Final Flashcards
research
systematic inquiry that validates and refines existing knowledge, and developing new ones
nursing research
- scientific process that validates and refines existing knowledge regarding nursing practice
- also generates new knowledge
what is EBP?
clinical nursing practice that promotes quality, safe, and cost-effective outcomes
characteristics of quantitative research
- uses large numbers, surveys, data, questionnaires, and positivism
- deductive reasoning
- closed questions
- tests theories
characteristics of qualitative research
- use of words, small sample, focus groups, in-depth analysis
- open-ended questions
- develops theory
- inductive reasoning
positivist philosophy
all genuine knowledge is true by definition
inductive reasoning
reasoning that moves from a specific knowledge to the general theory
(induces new theories that stem from specific scenarios)
deductive reasoning
formation of a general theory to a particular situation or conclusion
(deduction to specifics)
example of deductive reasoning
knowing that narcotics cause respiratory depression –> a patient will have that side effect when they take it
types of qualitative research
- phenomenological research
- grounded theory
- ethnographic research
- exploratory-descriptive research
- historical research
phenomenological research
an inductive research approach used to describe an experience as it is lived by an individual
lived experience of chronic pain
grounded theory
an inductive research technique used to formulate, test, and refine a theory about a particular phenomenon
ethnographic research
investigates cultures through an in-depth study of the members of that culture
what is the role of BSN nurses in research?
they critique studies, conduct EBP with guidance, and assist in research
what are the goals of conducting research?
devise a description of the problem, explanation of its cause, prediction of its patterns, and a control that draws the outcome
what are the strategies for research synthesis?
- systematic review
- meta-analysis
- meta-synthesis
- mixed-methods
systematic review
identify, select, critically appraise, and synthesize research evidence
meta-analysis
determines the effect of an intervention by pooling the results from several previous studies using statistical analysis
meta-synthesis
compilation and integration of qualitative studies
what is the goal of quantitative research?
explain the relationships between variables while predicting an outcome from those relationships
what are the types of quantitative research?
- experimental
- quasi-experimental
- correlational
- descriptive
what does descriptive research entail?
discovery of new meaning, along with description and exploration of phenomena in real-life situations
what does correlational research present?
the type and strength of the relationship between two or more variables
no cause and effect
what does quasi-experimental research present?
cause and effect relationships between variables
what is the most common scenario where quasi-experimental is used?
implementing treatments and examining the relationship between the outcome and intervention
why is quasi-experimental research not ideal for settings that are nonpractical and one with ethical implications?
it examines human behavior & natural human responses
define control
it is the imposing of rules to decrease possibility of error and increase accuracy of findings
what are the types of settings for quantitative research?
- natural/ field (home, playground)
- partially controlled (community clinics)
- highly controlled/ lab (research unit, lab, ICU)
what are the components of research reports?
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
Reference list
example of a partially controlled setting
community clinics
examples of highly controlled settings
research units, lab, ICU
how is rigor achieved in qualitative research?
- openness
- adherence to a philosophical perspective
- thoroughness in collecting data
- consideration of all data in subjective theory development phase
what is the primary purpose of literature review in quantitative studies?
- gain a broad understanding of information available
- describe current knowledge of topic (address the gaps)
- present the rationale of the research purpose
what are the things the methods section of a research report describe?
- design sample (and the process for obtaining it)
- measurement methods
- treatment
- data collection process
- list of statistical analyses conducted
what does the discussion section of the research report provide?
a comparison of synthesized findings with other studies by interpreting differences, and identifying limitations & implications
primary source
written by the original creator of the idea that was published
secondary source
summarizes the content from the primary source (meta analysis report)
what are the top most trusted databases for nursing research?
- PubMed
- CINHAL
what are the 3 elements of EBP?
- best research evidence
- clinical expertise
- patient’s circumstances & values
what does the NINR offer to nursing researchers?
offers grants to researchers at any point in their careers from the treatment of illness to include health promotion and illness prevention.
funding for disease treatment & prevention, and health promotion
define basic research
pure research that is only involved in the lab
what does applied research entail?
- problem solving in clinical practice
- studies the effects of an intervention
- applies findings on real patients
what are the challenges of a mixed-method design?
- funding
- combining qualitative & quantitative data
- resources
what do mixed-method researchers capitalize on to produce more robust findings?
the strengths of numbers and words to answer different components or stages of a research question
what are three foci of evaluation in appraising the quality of healthcare?
according to Donabedian’s Theory
- structure (where care is provided)
- process (how is was provided)
- outcome
evaluated over the course of a specific timeframe
what does power mean in research?
the probability that a statistical test will detect a significant difference
validity is a result of accuracy
true
reliability is a result of consistency
true
define normal curve
it is the theoretical frequency distribution of all possible values in a population
mode, mean, and median are equal in a normal distribution curve
true
examples of direct measures
- weight
- BP
- O2 sat
- temperature
examples of indirect measures
- pain
- depression
- coping
- self-care
- self-esteem
- anxiety levels
- feelings
what are the types of measurement errors?
- systematic
- random
what is a random measurement error?
measured values & true value have no clear pattern
what is a systematic measurement error?
the variation in measurement values is primarily in the same direction
what value is the lowest acceptable coefficient for a well-developed measurement tool?
≥ 0.80
what are physiological measures?
these are measurement methods that are used to quantify the level of functioning of human beings
define sensitivity
the proportion of patients with a disease who have a positive screening test
define specificity
proportion of patients without a disease who have a negative screening test
what is the Likert Scale designed for?
to determine the opinions or attitudes of study subjects
“most / least likely; somewhat”
what is the Visual Analog Scale used for?
to measure the strength, magnitude, or intensity of subjective feelings
levels of evidence
Level 1
- systematic review
- meta-analysis
levels of evidence
Level 2
- RCT
- experimental study
levels of evidence
Level 3
quasi-experimental study
levels of evidence
Level 4
- mixed-methods review
- qualitative meta-synthesis
levels of evidence
Level 5
- descriptive correlational
- predictive correlational
- cohort studies
levels of evidence
Level 6
- descriptive study
- qualitative study
levels of evidence
Level 7
opinions of experts and authorities
how is the sampling frame formed?
by using the sampling criteria to define membership in the population
what is a sampling plan?
an outline of strategies used to obtain a sample for a study
nonprobability sampling is the least likely to produce generalizable findings
true
example of inductive reasoning
a patient starts having dyspnea after administering narcotics –> narcotics cause respiratory depression
what are the types of probability sampling?
- simple random sampling
- stratified random sampling
- cluster sampling
- systematic sampling
what is simple random sampling?
- the most basic of the probability sampling plans
- achieved by randomly selecting elements from the sampling frame
how can simple random sampling be achieved?
by randomly selecting elements from the sampling frame
in what situation is stratified random sampling used?
when the researcher knows some of the variables in the population are important for representativeness
what are examples of variables used in stratification?
- diagnosis
- age
- gender
- race
- socioeconomic status
when is cluster sampling best used?
- it is necessary to obtain a geographically dispersed sample
- the researcher cannot identify the individual elements (unable to develop a sampling frame)
what does cluster sampling entail?
a list of all states, cities, institutions, or clinicians that elements of the identified population can be linked with
what does systematic sampling entail?
an ordered list of all members of the population is available
what is the process involved with systematic sampling?
selecting every nth individual on the list, with a starting point randomly selected
what does it mean if the starting point is not random?
the sample is a nonprobability or nonrandom sample
what does *nonprobability sampling *entail?
not every element of a population has an opportunity to be selected for a study sample (least likely to be generalized)
what are the types of nonprobability sampling?
- convenience sampling
- quota sampling
- purposive sampling
- network sampling
- theoretical sampling
what can convenience sampling provide in research?
a means to conduct studies on nursing interventions when researchers cannot use probability sampling methods
what does convenience sampling entail?
- provides little opportunity to control biases
- opportunistic in selecting participants for a study
accidental sampling
what does quota sampling entail?
ensures the inclusion of participant types likely to be underrepresented in the convenience sample
what does purposeful sampling entail?
researcher consciously selects their sample to include in the study
what does network sampling entail?
locating participants for a study is difficult & thus takes advantage of social networks
what is network sampling most useful for?
finding participants from socially devalued populations
what is theoretical sampling used for?
developing a selected theory or model
what are the characteristics of the data that theoretical sampling needs?
- generates
- delimits
- saturates
theoretical codes in the study are needed for theory generation
how does saturation occur?
when additional sampling provides no new information
define effect size
the extent to which the null or statistical hypothesis is false
