Week 2 Flashcards

1
Q

what is a quantitative (2) vs qualitative (3) term used to describe the person contributing info in a study

A
  • quantitative = subject, study participant

- qualitative = study participant, informant, key informant

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2
Q

what is a quantitative vs qualitative term used to describe the person undertaking the study

A
  • both = researcher, investigator
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3
Q

what is a quantitative (3) vs qualitative (2)term used to describe that which is being investigated

A
  • quantitative = concepts, constructs, variables

- qualitative = phenomena, concepts

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4
Q

what is a quantitative vs qualitative term used to describe the info gathered in a study

A
  • quantitative = data (numerical values)

- qualitative = data (narrative descriptions)

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5
Q

what is a quantitative (3) vs qualitative (1) term used to describe the connections between concepts in a study

A
  • quantitative = relationships, cause-and-effect, associative
  • qualitative = patterns of association
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6
Q

what is a quantitative vs qualitative term used to describe the logical reasoning processes in a study

A
  • quantitative = deductive reasoning

- qualitative = inductive reasoning

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7
Q

what is deductive reasoning

A
  • poses hypothesis based on previously captured facts or variable & relationships that have been captured in theory
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8
Q

what is inductive reasoning

A
  • working from specific observations from the ground up to try to understand what people’s experiences are straight from their own voices
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9
Q

what is quantitative research

A
  • objective approach to explaining and predicting events

- often involves mathematical techniques (numbers) to count or measure variables

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10
Q

what is qualitative research

A
  • uses holistic approach to understand people’s experiences & in-depth understanding of how life unfolds in natural settings & to examine people’s experiences of illness in health care
  • studies people’s perceptions of events and experiences
  • often done when v little is known abt the topic
  • often a precursor to quantitative–> helps us identify key factors or variable that are important for ongoing studies
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11
Q

define: study subject or participant

A
  • people being studies or cooperating in the study
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12
Q

define: study site

A
  • the overall location for a study

ex. Portland

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13
Q

what is the benefit of multisite studies

A
  • tends to yielf to more diverse group of study participants = potentialy enhancing the generalizability of findings
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14
Q

define: theories

A
  • set of relationships composed of constructs and concepts
  • knits concepts into a coherent system that purports to explain phenomena
  • less abstract
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15
Q

define: constructs

A
  • cannot readily be observed, but you can define or operationalize them w observable features –> measured w multiple variable (concepts)
  • slightly more complex abstractions
  • not something we can define unless we give it a definition (ex. wealth, everyone interprets it differently)
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16
Q

define: concepts

A
  • a mental image that can be observed both directly (ex. height, weight) or indirectly (age
  • abstractions of particular aspects of human behavior or characteristics
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17
Q

what are examples of constructs

A
  • self-care –> underlying concepts of bathing, eating, dressings
  • quality of life
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18
Q

define: variable

A
  • a characteristic or quality that takes on different values, that varies from one person to the next
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19
Q

what are 5 types of variables

A
  • independent
  • dependent
  • confounding
  • controlled
  • conceptual
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20
Q

define: independent variable, what is another name for this

A
  • experimental variable
  • the presumed cause of a dependent variable
  • the one things you can change in an experiment
    ex. the liquid used to water each plant
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21
Q

define: dependent variable, what is another name for this

A
  • outcome variable –> the outcome being measured
  • the presumed effect/outcome of an independent variable
  • the change that happens bc of the independent variable
    ex. the height or health of the plant
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22
Q

define: confounding variables, what is another name

A
  • extraneous variables

- other factors that influence the results of a study

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23
Q

what is a controlled variable

A
  • everything you want to remain constant

ex. pot used, type of plant, amt of liquid, soil type, etc.

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24
Q

define: conceptual variable

A
  • the abstract or theoretical meaning of a concept being studied
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25
Q

define: operational variable

A
  • the operation (measurements) a researcher must perform to measure the concept and collect the desired info
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26
Q

define: data

A
  • the pieces of info researchers collect in a study
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27
Q

what kind of data is collected in a quantitative study

A
  • numeric data (quantitative data)
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28
Q

what kind of data is collected in a qualitative study

A
  • narrative (verbal) data
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29
Q

define: relationship

A
  • a bond or connection between variables
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30
Q

define a cause-and-effect relationship; what is an examples

A
  • causal relationship
  • a relationship in which one event (the cause) makes another event happen (the effect)
    ex. cigarette smoking & lung cancer
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31
Q

define a associative relationship; what is an example

A
  • functional relationship
  • relationship between two random variables which makes them statistically dependent –> related, but not causal
    ex. gender and life expectancy
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32
Q

describe the qualitative study of pattern

A
  • qualitative researchers may seek patterns of association as a way of illuminating the underlying meaning and dimensionality of phenomena of interest
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33
Q

what are the 5 phases in a quantitative study

A
  • conceptual
  • design & planning stage
  • empirical stage
  • analytical phase
  • dissemination phase
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34
Q

describe the conceptual phase of a quantitative study (3)

A

involves:

  • formulation of research problem or question
  • reviewing the literature relating to the research problem, see what else has been done
  • formulating hypothesis
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35
Q

describe the design and planning phase of a quantitative study (4)

A
  • aim is to prepare a general plan of research
  • formulate a research design
  • decide whether to do qualitative vs quantitative
  • identify variables
36
Q

describe the empirical phase of quantitative study (4)

A
  • in this phase, the researcher implements the plans they made to collect data
  • describe how they will collect data: ex. tools, interviews, observation
  • use research to identify reliable tools
  • describe framework they will use to analyze data, enter data for analysis
37
Q

describe the analytic phase of quantitative study (3)

A
  • occurs after data is collected, the data is now systematically organized so it can be interpreted and analyzed by the researcher
  • analysis of the data
  • interpretation of the results
38
Q

describe the disseminative phase of a quantitative study (2)

A
  • the researcher communicates the results of the study to others
    ex. final research report, papers in journal, etc.
  • gives recommendations based on findings
39
Q

which action should be performed first when designing and planning a quantitative study

A
  • formulating a research design
40
Q

list the steps in the design and planning phase of a quantitative study (4)

A
  • formulate a research design
  • develop intervention protocols
  • identify the population
  • design the sampling plan

find reading that outlines this for the other phases

41
Q

what are 3 broad design options for a quantitative study

A
  • experimental
  • quasi-experimental
  • non-experimental
42
Q

what is an experimental design option

A
  • randomized control trial

- assigning people randomly to a treatment or control group to determine cause & effect

43
Q

what is the gold standard design to reveal causation? why?

A
  • randomized controlled trial

- controls allows us to be relatively sure it is the intervention causing the outcome

44
Q

what 3 features are included in an experimental design

A
  • intervention
  • control
  • randomization
45
Q

define: interventions

A
  • the researcher does something to some subjects

- introduces an intervention or treatment

46
Q

define: control

A
  • the researcher introduces controls, including the use of a control group
47
Q

define: randomization

A
  • participants assigned to a control or experimental condition on a random basis
  • often done by computer
48
Q

describe how the experimental design works

A

target population –> selection –> random assignment –> pretest on both the treatment and control group –> intervention done to treatment group, nothing to control group –> posttest to both treatment and control group

49
Q

what is a quasi-experimental design

A
  • controlled trial without randomization to the different groups
50
Q

what is a non-experimental design

A
  • observational study

- no manipulation of the independent variable

51
Q

what is the goal of an experiment

A
  • to determine the effect that an independent variable has on a dependent variable
52
Q

what is an extraneous variable

A
  • variables other than the independent varibal that impact the dependent variable
53
Q

what is a confounding variable

A
  • when an extraneous variable impacts the validity/results of an experiment
54
Q

what is an advantages of experiments

A
  • can detect causation
55
Q

how can experiments detect causation

A
  • controls other confounding variables
56
Q

what are disadvantages of experiments (5)

A
  • not all variables can be manipulated (either realistically or ethically) –> very common problem in nursing
  • often not feasible or ethical
  • expensive
  • hawthorne effect
  • confounding variables
57
Q

what is the Hawthorne effect

A
  • knowledge of being in a study may cause people to change their behavior
  • the phenomenom in which subjects alter their behavior in response to being observed
  • considered to be one of the most important studies in human relations
58
Q

what does a quasi-experimental design involve (3)

A
  • an intervention
  • may or may not have a control/comparison group
  • may or may not lack randomization (just naturally occurring groups

has an intervention, lacks one of the other two

59
Q

what is a con to quasi-experimental design

A
  • the ability to make causal conclusions is weakened due to potential non-equivalence between comparison groups (less control over confounding variables)
60
Q

what are the 2 main categories of quasi experimental designs

A
  1. nonequivalent control group designs (intervention group compared to comparison group)
  2. within-subject designs (subjects serve as their own control)
61
Q

describe how the non-equivalent control group design works ; what is a an important aspect of this

A
  1. expirmental group –> pretest –> experimental treatment –> posttest
  2. comparison group –> pretest –> nothing changes –> posttest
  • the pretest is important to determine if similar outcomes before they participate
62
Q

what are advantages of the quasi-experiment (5)

A
  • easier and more practical/feasible than true experiments
  • some control (comparison group)
  • more adaptable to real world settings
  • less costly
  • more ethical (groups naturally occur)
63
Q

what are disadvantages to the quasi-experiment (2)

A
  • more difficult to infer causality (no equivalence between 2 groups)
  • usually there are several alternative rival hypotheses for results
64
Q

what does “non-experimental studies” mean

A
  • if researchers do not intervene by controlling independent variable, then it is non-experimental = observation
65
Q

what is descriptive research

A
  • describes variables of interest within a population through rates, ratios, proportions (%), mean, median, mode, correlation
66
Q

what are types of nonexperimental studies (2)

A
  • correlation designs

- cohort and case control studies

67
Q

what is a correlation

A
  • an association between variables which can be detected thru statistical analysis
68
Q

what are addressed w correlational designs

A
  • cause-probing questions (ex. prognosis or harm/etiology questions) for which manipulation is not possible are typically address w a correlational design
    ex. gender cannot be manipulated, smoking cannot ethically be manipulated
69
Q

describe the strength of correlational studies

A
  • weaker than RCTs for cause-probing questions
70
Q

what are cohort studies (3)

A
  • start with an exposure of interest (ex. people who have been to the North pole)
  • find an analogous group (similar to first group in every way except for the exposure)
  • follow this group through over time to see what outcomes emerge as a result of the exposure (prospective)
71
Q

what is a con of cohort studies (2)

A
  • takes a long time

- expensive

72
Q

what is a benefit to cohort studies

A
  • evidence considered to be stronger (than case control)
73
Q

what is a benefit to cohort studies

A
  • evidence considered to be stronger (than case control)
74
Q

what are case control studies

A
  • start with a group of cases with a particular outcome (ex. people with a particular disease)
  • create an analogous group (do not have that condition, but are in every other way similar to the first group)
  • then go back in time (retrospectively) at their histories to try and identify exposures that may have led to the condition
  • then compare the two groups, and try to determine differences
75
Q

what is a benefit of case control studies (2)

A
  • can be done fast

- cheap

76
Q

what is a disadvantage of case control studies

A
  • the evidence found from this is not considered to be strong evidence
77
Q

what are advantages of non-experimental studies (3)

A
  • studies problems that cannot be conducted experimentally (ex. lung cancer and smoking)
  • can gather info on relationships between multiple variables
  • experimental studies are often dependent on starting w descriptive correlational
78
Q

what are disadvantages of non-experimental studies (2)

A
  • no causation that can be proved
  • self selection (groups within a study that form themselves (ex. male vs female, smokers vs nonsmokers) = no equivalency between 2 groups
79
Q

what are 6 components of research journal articles

A
  • title & abstract
  • intro
  • methods
  • results
  • discussion
  • references
80
Q

what is found under the intro of a research journal article (5)

A
  • central phenoma/study variables
  • study purpose and research questions
  • literature review
  • theoretical framework
  • significance of the study (clinical relevance)
81
Q

what is found under the methods portion of research journal articles (5)

A
  • research design (must match research Q)
  • sampling plan (target population, how recruited)
  • data collection (how, tools)
  • study procedures (who, any training)
  • data analysis
82
Q

what is found under the results section of research journal articles for QL versus QN ?

A
  • quantatitive: stats, significance, often in tables

- qualitative: themes or categories

83
Q

what is found under the discussion section of research journal articles (4)

A
  • interpretation of results
  • implications for research, clinical practice, education
  • study limitations (how were they addressed?)
  • future research (next steps)
84
Q

what is the difference between random assignment and random selection

A
  • assignment: random assignment to control & experimental group
  • selection: who we select from the population is randomly selected, not cherry picking who participates in the study
84
Q

what is a pilot study (2)

A
  • when a researcher is interested in the feasibility of conducting a study
  • NOT testing the effectiveness of an intervention/hypothesis
    ex. how hard would it be to get a decent sample size? would people be willing to participate? etc.