Module 2: the research process midterm

concept

are abstractions of phenomenon that underpin the human experience

ex. pain hunger stress

constructs

are also abstractions of phenomenon but often ones that are deliberately invented or made up by humans

ex: self care, strengths based nursing

\*think of it as something was constructed

theory

an explanation of some part of reality

in a theory concepts and linked together to describe an aspect of the world

theories play an important role in quant and qual research.

deductive reasoning: quant or qual

quantitative.

it starts with a hypothesis, make predictions about how the phenomenon would behave in the real world If the hypothesis was true.

inductive reasoning: quant or qual?

qualitative.

theory is often a product of this type of research

researchers use the info from the participants to develop a theory based on the experiences of the participants.

define variable:

something that varies/changes

ex: height weight age disease etc.

researchers can also create variables.

Ex: testing patient controlled pain management vs. intramuscular pain relief. In this example the researcher created variable because different patients would receive different methods of pain relief.

define dependant variable (DV)

the outcome that the Researcher is interested in, what they want to explain, understand/predict.

or the effect.

define independent variable (IV)

the variable that effects how the dependant variable behaves

the presumed cause.

define conceptual definition

the theoretical meaning of a concept, it make be the end product of qualitative research.

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Define operational definition

what researchers must specifically do to measure the concept and collect needed information. it needs to be defined at the outset of quantitative research.

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in quant research the researcher must define concepts at the start because they have to decide how the variables will be measured. so this operational definition indicates the what they must to do measure such concepts.

data:

pieces of info gathered in a study.

Quant: info in numeric form

Qual: rich narrative descriptions

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**quant example:** thinking about the past week how depressed would you say you have been on a scale of 0-10 where 0 means none at all and 10 means the most possible

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**Qual example**: tell me about how you have been feeling recently, have you felt sad or depressed at all? have you been in good spirits?

relationship:

the connection between phenomena or variables.

**Quant relationship:** relationship between the IV and the outcome (DV). causal and associative.

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**Qual relationship:** patterns of association to understand phenomena.

**quant research:** experimental studies vs **non** experimental studies.

**experimental studies:** the researcher uses an intervention or a treatment/exposure

ex: clinical trials or examining causal relationships

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**non experimental studies:** the researcher acts as a bystander or observer, no interventions

ex: observational studies or casual relationships less conclusive

what are the 3 parts to the traditions of qual research?

1. grounded theory
2. phenomenology
3. ethnography

define grounded theory

to describe and understand key social psychological processes and to generate explanations of phenomena that are grounded in reality.

define phenomenology

people’s lived experiences and what they mean

what is the meaning behind phenomena described by the people who experience it?

define ethnography

studying patterns or life ways of a defined group

fieldwork a common approach, participating in the life of the group that’s being studied to understand that groups culture and norms.

Steps in quantitative research:

it is a linear process that follows a plan and sticks to it.


1. formulate a hypothesis
2. make a clear research plan:

\-research design

\-intervention protocol

\-population and sampling plan

\-determine outcome measures
3. collect data
4. analyze data
5. disseminate findings

Steps in qualitative research:

it is an emergent process, not necessarily in a linear process, may come back to certain steps, may choose to interview more people than planned etc.

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1. plan study
2. develop strategies

\-interview questions

\-target participants

\-target environments
3. gather and begin data analysis

\-reevaluate data collection plan and strategies

\-determine if you have data saturation (same themes and categories are recurring, no new info can be gathered)
4. disseminate findings

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components of a research article

\-title

\-abstract

\-introduction

\-methods

\-results

\-discussion

\-references

what is a research critique?

it’s an objective assessment of the strength of a study and its limits.

includes:

reviewers summary of study contribution

recommendation regarding value of the evidence

suggestions for improvement

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define inference

a conclusion drawn from the study evidence using logical reasoning and considering the methods used to generate that evidence

define reliability

for quant researcher to assess quality of a research study:

**reliability** is the accuracy and consistency of information obtained in a study.

ex if you take a patients temp and one min it reads 371 and then 39.5 the next min it would be seen as unreliable

define validity

for quant researchers to assess quality of a research study:

**validity:** the soundness of the evidence, whether the methods are really measuring the concepts they claim to measure.

ex is a paper and pencil study really measuring depression or is it measuring stress and loneliness?

what is a scientific merit?

when quantitative researchers use several criteria to assess the quality of a study.

the 2 most important ones being reliability and validity

define Credibility

the extent to which readers can be confident the reported results are truthful and accurate

define triangulation

a strategy to promote credibility, it is the use of multiple sources of info to draw conclusions about what constitutes the truth.

bias in research:

a distortion or influence that can lead to an error in an inference (conclusion)

it is a threat to a studies validity or trustworthiness

**can be caused by:**

lack of honest from participants

researcher’s preconceptions

faulty methods of collecting data

how is bias avoided in research?

it is avoiding by things such as triangulation In quant and qual research.

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and research control in specifically quant research. this is a common method to minimize bias.

control in research

it is a way to target bias in quant research

it involves holding extraneous factor (or confounding variables) constant in order to elucidate the true relationship between the IV and the DV.

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avoiding contaminating factors ( confounding or extraneous factors) that may cloud the relationship between the variables that are in central interest.

it does not apply to constructivist research (qual research)

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randomization and blinding what type of research is it used in only and what is the benefit of it?

used in quantitative research only. (qual researchers view judgement as a tool for uncovering complexities of the phenomena of interest).

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randomization and blinding and its benefit is reduced bias in quant studies.

define randomization

selecting participants at random, using a assignment generator in some cases possibly, group allocation at random

define blinding

hiding info from participants, data collectors or care providers.

define reflexivity, and what type of research is it involved with?

the process of critically and carefully considering how personal values could affect data collection and interpretation.

***used in qualitative research**

define generalizability and what type of research it is involved in.

generalizability is used in quantitative research

it is the extent to which findings can be applied to other groups or settings (the extent it can be generalized)

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generalizability is improved in studies with strong reliability and validity and appropriate representative samples.

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representative samples ( a subset of a population that accurately reflects the characteristics of the larger group).

define transferability and what type of research its involved in.

it is a term used in qualitative research, it is the extent to which research findings can be transferred to other settings.

transferability is improved in studies with rich descriptions of the study background, context, participants, methods, analysis.