Final Exam - 3

Question 1

Why would a nurse researcher decide to include a refereed journal as part of the literature review?

Answer 1

The articles are critiqued by a panel of internal and external reviewers.

Question 2

The nurse researcher is designing a research study and is considering an experimental design. Which research activity can be expected to increase the control of a study with an experimental design?

Answer 2

Establishing strict subject selection criteria

Question 3

How could a nurse researcher’s use of a homogeneous population of subjects in a research study weaken that study?

Answer 3

Decreased generalizabilty of the findings

Question 4

Which title is most indicative of a longitudinal study?

Answer 4

Change in self-esteem over time among women participating in a weight-loss support group

Question 5

A nurse researcher wants to study the effect of a nutritional educational intervention on weight loss in obese adolescents. The researcher designs a study including a homogeneous sample, randomization, and consistent data-collection procedures. Which variable should these approaches protect from interference?

Answer 5

Weight loss

Question 6

Why would a nurse researcher choose to use a correlational study of multiple variables?

Answer 6

To examine relationships between or among variables

Question 7

A nurse researcher is designing a quantitative research study involving a specific group of patients admitted to local hospitals and is assessing the feasibility of the study. Which factor negatively affects the feasibility of this study?

Answer 7

Potential study subjects represent less than 1% of hospital admissions during the year previous to the study.

Question 8

In a study to help people quit smoking cigarettes, a group of participants received one supportive phone call 10 days after attending a program on strategies to resist smoking. A second group received a supportive phone call every week for 6 weeks after attending the program, and a third group received no supportive phone calls after attending the program. What is the dependent variable in this study?

Answer 8

Reduction or elimination of cigarette smoking

Question 9

Why would a nurse researcher choose to assign randomly the subjects in a study?

Answer 9

To ensure that all groups within a study are representative of the larger population

Question 10

Why would a nurse researcher decide to use a retrospective or ex post facto study?

Answer 10

The dependent variable has already been affected by the independent variable.

Question 11

Why would a nurse researcher prefer quasi-experimental studies over experimental studies?

Answer 11

They are more adaptable to real-world settings

Question 12

Which statement about the threats to internal validity present in a quasi-experimental study using a nonequivalent control group design is most accurate?

Answer 12

The study can be strengthened by identifying and controlling threats to internal validity.

Question 13

Which study title is most indicative of a cross-sectional design?

Answer 13

Women’s appraisal of the diagnosis of breast cancer within the first 48 hours after initial cancer diagnosis

Question 14

How would a nurse researcher ensure that the sample used in a research study is homogeneous?

Answer 14

Restrict eligibility criteria to limit extraneous variables relevant to the study.

Question 15

What technique could best control for antecedent variables in a study using true or classic experimental design?

Answer 15

Random assignment

Question 16

Why would a nurse researcher decide to use secondary sources in a review of the literature?

Answer 16

They supplement the body of nursing knowledge in a specific area of practice.

Question 17

Which factor would be considered a mediating variable among potential subjects in a study to determine whether use of high doses of vitamin C are helpful in reducing susceptibility to influenza?

Answer 17

Subject’s use of influenza vaccines

Question 18

Why would a nurse researcher want to limit or eliminate extraneous variables in a study?

Answer 18

Extraneous variables compete with the independent variable as an explanation of the study’s outcome.

Question 19

The nurse researcher designed a study examining anxiety among elementary school children. If a widely publicized murder of a child occurred in the city during the time frame of the study, what type of threat to internal validity would the murder represent?

Answer 19

Historical

Question 20

Which situation represents a threat to internal validity in an experimental study measuring the effect of a videotape of home-going instructions for patients being discharged after coronary artery bypass graft surgery?

Answer 20

Patients in the experimental group discussed aspects of the tapes with patients in the control group.

Question 21

The nurse is critiquing a research study that used an experimental design. How can the nurse determine if the study’s results are able to infer causality?

Answer 21

The relationship between independent and dependent variables must not be explainable by any other variable.

Question 22

The experimental treatment initiated by a researcher can be described as what kind of variable?

Answer 22

Independent

Question 23

Why would a nurse researcher choose to use research studies that examine the associations or relationships between variables?

Answer 23

There is application in clinical settings and a foundation for future experimental studies.

Question 24

A nurse researcher would choose to use a correlational study of multiple variables for which purpose?

Answer 24

To examine relationships between or among variables

Question 25

What terms means a summation and assessment of research studies found in the literature based on a clearly focused question?

Answer 25

Systematic review

Question 26

How should a nurse researcher expect a sample to differ from a population?

Answer 26

A sample is a representative segment of a defined population.

Question 27

What can a nurse researcher use to restrict the study population to homogeneous groups of subjects?

Answer 27

Eligibility criteria

Question 28

The nurse researcher is planning a research study that will use human subjects and their choice to participate in a specific treatment. The ethical principle guiding the research study that describes the nurse researcher’s obligation to benefit others is what?

Answer 28

Beneficence

Question 29

A patient newly diagnosed with breast cancer is asked to participate in a clinical trial for a new chemotherapy agent. This patient’s freedom to participate or not participate in the study exercises protection of which of her human rights?

Answer 29

Right to self-determination

Question 30

Which data collection method would be most appropriate in studying bullying behavior in elementary school–aged girls?

Answer 30

Concealment of the researcher without intervention in children’s behavior