Deck 27: Disseminating Research Findings

Question 1

In the Results section of a thesis measuring the effectiveness on a geriatric ward of using a procedure room for all painful procedures including IV starts, a master's student lists the four principal study findings, one by one, following each with an explanation of how each finding contributes to nursing knowledge. The major thesis advisor directs the student to fix this in the second draft of the thesis. Why does the thesis advisor require this?

A)This entire segment of the thesis should appear in the Discussion section. The Results section contains all of the study findings, with detailed statistics on each.b.A thesis should not explain how its findings contribute to nursing knowledge.
C)This is applied research. Its findings should apply only to practice.
D)Findings appear in the Results section, which includes only facts and nothing else. The explanation part of the above must be placed in the Discussion section.

Answer 1

This entire segment of the thesis should appear in the Discussion section. The Results section contains all of the study findings, with detailed statistics on each.b.A thesis should not explain how its findings contribute to nursing knowledge.

Question 2

What should an abstract for quantitative research contain?

A)A table showing the demographic breakdown of the sample
B)The name of the research method used
C)A brief statement of the problem
D)The research purpose
E)The population or sample
F)Operationalized variables
G)The major study findings
H)Conclusions

Answer 2

The name of the research method used
A brief statement of the problem
The research purpose
The population or sample
The major study findings
Conclusions

Question 3

Which of the following represent poor scholarly writing and, consequently, should not appear as they are written in a journal article?

A)"Regretfully nobody in the control group survived past three years this is because of the continued effects of the disease process itself if untreated it is fatal."
B)"Results of the study indicated that causation was directional in the A, B, F, and K groups however none were identified as impacting the final outcome."
C)"We as experienced researchers cannot explain why the intervention failed in not one, but three consecutive mini-trails, numbers 5, 6, and 7, becoming suddenly effective in the subsequent twenty-three mini-trials. We checked and rechecked instrument calibrations, controlled diligently for intra-rater reliability, recomputed coefficients of change, trended all data, reentered data manually, examined the effect of sixteen potentially extraneous variables, and ultimately ended as baffled as we started."
D)"The result's were a complete surprise. 44% of the control subject's experienced spontaneous remission's."
E)"Attrition continued over the course of the experiment, with additive attrition of 2% in the first quarter, 5% in the second quarter, 16% in the third quarter, and 25% in the fourth. In the second year, attrition claimed another half of the sample. Data collection was suspended after the eighth quarter, since the results had limited applicability, due to extensive attrition."
F)"An inadequate sample threatened to end the study. Inclusion criteria were broadened, to include those who had participated in clinical research, in the past, but there were no takers."
G)"There was no way of determining who's answers had been positive on the pre-test, until the post-test was completed."

Answer 3

"Regretfully nobody in the control group survived past three years this is because of the continued effects of the disease process itself if untreated it is fatal."
"Results of the study indicated that causation was directional in the A, B, F, and K groups however none were identified as impacting the final outcome."
"We as experienced researchers cannot explain why the intervention failed in not one, but three consecutive mini-trails, numbers 5, 6, and 7, becoming suddenly effective in the subsequent twenty-three mini-trials. We checked and rechecked instrument calibrations, controlled diligently for intra-rater reliability, recomputed coefficients of change, trended all data, reentered data manually, examined the effect of sixteen potentially extraneous variables, and ultimately ended as baffled as we started."
"The result's were a complete surprise. 44% of the control subject's experienced spontaneous remission's."
"An inadequate sample threatened to end the study. Inclusion criteria were broadened, to inc

Question 4

What are the proper components of a query letter?

A)Suggestions for further research
B)A description of the research problem
C)The sample demographics
D)Discussion of one or more of the major findings
E)Academic or professional titles held by the letter writer
F)Details of the study methodology
G)The meaning of the study findings

Question 5

A master's thesis uses Husserlian phenomenology as its method. In the research report, the student has mentioned the method by name and has adhered to all of the tenets of that method. The thesis advisor requires the student to include in the thesis a 2- to 5-page summary of the philosophy of Husserlian phenomenology. Why does the thesis advisor require this?

A)The thesis advisor is not familiar with the method and cannot evaluate the thesis without this information.
B)It is important that the thesis makes clear what Husserlian phenomenology implies, relative to the researcher's part in data collection and data analysis.
C)Several assumptions of the thesis may emanate from Husserlian phenomenology, and they should be consistent with its philosophy.
D)The reader of the thesis, and publications emanating from it, may not be clear as to what Husserlian phenomenology is. An explanation is in order.
E)The reader can follow the analysis better when the method is better understood.
F)The philosophy that underlies qualitative research is, in essence, the study's theoretical framework. A framework should include a summary of its main points.

Question 6

There are several steps in the process of converting a master's thesis into a publishable article: selecting a journal, writing a query letter, preparing an original manuscript, submitting the manuscript for review, and performing the revisions the editor indicates. Why should preparation of the manuscript not occur first?

A)It would be foolish to write a manuscript without knowing the maximum length of manuscript that a journal accepts.
B)If the response to several query letters is negative, it is best to abandon attempts to get the information into print.
C)Various journals use different formatting. Waiting until editor interest is expressed saves unneeded re-formatting.
D)Some journals limit the number of items in the reference list. Best know this before editing the thesis down to the length of an article.
E)Every contact with an editor results in at least a request for revisions. An initial manuscript cannot be prepared without editor input.

Question 7

In which parts of the research report could the reader find the one most important result of the study?

A)Abstract
B)Introduction
C)Methods
D)Table 1
E)Results
F)Discussion
G)References
H)Appendix

Question 8

The results of an applied research study for anxiety management in children were published in both a highly respected nursing research journal and in a second journal specific to pediatrics that focuses on practice issues. The first article contained detailed statistical analyses and discussions of the results, as an extension of the author's previous basic research. The second presented the research in much simpler language, providing pictures of the children and discussing nursing practice applications. Why does this or does this not represent duplicate publication?

A)It does represent duplicate publication because both articles reported results of the same study.
B)It does not represent duplicate publication because the language was completely different in the two articles, and the journal audience was different.
C)It does represent duplicate publication because the second article was a paraphrase of the first.
D)It does not represent duplicate publication because the second article referenced the first and focused heavily on practice applications, not included in the first.

Question 9

Prior to conducting a grounded theory study, in which 11 women undergoing radiation for breast cancer were interviewed multiple times, the researchers conducted a pilot study in which they interviewed three women every 2 weeks from the time radiation was planned until 4 weeks after it was completed. The purpose for the pilot study was to refine the interview instrument and to discover whether women would be willing to be interviewed this frequently about such a private topic. The pilot was not published separately. In the institutional review board application, the researcher indicated an intent to include information in the research report about the three women in the pilot study-what going through the process of radiation therapy was like for them-in addition to the 11 main study women. In this case, if the findings from the women in the pilot were not included in the Methods section, where would the information about the process of going through radiation therapy obtained from the pilot study women be included?

A)Introduction
B)Results
C)Discussion
D)Appendix

Question 10

"All subjects were asked whether they would be willing to participate in this descriptive study, while they waited to be seen by a gastroenterologist, prior to their initial colonoscopies. They were given basic information about the research, and told that participation was strictly voluntary, according to guidelines from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the clinics and hospital. The research had been approved as minimal risk by the IRB. All 31 subjects were asked to participate agreed to do so." The researcher should include information about this process in which section of the manuscript?

A)Abstract
B)Introduction
C)Methods
D)Appendix

Question 11

"Thomason's set-point theorizations explain, in part, why patients in chemotherapy who reported high levels of apprehension and anxiety prior to initiation invariably reported more severe average symptomatology levels. In addition, their symptoms were ameliorated less completely by standard therapeutic interventions, such as antiemetics and soporifics." Where in the research report would this quotation be located?

A)Introduction
B)Methods
C)Results
D)Discussion

Question 12

What part of the research report names the study design?

A)Introduction
B)Methods
C)Results
D)Discussion

Question 13

What part of the research report may present potential applications of the findings in practice?

A)Abstract
B)Introduction
C)Methods
D)Results
E)Discussion

Question 14

There was a research gap before the study was performed. The study results filled the research gap. In what part of the research report would the research gap be identified? In what part of the research report would the researcher's strategy for filling the research gap be reported?

A)Abstract ... References
B)Abstract ... Abstract
C)Introduction ... Discussion
D)Introduction ... Methods
E)Abstract ... Methods
F)Methods ... Methods
G)Results ... Discussion
H)Introduction ... Discussion

Question 15

A graduate student who has just submitted a trimmed-down version of the student's doctoral dissertation to a journal editor receives the following."Dear Ms. Smith:
"We have received your manuscript and are returning it to you. Our journal's focus is exclusively quantitative research, and your manuscript uses a mixed methodology. Despite notable strengths of the quantitative portion, which contains cutting-edge information about medication errors and their correlates, our peer reviewers feel that you might be better served in seeking a venue that allowed both aspects of the study to be presented. The Nursing Journal of Mixed Methodologies springs to mind."Nonetheless, if you should wish to resubmit only the quantitative portion, essentially as it stands, we should be quite interested in returning it to the peer reviewers.
"Please see the one accompanying suggestion for table insertion."
What type of letter is it?

A)An outright rejection
B)An acceptance
C)An acceptance with minor revisions
D)A rejection of the manuscript as currently written
E)A suggestion for an alternative avenue of publication
F)A compliment

Question 16

Prior to conducting a grounded theory study, in which 11 women undergoing radiation for breast cancer were interviewed multiple times, the researchers conducted a pilot study in which they interviewed three women every 2 weeks from the time radiation was planned until 4 weeks after it was completed. The purpose for the pilot study was to refine the interview instrument and to discover whether women would be willing to be interviewed this frequently about such a private topic. The pilot was not published separately, and the researcher wants to include information about instrument revisions that were influenced by the pilot phase. Where would this be included in the research report?

A)Introduction
B)Methods
C)Results
D)Appendix

Question 17

A researcher presents the results of a recent research project at several conferences. Duplicate publications are not acceptable and represent self-plagiarism, but duplicate presentations seem valued. Which of the following facts explains this?

A)Duplicate conference presentations are valued only when they occur in widely separated geographic areas.
B)Questions and comments from conference audiences can contribute to the researcher's ongoing analysis and inspire new analyses of data.
C)If similar research by the same author is ongoing, each conference presentation can include new insights and interpretations, reflecting work in progress.
D)Reaching a broad audience necessitates presentation at several conferences.
E)Self-plagiarism is a term that refers to the printed word, not to conference presentations.
F)If a researcher submits a different abstract to each conference that publishes printed conference abstracts, there is no self-plagiarism.

Question 18

"Lazarus' coping paradigm suggests that it is the appraisal of a stressor as potentially harmful that begins the avoidance cascade. Thomason further characterized adaptation to management of chemotherapy symptomatology as mere reflections of a primary appraisal of potential harm, providing a set point for intensity of reactions. We used these conceptual connections to formulate testable assumptions for this study." Where in the research report would this quotation be located?

A)Introduction
B)Methods
C)Results
D)Discussion

Question 19

A graduate student states, in a master's thesis, that "despite public awareness programs to educate the public about the safety of pediatric immunizations, a staunch core of highly educated and well-informed parents continues to attribute the rise in childhood autism to vaccination. Because of this, recent efforts have been brought to bear in the qualitative arena, attempting to identify and isolate factoids and half-truths that perpetuate the myth. Nonetheless, mostly because belief structures appear bound by geography, not enough is known about reasons that some clusters of parents postpone or avoid vaccination." The quotation is an example of a(n) ___________ and appears in the ____________ section of the research report.

A)objective; Methods
B)purpose statement; Introduction
C)problem statement; Introduction
D)literature review; Results

Question 20

Which of the following are considered poor scholarly writing and, consequently, should not appear in a published research report?

A)"Subjects who could not decide whether to select A, B, or C as item options were instructed to leave the item blank."
B)"Regardless of amount of the independent variable of electricity that was applied, dependent variable changes were negligible thus indicating lack of causation."
C)"Any subject desiring to retract their permission for the study had his or her name removed from the master list."
D)"Erstwhile subjects had little insight into the retained fragments of their sublimated ignoscency."
E)"Subjects A and B completed the trial in half the time taken by other subjects, without caffeine enhancement. Hah!"
F)"Subject attrition was nil. Not one person dropped out of the study, even in progress. Except the ones we kicked out, of course."
G)"Subject's responses were markedly different across groups."
H)"The intervention group was expected to document symptoms at least daily, using a journal. Twice-daily documentation was encouraged."

Question 21

A journal states on its editorial page, "A query letter is required before article submission to this refereed journal. If a manuscript is requested, both hard copy and an electronic copy will be required. After initial acknowledgement of receipt, authors will receive a response from the editor within 4 months." What does this statement mean?

A)Within 4 months, the author will be notified whether the article is accepted.
B)The author will be notified immediately of the manuscript's acceptance.
C)Only the editor reviews manuscripts.
D)The journal uses peer review.
E)If authors send a manuscript, without an initial query, it will be returned.
F)If authors send a query letter, they will be requested to send a manuscript.
G)If a manuscript is accepted, it will be published within 4 months.
H)No manuscripts are ever accepted.

Question 22

A master's student has just completed a thesis. Which of the following are considered dissemination of the results?

A)Interactions with the thesis committee-through reading the thesis, they have been informed of the results
B)Presentation of a poster session at a professional conference
C)Presentation of an oral (podium) presentation at a professional conference
D)Presentation of a guest lecture about the thesis results at a university
E)Having an article about the research results published by a journal
F)Having an article about the research results published by a popular magazine

Question 23

What are the advantages of presenting a poster session, displayed for 2 hours a day for 3 days at a well-attended conference, instead of a 15-minute verbal presentation with 5-minute question period, at a breakout session?

A)For authors who suffer presentation anxiety, a poster presentation can be much less stressful, since it provides many small conversations instead of a large lecture.
B)A poster session allows the researcher to display more information than a verbal presenter can.
C)A poster presentation provides the opportunity for one-to-one interaction with the viewers.
D)The poster presentation may reach more people than does the verbal presentation.
E)A verbal presentation requires more time to develop than does a poster.