Advanced Nursing Inquiry, Research, and Evidence-Based Practice

Was the study a qualitative or quantitative design? Explain how you know.

State the practice problem/issue that is the focus of the study.

How does this practice problem/issue affect your nursing practice?

Did the literature review identify what was known and not known about the research problem? Did it logically direct the research purpose?

If a conceptual model or theoretical framework was used , answer the following questions:

Describe how it helps explain the phenomenon of concern.

How is the framework linked to the research purpose? Would another framework fit more logically with the study?

If a proposition or relationship from a theory is to be tested, is the proposition clearly identified and linked to the study hypothesis?

What is the research question?

State the research purpose.

Formulate a null hypothesis for the study.

List all research variables (independent and dependent variable) with corresponding levels of measurement on the NOIR scale.

Do variables represent the concepts identified in the framework?

How is each study variable defined (both conceptually and operationally)?

Are conceptual definitions of variables consistent with operational definitions?

What was the design of the study? Was it the most appropriate design to answer the study question? Explain.

If there was an intervention (treatment) in the study:

· what was the intervention? How was it described? Why is this important?

· was the treatment appropriate for examining the study purpose? Explain.

· was there a comparison group? control group?

· how were subjects assigned to the treatment group?

· was a protocol developed for administering the treatment? Why is this important?

· did the researcher monitor implementation of the treatment to ensure consistency? How might this impact findings?

Did the sample include an understudied or vulnerable population, such as young, elderly, pregnant, or minority subjects? Why is this important?

What sampling criteria (inclusion and exclusion) were used?

How were the rights of human subjects protected? Explain.

What sampling strategy was used? Is this sampling strategy random or non-random? Why is this important?

Was the refusal rate for the study provided? If so:

· was it greater than 20%?

· how might this have affected the representativeness of the sample?

Was the attrition rate for the study provided? If so:

– what was it?

– did the researchers provide a rationale for the attrition of study participants?

– how did attrition influence the final sample as well as study results?

How large is the sample?

How was sample size determined? Why is this important?

What instruments or tools were used to collect data?

How did you determine if the instruments are valid? reliable?

Respond to the following questions that are relevant to the measurement approaches used in the study. For measurements not used, indicate N/A.

1. Scales and questionnaires

(a) Were the instruments clearly described?

(b) Were techniques for completion and scoring of the instruments provided?

(c) Were validity and reliability of the instruments described?

(d) Did the researcher reexamine the validity and reliability of instruments for the present sample?

2. Observation

(a) Were phenomenon that were to be observed clearly identified and defined?

(b) Was interrater reliability described?

(c) Were techniques for recording observations described?

3. Physiological measures

(a) Were physiological measures clearly described? If appropriate, are brand names (ex., Hewlett-Packard) of instruments identified?

(b) Were accuracy, precision, and error of physiological instruments discussed?

(c) Were physiological measures appropriate for the research purpose and objectives, questions, or hypotheses?

(d) Were methods for recording data from physiological measures clearly described? Was recording of data consistent?

State the data collection procedures.

How often were data collected and for how long?

Was the data collection process conducted in a consistent manner? Why is this important?

Did any adverse events occur during data collection? If adverse events did occur, how were they managed?

What statistical tests were used to analyze data?

Were statistical tests used an appropriate fit with the level of measurement of the dependent variable? Explain.

What assumptions in the data (if any) must be met for the type of statistical tests used? How do you know if these assumptions were met?

Did the researcher address any problems with missing data and if so, how was this problem managed?

How were data displayed in the published research study? Describe.

What was the alpha for statistical tests?

Describe how statistical significance was demonstrated (or not) for each variable.

Were study results statistically significant? How did you determine statistical significance?

What is your statistical interpretation of study results?

Were findings discussed in relation to answering the research question? In other words, was the research question/hypothesis answered? Describe.

Were study findings clinically significant? If so:

· discuss implications of the study for nursing practice.

· what changes could you make in your practice based on the results of this study?

What were the study conclusions? Did conclusions fit the results from the data analyses? Were the conclusions based on statistically significant and clinically important results? Explain.

Were study limitations described? Discuss. Do you think the study had weaknesses not identified by the researcher? If so, explain.

Did the researcher generalize the findings appropriately? Who will benefit from results of the study? Discuss.

Were there any unexpected findings? Discuss.

Discuss study recommendations.

Is need for further research identified?

In your opinion, did the researchers address aspects of rigor adequately in each step of the research process? Discuss.

Would you recommend using the results as evidence for nursing practice? Provide evidence to justify your answer.