Deck 3: Identifying Research Questions

Question 1

"Completion of an EBP mentorship program by nurses is associated with changes in nursing practice" is an example of which type of hypothesis?

A) Complex
B) Statistical
C) Directional
D) Nondirectional

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In the process of narrowing a research question, which step most closely follows identification of the research problem?

A) Identification of variables
B) Review of the relevant literature
C) Identification of a gap in clinical practice
D) Formulation of a hypothesis

Answer 2

B

Question 3

"Patients who are actively engaged in development of their treatment plans will be more likely to adhere to prescribed treatments." In the preceding hypothesis, what is the dependent variable?

A) Patient engagement in treatment plan development
B) Patient adherence to prescribed treatments
C) Development of treatment plans
D) Effectiveness of prescribed treatments

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Variables that confuse the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable so that the research results do not reflect the true relationship between the variables are what type of variables?

A) Extraneous variables
B) Random variables
C) Within-group variables
D) Control variables

Question 5

A hypothesis states that patient participation in an optional fitness program will change when the types of incentives offered for completion of the program change. What type of relationship is the hypothesis identifying between the variables?

A) Associative
B) Causal
C) Indirect
D) Predictive

Question 6

A nurse is using the PICOT model to generate an EBP question about how virtual health education, as compared to face-to-face health education, affects information retention and recall in patients ages 5 to 8 years. Which component of PICOT does information retention and recall represent?

A) Patient condition of interest
B) Intervention of interest
C) Comparison of interest
D) Outcome of interest

Question 7

A study of adults older than 65 years investigated the effect of the use of calming communication techniques by caregivers on the agitation level of patients experiencing stage 2 dementia. The researchers noted that the effectiveness of the calming communication techniques differed based on whether the caregiver was a family member or licensed medical personnel. In this study, what type of variable was the patient-caregiver relationship?

A) Controlled
B) Mediator
C) Moderator
D) Extraneous

Question 8

In which of the following situations would a replication study be most appropriate?

A) Two case studies report on the use of a new intervention.
B) A systematic review reveals a gap in literature about a clinical topic.
C) Clinical curiosity sparks interest in finding a new intervention for a clinical problem.
D) A pilot study indicates that a new intervention may be more effective than an existing intervention.

Question 9

Which of the following is the next to be developed after a nurse researcher identifies an area of concern during practice that could be better understood and result in better clinical outcomes through empirical testing?

A) Purpose statement
B) Research question
C) Problem of interest
D) Research problem

Question 10

Which of the following factors interferes with the relationship between the independent and dependent variables?

A) Mediators
B) Cofounding variables
C) Moderators
D) Dependent variables

Question 11

Why would a nurse not withhold treatment a patient required in order to research the effect of the patient's illness in the absence of standard medical treatment?

A) The ethical issue of intervention is less than the standard of care.
B) A nurse must consider patient preferences and autonomy.
C) Resources should only be allocated to patients that require them.
D) The researchable question could not be systematically answered.

Question 12

In a study investigating the effect of eating a bowl of oatmeal every day for 30 days on serum cholesterol level, serum cholesterol level is the independent variable.

Question 13

The following EBP question includes all of the components of the PICOT model: In females age 18 to 25 diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, how does a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and pharmaceutical therapy compared with pharmaceutical therapy alone affect self-reported anxiety levels after 3 months?

Question 14

The nurse notes that among patients who report dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of self-administered medications, a significant number also self-report that they do not always remember to take the medications at the proper time. An appropriate purpose statement related to this problem could be "to determine if use of an electronic reminder application reduces medication self-administration errors and patient dissatisfaction levels."

Question 15

If research indicates that a new intervention for a chronic health condition may offer more benefits than an established intervention, it would be unethical to allow a patient who has been educated about both options to continue using the established intervention.