Week 1

Question 1

Research designed to generate knowledge to guide clinical practice in nursing and other health care fields.

Answer 1

Clinical nursing research

Question 2

holds that there are multiple interpretations of reality, and that the goal of research is to understand how individuals construct reality within their context; often associated with qualitative research.

Answer 2

Constructivist (Naturalistic) Paradigm

Question 3

The entire set of individuals or objects having some common characteristics

Answer 3

population

Question 4

seeks to describe and understand key social–psychological processes that occur in social settings.

Answer 4

grounded theory

Question 5

A study in which the researcher controls (manipulates) the independent variable and—in a true experiment— randomly assigns subjects to different conditions

Answer 5

experimental research

Question 6

An individual who participates and provides information in a study.

Answer 6

study participant

Question 7

The abstract or theoretical meaning of the concepts being studied.

Answer 7

conceptual definition

Question 8

is designed to develop evidence about issues of importance to various stakeholders.

Answer 8

nursing research

Question 9

The overall plan for addressing a research question, including specifications for enhancing the study’s integrity.

Answer 9

research designs

Question 10

A subset of a population, selected to participate in a study.

Answer 10

sample

Question 11

is concerned with lived experiences and is an approach to learning about what people’s life experiences are like and what they mean.

Answer 11

Phenomenology

Question 12

The variable that is believed to cause or influence the dependent variable; in experimental research, the manipulated (treatment) variable.

Answer 12

independent variable

Question 13

The definition of a concept or variable in terms of the procedures by which it is to be measured.

Answer 13

operational definition

Question 14

is a worldview, a general perspective on the complexities of the “real world”.

Answer 14

paradigm

Question 15

are the techniques researchers use to structure a study and to gather and analyze information relevant to the research question(s).

Answer 15

research methods

Question 16

The investigation of phenomena that lend themselves to precise measurement, often involving a rigourous and controlled design.

Answer 16

quantitative research

Question 17

provides a framework for studying the meanings, patterns, and experiences of a defined cultural group in a holistic fashion

Answer 17

ethnography

Question 18

The process of developing specific predictions from general principles

Answer 18

deductive reasoning

Question 19

The variable hypothesized to depend on or be caused by another variable (the independent variable); the out- come variable of interest.

Answer 19

Dependent (Outcome) Variable

Question 20

Information collected in a numeric form.

Answer 20

quantitative data

Question 21

Information collected in narrative (nonnumeric) form, such as the transcript of an unstructured interview.

Answer 21

qualitative data

Question 22

The traditional paradigm underlying the scientific approach, which assumes that there is a fixed, orderly reality that can be objectively studied; often associated with quantitative research

Answer 22

Positivist paradigm

Question 23

The investigation of phenomena, typically in an in-depth and holistic fashion, through the collection of rich narrative materials using a flexible research design

Answer 23

qualitative research

Question 24

Evidence rooted in objective reality and gathered using one’s senses as the basis for generating knowledge.

Answer 24

empirical evidence

Question 25

The use of empirical evidence to make forecasts about how variables will behave in a new setting and with different individuals.

Answer 25

prediction

Question 26

The process of holding constant possible influences on the dependent variable under investigation.

Answer 26

control

Question 27

The process of reasoning from specific observations to more general rules

Answer 27

inductive reasoning

Question 28

A term used to refer to those individuals who provide information to researchers about a phenomenon under study (usually in qualitative studies).

Answer 28

informants