NURS 328: Understanding Research Practice Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering Unit 1 through Unit 4 of healthcare research fundamentals, including research barriers, logic systems, paradigms, and ethics.

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)

A process of using the best research evidence, clinical expertise, and patient preferences to make informed healthcare decisions.

Evidence-Informed Practice

The practice of using research findings along with clinical judgment to ensure care is not based solely on habit or tradition.

Organizational Barriers

The biggest category of barriers to research utilization, including lack of time, heavy workload, limited management support, and poor access to resources.

Epistemology

The study of knowledge and how we know things; it asks 'How do we gain knowledge?' and 'What counts as valid knowledge?'

Ontology

The study of the nature of reality; it asks 'What exists?' and 'What is real?'

Methodology

The strategy or plan for conducting research that answers the question 'How do we find out?'

Paradigm

An overall worldview or set of beliefs (including ontology, epistemology, and methodology) that guides how research is conducted.

Deductive Reasoning

A 'top-down' approach that moves from the general to the specific, starting with a theory and testing it with data.

Inductive Reasoning

A 'bottom-up' approach that moves from the specific to the general, starting with observations or data to build a new theory.

Positivism / Empiricism

The paradigm that reality is objective and measurable, focusing on one truth and using quantitative methods.

Constructivism / Interpretivism

The paradigm that reality is socially constructed and subjective, focusing on multiple truths and qualitative methods.

Quantitative Research

Research focused on numbers, measurement, and statistics to test hypotheses and generalize findings; linked to the positivist paradigm.

Qualitative Research

Research focused on words, narratives, and meanings to understand experiences and perspectives; linked to the constructivist paradigm.

Mixed Methods Research

An approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methods to gain a more complete understanding of a topic.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction about a relationship between variables used in quantitative research.

Independent Variable

The variable that is changed or controlled in a study to see if it acts as the 'cause'.

Dependent Variable

The variable that is measured or affected in a study, representing the 'effect'.

PICO Framework

A tool for forming clinical research questions where $P$ = Patient/Problem, $I$ = Intervention, $C$ = Comparison, and $O$ = Outcome.

Themes

Common patterns or ideas identified during the analysis of qualitative data, such as 'fear' or 'coping'.

Informed Consent

A voluntary, ongoing agreement for research participation based on a full understanding of the study's purpose, risks, and benefits.

Confidentiality

When the researcher knows the participant's identity but protects and secures that data to prevent unauthorized access.

Anonymity

When the researcher does not know the participant's identity and cannot link data back to the individual.

Vulnerable Populations

Individuals at higher risk of harm or coercion, such as children, the elderly, or the critically ill, requiring extra safeguards.

Research Ethics Board (REB)

A committee that reviews and approves research studies before they begin to ensure participants' rights and safety are protected.

Beneficence

An ethical principle of 'doing no harm' while minimizing risks and maximizing benefits for research participants.

Justice

An ethical principle requiring the fair and equal treatment of all research participants.

Respect for Persons (Autonomy)

The ethical principle recognizing that individuals have the right to make their own decisions regarding research participation.

Selective Observation

A non-scientific way of knowing where one only sees what they already expect to see.

Overgeneralization

Making broad conclusions based on limited or specific information.

Phenomena

Something that is observed or experienced that becomes the focus of research, such as patient pain or recovery.