LactApp Dataset for a Sequential Explanatory Mixed-Methods Evaluation in Nursing Education
Description
This dataset supports the MethodsX manuscript titled “A Sequential Explanatory Mixed-Methods Approach for Evaluating Mobile Health Tools in Nursing Education.” It is based on a mixed-methods evaluation of LactApp as a mobile health learning resource for nursing students during maternal and child health clinical education. The repository includes the published quantitative and qualitative data structures used in the study, including participant demographics, pre- and post-intervention distributions of breastfeeding knowledge, attitudes, and practices, perceived effectiveness, barriers and facilitators, item-level paired-samples t-test results, the final questionnaire, qualitative themes and illustrative quotations, and a mixed-methods integration matrix. It also includes the stepwise methodological workflow, data dictionary, original coding scheme, instrument-development history, and a comparison between the earlier proposed design and the final implemented sequential explanatory design. The quantitative phase involved 135 nursing students who completed baseline and post-intervention assessments after three months of LactApp use. The qualitative phase involved 15 students who participated in semi-structured interviews to explain and contextualize the quantitative findings. The qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis and integrated with the quantitative results through mixed-methods interpretation. No participant-level raw responses or identifiable information have been reconstructed or included where these were not available from the original study materials. Blank templates are provided for authorized de-identified raw quantitative and qualitative data if future repository updates are permitted under the original ethics approval and consent conditions. The dataset is intended to support transparency, methodological replication, secondary methodological analysis, and adaptation of sequential explanatory mixed-methods approaches for evaluating mobile health tools in nursing education.
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Steps to reproduce
The data were generated from a sequential explanatory mixed-methods study evaluating LactApp as a mobile health educational resource for nursing students in Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines. In the quantitative phase, 135 second-, third-, and fourth-year nursing students were recruited through stratified random sampling. Sample size was estimated using G*Power 3.1 with an effect size of 0.25, α = 0.05, and power = 0.80. Participants completed a paper-and-pencil pre-test assessing breastfeeding knowledge, attitudes, practices, perceived effectiveness of LactApp, and barriers/facilitators. They then used LactApp for three months during maternal and child health and community clinical learning activities, followed by administration of the same post-test. The questionnaire was developed by the researchers and pilot-tested among 30 nursing students. The overall Cronbach’s alpha was 0.81, with section coefficients of 0.75 for knowledge, 0.82 for attitudes, 0.78 for practices, 0.80 for perceived effectiveness, and 0.79 for barriers/facilitators. Content validity was reviewed by maternal-child nursing clinical instructors and year-level coordinators. Quantitative data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 29. Descriptive statistics summarized participant characteristics and responses, while paired-samples t-tests compared pre- and post-intervention results at p < 0.05. In the qualitative phase, 15 students, five from each year level, participated in 20–30-minute semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis. Member checking, multiple coders, discussion of coding discrepancies, an audit trail, and triangulation were used to strengthen trustworthiness. Quantitative and qualitative findings were integrated during interpretation to explain changes in knowledge, confidence, usability, clinical application, implementation barriers, curriculum integration, and cultural considerations. The study received ethics approval from the Angeles University Foundation Ethics Review Committee (2024-CON-Faculty-004).
Institutions
- Angeles University FoundationCentral Luzon, Angeles City