Nursing Research Exam #2

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basic research (pure)

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scientific investigations for the pursuit of 'knowledge of knowledge's sake'

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applied research (practical)

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scientific investigations conducted to generate knowledge that will indirectly influence clinical practice

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research design

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blueprint for conducting a study; maximises control, guides the planning and implementation of a study

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rigor

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excellence in research
attained by: adherence to detail and strict accuracy

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precision

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accuracy;
used to describe a degree of consistency to reproducibility of measurements with physiologic instruments

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control

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used to: decrease the possibility of error, increase the probability that the consistency or reproducibility of measurements with physiologic instruments

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control group

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subjects not exposed to the experimental treatment; sample is 'randomly' selected

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comparison group

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subjects not receiving treatment when 'nonrandom methods' are used for sample selection

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types of comparison groups:

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1. no treatment
2. placebo treatment
3. usual health care
4. experimental treatment

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causality

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relationship that includes:
1. strong correlation
2. cause must precede effect
3. present whenever the effect occurs

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probability

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chance that a given event will occur in a situation

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bias

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action in a study that distorts the findings away from the true or expected

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manipulation

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controlling a specific attribute; manipulation of a treatment

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observation

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use of structured and non-structured observation to measure study variables

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natural setting (field)

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uncontrolled, real-life settings
(homes, work sites, schools)

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partially controlled setting

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environment that is manipulated or modified by the researcher

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highly controlled settings

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artificially constructed environment
(lab, experimental center, test unit)

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representativeness

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degree to which the sample, accessible population, and target population are alike

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refusal rate

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percentage of subjects who declined to participate
(15/100=0.15x100=15%)

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acceptance rate

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subjects who agree to participate
(90/100=.9x100=90%

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sample attrition

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withdrawal or loss of subjects

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sample retention

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subjects who remain in and complete the study

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abstract thinking

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development of an idea, without application to or associating with a particular instance (independent of time and space) (look for meaning, patterns, relationships, philosophical implications

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concrete thinking

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thinking orientated to tangible things or events observed and experienced in reality

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concept

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abstractly describes and names an object or phenomenon giving it a 'separate identity or meaning'

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construct

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concepts at a high level of abstraction that have very 'general meanings'

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conceptual definition

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provides a variable or concept with connotative meaning; established thru analysis, concept derivation or concept synthesis

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conceptual model

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highly abstract related constructs that broadly explains phenomena of interest

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grand theories (conceptual model)

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(cannot be tested directly)
most abstract and complex theories
[includes philosophical stance and assumptions]

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middle range theories

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nursing theories midway between abstract and concrete theories; limited in scope; address specific phenomena or concepts

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micro-theory

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precise theories, narrow in scope; related to a particular situation or set of circumstances
[practice and situation specific]
[adaptations from prior theoretical works]

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frameworks

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abstract, logical structure of meaning, [portion of a theory]
guides the development of the study; is tested in the study; researcher can link the findings

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phenomenon

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occurrence or circumstance that is observed; impresses the observer as extraordinary; appears to and is constructed by the mind

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philosophical stance

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specific philosophical view held by an individual person or groupe of persons

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proposition

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abstract statements that further clarify the the relation

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relational statement

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declaration that a relationship of some kind exists between two or more concepts

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scientific theory

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theory that has been repeatedly tested with valid and reliable methods of measuring

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substantive theory

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relationship in which similar concepts can be substituted for the first concept and the second concept with occur relatively unchanged

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tentative theory

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theory that is newly proposed; has minimal exposure; has undergone little testing

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variables

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qualities, properties, characteristics of persons, things, or situations that change and are manipulated or measured in research

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accuracy

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comparable to validity
[physiologic measures]

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indirect measures

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methods used with abstract concepts that are not measured directly; rather, indicators of the concepts are used to represent the abstraction and are measured in the study

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internal reliability

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degree of consistency between two raters who are independently rating
[aka equivalence]

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likert scale

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forced choice option
declarative statements with a scale after each statment

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measurement

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assigning numbers of values to individual's health status
-direct = HR
-indirect = anxiety

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measurement error

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the difference between the true measure and what is actually measured
-random - follows no pattern
-systematic - occurs same across the board

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power analysis

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ability to detect deferences in the population that actually exist
[ability to reject a null hypothesis]
-avoids making type II errors

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precision

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comparable to reliability
degree of consistency or reproducibility of measurement with physiologic instruments

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reliability

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extent to which an instrument consistently measures a concept
-measures amount of random error
-coefficient ranges from 0-1

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attributes of reliability

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1. stability - test-retest
2. equivalence - inter rater reliability (cohen's kappa)
3. homogeneity - measuring same concept (crohnbach's alpha)

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sensitivity

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true positive

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specificity

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true negative

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type 1 error

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-regection of null hypothesis when it is true
-considered a serious error
[stating differences exist when there are none]

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type 2 error

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-acceptance of a null hypothesis when it is false
-may occur if the sample is too small

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null hypothesis

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there is no significant difference

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normal curve

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a curve that is symmetrical about the mean and is unimodal

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theoretical concept

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is based upon the tendency of means to approximate a normal curve

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positive skew

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mean is to the right of the median

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negative skew

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mean is to the left of the median

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mode

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most frequent score of result

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median

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middle score

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mean

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arithmetical average of all the scores
[used with interval or ratio data]
-most stable measure of central tendency
forms the basis for many inferential statistics

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standard deviation

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-measure of the average deviation of scores from the mean
-most frequently used measure of variability
-should always be reported with the mean
-cannot me used to compare means that have different units

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range

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-difference between highest and lowest scores
-simplest bur most unstable measure of variability

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descriptive statistics

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procedures that allow researchers to describe, organize and summarize data gathered in research

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inferential statistics

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procedures that are used to analyze the data collected, test hypotheses, and answer the research questions in a study

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qualifications for use of inferential statistics

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-sample must be representative
-level of data: interval or higher

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inferential: parameter

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characteristic of a population

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inferential: statistic

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characteristic of a sample

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frequency distribution

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-number of times each even occurs is counted
-date is grouped and the frequency of each group reported
-allows researcher to characterize the distribution of the data

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scientific hypothesis (research hypothesis)

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researcher's expectation about the study outcome

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null hypothesis

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there is no difference between study groups
[inferential stats use the N-H to test the validity of a scientific hypothesis in sample data

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it is_______ to 'prove that at scientific hypothesis of true

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impossible

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it is possible to demonstrate that the n-h has a high probability of being incorrect

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-reject the n-h to show support for the scientific hypothesis
-accept the n-h = findings are likely to have occurred by chance

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alpha level

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used to control the risk of making type 1 errors
[minmum level for nsg is 0.05]