| Course | RES 6013 Research Methods |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 4 |
| Paper type | Sampling and data collection plan |
| Length | 1,260 words, about 5 pages plus title and reference pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | American College of Education |
| Program | Ed.D. and DBA doctoral core |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for RES 6013 Module 4
Who to Ask and How: A Sampling and Data Collection Plan for Both Phases of a Mixed Methods Study of Early Departures Among Newly Licensed Nurses at Three Small Hospitals in Rural Georgia
Student Name
American College of Education
RES6013: Research Methods
Module 4 Assignment
Instructor Name
November 2, 2026
Introduction
The exploratory sequential design chosen in Module 3 has two phases with different sampling logics. The interview phase needs a small group chosen for the range of experience it holds; the survey phase needs a larger group from which associations can be estimated. This paper sets out who will be included in each phase, how they will be found and invited, how many are needed and why, how data will be collected and how the plan protects quality, with particular attention to the hardest group to reach: nurses who have already left.
Phase 1: Population and Inclusion Criteria
Phase 1 participants will be registered nurses who were hired as newly licensed nurses at one of the three study hospitals between January 2023 and December 2025. Two groups will be included: stayers, who remained employed at the hiring hospital for at least 12 months, and leavers, who left within 12 months for any reason other than termination for cause. Nurses terminated for cause are excluded because their departures were not their own decision and would answer a different question. Nurses who transferred within the system count as stayers, matching the definition of first-year departure set in Module 2.
Phase 1: Sampling Strategy and Size
The interviews will use purposeful sampling, picking people for what they can tell us rather than to mirror the population statistically. Palinkas et al. (2015) described several purposeful strategies used in mixed methods research and noted that maximum variation sampling, which seeks a wide range of cases on key dimensions, helps identify both shared patterns and important differences. I will seek variation on four dimensions: stayer or leaver, hospital, unit type and whether the nurse grew up in the county where the hospital sits.
The target is 16 to 20 interviews, about half stayers and half leavers. Guest et al. (2006), analyzing 60 interviews in a study of their own, found that the large majority of their final codes were already present after 12 interviews. Because my sample is split into two groups whose experiences may differ, I plan for at least 8 in each and will continue until three consecutive interviews in each group add no new codes, recording that judgment in the audit trail. Saturation, not a fixed number, will end recruitment.
Phase 1: Recruiting Nurses Who Left
Stayers are easy to reach; leavers are not. If only stayers agree to talk, the study will hear mostly from the nurses whose reasons matter least to the problem. Three steps address this. First, the system's human resources office, not I, will send invitations to leavers at the last address and email on file, so that no one feels pressed by a former supervisor's request. Second, invitations will offer telephone or video interviews at any hour, since many leavers now work night shifts elsewhere. Third, each participant will receive a $40 gift card for an hour of time, an amount the IRB will review to ensure it is not coercive. Snowball referrals from leavers to other leavers will be accepted if needed.
Phase 1: Data Collection
Interviews will be semi-structured, lasting 45 to 60 minutes, recorded with permission and transcribed verbatim. The protocol opens with a broad question, asking the nurse to describe her first weeks on the unit, followed by questions on relationships with preceptors and coworkers, workload and scheduling, life in the community and, for leavers, the moment the decision to leave took shape. Prompts will invite stories rather than ratings. Field notes written within an hour of each interview will record context and my reactions, feeding the reflexive journal described in Module 3.
Phase 2: Population and Sample Size
Phase 2 widens the population to newly licensed registered nurses hired at small rural hospitals across south Georgia, using the same bed-size and rural-county definition set in Module 2. Rather than draw a random sample from a list that does not exist, the study will invite every newly licensed nurse hired at participating hospitals during a 12-month window, a census of new hires at those sites.
The required size follows from the planned analysis. Logistic regression of first-year departure needs about 10 departures for each parameter estimated, the guideline Peduzzi et al. (1996) derived from simulation. If the qualitative phase yields five factors to test, about 50 departures are needed. At a departure rate near the 27% seen at the study hospitals, that means about 185 nurses with complete 12-month follow-up. Allowing for a 65% survey response rate, about 285 new hires must be invited, which will likely require recruiting 15 to 20 hospitals.
Phase 2: Data Collection
The survey will be sent by email at each nurse's six-month anniversary, with two reminders a week apart, and will take about 15 minutes. It will combine items built from the Phase 1 themes with established scales where available, along with demographic and work questions. Employment status at 12 months will come from each hospital's human resources office through a data-sharing agreement, matched to survey responses by a code so that survey answers never reach the employer. Nurses who leave between the survey and 12 months will still count, since their status is recorded by the hospital.
Protecting Data Quality
Several steps guard the quality of both data sets. For the interviews, I will pilot the protocol with two nurses outside the study, both newly licensed in the past two years, and revise any question that draws short or rehearsed answers. Transcripts will be checked against recordings before coding begins. For the survey, the pilot with about 30 nurses described in Module 3 will test clarity, timing and internal consistency, and items that confuse respondents or fail to hang together with their scale will be revised or dropped. Nonresponse will be tracked by hospital and unit type, and if response falls well below 65% at any hospital, a short follow-up will compare responders and nonresponders on records the hospital already holds, such as unit and shift.
Storing and Securing the Data
Recordings will be deleted once transcripts are verified, and transcripts will use pseudonyms, with the key linking names and pseudonyms kept in a separate encrypted file. Survey data will be collected through the university's licensed survey platform, and the code linking survey answers to 12-month employment status will be held only by me, never by the hospitals. All files will sit on encrypted, password-protected storage, and the plan for keeping or destroying them after the study will follow the IRB's requirements, which Module 5 sets out in full.
How the Two Samples Relate
Phase 1 participants will be excluded from Phase 2, since they helped shape the survey and their answers could be colored by the interview. The two samples are drawn from overlapping populations but serve different purposes: the first to discover, the second to estimate. The integration in Module 3's joint display depends on that difference, because a theme that appears in interviews and also predicts departure across 185 nurses carries more weight than either finding alone.
Conclusion
Phase 1 will use maximum variation purposeful sampling, ending at saturation, with special steps to reach nurses who left. Phase 2 will invite all new hires at participating small rural hospitals, sized by the events-per-variable rule to support a logistic model. Module 5 addresses the ethical protections both phases require and assembles the proposal outline. Throughout, the plan favors steps a busy hospital can actually carry out.
References
Guest, G., Bunce, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods, 18(1), 59-82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903
Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2015). Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method implementation research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 42(5), 533-544. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-013-0528-y
Peduzzi, P., Concato, J., Kemper, E., Holford, T. R., & Feinstein, A. R. (1996). A simulation study of the number of events per variable in logistic regression analysis. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 49(12), 1373-1379. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0895-4356(96)00236-3
The RES 6013 Module 4 assignment instructions
In most sections, the fourth module of RES 6013 asks students to plan who will be studied and how data will be gathered. You will usually define the population and inclusion and exclusion criteria, choose and justify a sampling strategy, state a sample size with a rationale, describe recruitment and explain the data collection procedures and instruments. For mixed methods studies, each phase needs its own plan. Strong papers anticipate practical obstacles, such as hard-to-reach groups, low response rates or insider access, and explain how the plan handles them rather than assuming every invited person will take part. Plans for piloting, nonresponse and data security are often expected as well, even in short papers.
How the RES 6013 Module 4 example is put together
The paper sets out inclusion and exclusion criteria for interview participants, with reasons for excluding nurses terminated for cause. It explains maximum variation purposeful sampling on four dimensions and adapts saturation evidence to a two-group sample. A recruitment section addresses the hardest group, nurses who left, through third-party invitations, flexible scheduling and a modest incentive. The interview procedures follow. For the survey, it explains a census of new hires and works through the sample size from the logistic model's needs and an expected response rate, then the survey's timing and how answers are linked to employment records. Sections on piloting, nonresponse checks and secure storage close the plan before the two samples are compared.
RES 6013 Module 4 rubric: what full marks look like
Sampling plans are typically scored on fit with the design, justification of size, feasibility and attention to bias. Graders expect a clearly defined population with criteria, a named sampling strategy suited to each phase and sample sizes justified by saturation evidence or power and analysis requirements. Recruitment and data collection steps should be specific enough to follow. Anticipating who may be missed and planning to reach them demonstrates rigor. Showing how the samples in a mixed methods study relate to each other, and why, separates excellent papers from competent ones. Specific plans for piloting instruments and for securing data add further credit, because they show the study could actually be run.
Common RES 6013 Module 4 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Sampling sections often state a number without explaining where it came from, or describe recruitment as if everyone invited will respond. If justifying a qualitative sample, sizing a survey for your analysis or reaching a hard-to-find group is the problem, our writers can help. Describe your design and the people you hope to reach, attach the prompt, and the sampling plan we write will fit your own population. The same approach works for patient surveys in health administration or employee studies in business. Response rates and attrition are worked into the numbers. Pilot testing, nonresponse checks and data security plans are included, written for your own setting and IRB.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official American College of Education document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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RES 6013 Module 4 questions, answered
What does RES6013 Module 4 usually ask for?
The fourth RES6013 module typically asks for a sampling and data collection plan: the population, inclusion criteria, sampling strategy, sample size with a rationale, recruitment and the procedures for collecting data.
What is maximum variation sampling?
A purposeful sampling strategy that deliberately seeks participants who differ on key dimensions, so that both shared patterns and important differences come to light.
How do I justify a qualitative sample size?
Explain your design and analysis, cite research on saturation and state how you will decide that saturation has been reached rather than relying only on a fixed number.
Where can I find a free RES 6013 Module 4 sample paper?
The full Module 4 plan appears above: interview and survey sampling for a mixed methods study of new nurse turnover in small rural hospitals.
Should interview participants also take the survey?
In an exploratory sequential study they are usually excluded, because they helped shape the survey and their responses could be influenced by the interview.