Understanding quantitative research: part 1

Part three: The quantitative approach

The previous articles in this series have explored the need for perioperative practitioners to select a research approach that supports the aims of the study to be undertaken (Quick & Hall 2015a,b). The quantitative approach is considered by some authors to be 'the epitome of the scientific approach' (Meadows 2003) and this article, the third in a series, aims to give an overview of this model.

Part one: An introduction to the research process

Research modules have become a common inclusion to graduate healthcare programmes. To the novice researcher, undertaking a study or dissertation can appear daunting. This article is the first of a series of four that aims to help perioperative practitioners feel more positive about undertaking a project by examining the research process and the theoretical frameworks of qualitative and quantitative approaches. The final of the four articles provides advice on writing a dissertation.

Scholarly Productivity in Rehabilitation Counseling

As with most disciplinary areas in the realm of academe, the prestige of rehabilitation counseling has always been assessed by a faculty’s research productivity, which is determined by the frequency of publications in the leading peer-reviewed journals. The purpose of the present study was to appraise peer-reviewed publication venues, order of authorship, article types, research productivity of scholars, and their affiliated programs in the field of rehabilitation counseling. A total of 1,855 peer-reviewed articles from seven major rehabilitation-related journals over a 10-year period (2000 to 2009) were investigated. Results revealed disparities in research productivity between minority-serving institutions and White-dominant institutions, and also between teaching-oriented institutions and research-oriented institutions. The authors also found a positive correlation between an institution’s research productivity ranking and its U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools ranking. Toward the conclusion, suggestions for future research on scholarly productivity are provided.