u10d1 Methodological Evaluation and Your Literature Review

For this discussion, examine your literature review, making note of the use of both quantitative
and qualitative methodology to investigate your research topic. Compose your discussion post as
follows:

Summarize how quantitative and qualitative methods have been used to investigate your
research topic. Which method has been used most often? Why do you think this is the
case?

If only one method (quantitative or qualitative) has been used to investigate your research
topic, explain why you think this is. How has the use of this method benefited the
research area? How has the lack of use of the other method limited it?

How have the methods used by the researchers in your research topic contributed to the
knowledge base and theories in your research area?

Ensure that your post includes proper APA citations. Provide an APA References list at the end of
your post.
Response Guidelines
Read your peers' discussion posts and respond to at least two of them. Ask questions of
clarification or interest and provide feedback on the substance of their posts. In addition, share
any relevant resources with your peers that might be helpful. Your responses are expected to be
substantive in nature and should reference the assigned readings, as well as other theoretical,
empirical, or professional literature to support your views.
1) Summarize how quantitative and qualitative methods have been used to investigate your
research topic.
The central research question for my research study is: Can stress and anxiety management be
predicted from pain in participants receiving Reiki energy healing treatments?
A. Qualitative research designs involving Reiki treatments:
I. One of the more significant mixed designs used a qualitative approach supported by
quantitative data to specifically examine the phenomenological experiences of 23 participants
following a 30 minute Reiki session intervention (Engebretson & Diane, 2002). A qualitative
thematic analysis was conducted using a randomized block design. A common theme among the

participants was the experience of a luminal state of awareness as a paradoxical inclusion of

waking consciousness and dreaming. Subjects described their paradoxical sensate and symbolic
experiences as transcending time, place and self resulting in a deep contemplative state of
relaxation which was further validated by quantitative data indicating a statistically significantly
decrease in systolic blood pressure and anxiety after treatment. Moreover, subjects described
feelings of energy circulating throughout their bodies during the treatment applications using
descriptors such as, surge, pulsing, or experiencing the sensation of a current of electricity.
In summary, the researchers concluded these luminal or altered states of consciousness
experienced by the participants as optimal conditions for healing often associated with similar
ritual healing practices across cultures.
II. Another qualitative research study on the effects of Reiki implemented a phenomenological
research design to explore the lived experience of nurses who practice Reiki for self care (Vitale,
2008). Interviews were conducted among 11 nurses using open-ended questions to explore their
experiences and perceptions of Reiki use for self-treatment. Thematic clusters were formed
around several emerging themes of daily stress management, self-healing, spirituality, and
interconnectedness of self, others and beyond. Participant results indicated that self-Reiki
treatment produced feelings of inner tranquility resulting in a greater facility for anxiety and
stress management.
III. Ring (2009) conducted a qualitative study to describe changes in patterned experiences and
develop a theoretical understanding and framework for these phenomenological changes. The
qualitative design is based upon the theory and conceptual framework of the science of unitary
human beings (SUHB) consisting of four fundamental postulates that define reality: energy
fields, openness, pattern and pandimensionality. The researcher defined the intent of nursing
based upon SUHB practice as essentially promoting the well being of the human and
environmental energy fields as desired and valued by the client (Ring, 2009, p. 251). A
purposeful sampling technique was implemented to recruit 11 participants (9 women, 2 men)
with various psychophysiological problems to receive a Reiki treatment. The participants
described their experiences as patterned affective and imaginal changes directly related to
inducements of Reiki bioenergy fields. Participants summarized their experiences as paradoxical
energy field effects of neutral and intense, warm and cool, speeding up and slowing down, and
transitioning into an embodiment of integrated pandimensional awareness supported by creative,
diverse and affective innervating waves of harmony and stillness of mind.
IV. Ellison (2012) developed a Reiki integrative intervention model as the basis for a qualitative
research study to investigate the synergistic effects of Reiki treatments on spiritual guidance
through the energetic integration of body, mind and soul. The sample size was small consisting
of only three participants. To elicit the narrative of each participant experience, pre and post
treatment, semi-structured and in-depth interviews were conducted, as well as group discussion.
Thematic analysis was collated and defined as receptivity, relationship and being. Results of the

study indicated that each participant discovered innate aspects of their spirituality with a renewed
sense of purpose and meaning.
B) Quantitative research on the efficacy of Reiki
Most of the research articles reviewed for my research study indicated use of experimental
designs with random assignment of participants among experimental and control groups (Potter,
2007; Tsang, Carlson & Olson, 2007; Vandervaart, Gijsen, Saskia, 2009; Richeson et al., 2010;
Shiflett et al., 2002). In addition, some research studies used pretest and posttest measures,
various valid statistical measures (e.g. Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Fatigue
subscale, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy, Edmonton Symptom Assessment System,
Annotated Mini Mental State, etc.) to ensure strong internal validity and robust nonparametric
testing when needed to minimize inherent threats to internal validity when recruiting small
sample sizes.
2) Which method has been used most often? Why do you think this is the case?
With the growing popularity and use of CAM treatments like Reiki (Miles & True, 2003), there
is currently a need for high quality and valid quantitative experimental research that will provide
causal inference and valuable scientific insights on the variable effectiveness of Reiki treatments.
Because of this current and urgent need for more valid experimental research to add to the
knowledge base, experimental designs have generally been the prominent design methodology
currently used for conducting Reiki research.
However, as evidenced in the qualitative literature review explicated above, a recent surge of
interest in qualitative research has sought to investigate the lived experience of Reiki
participants rooted in the descriptions of experiences, not explanations or analysis (Moustakas,
1994). Because Reiki treatment effects are often informed by an intuitive phenomenological
component, understanding the experiences of the participant may provide additional and
compelling evidence of its efficacy in promoting holistic healthcare. Of particular interest
among researchers is the qualitative exploration of the intuitive intentionality and experiences of
the participant during Reiki bioenergy treatments. Moustakas (1994) refers to the intentionality
of consciousness to describe the dualistic interplay between percept and concept, representing
the conscious relationship between the perceived reality of an event, object or concept and its
conceptual meaning within the conscious experience of the participant through the act of
intentionality. The eventual synthesis or composite of the final phenomenological research
report represents the essence of the unified vision or shared experience of the phenomena from
the perspectives of the participants.
3) How has the use of this method benefited the research area?

Its important to note that the chief obstacle this author has encountered in perusing extant
research literature on Reiki treatments is the exiguous amount of valid and reliable quantitative
experimental research designs currently available on the perceived efficacy of Reiki treatments
(Tsang, Carlson, Olson, 2007, Vandervaart, Gijsen, Saskia, 2009). Some clinical research studies
have indicated negligible results due to the quality of internal criteria such as inadequacy of
blinding, dropped data in laboratory studies, unreliability of outcome measures, rare use of
power estimations and confidence intervals, and lack of independent replication or external
validity (Cindy, Andrew, & Wayne, 2003). Moreover, some researchers have criticized Reiki
practitioners as clinically functioning in an exploratory mode (Tsang, Carlson, Olson, 2007;
Vandervaart, Gijsen, Saskia, 2009). Thus, there is an urgent need for valid quantitative
experimental research that will provide causal inference and valuable insights on the
effectiveness of Reiki treatments.
The growing knowledge base of quantitative experimental research on the efficacy of Reiki
treatments has remarkably increased over the past decade and provided causal inferential
evidence of the numerous therapeutic benefits of Reiki and added to the existing research
literature on complementary and alternative medicine. Most of the research articles reviewed
indicated use of experimental designs with random assignment of participants among
experimental and control groups (Potter, 2007; Tsang, Carlson & Olson, 2007; Vandervaart,
Gijsen, Saskia, 2009; Richeson et al., 2010; Shiflett et al., 2002). Moreover, a randomly assigned
controlled experiment is the scientifically preferred quantitative methodology to ensuring
statistical reliability and validity, free of biased estimates of the outcome effects of treatment and
control groups in an experimental design. According to Shadish, Cook & Campbell (2002),
random assignment increases an ability to handle attrition and maintain the validity of the
research study, when the time and obstacles between random assignment and treatment are
minimized.
4) How has the lack of use of the other method limited it?
Conversely, a lack of qualitative phenomenological research endeavors has limited researcher
access to substantive and groundbreaking qualitative data that may also assist practitioners in
understanding how to facilitate the promotion of positive attitudes towards the clinical practice
of the Reiki modality in the future. By holistically understanding Reiki clients perceptions and
attitudes of Reiki treatments through the essence of their lived experience, psychology
professionals will be informed and equipped to formulate and operationalize strategies to: 1)
inform potential clients of the positive and varied pandimensional and experiential aspects Reiki
treatment outcomes based upon substantive and valid qualitative research, and 2) extirpate
current negative connotations, viewpoints and stereotypes associated with Reiki. For Reiki
professionals, credible phenomenological research on the lived experiences of Reiki participants
provides valuable data to those who are curious, skeptical or misinformed regarding its efficacy.

5) How have the methods used by the researchers in your research topic contributed to the
knowledge base and theories in your research area?
A) Contribution of quantitative methodologies
Previous quantitative research studies have advanced the theoretical implications of Reiki
treatments by examining the positive therapeutic results of Reiki treatments in reducing
physiological and psychological dysfunction among a variety of homogenous sampling
populations with various illnesses and disorders (Richeson et al.; 2010, Gray, Tan, Pronk,
O'Connor, 2002; Crawford, Leaver & Mahoney, 2006; Tsang, Carlson, Olson, 2007). Cognitive
psychologists, counseling psychologists, and neuropsychologists will benefit most from these
research findings by further understanding how bio-energy is useful in 1) conceptualizing how
bioenergy innervates neural networks of information processing throughout cortical regions of
the brain to activate affective and behavioral correlates for positive outcomes, 2) determining
how cognitive and affective psychological constructs are functionally and intuitively related to
bioenergy healing and neuroscience, and 3) implementing useful counseling techniques and
methodologies coordinated with bioenergy treatments to elicit a more holistic and alternative
approach to healing the body, mind, soul.
B) Contribution of qualitative methodologies
From a philosophical perspective, phenomenological qualitative research is the antithesis of
empiricism and involves an inductive approach to excavating the what and how of the
participants lived experience. A phenomenological research design attempts to investigate,
understand and describe the common meaning of the lived experience of phenomena as it is
understood, explicated and articulated by the participants of the sample population (Moustakas,
1994). This process involves a researcher investigating the perceptions, perspectives and
understanding of a particular event, concept or situation only through the eyes of an individuals
experience. According to Moustakas (1994), the perception of the reality of an object is
ultimately dependent on the intersubjective reality of the individual.
The above qualitative research articles indicate the phenomenological experiences of Reiki
participants are holistic, cognitive and affective sensory experiences that represent the
embodiment of an integrated pandimensional awareness of self, others and beyond supported by
creative, diverse and affective innervating bioenergy waves described as an etheric, harmonious
and tranquil state of being. Participants descriptions of psychosomatic sensations of pulsating
energy like that of a current of electricity vividly capture and describe the phenomenological
essence of the non-invasive bio-effects of Reiki treatments that intuitively scaffolds its valid
healing and regenerative capabilities and positive contributions to various aspects of mental
health.

Anthony Rhodes
General Psychology PhD.
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