NR 439 Week 5 Assignment – Reading Research Literature

NR 439 Week 5 Assignment – Reading Research Literature

There are several times when, in the middle of or after particular interventions, nurses would ask themselves questions such as “What if we had done it this way?” or “What would have been the results if …” These, and many other questions are the foundations and impetus to nursing research. Nursing research impacts current and future professional nursing practices, and therefore, it is an important component of the educational process in nursing. Additionally, nursing research enables professional nurses to determine the most effective and best practices which can be implemented to improve patient care. It promotes the nurses’ lifelong professional development and also supports the fact that nursing is a professional discipline. It is important for nurses to understand the basic principles of research because it helps them improve their clinical expertise and develop their personal knowledge. Also, by understanding the basic principles of research, nurses understand the implementation of changes that support excellence in nursing care. Furthermore, nurses who understand the basic principles of nursing research can retrieve, read, critique, and apply nursing research. The purpose of this paper is to explore and examine the different ways in which nursing research can be conducted to study nursing problems. It covers the research designs (quantitative and qualitative research designs), and how research is critical in developing a credible evidence-based nursing practice.

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research describes a means used in research to test objective theories through an examination of the relationships that exist between the different variables being considered. A variable refers to a factor in an experiment or study that can be changed or controlled to observe the effects of another variable. In a quantitative research design, the data collected during the study is in numeric or quantified form and is referred to as statistical. evidence (Younas, Pedersen and Tayaben, 2019). Under quantitative research, quantitative data allows for an accurate approach to the analysis of the problem and measurement of the outcome. Because it is based on the number, quantitative research is generally precise, and one of its purposes is to be deductive in approach (developing a hypothesis based on existing theory and then designing a research strategy to test the hypothesis) rather than being inductive.

The importance of using the quantitative approach in nursing research is that it is based on numbers, and this makes it precise and accurate. This accuracy is important in research, especially in the field of nursing. When it is applied appropriately in research, the results of quantitative research can be generalized.

NR 439 Week 5 Assignment – Reading Research Literature

There are four types of quantitative research design: descriptive research, correlational research, quasi-experimental research, and experimental research. Descriptive research provides systematic information about a phenomenon and seeks to describe the current status of a variable. Correlational research uses statistical data to determine the extent of a relationship between variables. It seeks and interprets relationships among various facts. Quasi-experimental research is a type of quantitative research that seeks to establish a cause-effect relationship between two or more variables (Wisdom et al., 2011). Lastly, experimental research uses scientific methods to establish the cause-effect relationship between variables which forms the focus of the study. Descriptive research is the type of quantitative research that I believe would impact nursing research. This is because in this research, the researcher first collects data relating to a given phenomenon, then later develop a hypothesis based on the data collected. Through the analysis and synthesis of data, the researcher can then test the hypothesis so as to arrive at a conclusion.

Quantitative research can help improve nursing research because it attempts to establish statistically significant relationships between variables and its approach to addressing nursing questions and problems on the basis of measurements (Apuke, 2017). It is based on observation and objective measurement, and more so, it is concerned with causation and correlation.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is a naturalistic study that aims at obtaining in-depth knowledge about social phenomena by focusing on the “why” as opposed to the “what” of the social phenomena. Qualitative research relies on the direct experiences of the respondents, and qualitative researchers use multiple systems of inquiry to study human phenomena, such as discourse analysis, case studies, historical analysis, ethnography, phenomenology, and grounded theory (Squires and Dorsen, 2018).

In nursing research, qualitative research is important because the knowledge obtained through qualitative research provides nurses with new perspectives concerning patient care and also allows the validation of proper courses of action. Qualitative research establishes useful resources through various components such as best practices, processes, systems, personal experiences, and observations (Miller, 2010). Qualitative research explains complicated and unique information which cannot be established through quantitative research.’

The major types of qualitative research designs are case studies, historical analysis, ethnography, grounded theory, and phenomenology, among others. Case studies involve a deep understanding which uses multiple types of data sources, and they can be explanatory, exploratory, or describing an event. Historical analysis describes past events to aid the understanding of present patterns and the anticipation of future choices. Ethnography approaches research by immersing the subjects of one culture in a different culture that is unfamiliar to them so as to learn and describe the characteristics of the culture. Grounded theory seeks to explain the reasons behind the evolution of a particular course of action in the manner in which it does. It considers large subject numbers and develops theoretical models based on existing data. Lastly, phenomenology describes the experiences of a participant in a specific event. This type of qualitative research uses observation, interviews, and surveys to obtain information from different subjects under study. A case study is the type of qualitative research that I would use in my nursing research among the several types identified. This is because, unlike other types of qualitative research, case studies provide an in-depth look at a particular subject rather than many. It is, therefore, easy to use case studies when the researcher wants to focus on the “how” and “why” of a social phenomenon. Additionally, when using case studies, the behavior is not manipulated, but rather, it is observed in real-life.

Qualitative research can help improve nursing practice because it captures the experiences and viewpoints of in-depth stakeholders in the evaluation of the consequences of policy implementation (Miller, 2010).

Research sampling

In research, a sample refers to a group of people, objects, or items taken from a larger population for the purpose of study. Sampling, therefore, describes a statistical analysis process in which a predetermined number of observations are obtained from a larger population. Sampling is important in research because it helps the researcher to use a small portion of the population to draw conclusions that can be applied to the whole population. By directly observing only a portion (sample) of the population, researchers would use inferential statistics to determine the characteristics of the population (Erba et al., 2017). Researchers use sampling because it allows them to avoid the difficulties that arise from attempting to measure the whole population. Some of these challenges include the inability to access (or the cost of accessing) all the elements in a population and the destructiveness of observation.

There are various sampling strategies used in research. One of the strategies used in quantitative research is probability sampling. It uses random selection that enables a researcher to select units or subjects from within the sampling frame which is described in the sample. Under probability sampling, each member of the entire population has a non-zero probability of being selected which is known by the researcher. Probability sampling, systematic sampling, simple random sampling, stratified sampling, disproportional sampling, and cluster sampling. The advantage of using probability sampling in research is that the researcher can calculate the sampling error, and therefore, it is easy to determine the level of accuracy of the results (Erba et al., 2017).

The other sampling strategy that I learned is judgemental sampling. It is a non-probability technique in which the researcher selects subjects based on their professional judgment and knowledge. Judgemental sampling is used where the researcher is interested in selecting a more representative sample which can bring more accuracy of the results, which cannot be achieved by using the other sampling techniques. It is usually used when the trait of interest is possessed by a limited group of individuals.

NR 439 Week 5 Assignment – Reading Research Literature

Credible Nursing Practice

Research can make nursing practice safer by positioning nurses to make key contributions to medical care while also helping patients to receive optimal care. Also, one of the goals of nursing research is to develop an understanding of the symptoms of acute and chronic illnesses, and this allows early interventions to be made hence safer care for the patients (Black et al., 2015). Nursing research is also aimed at finding effective approaches to the achievement of optimal healthcare. It provides an opportunity for leaders in healthcare to make improvements in clinical settings where care is provided.

An evidence-based nursing practice describes an approach that aids the making of quality decisions and the provision of nursing care on the basis of personal clinical expertise that is guided by the most current and relevant nursing research. Research is therefore critical for in the creation of an evidence-based nursing practice because it provides important information on the outcomes of a given treatment, the effectiveness of public health interventions, risk factors and disease trends, patient care, functional abilities, and healthcare costs.

Conclusion

Evidence-based practice in nursing can only be obtained when there is evidence about a given problem. Nurses have the ability to theorize, hypothesize, collect evidence, and structure studies to obtain conclusions that lead to better patient care. As such, nursing research seeks to achieve better care standards. Qualitative research is used to answer questions about how or why a particular social phenomenon is occurring, while on the other hand, quantitative research collects numerical data and analyses them using statistical tools to explain a phenomenon.

References

Apuke, O. (2017). Quantitative Research Methods: A Synopsis Approach. Kuwait Chapter of Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 6(11), pp.40-47.

Black, A., Balneaves, L., Garossino, C., Puyat, J. and Qian, H. (2015). Promoting Evidence-Based Practice through a Research Training Program for Point-of-Care Clinicians. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 45(1), pp.14-20.

Erba, J., Ternes, B., Bobkowski, P., Logan, T. and Liu, Y. (2017). Sampling Methods and Sample Populations in Quantitative Mass Communication Research Studies: A 15- Year Census of Six Journals. Communication Research Reports, 35(1), pp.42-47.

Miller, W. (2010). Qualitative Research Findings as Evidence. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 24(4), pp.191-193.

Squires, A. and Dorsen, C. (2018). Qualitative Research in Nursing and Health Professions Regulation. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 9(3), pp.15-26.

Wisdom, J., Cavaleri, M., Onwuegbuzie, A. and Green, C. (2011). Methodological Reporting in Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Health Services Research Articles. Health Services Research, 47(2), pp.721-745.

Younas, A., Pedersen, M. and Tayaben, J. (2019). Review of Mixed-Methods Research in Nursing. Nursing Research, 68(6), pp.464-472.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

---

What is the purpose of this research?

What is the research question (or questions)? This may be implicit or explicit. 

Give a complete description of the research design of this study.

What is the population (sample) for this study?

Was the sampling approach adequate for the research design that was selected & explain why?