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NRS research terminology

Terms in this set (74)

Evidence Based Practice
The conscientious integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise and patients values and needs in the delivery of high quality, cost effective health care.
Research utilization
Process of communicating and using empirical or research-generated knowledge to affect or change the existing practices in the healthcare system.
Inductive Reasoning
Reasoning from the specific to the general, in which particular instances are observed and then combined into a larger whole or general statement.
Deductive Reasoning
Reasoning from the general to the specific or from a general premise to a particular situation.
Positivism
: a philosophical system that holds that every rationally justifiable assertion can be scientifically verified or is capable of logical or mathematical proof, and that therefore rejects metaphysics and theism.
Determinism
the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will. All facts and events exemplify natural laws and events have sufficient causes.
Assumptions
Statements taken for granted or considered true, even though they have not been scientifically tested
Positivist Paradigm
Scientifically proven model
Naturalistic Paradigm
a qualitative approach to understanding phenomena which recognizes that a researcher's biases and values are part of the research process and emphasizes observation in naturalistic or real world setting conditions
Quantitative Research
formal, objective, systematic process used to describe variables, test relationship between them, and examine cause and effect interactions among variables
Qualitative Research
systematic, subjective methodological approach used to describe life experiences and give them meaning
Scientific Method
approach to research comprising all procedures that scientists have used, currently use, or may use in the future to pursue knowledge; examples include quantitative research, qualitative research, outcomes research, and triangulation
Empirical Evidence
research that derives its data by means of direct observation or experiment, such research is used to answer a question or test a hypothesis (e.g. "Does something such as a type of medical treatment work?")
Generalizability
extending implications of the findings from the sample that was studied to a larger population
Evidence Hierarchy
sequence of scientific evidence
Systematic Review
structured, comprehensive synthesis of quantitative and outcomes studies in a particular healthcare area to determine the best research evidence available for expert clinicians to use to promote evidence-based practice
Meta-analysis
Performing statistical analyses to integrate and synthesize findings from completed studies to determine what is known and not known about a particular research area.
Metasynthesis
provides a fully integrated, novel description or explanation of a target event or experience versus a summary view of that event or experience
Clinical practice guidelines
current, comprehensive directions for using research in practice
AHRQ
Agency for Healthcare research and quality - major role in the identification of health topics and the development of evidence based guidelines for topics
Concept
Term that abstractly describes and names an object or phenomenon, thus providing it with a separate identity or meaning. Ex. pain
Construct
concepts at very high levels of abstraction that have general meanings ex. Physiological response
Phenomena
occurrence or circumstances that are observed, something that impresses the observer as extraordinary, or a thing that appears to and is constructed by the mind
Theory
Integrated set of defined concepts, existence statements and relational statements that present a view of a phenomenon and can be used to describe, explain, predict and control that phenomenon
Model
a system or thing used as an example to follow or imitate
Variable
qualities, properties or characteristics of persons, things or situations that change or vary and are manipulated or measured in research, liable to change. Ex. Acute pain
Constant
a situation or thing that does not change
Independent Variable
variable whose variation does not depend on that of another
Dependent/Outcome Variable
variables whose value depends on that of another
Outcome Variable
an observation recorded to test the affects of the study treatments
Confounding/Extraneous Variable
variables that cannot be controlled, they may be recognized before the study is initiated or may not be recognized until the study is in process
Conceptual Definition
definition that provides a variable or concept with connotative (abstract, comprehensive, theoretical) meaning; established through concept analysis, concept derivation, or concept synthesis. Ex. fireplace
Operational Definition
description of how variables or concepts will be measured or manipulated in a study. Ex. manual
Data
information that is collected during a study
Data Saturation
the point at which data collection can seize
Inference
Generalization from a specific case to a general truth, from a part to the whole, from the concrete to the abstract, or from the known to the unknown
Reliability
Extent to which an instrument consistently measures a concept, three types of reliability are stability, equivalence, and homogeneity
Validity
extent to which an instrument accurately reflects the abstract construct being examined
Research Control
Having the power to direct or manipulate factors to achieve a desired outcome
Bias
influence or action in a study that distorts the findings or slants them away from the true or expected
Triangulation
use of two or more theories, methods, data sources, investigators, or analysis methods in a study
Single-blind Study
scientific experiment where some of the persons involved are prevented from knowing certain information that might lead to conscious or unconscious bias on their part, invalidating the results
Double-blind Study
experimental procedure in which neither the subjects of the experiment nor the persons administering the experiment know the critical aspects of the experiment; "a double-blind procedure is used to guard against both experimenter bias and placebo effects"
IMRAD
introduction, methods, research and discussion (mnemonic for common format of research papers)
Hypothesis
formal statement of the expected relationship between two or more variables in a specified population
Null Hypothesis
hypothesis stating that no relationship exists between the variables being studied; also used for statistical testing
Research Problem
an area of concern in which there is a gap in the knowledge base needed for nursing practice. Research is conducted to generate essential knowledge to address the practice concern, with the ultimate goal of providing evidence-based practice
Research Purpose
concise, clear statement of the specific goal or aim of the study. The purpose is generated from the problem
Research Question
concise interrogative statement developed to direct a study; focuses on describing variables, examining relationship among variables, and determining the differences between two or more groups
Primary Source
source whose author originated or is responsible for generating the ideas published
Secondary Source
source whose author summarizes or quotes content from primary sources
Theoretical Framework
the structure that can hold or support a theory of a research study. The theoretical framework introduces and describes the theory which explains why the research problem under study exists. Ex. Poor oral hygiene leads to VAP
Research Design
blueprint for conducting a study; maximizes control over factors that could interfere with the validity of the findings; guides the planning and implementation of a study in a way that is most likely to achieve the intended goal
Experimental Group
group of subjects receiving the experimental treatment
Control Group
group of elements or subjects not exposed to the experimental treatment in a study in which the sample is randomly selected
Pretest-posttest Design
experimental study is more tightly controlled, comparison of pre-test and post-test scores
After only/posttest only Design
When a pre-test is not possible
Factorial Design
all levels of each independent variable are combined with all levels of the other independent variables to produce all possible conditions
Crossover Design
A clinical trial design in which subjects receive, in sequence, the treatment-or the control, and then, after a specified time, are switched to the control-or treatment
Time-Series Design
designs that collect data over long time intervals - before, during, and after program implementation. This allows for the analysis of change in key factors over time
Experimental Design
design that provides the greatest amount of control possible in order to examine causality more closely. Cause and effect design. Subjects are randomized, casual relationships
Quasi Experimental Design
types of designs developed to determine the effectiveness of intervention in quantitative studies. Attempt to have as much control as possible, but complete control isn't possible. Lack of random assignment. Many confounding variables. In nursing practice, we use this most often
Nonequivalent control-group before-after design
designs in which the control group is not selected by random means, the researcher does not control which group the participants are assigned. Ex. Pharm teacher
Retrospective Design
a study in which a search is made for a relationship between one (usually current) phenomenon or condition and another that occurred in the past. An example is a study of the family histories of young women diagnosed as having clear cell adenomas of the vagina, which yielded a relationship between the administration of diethylstilbestrol to the mothers of the women during pregnancy and the development of the condition in the daughters
Prospective Design
an analytic study designed to determine the relationship between a condition and a characteristic shared by some members of a group. The population selected is healthy at the beginning of the study. Some of the members of the group share a particular characteristic, such as cigarette smoking. The researcher follows the population group over a period of time, noting the rate at which a condition, such as lung cancer, occurs in the smokers and in the nonsmokers
Cross-Sectional Design
one employing a single point of data collection for each participant or system being studied. It is used for examining phenomena expected to remain static through the period of interest. Ex. nightmares
Longitudinal Design
a correlational research study that involves repeated observations of the same items over long periods of time -- often many decades. Ex. Anti social meds vs. behavior
Internal Validity
the extent to which the effects detected in a study are truly caused by the treatment or exposure in the study sample, rather than being due to other biasing effects of extraneous variables
External Validity
the extent to which study findings can be generalized beyond the sample used in the study
Randomized clinical trial (RCT; randomized controlled trial)
classic means of examining the effects of various treatments in which the effects of a treatment are examined by comparing the treatment group with the non-treatment group
Random Assignment
procedure used to assign subjects randomly to treatment or control groups; subjects have an equal probability of being assigned to either group
Correlation
a mutual relationship or connection between two or more things
Observational Design
type of correlational (i.e., nonexperimental) draws conclusions by comparing subjects against a control. Researcher has no control over the experiment. Researcher observes, records and quantifies ongoing behavior
Descriptive Design
is used to obtain information concerning the current status of the phenomena to describe "what exists" with respect to variables or conditions in a situation
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