2 Research Process
2 Research Process
PROCESS
PHASES OF NURSING
RESEARCH
1. CONCEPTUAL PHASE
2. THE DESIGN AND PLANNING PHASE
3. THE EMPIRICAL PHASE
4. THE ANALYTIC PHASE
5. THE DISSEMINATION PHASE
CONCEPTUAL PHASE
1. FORMULATING AND DELIMITING THE PROBLEM
o TOPIC
o RESEARCH PROBLEM
o PROBLEM STATEMENT – ARTICULATES THE PROBLEM TO BE
ADDRESSED AND INDICATES THE NEED FOR A STUDY
o RESEARCH QUESTIONS – ARE THE SPECIFIC QUERIES RESEARCHERS
WANT TO ANSWER IN ADDRESSING THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
o RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS – PREDICTIONS THAT ARE TESTED
EMPIRICALLY
o NULL HYPOTHESIS
o RESEARCH OR ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS
Term Example
Topic Side effects of Chemotherapy
Nausea and vomiting are common side effects among
patients on chemo; interventions have been moderately
Research Problem
successful. New interventions that can reduce or prevent
these side effects need to be identified
Purpose is to test an intervention to reduce chemotherapy-
induced side effects – specifically to compare the
Statement of purpose
effectiveness of patient-controlled and nurse-administered
antiemetic therapy
What is the relative effectiveness of patient-controlled
antiemetic therapy versus nurse-controlled antiemetic
Research question therapy with regard to (a) medication consumption, and (b)
control of nausea and vomiting in patients on
chemotherapy?
There is no difference on the effectiveness between
patient-controlled and nurse-controlled antiemetic therapy
Hypothesis
with regard to medication consumption and control of
nausea and vomiting of patients on chemotherapy.
CONCEPTUAL PHASE
1. FORMULATING AND DELIMITING THE PROBLEM
o EVALUATING RESEARCH PROBLEMS
o SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROBLEM – RESEARCH PROBLEM SHOULD HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF
CONTRIBUTING MEANINGFULLY TO THE NURSING KNOWLEDGE
o RESEARCHABILITY OF THE PROBLEM
o TIME AND TIMING
o AVAILABILITY OF STUDY PARTICIPANTS
o FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENTS
o MONEY
o EXPERIENCE AND INTEREST OF THE RESEARCHER
CONCEPTUAL PHASE
• PRIMARY SOURCES
• RESEARCH REPORTS/STUDIES
• SECONDARY SOURCES
• BOOKS
• LITERATURE REVIEW
SUMMARIES
THE DESIGN AND PLANNING
PHASE
No Yes
No Yes
QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL EXPERIMENTAL
MEASUREMENT OF INDEPENDENT
AND DEPENDENT VARIABLES
DESIGN FEATURES EXAMPLE
RETROSPECTIVE Study begins with Heitkemper, et. al. (2001),
dependent variable and used a Retrospective
looks backward for cause design in their study of
factors contributing to the
onset of irritable bowel
syndrome. They compared
samples of women with
and without IBS in terms of
their history of sexual and
physical abuse and found
that abusive experiences
were more prevalent among
women with IBS.
MEASUREMENT OF
INDEPENDENT AND
DEPENDENT VARIABLES
DESIGN FEATURE EXAMPLE
PROSPECTIVE Study begins with Brook, et. al. (2000)
independent variable and conducted a prospective
looks forward for the study to examine clinical
effect and cost outcomes of
early versus late
tracheostomy in patients
who require prolonged
mechanical ventilation.
Early tracheostomy was
found to be associated
with shorter lengths of
hospital stay and lower
cost.
IDENTIFYING THE POPULATION
TO BE STUDIED
• POPULATION – AGGREGATE OR
TOTALITY OF THOSE CONFORMING
TO A SET OF SPECIFICATIONS.
• NURSES
• STUDENTS
• CHILDREN
• ETC.
DESIGNING THE SAMPLING
PLAN
• SAMPLE – SUBSET OF A POPULATION
• SAMPLING TECHNIQUES:
• PROBABILITY SAMPLING
• SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING
• FISH BOWL METHOD
• NONPROBABILITY SAMPLING
• PURPOSIVE/JUDGMENTAL SAMPLING
• SNOW BALL TECHNIQUE
• CONVENIENCE/ACCIDENTAL SAMPLING
METHODS TO MEASURE
RESEARCH VARIABLES
• DIFFERENT METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION
• BIOPHYSIOLOGIC MEASUREMENTS
• SELF-REPORTS
• OBSERVATION
• USE OF A RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
• QUESTIONNAIRES
• SURVEY FORMS
FINALIZING THE RESEARCH
PLAN
• PRETESTING OF QUESTIONNAIRES
• DATA COLLECTION
• DATA ENCODING
THE ANALYTIC PHASE
• DATA ANALYSIS
• STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
• UTILIZATION OF FINDINGS
• APPLICATION TO NURSING PRACTICE AND NURSING
EDUCATION