Survey Research Strengths

Research Design: Survey Research Strengths

Elder abuse and neglect in nursing homes or any other setting is a delicate topic and the use of a questionnaire can keep the participant and their answers confidential (Leedy & Ormrod, 2013). In addition, a variety of elder abuse research articles that have been read had used some type of survey, questionnaire, telephone or in-person interview (Anetzberger, 2012, Castle, 2012, Castle, Ferguson-Rome, & Teresi, 2015, & Payne & Fletcher, 2005). Therefore, the use of a survey will allow for answers that are more honest from the nursing home administrators and/or authorities on this delicate topic. Consequently, the use of the survey research design will allow the respondents to provide close-ended

answers that are easily tabulated and analyzed, as well as the ability to provide some open-ended responses in order, to disclose more detail in their responses.

As a result, the responses can be content analyzed for similar patterns in the responses that will then have the ability to be quantified (Payne & Fletcher, 2005). Overall, the use of a survey will ensure confidentiality on this delicate topic while shedding light on elder abuse and the laws or policies that are implemented to protect the vulnerable population that reside in nursing homes. After all, the residents and members of their families expect to be safe from harm or neglect while residing in a nursing home. As a result, it is essential that nursing home policies and/or practices assure protection to their residents (Payne & Flecther, 2005). Therefore, the use of the survey research design may not have responses by every administrator or law enforcement within the selected nine counties in Ohio, however, the administrators and/or law enforcement that wish to see changes or provide safe

havens for the residents will participate in the study.
After, more research in the PsychTESTS database elder abuse tools were found that highlighted different aspects of elder abuse such as awareness, indicators, and assessment.

Therefore, while performing the research two survey tools were found that are available for use at no cost for research or teaching, which are the Attitude Scales on Elder Mistreatment and the Multidimensional Elder Abuse Questionnaire (Daniels et al., 1999 & Almogue et al., 2010). The Attitude Scales on Elder Mistreatment was developed and tested surveying the law officers in Alabama this survey measured the knowledge of law enforcement on elder abuse, the elder abuse laws, and the reporting requirements of elder abuse, and the number of cases observed or reported (Daniels et al., 1999). In addition, this tool is a 25 item questionnaire that measures the knowledge of law enforcement regarding elder abuse, financial exploitation, and neglect with the factor reliabilities after the testing on Alabama police officers ranging from .594 to .924 (Daniels et al., 1999). Overall, the survey tool seems to be a fit to use if law enforcement is surveyed for the envisioned topic, as it should adjust to the state of Ohio instead of Alabama.

The Multidimensional Elder Abuse Questionnaire developed by Almogue et al. (2010) is a 28-item questionnaire that was initially developed in Israel to measure the knowledge of medical and nursing staff toward elder abuse. However, the questionnaire has been retranslated to the

English language and a few questions are about Israel law (Almogue et al., 2010), which will need changed to Ohio laws if the instrument is used for the nursing home administrators in Ohio. Consequently, the report found in PsychTESTS does not have any valid or reliability measurements on this survey tool.
Finally, the survey tool used in Payne & Flecther's (2005) article regarding elder abuse in nursing homes and the prevention and resolution strategies seems like a great fit for the envisioned topic. However, the article only shows four questions that were used in the survey and the author has been contacted for the full survey, which Mr. Payne is currently looking for the electronic format of the survey unless I find the format in another article he has written. The survey tool used in this study was sent to four hundred nursing home administrator from Alabama, Colorado, New York, and California with a response rate of 19.5 percent because only 76 completed surveys were returned (Payne & Fletcher, 2005). However, since elder abuse is a delicate topic a low response rate is expected and low response rates have been found in other studies regarding elder abuse in nursing homes (Payne & Fletcher, 2005). In addition, I am currently still looking for the other articles that may contain the entire survey tool to determine if it is an actual good fit for the envisioned research topic. Although, there are benefits to the survey research design because more administrators can be reached at minimal costs and the responses can be kept confidential there are also some weaknesses.
Research Design: Survey Research Weaknesses
There is a variety of limitations to the survey research design (Mrug, 2010). Therefore, one of the limitations would be if the local law enforcement or the nursing home administrators interpret the questions in the survey differently than the intended purpose (Mrug, 2010). However, I believe this can be kept to a minimal level if I enclose my contact information with a cover letter or on the consent form before the start of participation in the study. Therefore, if any participant has a concern or question regarding the study or questions on the survey tool then they can feel free to reach out to me and I will gladly assist them.
In addition, since elder abuse and neglect is a sensitive topic some of the nursing home administrators or local law enforcement may not want to provide accurate answers for the research (Mrug, 2010). However, the fact that the responses are confidential and no names or institutional names will be provided in the data results will be stressed at the beginning of the study in hopes that the law enforcement and the nursing home administrators will provide accurate answers.
Finally, another limitation or weakness to the survey research design for the envisioned topic is the possibility that there will be a low response rate. However, studies cited in other published articles regarding elder abuse in nursing homes or assisted living facilities has also have low response rate due to the delicate topic. As a result, initially intended to sent questionnaires out to a variety of nursing homes and/or law enforcement agencies throughout Ohio then thought I was told on one assignment that, that would be too much data to collect. Therefore, thought about narrowing the nursing homes down to only Jefferson County, Ohio but that will include only 10 nursing homes and there is no guarantee that administrators from all 10 nursing homes will participate in the research study. Consequently, I decided now to send a survey to every nursing home located with the same region of Ohio as Jefferson County, which will include a total of 9 counties and 51 nursing homes. In addition, the sheriff's department in every county will be sent a questionnaire as well to obtain more knowledge on the elder abuse cases reported and/or what happens to the nursing homes. However, if nine sheriff's department is a too small sample to use then a questionnaire could also be sent to the local police departments within the nine counties in order, to increase the response rate from the local law enforcement authorities. Consequently, the survey could be used on the Sheriff of the department and fellow deputies that may specialize in elder abuse cases or the local Police Chiefs and fellow deputies of the police departments. As a result, this will also increase the response rate from the local authorities.
Survey Research Design: Highlights for Envisioned Topic
The survey research design is applied to the purpose of the study by mailing or emailing a survey to nursing home administrators from nine counties in Ohio and local law enforcement. At this point, it seems that there will be a developed tool to use for the survey research design and no survey development or pilot testing will be necessary. As a result, the survey research design will allow for interpretation of the prevalence of elder abuse and neglect cases in selected nursing homes and the ability to analyze and discover what, if any, consequences the selected nursing homes received if elder abuse or neglect cases are found in the nursing home. Overall, the results are quantified in order, to determine the pattern of consequences received by the selected nursing homes if abuse or neglect cases are found. As a result, the results will show what consequences are used most frequently and if there is a pattern of the consequence for the type of elder abuse or neglect. In addition, the use of a mail or email survey may result in accurate answers compared to face-to-face or telephone due to interviewer or responder bias during a face-to-face interview, the administrator or law enforcement may want to tell me in person what I would want to hear or what protocols should be in place. Consequently, the data of abuse or neglect complaints can be found online from the Local Long - Term Care Ombudsmen Reporting System and/or the Medicaid Fraud Unit on the Ohio Attorney General's website to see if the particular nursing homes have had recent neglect or abuse complaints filed.