Examples Of Evidence-Based Decision-Making

Evidence-Based Decision Making and Discovery

| Quantitative | Qualitative | Similarities | Collects and analyzes data | Collects and analyzes data | | Try to figure out why people act as they do | Try to figure out why people act as they do | | Intent: Unbiased and valid | Intent: Unbiased and valid | | Seek to find the richest data from the situation | Seek to find the richest data from the situation | | Starts with a question of interest | Starts with a question of interest | Differences | Collects data that is expressed mathematically | Collects data that is expressed non-mathematically. Uses symbolic representations | | Uses data that is associated with quantity | Uses data in the descriptive nature | | More
One example of a scientific discovery using evidence resulting from the experiment is Ernest Rutherford’s labs test to see if an atom’s positive mass is spread out diffusely by firing an alpha particle beam through a piece of gold foil (Caldwell, 2008). In this experiment the evidence showed that the majority of the alpha particles bounced back in the opposite direction as if they struck something dense. If the alpha particles were not dense then they would have passed through the foil, so the evidence showed that the atoms positive charge was actually dense and located in its core or nucleus. This evidence showed that Rutherford’s snowball model of the atom was incorrect. Another example is the University of Arizona Medical Center using their evidence based approach to create a business plan that allows the nurse executives to present a plan with a clear goal so that scientific discoveries can be made, this is done by forecasting the needs of organization, evaluation, and the use of qualitative and quantitative research. Scientific discoveries are needed to continue the advancement of our medical