Research Class 4 Part 2

One method of differentiation is the ___, which consists of several declarative statements (items) that express a viewpoint on a topic

Likert scale

Another type of scale is the ___, which can be used to measure subjective experiences such as pain or fatigue.

visual analogue scale (VAS)

___ sampling methods are a means of obtaining representative examples of the behaviours being observed

Observational

One system is ___, which involves selecting time periods during which observations will occur

time sampling

With ___, researchers select appropriate events to observe.

event sampling

Measurement involves assigning ___ to represent the amount of an attribute present in a person or object

numbers

___, broadly speaking, is the extent to which scores are free from measurement error

Reliability

In ___, replication takes the form of administering a measure to the same people on two occasions (e.g., 1 week apart)

test–retest reliability

___ is the degree that an instrument is actually measuring the construct it supposes to measure

Validity

___ refers to whether the instrument looks like it is measuring the target construct

Face validity

___ may be defined as the extent that an instrument’s content adequately captures the construct— that is, whether a composite instrument (e.g., a multi-item scale) has an appropriate sample of items to measure the construct

Content validity

___ is the extent to which the scores on a measure are a replication of a “gold standard”—that is, a criterion considered an ideal measure of the construct

Criterion validity

___ is the degree to which a measure’s scores represent the construct.

Construct validity

Quantitative researchers develop a ___ that specifies in advance how participants will be selected and how many to include

sampling plan

A ___ (“P” in PICO questions) is the entire group of interest

population

A sample is a ___ of population elements

subset

Sampling ___ is the systematic overrepresentation or underrepresentation of a population segment in terms of key characteristics.

bias

Populations consist of subpopulations, or ___.

strata

The two broad classes of sampling designs in quantitative research are…

probability sampling and non-probability sampling

In ___, researchers select people into the study by non-random methods, and not everyone have the same chance to be included.

non-probability sampling

___ sampling entails selecting the most conveniently available people as participants

Convenience

In ___, researchers identify population strata and figure out how many people are needed from each stratum

quota sampling

___ sampling is a non-probability sampling method that involves recruiting all people from an accessible population over a specific time interval or for a specified sample size.

Consecutive

___ sampling involves using researchers’ knowledge about the population to handpick sample members

Purposive

___ sampling involves random selection of elements from a population

Probability

___ is the most basic probability sampling

Simple random sampling

In simple random sampling, researchers establish a sampling frame—a list of population elements
If ___ at the University of Alberta were the population, a student roster would be the sampling frame

nursing students

Elements in a sampling frame are numbered and then a table of random numbers or an online randomizer is used to draw a ___ of the desired size. Samples selected randomly are unlikely to be biased

random sample

In stratified random sampling, the population is first divided into two or more strata, from which elements are ___

randomly selected

As with quota sampling, the aim of stratified sampling is to enhance ___

representativeness

___ sampling involves the selection of every kth case from a list, such as every 10th person on a patient list

Systematic

Probability sampling is the only ___ method of obtaining representative samples

viable

If all elements in a population have an equal chance of being selected, then the resulting sample is likely to do a good job of ___ the population

representing

Sample size—the number of study participants—is a major ___ in quantitative research.

concern

There is no simple formula to determine what a sample size should be, but ___ is usually better than smaller

larger

Researchers can estimate how large their samples should be for testing hypotheses through ___

power analysis

A ___ sample cannot correct for a faulty sampling design; nevertheless, a large non-probability sample is better than a small one

large

When ___ quantitative studies, you must assess both the sample size and the sample selection method to judge how good the sample was.

critiquing

Researchers most often collect new data. In developing a data collection plan, researchers must decide the type of data to gather.

Three types have been frequently used by nurse researchers…

self-reports, observations, and biophysiologic measures.

Self-report data, also called ___ are participants’ responses to researchers’ questions, such as in an interview.

patient-reported outcome (PRO) data

Direct ___ of people’s behaviours and characteristics can be used for certain questions

observation

Closed ended (or fixed-alternative) questions are ones in which the response options are ___

prespecified