RESEARCH exam 2

Which of the following statements about using theory in quantitative studies is true?
Answer: D. Theories are often not tested directly in a study but rather are used as an organizing structure.

A nurse researcher studied how a woman's practice of breast self-examination is affected by her perception of the risk of breast cancer. Which theory or model did the nurse researcher likely use?
Answer: The Health Belief Model

Self-efficacy is a widely used construct that was originally developed within:
Answer: Social Cognitive Theory

Which middle-range theory developed by a nurse focuses on a person's inability to understand the meaning of illness-related events?
Answer: Mishel's Uncertainty in Illness Theory

The Health Promotion Model would best be described as which type of theory?
Answer: A middle-range theory

The nurse theorist Roy developed which nursing model?
Answer: C. Adaptation Model

Which is true of both theories and conceptual models?
Answer: They are invented or created, not discovered.

Nurse researchers seeking to clarify conceptual definitions for a study may:
Answer: Undertake a concept analysis.

Which statement is true?
Answer: All nursing studies have a framework.

What is the major similarity between traditional theories and conceptual models?
Answer: They both use concepts as their building blocks.

Theories differ in their level of generality and abstraction. What term is used to designate a theory that attempts to explain specific phenomena, such as stress, adaptation, and unpleasant symptoms?
Answer: Middle-range theory

Descriptive theory plays an important role in which type of studies?
Answer: C. Qualitative studies

What are the basic building blocks of a theory?
Answer: Concepts

The power of traditional theories lies in their ability to:
Answer: Articulate and explain the nature of relationships among phenomena.

An abstract generalization that explains how phenomena are interrelated is a:
Answer: Traditional theory.

Clinical trials to test a new intervention often adhere to a sequence of phases. Which phase of a clinical trial focuses on the generalizability of findings?
Answer: Phase IV

Quality improvement (QI) teams often undertake which of the following to identify underlying process deficiencies?
Answer: A root cause analysis

18. What do quality improvement projects, research, and EBP projects have in common?
✔ They all use systematic methods to address health problems and to foster improvement in health care.

19. A researcher used the Plan-Do-Study-Act model to develop and assess a perioperative hand-off tool and standardized process for improving communication. What type of inquiry was this?
✔ A quality improvement study

20. In the standard notation for mixed methods designs, what does the notation QUAL + QUAN signify?
✔ An equal priority concurrent design

21. In the standard notation for mixed methods designs, what does QUAN/qual signify?
✔ A sequential design with the quantitative strand dominant

22. What paradigm has most often been associated with mixed methods research?
✔ Pragmatism

23. Which of the following statements is true of mixed methods research?
✔ Quantitative and qualitative methods are complementary and can help researchers avoid the limitations of a single approach.

24. Mixed methods research offers several advantages. Which is one of those advantages?
✔ The potential for enhanced validity

25. Which statement is an example of raw data from a qualitative study?
✔ "I couldn't even get out of bed in the morning; I just wanted to hide from the world."

26. Which of the following activities is used in the analysis of quantitative data?
✔ Undertaking statistical analyses

27. Which of the following activities would occur during the empirical phase of a quantitative study?
✔ The distribution of questionnaires to 200 study participants

28. Which activity occurs during the conceptual phase of a quantitative research project?
✔ Undertaking a literature review

29. Which of the following is not a research tradition used by qualitative nurse researchers?
✔ Experimental

30. What are the two broad classes of quantitative research?
✔ Experimental and nonexperimental research

31. Which is the dependent variable in the question "Are depressive symptoms among patients with cancer affected by their degree of physical mobility and their pain levels?"
✔ Depressive symptoms

32. Which is the independent variable in the question "Are male patients with a COVID-19 infection more likely to become hospitalized and require ventilation than female patients with COVID-19?"
✔ Patients' gender

33. Which is the independent variable in the research question "What is the effect of noise levels on postoperative pain and blood pressure fluctuations in ICU patients?"
✔ Noise levels

34. Which is the dependent variable in the research question "Is the quality of life of nursing home residents affected by their functional ability or hearing acuity?"
✔ Quality of life

35. In terms of the PICO framework for asking well-worded questions in an evidence search, an independent variable in a study corresponds to which combination of components?
✔ I and C (Intervention and Comparison)36. In terms of the PICO framework for asking well-worded questions in an evidence search, a dependent variable in a study corresponds to which component?

• Answer: O (Outcome)

37. Which statement about variables is true?

• Answer: Variables in a study can be intrinsic human traits or can be created by researchers.

38. Which of the following abstractions is most likely to be called a construct?

• Answer: Self-care

39. A qualitative researcher is studying the experience of living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). In this study, the experience of living with IPF would most likely be called the:

• Answer: Phenomenon of interest

40. Which term do qualitative researchers avoid when referring to people who participate in a study?

• Answer: Subjects

41. Which of the following statements about open-access journal articles is true?

• Answer: They can be downloaded for free over the Internet.

42. In the following question, identify the underlined component as either the IV (Independent Variable) or DV (Dependent Variable):
"Among patients undergoing abdominal surgery, does a relaxation intervention affect pain levels?"

• Answer: Independent Variable, Dependent Variable

43. In the following question, identify the underlined component as either the IV (Independent Variable) or DV (Dependent Variable):
"What effect does a cancer diagnosis have on a teenager’s emotional well-being?"

• Answer: Independent Variable, Dependent Variable

44. In the following question, identify the underlined component as either the IV (Independent Variable) or DV (Dependent Variable):
"Among nurses on medical-surgical units, are lower amounts of daily sleep associated with a higher incidence of medication errors?"

• Answer: Independent Variable, Dependent Variable

45. A nurse researcher initiates a study in the gastrointestinal clinic. Another nurse clinician asks about the details of the study. The nurse researcher provides instruction. Which statement by the nurse clinician indicates a good understanding of this study's purpose?

• Answer: "This is a descriptive study of client symptoms, things that increase and decrease symptoms, and coping methods."

46. Some mixed methods designs are sequential. What is a sequential design?

• Answer: The first strand occurs prior to the second strand.

47. What is the first step in conducting a literature review?

• Answer: Identifying the research question to be addressed

48. Several strategies for finding studies on a research question have been developed. What is the ancestry approach?

• Answer: Tracking down studies cited in the reference list of a relevant research report

49. A null hypothesis is used:

• Answer: In testing hypotheses statistically.

50. What type of hypothesis is represented by the following prediction? "The fewer social supports an older person has, the more likely the individual will be institutionalized when experiencing a health problem."

• Answer: Directional51. The year of publication should be included in parentheses after an author's name whenever the author is named in the text. For example: "Lastname (year) argued that..."

• Answer: True

52. Choose the correct in-text citation format for a direct quotation:

• Answer: (Merkle, 2018, p. 62)

53. When citing one or two authors in-text, it is permitted to use et al. instead of providing the authors' names:

• Answer: False

54. Which is the weakest form of sampling for quantitative studies?

• Answer: Convenience sampling

55. A researcher is studying the relationship between stress and diet among college students. The researcher recruits students by sending out an e-mail blast and then includes in the sample the first 100 male and 100 female students who volunteer to participate. What type of sampling did the researcher use?

• Answer: Quota sampling

56. A nurse researcher recruits study participants by placing a recruitment poster at the entrance to a neurology clinic. What type of sampling did the researcher use?

• Answer: Convenience sampling

57. In the context of a study, what is sampling?

• Answer: Selecting a subset of the population to represent the entire population

58. Which of the following is a major challenge specific to longitudinal designs?

• Answer: Attrition

59. In a true experimental design, what does the researcher manipulate?

• Answer: The independent variable

60. A nurse researcher tested whether sucrose (vs. sterile water) had a beneficial effect on infant pain during immunizations. Neither those administering the intervention nor the parents of the infants knew which infants received the sucrose. This strategy is an example of:

• Answer: Blinding

61. External validity refers to the ability to generalize results from a research study sample to a larger population.

• Answer: True

62. Internal validity measures which of the following?

• Answer: The research results for accuracy

63. Please identify the error in the journal citation below. (Select all that apply) Scruton, Robert. (1996). The eclipse of listening. The New Criterion Journal, 15(3), 5-13.

• Answer:

  • Journal name is not italicized

  • Author's first name should be an initial only

64. Where do the page numbers go in an APA Style paper (including the title page)?

• Answer: Top Right

65. Which of the following is a threat to external validity?

• Answer: Small sample size 

66. The study will be a randomized control trial, in which the control group will get the usual treatment and the experiment group will get an intervention. This method minimizes the possibility that extraneous variables will cause the change in parental stress levels. Which type of validity is this?

• Answer: Internal Validity

67. Internal validity measures which of the following?

• Answer: The research results for accuracy

68. Which of the following is a component of recruitment activities?

• Answer: Identifying eligible candidates and Persuading people to participate 

69. A quantitative instrument can be reliable without being valid.

• Answer: True

70. The research query, "Among patients with cancer, are high levels of death anxiety more prevalent for men or for women?" Is:

• Answer: Most likely to be addressed using a quantitative approach.

71. A problem statement has many components. Which of the following is unlikely to be a component of a written problem statement for a quantitative study?

• Answer: Researchers' views about how to fix the problem

72. Which statement is a null hypothesis?

• Answer: Patients with Parkinson's disease fall the same amount indoors as outdoors.

73. Which is the weakest form of sampling for quantitative studies?

• Answer: Convenience sampling

74. A researcher is studying the relationship between stress and diet among college students. The researcher recruits students by sending out an e-mail blast and then includes in the sample the first 100 male and 100 female students who volunteer to participate. What type of sampling did the researcher use?

• Answer: Quota sampling

75. Which of the following is not a standard feature of a true experimental design?

• Answer: A placebo