CHAPTER 6  researchers choose a problem to study based

RESEARCH PROBLEMS, QUESTIONS, AND HYPOTHESES on several factors, including its inherent interest
to them and its fit with a paradigm of
OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH PROBLEMS preference

I. BASIC TERMINOLOGY COMMUNICATING RESEARCH PROBLEMS & QUESTIONS

 research problem – enigmatic, perplexing, or I. PROBLEM STATEMENTS

troubling condition
 purpose of research is to solve the problem or  articulation of what it is that is problematic and
contribute to its solution by accumulating that is the impetus for the research
relevant information  research reports also present either a
 problem statement – articulates the problem to statement of purpose, research questions, or
be addressed and indicates the need for a hypotheses (often, a combination of the three)
study through the development of an  express the dilemma or disconcerting situation
argument that needs investigation and incorporate a
 statement of purpose – summary of overall rationale for a new inquiry
goal  a well-structured formulation of what it is that is
 aims/objectives – specific accomplishments to problematic, what it is that “needs fixing,” or
be achieved by conducting the study what it is that is poorly understood
 research questions – specific queries to be  six components of quantitative study problem
answered in addressing the research problem statements:
 hypotheses – tested empirically 1. problem identification
2. background (nature, context, what
II. RESEARCH PROBLEMS AND PARADIGMS needs to be understood)
3. scope of the problem
 quantitative studies – usually involve concepts 4. consequences of the problem (cost of
that are fairly well developed and for which not fixing the problem)
reliable methods of measurement have been 5. knowledge gaps
(or can be) developed 6. proposed solution
 qualitative studies – often undertaken  problem statements for a qualitative study
because a new phenomenon has emerged or similarly express the nature of the problem, its
some aspect of a phenomenon is poorly context, its scope, and information needed to
understood address it
 problem statement for a phenomenological
III. SOURCES OF RESEARCH PROBLEMS study might note the need to know more
about people’s experiences or the meanings
1. Clinical experience they attribute to those experiences
2. Nursing literature
3. Social issues II. STATEMENTS OF PURPOSE
4. Theories (nursing and related disciplines)
5. Ideas from external sources  establishes the general direction of the inquiry
and captures the substance of the study
IV. DEVELOPMENT/REFINEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEMS  the word “purpose” is explicitly stated and
sometimes, synonyms are used instead
 development of a research problem is a  in quantitative studies, a SOP identifies key
creative process study variables and possible interrelationships,
 begin with interests in a broad topic area and as well as the population of interest
then develop a more specific researchable  in qualitative studies, the SOP indicates the
problem nature of the inquiry, the key concept or

LYNETTESKIE
 phenomenon, and the group, community, or  even in the absence of a theory, well-
setting under study conceived hypotheses offer direction and
 communicates more than just the nature of suggest explanations
the problem – suggests the manner in which  development of predictions in and of itself
the researchers sought to solve the problem or forces researchers to think logically, to exercise
the state of knowledge on the topic critical judgment, and to tie together earlier
 quantitative researchers also use verbs to findings
communicate the nature of the inquiry –  failure of data to support a prediction forces
choice of verbs should connote objectivity researchers:
 a SOP indicating that the intent of the study  to analyze theory or previous research
was to prove, demonstrate, or show something critically
suggests a bias  to carefully review the limitations of
the study’s methods
III. RESEARCH QUESTIONS  to explore alternative explanations for
the findings
 direct rewordings of statements of purpose,
phrased interrogatively (question form) II. CHARACTERISTICS OF TESTABLE HYPOTHESES
 in quantitative studies, research questions
identify the key study variables, the  state the expected relationship between the
relationships among them, and the population independent/cause (IV) & dependent/effect
studied (measurable/quantifiable concepts) (DV) within a population
 questions are sometimes phrased in terms of  without a prediction about an anticipated
the effects of an independent variable on the relationship, the hypothesis cannot be tested
dependent variable using standard statistical procedures
 there is always a designated comparison,  should be based on justifiable rationales and
because the independent variable must be follow from previous research findings or
operationally defined deduced from a theory
 in questions involving mediators, researchers
may be as interested in the mediator as they III. WORDING OF HYPOTHESES
are in the independent variable, because
mediators are key explanatory mechanisms  should be in the present tense
 some research questions are primarily  can predict the relationship between a single
descriptive IV and DV (simple hypothesis) or between ≥ 2
 research questions in qualitative statements IVs and DVs (complex hypothesis)
include the phenomenon of interest and the  directional hypothesis – specifies not only the
group or population of interest existence but the expected direction of the
 questions sometimes evolve over the course of relationship between variables
the study  ex. 1: older patients are more at risk of
experiencing a fall than younger
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES patients
 ex. 2: the older the patient, the greater
 hypothesis – prediction, almost always the risk that she or he will fall
involving the predicted relationship between  nondirectional hypothesis – does not stipulate
two or more variables the direction of the relationship
 ex. 1: there is a relationship between a
I. FUNCTION OF HYPOTHESES: QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH patient’s age and the risk of falling
 ex. 2: older patients differ from
 the validity of a theory is never examined younger ones with respect to their risk
directly, but the soundness of a theory can be of falling
evaluated through hypothesis testing  hypotheses based on theory are almost always
directional because theories explain

LYNETTESKIE
 phenomena and provide a rationale for  help shape research questions, contribute to
explicit expectations the argument about the need for a new study,
 nondirectional hypotheses suggest impartiality suggest appropriate methods, and point to a
 research/substantive/scientific hypotheses – conceptual/theoretical framework
statements of expected relationships between  helps determine how to contribute to the
variables existing evidence base and helps interpret
 null/statistical hypotheses – state that no findings of a study
relationship exists between the IVs and DVs  provides readers with a background for
understanding current knowledge on a topic
IV. HYPOTHESIS TESTING AND PROOF and illuminates the significance of the new
study
 formally tested through statistical analysis –
whether hypotheses have a high probability of II. TYPES OF INFO TO SEEK FOR A RESEARCH REVIEW
being correct
 stat. analysis does not provide proof but only  primary source – descriptions of studies written
supports inferences that a hypothesis is by researchers who conducted the study
probably correct or not  secondary source – prepared by someone
 hypotheses are never proved but are other than the original researcher but are
accepted or supported seldom completely objective
 a literature search may yield non-research
CRITIQUING RESEARCH PROBLEMS, RESEARCH references like opinion articles, case reports,
QUESTIONS, AND HYPOTHESES and clinical anecdotes

 evaluate whether researchers have III. MAJOR STEPS AND STRATEGIES IN DOING A
adequately communicated their research LITERATURE REVIEW
problem
 delineation of the problem, SOP, research  start with a question, formulate and implement
questions, and hypotheses set the stage for the a plan for gathering information, and analyze
description of what was done and learned and interpret the information
 consider whether the problem has significance  conducting a high-quality literature review is
for nursing and has the potential to produce not a mechanical exercise – it is an art and a
evidence to improve nursing practice science
 methodologic issues whether research  characteristics of a high-quality review:
problem is compatible with the research 1. comprehensive and thorough and
paradigm and its methods must have up-to-date references
 evaluate whether the SOP/research questions 2. systematic – decision rules need to be
have been properly worded and lend clear and criteria for including or
themselves to empirical inquiry excluding a study need to be explicit
 evaluate whether the hypotheses are logically 3. reproducible – able to apply the
connected to the research problem and same decision rules and come to
whether they are consistent with available similar conclusions about the state of
knowledge or relevant theory evidence on the topic
 wording of the hypothesis should be assessed
LOCATING RELEVANT LITERATURE
CHAPTER 7
LITERATURE REVIEWS: FINDING AND REVIEWING I. FORMULATING A SEARCH STRATEGY

BASIC ISSUES RELATING TO LITERATURE REVIEWS  searching for references through bibliographic
databases
I. PURPOSES OF RRLs  ancestry approach aka “footnote chasing” –
use citations from relevant studies to track

LYNETTESKIE
 down earlier research on which the studies are  uses a controlled vocabulary called MeSH
based (the “ancestors”) (Medical Subject Headings) to index articles
 descendancy approach – find a pivotal early
study and to search forward in citation indexes III. SCREENING AND GATHERING REFERENCES
to find more recent studies (“descendants”)
that cited the key study  must be readily accessible – full dissertations
 grey literature – studies with more limited are not easy to retrieve
distribution, such as conference papers or  relevance of the reference which is usually
unpublished reports surmised by reading the abstract
 study’s methodologic quality
II. SEARCHING BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASES
IV. DOCUMENTATION IN LITERATURE RETRIEVAL
 typically begin by searching bibliographic
databases that can be accessed by  it’s wise to maintain a notebook (or computer
computer database program) to record your search
 keyword – a word/phrase that captures the strategies and results
key concepts in your question
 mapping – a feature that allows to search for V. ABSTRACTING AND RECORDING INFORMATION
topics using own keywords; software translates
or maps the keywords into the most plausible  it is helpful to use a formal system of recording
subject heading information from each study
 textword search – will search for a specific  formal literature review protocol
keyword in the text fields of the records in the  use of a coding scheme and a set of matrices
database  protocols are a means of recording various
 wildcard character – a symbol such as “$” or aspects of a study systematically
“*” which can be used to search for multiple
words that share the same root (ex. searching EVALUATING AND ANALYZING THE EVIDENCE
nurs* in the search field and results – nurse,
nurses, nursing) I. EVALUATING STUDIES FOR A REVIEW
 Boolean operators – and/or
 critiques for a literature review tend to focus on
 2 electronic databases for nurses:
methodologic aspects – remains controversial
1. CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing
 likely to involve the use of a formal evaluation
and Allied Health Literature)
instrument that gives quantitative ratings to
2. MEDLINE (Medical Literature On-Line)
different aspects of the study
CINAHL Database
II. ANALYZING AND SYNTHESIZING INFORMATION
 covers references to virtually all English-
 a thematic analysis essentially involves the
language nursing and allied health journals
detection of patterns and regularities and
 provides bibliographic information for locating
inconsistencies
references, as well as abstracts of most
 different types of themes include the following:
citations
 substantive themes (ex. what is the
MEDLINE Database pattern of evidence, how much
evidence)
 developed by the U.S. National Library of  methodologic themes (ex. designs,
Medicine and is widely recognized as the methods, strategies)
premier source for bibliographic coverage of  generalizability/transferability themes
the biomedical literature (ex. do the findings vary for different
 can be accessed for free on the Internet types of people or setting)
through the PubMed website

LYNETTESKIE
  historical themes (ex. when was most  if the review is written as part of an original
of the research conducted) research report, an equally important question
 researcher themes (ex. who has been is whether the review lays a solid foundation for
doing the research) the new study

PREPARING A WRITTEN LITERATURE REVIEW CHAPTER 8

THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS
I. ORGANIZING THE REVIEW
 conceptual integration – research questions
are appropriate for the chosen methods,
 overall goal is to structure the review in such a
questions are consistent with existing
way that the presentation is logical,
evidence, and there is a plausible conceptual
demonstrates meaningful thematic
rationale for expected outcomes
integration, and leads to a conclusion about
the state of evidence on the topic
THEORIES, MODELS, AND FRAMEWORKS
 number of references is less important than
their relevance and the overall organization of
I. THEORIES
the review

 theory – abstract generalization that

II. WRITING A LITERATURE REVIEW
systematically explains how phenomena are
interrelated
 should provide readers with an objective, well-
 consist of concepts and a set of propositions
organized synthesis of the current state of
that form a logically interrelated system,
evidence on a topic
providing a mechanism for logically deducing
 should be neither a series of quotes nor a series
new statements from the original propositions
of abstracts
 descriptive theory – accounts for and
 literature should be summarized in your own
thoroughly describes a single phenomenon
words and should demonstrate that
 inductive, empirically driven
consideration has been given to the
abstractions that describe or classify
cumulative worth of the body of research
specific dimensions/characteristics of
 should be objective, to the extent possible
individuals, groups, situation, or events
 literature review typically concludes with a
by summarizing commonalities
concise summary of current evidence on the
 help to stimulate research and the extension of
topic
knowledge by providing both direction and
 if the literature review is conducted as part of
impetus
a new study, the critical summary should
 grand/macro-theories – purport to explain
demonstrate the need for the research and
large segments of the human experience
should clarify the context within which any
 middle-range theories – explain a portion of
hypotheses were developed
human experience such as certain
 hypotheses are not proved, they are
phenomena like decision-making and stress
supported by research findings
 related stylistic problem is the interjection of
II. MODELS
opinions into the review – should include
opinions sparingly and should be explicit about
 conceptual model – deals with abstractions or
their source
concepts assembled d/t their relevance to a
common theme
CRITIQUING RESEARCH LITERATURE REVIEWS
 more loosely structured than theories and do
not link concepts in a logically derived
 in assessing a literature review, the question is
deductive system
whether it summarizes the current state of
 mechanism for representing phenomena with
research evidence
a minimal use of words

LYNETTESKIE
  statistical models – math equations that  uncertainty occurs when people are
express the nature and magnitude of unable to recognize and categorize
relationships among a set of variables stimuli
 schematic models/conceptual maps – visual  results in the inability to obtain a clear
representations of relationships among conception of the situation, but a
phenomena situation appraised as uncertain will
 linkages are represented graphically mobilize individuals to use their
through boxes, arrows, or other resources to adapt to the situation
symbols
OTHER MODELS USED BY NURSE RESEARCHERS
III. FRAMEWORKS
1. Social Cognitive Theory
 conceptual underpinnings of a study  Albert Bandura
 make clear the conceptual definition of key  explanation of human behavior using
variables, thereby providing information about the concepts of self-efficacy,
the study’s framework (often implicit) outcome expectations, and
incentives
IV. NATURE OF THEORIES AND CONCEPTUAL MODELS  self-efficacy expectations determine
the behaviors a person chooses to
 not discovered rather created and invented perform, their degree of
 theories and models are built inductively from perseverance, and the quality of the
observations performance
2. Transtheoretical Model
CONCEPTUAL MODELS AND THEORIES USED BY NURSE  Prochaska et al.
RESEARCHERS  core construct is stages of change,
which conceptualizes a continuum of
I. CONCEPTUAL MODELS OF NURSING motivational readiness to change
problem behavior
 human beings, environment, health, and  five stages of change are pre-
nursing – 4 concepts central to models of NSG contemplation, contemplation,
 Roy’s Adaptation Model – humans are viewed preparation, action, and
as biopsychosocial adaptive systems who maintenance
cope with environmental change through the 3. Health Belief Model
process of adaptation  Becker
 Goal of NSG acc. to this model is to  framework for explaining people’s
promote client adaptation health-related behavior, such as
health care use and compliance with
OTHER MODELS AND MIDDLE RANGE THEORIES a medical regimen
DEVELOPED BY NURSES  health-related behavior is influenced
by a person’s perception of a threat
 Pender’s Health Promotion Model (HPM) –
posed by a health problem as well as
focuses on explaining health-promoting
by the value associated with actions
behaviors, using a wellness orientation
aimed at reducing the threat
 entails activities directed toward
4. Theory of Planned Behavior
developing resources that maintain or
 TPB; Azjen
enhance a person’s well-being
 provides a FW for understanding
 Mishel’s Uncertainty in Illness Theory – focuses
people’s behavior and its
on “uncertainty” – inability of a person to
psychological determinants
determine the meaning of illness-related
 behavior that is volitional is
events
determined by people’s intention to
perform that behavior

LYNETTESKIE
 5. Theory of Stress and Coping  systematic review of qualitative studies –
 Lazarus and Folkman another strategy that can lead to theory
 offers an explanation of people’s development; metasyntheses
methods of dealing with stress
 coping strategies are learned and II. THEORIES IN QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
deliberate responses to stressors, and
are used to adapt to or change the  classic approach is to test hypotheses
stressors deduced from a previously proposed theory
 people’s perception of mental and  a conjecture, derived from a theory or
physical health is related to the ways conceptual framework, can serve as a starting
they evaluate and cope with the point for testing the theory’s adequacy
stresses of living  quantitative researchers deduce implications
(as in the preceding example) and develop
Additional Info hypotheses
 focus of the testing process involves a
 when a borrowed theory is tested and found comparison between observed outcomes
to be empirically adequate in health-relevant with those predicted in the hypotheses
situations of interest to nurses, it becomes  it should be noted that many researchers who
shared theory cite a theory or model as their framework are
not directly testing the theory
USING A THEORY OR FRAMEWORK IN RESEARCH
CRITIQUING FRAMEWORKS IN RESEARCH REPORTS
I. THEORIES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
 determine whether the theory seems logical,
 some qualitative researchers insist on an whether the conceptualization is truly
atheoretical stance vis-à-vis the phenomenon insightful, and whether the evidence is solid
of interest, with the goal of suspending a priori and convincing
conceptualizations (substantive theories) that  first task is to determine whether the study
might bias their inquiry does, in fact, have a conceptual framework
 grounded theory – general inductive method  the absence of a formally stated framework
that is not attached to a particular theoretical suggests conceptual fuzziness and perhaps
perspective; facilitate the gen. of theory that is ensuing methodologic problems
conceptually dense (many patterns &
relationships)
 symbolic interaction or interactionism – an
underpinning of grounded theory with 3
premises:
1. humans act toward things based on
the meanings that the things have for
them
2. the meaning of things is derived from
(or arises out of) the interaction
humans have with other fellow
humans
3. meanings are handled in, and
modified through, an interpretive
process
 critical theory – paradigm that involves a
critique of society and societal processes and
structures

LYNETTESKIE