Weeks 1-4 Flashcards
Describe the purpose of research.
- Basic research EXTENDS KNOWLEDGE
- Applied research SEEKS SOLUTIONS to issues in nursing practice
- IDENTIFICATION
- DESCRIPTION (prevalence, the importance, patterns)
- EXPLORATION (what’s related to it, what factors; qualitative or quantitative)
- EXPLANATION (how does this happen)
- PREDICTION AND CONTROL
Explain why research is so important to nursing.
- contributes to the well being and QOL of clients through high quality EVIDENCE INFORMED, compassionate care
- Contribute to wellbeing and QOL of NURSES
- Support the LIFE LONG LEARNING of nurses
- EXPANDS the breadth and depth of nursing practice
- MINIMIZE HABIT based practice
List key elements of the past, present and future nursing research.
- FLORENCE 1800’s analyzed factors r/t morbidity
- 1950’s focused on nursing edu., supply and demand, demographic of nurses, perceptions about nurses, time to complete nursing tasks
- latter half of 20th century, nurses started to have more advanced academic preparation, scholarly journals contained nursing research
- future focused of EBP; (replication of studies; systematic reviews; transdisciplinary research; active dissemination of research findings; enhancing the visibility of nursing research; attention to cultural and health disparity issues (i.e., “ecologic validity”); and increasing knowledge related to patient safety and quality of life, nursing work environments, and evidence-based decision-making.)
Discuss the sources of knowledge used for nursing practice
- clinical experience (wisdom)
- results from research
- tradition
- intuition
- trial and error
- logical reasoning
- local audit (assembled information)
- pt and family experience/preferences
What are the 2 key paradigms.
Positivist/Post-positivist
Naturalistic/Constructivist
Define Nursing research
The conduct of systematic studies for the purposes of developing, refining, or expanding knowledge about issues of importance to nurses.
Nursing research serves to establish…
Nursing research serves to establish a base of knowledge for nursing practice, education, and or leadership.
Describe Positivist/Post-positivist.
Rooted in 19th Century thought
Emphasis on rational and scientific
Belief in an objective reality that can be studied and known
Aim to understand the underlying cause of natural phenomenon
Seek to be objective and employ orderly, rigorous, tight controls on scientific inquiry
Post-positivists seek “probabilistic evidence”, recognizing the impossibility of total objectivity
Describe naturalistic/constructivist paradigm.
Voice and interpretations of participants are key to understanding phenomenon
Reality is not fixed; it exists within a context and many constructions are possible
‘Truth’ is a composite of realities shaped and created by humans
Aim to understand the meaning of phenomena
Describe qualitative research method.
Associated with Naturalistic paradigm
Use of inductive reasoning to understand human experience as it is lived
Flexible, evolving approach
Narratives and subjective materials from persons with first hand knowledge are collected and analyzed
Aim for transferability to other settings/groups
Describe quantitative research method.
Associated with Positivist/Post-positivist paradigm
Use of deductive reasoning to generate predictions that are then tested in the ‘real’ world
Pre-specified plan/series of steps
‘Controls’ used to minimize biases and maximize precision and validity
Focus on measurement; use of numeric values
Aim for generalizability beyond study to other groups/settings
What are the main classes of research in quantitative research?
Experimental
Non-experimental
What are the 3 classes of research in qualitative research?
Grounded theory
Phenomenology
Ethnography
Grounded theory.
construction of theory through analysis of data (what are the underpinnings)
Phenomenology.
study of phenomenon (how things work)
Ethnography.
the study and systematic recording of human cultures
Describe the main steps in quantitative.
Quantitative
- Study of relationships between independent (cause) and dependent (effect) variables; is there a relationship and how strong is it?
- Theory is used as a starting point to deductive reasoning
- Ensure quality through reliability and validity
- Use of research control (e.g., control extraneous variables) and randomness to control for bias
Identify the major classes of quantitative and qualitative studies.
qualitative (grounded, phenomenology, ethnography)
quantitative (experimental, non-experimental)
Identify and describe the different components of a research journal article.
Title Abstract Introduction Methodological Approach Findings Discussion Limitations Implications Conclusions References
Identify and discuss the questions that are used to review and critique qualitative and quantitative studies
??
Describe the main steps in qualitative.
Study of patterns of association to discern the meaning and dimensions of a phenomenon
Theory is often the end product of inductive reasoning from participant narratives
Ensure quality through trustworthiness, including criterion of credibility
Use reflexivity to control for bias
What is basic nursing knowledge?
provides info for the sake of knowledge
What is applied nursing knowledge?
designed to solve problems
Empirical evidence
evidence collected by way of human SENSES
What is quantitative evidence typically based on?
empirical evidence
What does CHSRF stand for?
Canadian Health Services Research Foundation
What is the site?
overall location for the research; sometimes multisite
What is the setting?
specific place where data collection occurs
What are constructs?
abstractions or mental representations inferred from behaviour or events
What is the building block of theory?
concepts
What terms are used interchangeably with constructs?
phenomena or concepts
What are the concepts called in quantitative studies?
variables
What are concepts?
building blocks of theories
independent vs dependent
the dependent (or outcome) variable is the behaviour, characteristics, or outcome the researcher is interested in explaining, predicting or affecting.
the independent variable is the presumed cause of, antecedent to or influence on the depended variable
Conceptual definition.
clarifies the abstract or theoretical meaning of concept being studied
Operational definition.
specifies the procedure and tools required to measure a variable.
What does qualitative data typically look like?
typically in a narrative format
What does quantitative data typically look like?
typically numeric
Inductive reasoning.
the process of developing conclusions from specific observations; premise seeks to supply strong evidence
Deductive reasoning.
process of developing specific predictions from general principles; links premise with conclusion (top down approach)