Selecting and Identifying Research Problems

Comprehensive practice flashcards covering terms, definitions, and evaluation criteria for identifying and selecting research problems in nursing research as described in the lecture notes.

Field of interest

The general area of expertise or study for a researcher, such as nursing education, midwifery, community health, or mental health.

Topic

The general level of focus within a field of interest that a researcher is interested in investigating (e.g., Factors influencing enrolled nursing students’ academic performance).

Research problem

According to Brink (2018), a situation in need of a solution, improvement, or a discrepancy between the way things are and the way they need to be as confirmed by literature.

Significance

An evaluation criterion for a research problem indicating it must be worth researching and important to the specific field of knowledge.

Researchability

An evaluation criterion requiring that a problem can be investigated through data collection and aids understanding rather than being answered with a simple yes or no.

Feasibility

The practical evaluation of a research problem based on the availability of time, money, equipment, participants, and the expertise of the researcher.

Research purpose

A concise, clear statement of a specific goal or aim generated from the problem, indicating what could be achieved and including variables, population, and setting.

Descriptive design

A type of research that seeks to gather information, describe, and summarise a phenomenon.

Exploratory design

A research design focused on discovering or uncovering a phenomenon.

Explanatory design

A research design used for testing and understanding causal relations.

Research objectives

Clear, concise, declarative statements expressed in the present tense formulated to bridge the gap between the problem/purpose and the detailed data collection plan.

Research question

A concise, interrogative statement worded in the present tense that includes one or more concepts or variables.

Proposition

A statement about a concept that may be judged as true or false when referring to observable phenomena, which becomes a hypothesis once empirically tested.

Hypothesis

A prediction about the relationship between two or more variables, translating a quantitative research question into a precise prediction of outcomes.

Simple hypothesis

A hypothesis that expresses an expected relationship between one independent variable and one dependent variable.

Complex hypothesis

Also referred to as a multivariate hypothesis, it is a prediction of a relationship between two or more independent variables and/or two or more dependent variables.

Research hypothesis

Also referred to as substantive, declarative, or scientific hypotheses, these are statements of expected relationships between variables.

Null hypothesis

A statistical hypothesis stating that there is no relationship between the independent and dependent variables.

Variable

Any property, characteristic, number, or quantity that can vary, such as height, weight, or degree of masculinity.

Attribute

A specific category or characteristic that describes a variable, such as "married" being an attribute of "marital status."

Independent variable

The variable that influences others and is considered the cause of the phenomenon being studied.

Dependent variable

The outcome variable or the effect that is measured in response to the independent variable.

Extraneous variables

Uncontrolled variables that influence the findings of a research study, such as climate, family, or health care systems.

Demographic variables

Characteristics of the study sample that cannot be manipulated, such as age, educational level, gender, income, and job classification.

Conceptual definition

Providing the theoretical meaning of a concept or variable, which serves as the basis for formulating an operational definition.

Operational definition

A definition developed so that a variable can be measured or observed within a study.