The PICOT research question “In smokers aged 25-65 years who use nicotine (P) are electronic cigarettes (I) as compared to smoking cessation therapies (C) more effective at leading to smoking cessation (O) over one year (T)?” can be based answered by the qualitative research done by a UK qualitative research by Hajek et al. who researched to establish the effectiveness of using E-cigarettes over nicotine replacement therapy as a smoking cessation mechanism (Hajek et al., 2019). The research involved 886 participants who were active smokers who had attempted to quit smoking from but were unsuccessful. The participants were divided randomly into the NRT and the e-cigarette group. The NRT arm was given an NRT product of their choice, while the e-cigarette group was given an e-cigarette starter park (Hajek et al., 2019). After one year of monitoring, it was established that the e-cigarette group experienced fewer withdrawal symptoms and had a higher rate of quitters compared to the NRT group.
Based on the value of the research, there are several benefits of conducting qualitative research. Firstly, the research result obtained is mainly based on human experience, thus more satisfying and compelling than quantitative research (Bush & Amechi, 2019). Secondly, qualitative research tends to examine the discussion topic in more detail and depth, thus providing accurate research results. Thirdly, qualitative research offers room for the further development of hypotheses which may be essential for the development of quantitative research (Coleman, 2022). Fourthly, the researcher has the freedom to manipulate the participants to conform to his research design. For instance, he can group them into different groups that can be evaluated to determine the expected results. Qualitative research also enables the researcher to identify the complexities associated with the research and develop mechanisms to deal with such complexities in future research.
References
Bush, A. A., & Amechi, M. H. (2019). Conducting and presenting qualitative research in pharmacy education. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, 11(6), 638-650.
Coleman, P. (2022). Validity and Reliability within Qualitative Research for the Caring Sciences. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 14(3), 2041-2045.
Hajek, P., Phillips-Waller, A., Przulj, D., Pesola, F., Myers Smith, K., Bisal, N.,… & McRobbie, H. J. (2019). E-cigarettes compared with nicotine replacement therapy within the UK Stop Smoking Services: the TEC RCT. Health technology assessment, 1-108.