Rapid Research Methods for Nurses, Midwives and Health Professionals (eBook)

Colin Rees (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2015
John Wiley & Sons (Verlag)
9781119048381 (ISBN)

Infos

Rapid Research Methods for Nurses, Midwives and Health Professionals is designed to help you find and understand the meaning of key research terminology and, more importantly, develop your knowledge of some of the essential ideas and concepts they describe. This A-Z dictionary of terms is a collection of over 200 entries with a definition of each word put in context with additional tips on its use in assignment work. Alphabetically arranged in an accessible, reader-friendly format, this book:

• Answers a clear demand for a practical, fast and concise introduction to the key ideas, concepts and methods in nursing and healthcare research
• Provides students with fast and accessible information designed for revision and writing research-based assignments
• Demystifies a field of study that students often find daunting

Colin Rees, Nursing Lecturer, Cardiff University.

Inhalt

Introduction xi

Abstract 1

Accidental sampling 1

Action research 2

Aim 3

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) 4

Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) 5

Anonymity 6

Audit 7

Audit trail 8

Back chaining 9

Bar graph 10

Before and after designs 11

Beneficence 12

Bias 13

Blinding 14

Bracketing 15

Case-control study 16

Causal relationship 17

Cell 18

Chi-square test (chi²) 19

Clinical trial 19

Closed (close-ended, fixed choice) questions 20

Cluster sample 21

Coding 22

Cohort study 23

Concept definition 24

Confidentiality 25

Confirmability 26

Confounding variable 27

Contingency table 27

Control group 28

Convenience sample 29

Correlation 30

Covert observation 31

Credibility 32

Cross-over design 33

Cross-sectional study 34

Critique 35

Data 36

Database 37

Data saturation 38

Demographic data 39

Dependent variable 40

Descriptive statistics 41

Double-blind study 42

Ethics 43

Ethics committee 45

Ethnographic research 46

Exclusion criteria 46

Experimental design 47

Ex post facto studies 49

Face validity 50

Fieldwork diary 51

Fieldwork 52

Findings 53

Fittingness 54

Focus group 55

Forward chaining 56

Frequency distribution 57

Generalisability 58

Grey literature 59

Grounded theory 60

Hawthorne effect 61

Hermeneutics 62

Heterogeneity and homogeneity 63

Hierarchy of evidence 64

Histogram 65

Homogeneity 65

Hypothesis 66

Inclusion and exclusion criteria 67

Inferential statistics 68

Independent variable 69

Informed consent 70

Interval data 70

Interviews 71

Inverse relationship 72

Judgemental sample 73

Justice 73

Key informant 74

Key words 75

Levels of measurement 76

Likert scale 78

Literature review 79

Manipulation 80

Masking 80

Measures of central tendency 81

Mean 81

Measures of dispersion 82

Meta-analysis 83

Mode 83

Median 83

Naturalistic research 84

Non-maleficence 84

Nominal data 84

Non-probability sampling methods 85

Normal distribution 86

Null hypothesis 86

Observation 87

Observational designs 88

Open questions 89

Operational definition 90

Opportunity sample 90

Outliers 91

Ordinal data 91

p Values 92

Paradigm 95



Phenomenology 96

Pico 96

Pilot study 97

Population 98

Power analysis 99

Pretest-posttest designs 99

Principles of research 100

Probability sampling methods 100

Prospective and retrospective study designs 101

Qualitative research designs 102

Quantitative research designs 104

Quasi-experimental research 105

Questionnaires 106

Quota sampling 106

Randomisation 107

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) 108

Range 108

Ratio data 108

Reflexivity 108

Reliability 109

Research 110

Research design 111

Research method 112

Response rate 112

Retrospective study 112

Review of the literature 112

Rigour 113

Sample 114

Sampling methods 114

Sampling frame 116

Self-report 116

Snowball sample 116

Social desirability 116

Statistical analysis 116

Survey 117

Systematic reviews of the literature 117

Table 118

Thick data 119

Transferability 119

Triangulation 119

Trustworthiness 119

Type I, Type II Type III errors 120

Unstructured interviews 122

Unstructured observations 123

Validity 124

Variable 126

Textauszug

 A 

Abstract

1. Related to: Research publications.
2. Definition: Overview of an article that briefly provides the main elements of a study.
3. Application: Used by a reader to consider the relevance of a study for a particular purpose or as a part of browsing an article to get an understanding of its content before either reading in detail or rejecting it.
4. Key revision points: Useful way of checking type of study, aim, results and recommendations of a study before reading through the full article itself. Look in particular at the aim, outcome measure, the intervention (if quantitative research) and conclusion to get a quick insight into the study. Consider how the study may contribute to your developing knowledge on its topic.
5. See also: Critique, aim, quantitative research.

Accidental sampling (See: Convenience sampling, sampling methods)

Action research

1. Related to: Research Design.
2. Definition: A research design involving the introduction of change and its evaluation. It is usually the result of collaboration between researchers and practitioners. Such studies consist of the design and analysis of service change followed by the repetition of these steps until a suitable solution or improvement has been achieved.
3. Application: It provides a quick method to change the delivery of services in a controlled and evaluated way. Although many examples are available, it is still not a commonly used within healthcare.
4. Key revision points:

   This method differs from the usual researcher-led design in healthcare. It requires close agreement and working harmony between the researchers and practitioners to identify the nature of a service or organisational problem and its possible solution. Both parties must then work together on its implementation and evaluation. The advantage of action research is its immediacy, as planned change is introduced not as a recommendation but as the focus of the study. There are usually a number of stages to such studies where the cycle of plan–implement–evaluate–repeat leads to slight changes or adjustments until it is agreed that a successful solution to the original problem has been reached. The method of evaluation will use carefully designed research methods (tools) and analysis.

   There are some arguments about whether action research is a true research method as there are limitations on the extent to which knowledge gained in such a study can be generalised. However, examples of its beneficial use can be found in the nursing and midwifery literature.

5. See also: Research design.

Aim (also called objective or purpose)

1. Related to: The research process, the research question.
2. Definition: A statement of the purpose of the study that gives the study design direction, as data are collected to answer the aim.
3. Application: The researcher develops the aim at the start of the planning process. In research articles, it can be found in the abstract and in the main body, usually at the end of the literature review or introduction, and immediately before the section ‘methods’. It often starts with the words ‘the aim of this study was to determine/examine/explore, etc.’.
4. Key revision points: Once the aim of a study is written, it will shape other aspects of the design as the wording and content will make many of the stages of a study follow prescribed ways to answer the question to be answered. For example, aims that set out to compare outcomes will usually take the form of a randomised controlled trial (RCT); aims that seek to explore something are generally qualitative studies. In experimental designs, there can be a hypothesis related to the aim that the research sets out to test (the word ‘prove’ is not used as this is very difficult to establish). When critiquing a study, locate the aim then jump to the conclusion to check if the researcher has clearly answered it. The conclusion should include wordings similar to the aim; if it does not, you may not have found the true conclusion.
5. See also: Hypothesis, Type III Error.

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

1. Related to: Experimental designs, randomised control trials, hypotheses, statistical analysis.
2. Definition: In experimental research, a statistical method of testing a hypothesis to assess the existence of a difference between three or more groups in relation to a specific outcome measure (dependent variable). The mean (average) scores or measures between groups are used in the calculation. ANOVA can also be used in non-experimental studies, such as surveys, to test the effect of a number of variables on an outcome measure.
3. Application: In clinical RCTs, participants can be allocated to three or more groups, each one receiving a different intervention. ANOVA is used to measure the differences found in the groups in relation to the outcome measure so that the more successful interventions can be identified. In descriptive studies, the researcher is sometimes interested in the influence of a number of factors or measures that are not introduced by a researcher but part of the experience or characteristic of those in the sample that can be clustered into groups and its influence on an outcome measured. Characteristics can include age group, or gender, length of treatment or intensity or strength of treatment and an outcome measure such as level of reported pain, hours of sleep per night, or level of anxiety. ANOVA will identify which variables seem to be linked to the outcome measure.
4. Key revision points: ‘ANOVA’ is created by combining letters from the phrase ANalysis Of VAriance. It demonstrates the rigour of the researcher in applying statistical processes to compare the means (average results) between groups in an experimental study and a number of variations that might influence any differences discovered between them. It has a long and popular history and is highly regarded as a way of establishing whether a hypothesis should be accepted or rejected, or in non-experimental studies, to identify which factors or attributes appear to have an effect on outcomes. In assignment work, it may be sufficient to recognise the use of this technique as a clear indication that it is a well-conducted study where the data have been processed correctly and the researchers have supported their conclusions.
5. See also: Analysis of covariance, hypotheses, randomised control trials, inferential statistics.

Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA)

1. Related to: Experimental designs, especially randomised control trials, hypotheses, statistical analysis.
2. Definition: Statistical tests used in a similar way to ANOVA (see the previous entry) but take into account the effect of one or more variables not controlled in an RCT design that may affect outcome measures between groups.
3. Application: Goes one step further than the ANOVA, by taking account of factors outside the control of the researcher that might influence the results, which is why it is called the ‘analysis of covariance’.
4. Key revision points: It is similarly an indicator of the rigour of the researcher in searching for statistical relationships in the data that will help to explain the results in an experimental design study.
5. See also: ANOVA, hypotheses, randomised control trials, inferential statistics.

Anonymity

1. Related to: Research ethics.
2. Definition: The protection of the identity of an individual or setting in a study by not revealing a name, characteristic, location or any other feature that would provide clues as to the source of the data and the individual people involved.
3. Application: Researchers are under an ethical obligation to design and carry out their work so that it is not possible to identify individuals or locations involved in data collection. This is part of the attempt to do no harm (non-maleficence) to those in a study. Individuals could be put at a disadvantage if personal details about them were known to others. This is the same issue as that related to confidentiality in clinical practice.
4. Key revision points: Researchers should indicate that they have followed the principle of anonymity in published work. Health premises used as the site for studies should be given a general description such as ‘a large city hospital’, ‘the local clinical area’ to prevent an educated guess as to participants. Individuals may be given a number, for example, ‘Respondent 1 or (R1)’, or a pseudonym, for example, ‘Molly’. Protecting the identity of individuals is a key aspect in ethical rigour of studies. It may also help individuals to feel that they can be more honest and open in providing information in a study and so increase the level of validity in the study.
5. See also: Ethics,...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 30.11.2015
• Reihe/Serie: Rapid
• Reihe/Serie: Rapid
• Reihe/Serie: Rapid
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Medizin / Pharmazie ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Medizin / Pharmazie ► Gesundheitsfachberufe ► Hebamme / Entbindungspfleger
• Themenwelt: Medizin / Pharmazie ► Pflege
• Schlagworte: Forschung im Gesundheitswesen • Gesundheits- u. Sozialwesen • Gesundheitswesen • Health & Social Care • health care research • Hebamme • Hebammenpraxis • Krankenpflege • Krankenpflegeforschung • <p>Research methods nursing midwifery health terminology alphabetical concepts assignments evidence-based quantitative qualitative sampling theory phenomenological narrative systematic </p> • Midwifery • nursing • Nursing Research
• ISBN-13: 9781119048381 / 9781119048381