Health Research Designs

The research described was an evaluation for the project Change4Life convenience store program that was carried out in North East England. The projected championed for better access to fresh fruits and vegetables in stores. Consumption of fruit and vegetables is highly recommended for a healthy life but its consumption rate is below the recommended level. The consumption of these vital products is influenced by socio-economical patterns. Retailers are also positioned in convenient locations from where they can make a difference (Rudkin, 2015).

Research Questions

1. How was the fidelity of the intervention implementation through Change4Life project?
2. What was the variety, the price and quality levels of fresh fruit and vegetables in the intervention stores as compared to major supermarkets?
3. What were the motivating factors for retailers to engage in the research and what benefits did they expect to acquire from their participation?
4. What challenges contributed to making the intervention unsuccessful?
5. What were the effects of intervention of the sale of fresh fruits and vegetables on sales & profits levels, diet, and health?

Study Design

The most conspicuous design is the mixed-method research design. The mixed-method design, according to Tashakkori &Creswell (2007), entails assessment of real life scenarios using multi-level approaches. The design also intentionally applies quantitative research to examine the magnitude and frequency of variables. Qualitative research is also applied to explore and understand variables. The study then objectively rides on the strengths and weaknesses of both qualitative and quantitative methods to paint a holistic framework for interpreting and generating possible solutions or new dimensions of understanding the problem. The described research design perfectly fits our case and it was successfully utilized. 

Differences between Qualitative and Quantitative Research

A qualitative research can be described as one with the following characteristics according to Graneheim & Lundman (2004). First, the research is text based. It therefore means that the research is more narrative and did not undertake statistical tests. Further, Graneheim & Lundman (2004) disclose that qualitative research might entail methods such as focus groups, review of papers and book themes and also interviews. The main process used to shape the research is formulation of hypotheses which in turn will allow the problem at hand to be described and analyzed. The quality of the research is heavily dependent on the experience and expertise of the researcher. For instance, in the case considered, the quality of FFV in studied stores, and the feelings of the traders with regards to the intervention described by the researchers to them can be described as qualitative variables. 

On the other hand, a quantitative research can be described as based on numeric information with fixed responses on the part of the respondents according to Mugenda (1999). It is also noted by Mugenda (1999) that qualitative research uses pre-specified parameters which are then used to construct the hypothesis of the problem under study. The experience of the researcher is does not compromise the research quality especially if the measurement and analytical tools are correctly used. From the case under question, we can observe quantitative variables to include, purchase price, number of stores to be considered for the research, location of stores, presence of specific chilled cabinets and variety of the FFVs. 

Discussion

The study collected sufficient data to establish the fidelity of the intervention prevention.  Most of the convenience stores were found to be located in areas with limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables. The adoption and usage of the Change4Life branded equipment was found to be low. The chill cabinet was more widely adopted as the retailers were offered with partial financial funding. The point-of-sale equipment did not receive a wide adoption due to as most retailers claimed that they were less durable and replacements were unavailable (Adams et al, 2012).

The intervention sought to compare the prices, variety and quality of the fruits and vegetables in the intervention stores vis-à-vis the major supermarkets. Some stores involved in the study did not display their prices, and thus could not be included in the analysis. Most stores were found to stock core categories of fresh fruits and vegetable just like their counterparts in the major supermarket. The quality of these fruits and vegetables was of good quality. In comparison to the major supermarket, the prices of the fresh fruit and vegetables in the intervention stores were 10% higher (Rudkin, 2015).

Most participants in the study supported the aims of the intervention on health improvement. The study gathered enough data to provide evidence on the motivating factors for this support. Some retailers supported the intervention for the commercial interests such as funding on chill cabinet and the free point-sale-materials (Adams et al, 2012). On a handful of the research participants were identified as having no engagement with the intervention.

The research acquired sufficient data to address the issue of challenges facing the intervention. Most retailers noted that spoilage and wastage reduced their capacity to increase the range of fresh fruits and vegetables. There was noted a breakdown in communication between the retailers and the department of health team which affected the success of the project. The project’s point-of-sale equipment had a low adoption rate due to their unavailability of the replacements. The retailers lacked financial support to cover for wastage in the early stages (Adams et al, 2012).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Change4Life intervention program in increasing the retail access to fresh fruit and vegetables. To effectively handle the research questions, a mixed-method research design was used. The study effectively employed both qualitative and quantitative variables. The research unearthed major challenges that hindered the total success of the program such as poor linkage between the stakeholders.

References

Adams, J., Halligan, J., Watson, D., Ryan, V., Penn, L., Adamson, A., et al. (2012). The Change4Life Convinience Store Program to Increase Retail Access to Fresh Fruit and Vegateble: A Mixed Methods Process Evaluation.

Graneheim, U. H., & Lundman, B. (2004). Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: 

concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness. Nurse education today, 24(2), 105-112.

Mugenda, O. M. (1999). Research methods: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. African           

Centre for Technology Studies.

Rudkin, S. (2015). Supermarket Interventions and Diet in Areas of Limited Retail Access: Policy Suggestions from the Seacroft Intervention Study. Retrieved from https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/62434/

Tashakkori, A., & Creswell, J. W. (2007). Editorial: The new era of mixed methods. Journal of  mixed methods research, 1(1), 3-