Research Made Easy

Nursing Research Made Easy

Marleonie M. Bauyot, PhDProfessor & Consultant in Research & Data Analysis

[email protected]

Lourdes CollegeCagayan de Oro City, Philippines

April 1, 2011

mailto:[email protected]

A VERY BASIC FRAMEWORK

• MEANS ENDS

A Very Basic Framework

MEANS• Research Agenda• Human Resources• Financial Resources• Facilities/Equipment• Time• Linkages

END• Production of

research outputs• Dissemination• Utilization

FRAMEWORK COMPONENTS MEANS

RESEARCH

AGENDA

-RESOURCES

[Human Resources, Facilities and Equipment

-LINKAGES

-RESEARCH OUTPUTS

• Type• Relevance• Extent/nature of

dissemination and utilization of results

FRAMEWORK COMPONENTS:MEANS-HUMAN RESOURCES

WHO?ResearchersSupport Staff

Technical Administrative

FRAMEWORK COMPONENTS:MEANS-HUMAN RESOURCES

WHAT TO CULTIVATE?

o Knowledge

(Technical/Research Skills)

o Attitude (Interest)

o Practice (Experience)

Critical Thinking

• Examines the truth and validity of arguments and evaluates the relative importance of ideas.

• Evaluates and weighs different sides of argument.

• Applies reason and logic to determine merits of arguments.

• Draws and evaluates conclusions from logical arguments and data analysis.

Problem Solving• Ability to identify, define and analyze

problems, to create solutions and evaluates them, and to choose the best solution for a particular context.

• Requires imaginative and innovative thinking to find new ways to approach a problem, analytical skills to examine the consequences of a particular solution.

• Reasoning skills to weigh one solution against another..

Analysis

• Ability to gather relevant data and information and apply methods of synthesis, critical thinking and data reduction to locate and understand patterns or connections in that information.

• Scientific analysis often requires mathematical techniques to manipulate data, such as using graphs or statistical tests.

Dissemination

• Communicating to others the purpose and outcomes of research.

• Requiring summary of information, explain the aims, motives, results and conclusions of the research, and tailor the communication to the needs and knowledge level of a particular audience.

Background SkillsImagination and Creativity

1. searching for different approaches to a problem or situation

2. looking for alternatives to common or accepted methods and solutions

3. trying to examine issues from a different point of view.

Logic and Reasoning

• Understanding the structure of logical arguments, including deductive and inductive reasoning

• Assessing the logical basis for scientific claims and conclusions (such as deciding whether you agree w/ the conclusions drawn in a scientific paper, based on the evidence given.

• Drawing conclusions from scientific arguments or analyses.

Data Analysis

• Identifying an appropriate method for interpreting and manipulating data

• Applying techniques of statistical analysis

• Awareness of the limitations of analysis techniques (understanding the assumptions)

• Forming appropriate conclusions from results of analysis.

Conceptual Thinking• Breaking a big issue into smaller, manageable

parts (e.g. breaking an experimental investigation into a series of smaller measurements)

• Identifying the concepts and ideas relevant to a problem, synthesizing concepts and available data to construct a solution

• Making judgments about the value and relevance of ideas and information ( e.g. deciding to ignore a particular factor because it contributes only a small at amount to the overall problem).

Reflection and Feedback• Thinking about what you have done, what you

might have done differently, how you feel about it, and how you might change it to improve your learning (e.g. reflecting on the outcomes of a research project and deciding on a different course of action next time)

• Using insight gained through reflection to improve your own or others’ work or situation (e.g. watching others perform and offering feedback on the way they are tackling a problem).

Scientific Experimentation

• Identifying and designing an appropriate experimental procedure understanding the limitations and scope of an experimental design (e.g., sample sizes and measurement uncertainties).

Flow of Tasks in a literature review

Identify keywords and concepts to be searched

Identify potential references through electronic or manual search

Retrieve promising references

Screen references for relevance and appropriateness

Read relevant reference and take notes

Organize references

Analyze and integrate materials

Write review

Discard irrelevant and inappropriate references

Identify new references through citations

The Review of Related Literature in Relation to the Research Process

PROBLEM

HYPOTHESIS

DESIGN

QUANTIFICATION

ANALYSIS

LITERATURE

REVIEW

Type of

Data

Looking for the difference in the means

of data

Looking for the

relationship between/among

variables

Parametric Data

Non Parametric

Data

Parametric Data

Non Parametric

Data

Comparing 2 groups/data

Comparing 3 or more

groups/data

Comparing 2 groups/data

Comparing 3 or more

groups/data

Interval/ Ratio

Nominal

Ordinal

T - test for Independent samples – 2 groups & 2 data

T – test for paired samples – 1 group & 2 data

Mann – Whitney U Test – 2 groups & 2 data

ANOVA

Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test – 1 group & 2 data

Kruskal – Wallis Tests – Interval/Ratio

Cochran Q - Nominal

Friedman 2-Way ANOVA - Ordinal

Linear RegressiomPearson r

Chi - square

Spearman Rank

Diagram on the Appropriate Use of Statistical Tests

Guidelines in Design Selection

In selecting an experimental research design for a particular study, it is important to keep in mind the following basic guidelines:

1. Whenever possible, try to create experimental and control groups by assigning cases randomly from a single population study group.

2. When random assignment is not possible, try to find a comparison group that is nearly equivalent as possible to the experimental group.

3. When neither a randomly assigned control group nor a similar comparison group is available, try to use a time series design that can provide information on trends before and after a program intervention (X)

4. If a time series design cannot be used, as a minimum and before a program starts, try to obtain baseline (pretest) information that can be compared against postprogram information (a pretest-posttest design).

5. If baseline (pretest) information is unavailable, be aware that you will be limited in the type of analysis you can conduct. You should consider using multivariate analytic techniques.

6. Always keep in mind the issue of validity. Are the measurements true? Do they do what they are supposed to do? Are there possible threats to validity that might explain the results?

• Parts equal the whole

• Tests Theory

• Basic Element of analysis: numbers

• Report statistical analyses

• Generalization

• Researcher separate

• Subjects

• Instruments

• Whole is greater than the parts

• Develops theory

• Basic Element of analysis: words

• Report rich narrative, individual interpretation

• Uniqueness

• Researcher part of research process

• Participants

• Communication and observation

Quantitative Qualitative

• Context free• Context dependent

Comparison of Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Point of Comparison

Qualitative Research

Quantitative Research

Focus on research

Philosophical roots

Quality (nature, essence)

Phenomenology

Quantity (how much, how many)

Positivism, logical empiricism

Associated Phrases

Goal Investigation

Fieldwork, ethnographic, naturalistic, grounded, constructivist

Understanding, meaning, description, discovery, hypothesis, generating,

Experimental, empirical, statistical

Prediction, control, description, confirmation, hypothesis testing

Design Characteristics

Sample

Data Collection

Flexible, evolving, emergent

Small, non-random, purposeful, theoretical

Researcher as primary instrument, interviews, observations, documents

Predetermined, structured

Large, random, representative

Inanimate instruments, (scales, tests, surveys, questionnaires, computers)

Mode of Analysis

Findings

Inductive (by researcher)

Comprehensive, holistic, expansive, richly descriptive

Deductive (by statistical method)

Precise, numerical

Qualitative Research Questions

• Discover (e.g., grounded theory)

• Explain or seek to understand (e.g., ethnography)

• Explore a process (e.g., case study)

• Describe the experiences (e.g., phenomenology)

These words convey the language of an emerging design of research.

RECONSIDERING QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH • Aspects of both qualitative and

quantitative research often are used together in a study. Increased attention is being given to such mixed-methods studies.

• Whether qualitative or quantitative research is the most appropriate boils down to what the researcher involved wants to find out.

RECONSIDERING QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCHIt is worth noting that increased attention is being

given to mixed-method studies. For example, Creswell describes three types of mixed-methods designs:

1. Triangulation design – the researcher simultaneously collects both quantitative and qualitative data, compares the results, and then uses those findings to see whether they validate each other. For example, a study of emotional and physical abuse of children may include both questionnaires (quantitative) and interviews with children, parents, and teachers (qualitative) as checks on each other.

RECONSIDERING QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

2. Explanatory design – the researcher first collects and analyzes quantitative data and then obtain qualitative data to follow up and refine the quantitative findings. For example, the results of a study may show that students in an innovative program have higher test scores and fewer dropouts; the researcher may then interview students to see which features of the program they think were most effective.

RECONSIDERING QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH3. Exploratory design – the researcher first collects

qualitative data and then uses the findings to give direction to quantitative data collection. This data is then used to validate or extend the qualitative findings. For example, the results of an ethnographic study of a school may suggest that parents of ethnic minority students feel alienated from teachers and administrators; a questionnaire could then be used to assess the extent of this feeling.

Conceptual Models of Nursing Used by Nurse Researchers

THEORIST AND REFENCE

NAME OF MODEL/THEORY

KEY THESIS OF THE MODEL

RESEARCH EXAMPLE

Imogene King, 1981

Open Systems Personal Systems, interpersonal systems, and social systems are dynamic and interacting, within which transactions occurs.

Doornbos (2000) based her framework on King’s model; she tested the prediction that family stressors, coping, and other factors affected family health with young adults with serious mental illness.




RESEARCH EXAMPLE

Madeline Leininger

1981

Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality

Caring is a universal phenomenon but varies transculturally

Raines and Morgan (2000) studied the culturally grounded meanings of the concept of comfort, presence and involvement in the context of the childbirth experience of block women and white women

Myra Levine

1973

Conservation Model

Conservation of integrity contributes to maintenance of a person’s wholeness

Deiriggi and Miles (1995) based their study of the effects of waterbeds on heart rate in preterm infants on Levine’s concept of conservation.




RESEARCH EXAMPLE

Betty Neuman 1989

Health Care System Model

Each person is a complete system; the goal of nursing is to assist in maintaining client system stability

Brauer (2001) described common patterns of person-environment interaction in adults with rheumatoid arthritis, based on Neuman’s model

Margaret Newman 1994

Health as Expanding Consciousness

Health is viewed as an expansion of consciousness with health and disease parts of the same whole; health seen in an evolving pattern of the whole in time, space and movement.

Endo and colleagues (2000) used Newman’s theory to study pattern recognition as a caring partnership between nurses and families of ovarian cancer in Japan.




RESEARCH EXAMPLE

Dorothea Orem, 1985

Self-Care Model Self-care activities are what people do on their own behalf to maintain health and well-being, the goal of nursing is to help people meet their own therapeutic self-care demands.

Anderson (2001) explored, with a sample of homeless adults, the relationship between self-care agency, and well-being.

Rosemarie Rizzo Parse, 1992, 1995

Theory of Human Becoming

Health and meaning are co-created by indivisible humans and their environment, nursing involves having clients share views about meanings.

Mitchell and Lawton (2000), studied how diabetic patients’ experienced the consequences of personal choices about living with restrictions, and discussed the emerging concepts within Parse’s theory.




RESEARCH EXAMPLE

Martha Rogers, 1970, 1986

Science and Unitary Human Beings

The individual is a unified whole in constant interaction with the environment, nursing helps individuals achieve maximum well-being within their potential.

Using Rogers’ framework, Bays (2001) explored the phenomenon of hope and associated factors in older patients who had experienced a stroke.

Sr. Callista Roy, 1984, 1991

Adaptation Model Humans are adaptive systems that cope with change through adaptation; nursing helps to promote client adaptation during health and illness.

Roy’s Adaptation Model provided the framework for John.s (2001) study of whether perceptions of quality of life change over time in adults who receive curative radiation therapy.




RESEARCH EXAMPLE

Jean Watson,

1999

Theory of Caring Caring is the moral ideal, and entails mind-body-soul engagement with pone another,

Using Watson’s 10 curative factors, Baldursdottir and Jonsdottir (2002) studied the importance of nurse caring behaviors as perceived by patients receiving care at an emergency department.

Methodologies and Instrumentation

Validity• It is important for researchers to use valid instruments,

for the conclusions they draw are based on the information they obtain using these instruments.

• The term validity, as used in research, refers to the appropriateness, meaningfulness, correctness and usefulness of any inferences a researcher draws based on data obtained through the use of an instrument.

• Content-related evidence of validity refers to judgments on the content and logical structure of an instrument as it is to be used in a particular study.

• Criterion-related evidence of validity refers to the degree to which information provided by an instrument agrees with information obtained on other, independent instruments.

• A criterion is a standard for judging; with reference to validity, it is a second instrument against which scores on an instrument can be checked.

• Construct-related evidence of validity refers to the degree to which the totality of evidence obtained is consistent with theoretical applications.

• A validity coefficient is a numerical index representing the degree of correspondence between scores on an instrument and a criterion measure.

• An expectancy table is a two-way chart used to evaluate criterion-related evidence of validity.

Reliability• The term reliability, as used in research, refers to the

consistency of scores or answers provided by an instrument.

• Errors of measurement refer to variations in scores obtained by the same individuals on the same instrument.

• The test-retest method of estimating reliability involves administering the same instrument twice to the same group of individuals after a certain time interval has elapsed.

• The equivalent-forms method of estimating reliability involves administering two different, but equivalent, forms of an instrument to the same group of individuals at the same time.

• The internal-consistency method of estimating reliability involves comparing responses to different sets of items that are part of an instrument.

• Scoring agreement requires a demonstration that independent scorers can achieve satisfactory agreement in their scoring.

Determine what data need to be gathered

Are data needs extensive?

What type of measure should be used for each variable (self-report, etc.)?

Are there existing instruments to capture the full conceptual definition of the variables?

Prioritize the list of needs

Will the instruments yield high quality data?

Do you have the skills & resources to develop a new instrument?

Are the instruments suitable in terms of costs, availability, norms, etc.?

Can the instruments be adapted to yield more suitable measures?

Develop/pretest new measure

Revise problem

Is permission to use the instrument needed?

Arrange measures in an appropriate sequence

Obtain permission

Pretest entire instrument package

Make necessary revisions to instruments or sequencing

Develop data collection forms and protocols; develop data management procedure

Can data be collected by researcher alone?

Identify and hire appropriate data collectors Collect data

Train data collectors Manage data according to data management plan

YES

NO

YESNO

YES

YES NO

NONO

YES NO

YES

NO YES

Responsibilities of the Mentor/Adviser

1. He / she should have the knowledge of the advisee’s subject area and/ or theoretical approach to be applied.

2. If the mentee’s/ advisee’s work goes significantly outside the mentor’s adviser’s field, the latter and the department should be responsible for putting the mentee in touch with specialists either inside or outside the institution.

3. There should be regular sessions between advisee and adviser at least once a month. It is usually advisable to arrange for the time of the next meeting for each session.

4. The adviser should read and critically comment on the student’s work as it is produced.

5. The adviser should ensure that the student is made aware, if either progress or standard of work in unsatisfactory and arrange any necessary supportive action.

6. The adviser should advise on courses which may complement the student’s field of research. He should arrange where possible, and where the student is eligible to attend lectures/ seminars run by the institution which would be helpful to the advisee.

7. The adviser should make clear to the advisee the institutions’ regulations concerning the preparation for the research, thesis writing, and oral defense.

8. The adviser should ascertain that the following misconducts in research are not committed by the student. Cryer’s (1996) list include the following:

8.1 The fabrication of data: claiming results where none has been obtained

8.2 The falsification of data, including changing records

8.3 Plagiarism, including the direct copying of textual material, the use of other people’s data without acknowledgement, and the use of ideas from other people without adequate attribution

8.4 Misleading ascription of authorship including the listing of authors without their permission. Attributing work to others who have not, in fact, contributed to the research, and the lack of appropriate acknowledgement of work primarily produced by a research student or a research.

Misconduct does not include honest errors on honest differences in interpretation on judgment of data.

Advantages of publishing

DNSC-DED

• Disseminate information• Share discoveries and ideas• Research completion• Job security• Develop a fundable track record• Personal satisfaction, prestige• Financial support for other studies• Financial support to visit international meetings

Ethical Principles in Nursing Research The Investigator…..

1. Respects autonomous research participants’ capacity to consent to participate in research and to determine the degree and duration of that participation without negative consequences.

2. Prevents harm, minimizes harm, and/or promotes good to all research participants , including vulnerable groups and others affected by the research.

3. Respects the personhood of research participants, their families and significant others valuing diversity

4. Ensures that the benefits and burdens of research are equitably distributed in the selection of research participants.

5. Protect the privacy of research participants to the maximum degree possible.

6. Ensures the ethical integrity of the research process by use of appropriate checks and balances throughout the conduct, dissemination and implementation of the research.

7. Reports suspected, alleged or known incidents of scientific misconduct in research, as well as in other professional officials for investigation.

8. Maintains competency in the subject matter and methodologies of his or her research, as well as in other professional and societal issues that affect nursing research and the public good.

9. Involved in animal research maximizes the benefits of the research with the least possible harm or suffering to the animals.

Potential Benefits and Risks of Research to Participants

Major Potential Benefits to Participants• Access to an intervention that might otherwise be

unavailable to them• Comfort in being able to discuss their situation or

problem with a friendly, objective person• Increased knowledge about themselves or their

conditions, either through opportunity for introspective and self-reflection or through direct interaction with researchers

• Escape from normal routine, excitement of being part of a study

• Satisfaction that information they provide may help others with similar problems or conditions

• Direct monetary or material gains through stipends or other incentives.

Major Potential Risks to Participants• Physical harm, including unanticipated side effects• Physical discomfort, fatigue or boredom • Psychological or emotional distress resulting from self-

disclosure, introspection, fear of the unknown, discomfort with strangers, fear of eventual repercussions, anger of embarrassment at the type of questions being asked

• Social risks, such as the risk of stigma, adverse effects on personal relationships, loss of status

• Loss of privacy• Loss of time• Monetary costs (e.g. transportation, child care, time

lost from work)

The Analysis of Research Data

Preanalysis Phase• Log in, check in and edit raw data• Select a software package for analysis• Code data• Enter data onto computer file and verify• Inspect data for outliers/wild codes, irregularities• Clean data• Create and document an analysis file

Preliminary Assessments• Assess missing values problems• Assess data quality• Assess bios• Assess assumptions for inferential tests

Preliminary Actions• Perform needed transformations and recodes• Address missing values problems• Construct scales, composite indexes• Perform other peripheral analyses

Principal Analyses• Perform descriptive statistical analyses• Perform bivariate inferential statistical analyses• Perform multivariate analyses• Perform needed post hoc tests

Interpretive Phase• Integrate and synthesize analyses• Perform supplementary interpretive analyses (e.g. power

analysis)

APA Format

You may visit http://www.apastyle.org for more information

• LAYOUT, FONT AND STRUCTURE• Overview of the Contents of a Research Report• Title page• Approval sheets • recommending oral defense• acceptance of paper• Acknowledgements• Abstract• Table of Contents • List of Tables• List of Figures

• CHAPTER I• INTRODUCTION• Review of Literature• Theoretical/Conceptual Framework• Statement of Problem(s)• Hypothesis(es) (if applicable)• Significance of the Study (for proposal,

include in INTRODUCTION; for final paper, integrate in DISCUSSION)

Chapter II

• CHAPTER II• METHOD• Design• Setting (if applicable)• Participants• Measures• Procedure• Data Analysis (for proposal, include in METHOD; for final

paper, integrate in RESULTS)• Limitations of the Study (for proposal, include in

METHOD; for final paper, integrate in DISCUSSION)

• CHAPTER III• RESULTS• CHAPTER IV• DISCUSSION• (Note that the subsections in this chapter may be

organized and adjusted to the nature of the topic, study design, writing style, etc.)

• CHAPTER V (optional)• SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS• REFERENCES• APPENDICES

Thank you…

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