Deck 17: Measurement Methods Used in Developing Evidence-Based Practice

Question 1

A nurse believes that patient acuity is a poor measure of patient fragility. Consequently, this nurse and another nurse construct an instrument that measures patient fragility. Of the various steps of scale testing, conceptual definition, scale construction, instrument validation, and qualitative exploration, in what order should these occur?

A)Scale testing, qualitative exploration, scale construction, conceptual definition, instrument validation
B)Conceptual definition, qualitative exploration, scale construction, scale testing, instrument validation
C)Scale construction, conceptual definition, instrument validation, scale testing, qualitative exploration
D)Instrument validation, qualitative exploration, scale construction, conceptual definition, scale testing

Answer 1

Conceptual definition, qualitative exploration, scale construction, scale testing, instrument validation

Question 2

A researcher isn't sure whether 60-year-old women, the target population of the research, will understand the wording of a questionnaire's 50 items assessing knowledge of symptoms of myocardial infarction in women. Consequently, the researcher might logically decide to do which of the following?

A)Provide a small glossary defining some of the more technical terms on the questionnaire.
B)Conduct a pilot of the questionnaire.
C)Use a Q-sort methodology to prioritize the essential questions and decrease the questionnaire down to 20 items.
D)Ask a content expert to evaluate the readability of the questionnaire.
E)Arrange for several radio and TV public-service announcements, informing the public of the symptoms of myocardial infarction in women.

Answer 2

Conduct a pilot of the questionnaire.
Ask a content expert to evaluate the readability of the questionnaire.

Question 3

Choose the true statements regarding the disadvantages of observational methods.

A)They may increase subject reactivity.
B)When a single interrater is used and observations are opposite, there is no way to resolve the conflict, since each is equally correct.
C)They may be used for both quantitative and qualitative research.
D)They are more subjective than other types of measurements.
E)They allow real-time capture of data.
F)They are invariably subject to skepticism unless verified in some manner.

Answer 3

They may increase subject reactivity.
They are more subjective than other types of measurements.
They are invariably subject to skepticism unless verified in some manner.

Question 4

In an observational study of manifestations of various categories of sundowning behavior in hospitalized super-elders, which of the following are true?

A)Checklists based on a rating scale would be helpful ways to records behaviors.
B)Rating scales of 1-absent, 2-slight, 3-moderate, and 4-severe could be used.
C)A category system should be developed before the study begins.
D)The patient's assessment of whether or not he or she is sundowning is valuable.
E)There should be no overlap of the categories "confused, placid" and "confused, agitated."
F)Research assistants observing the patients should be given similar training.
G)Observations should be made under similar circumstances.

Question 5

A researcher creates a new instrument to be used in a study of new graduate registered nurses' transition to practice. The instrument contains 20 items which are statements followed by four answer options, as follows: (1) strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3) agree, (4) strongly agree. Some of the items on the survey are worded positively (e.g., "Most days, I feel like I know what I am doing"), and some are worded negatively (e.g., "I feel bullied by my peers."). What survey strategies are reflected in this design?

A)Counterbalancing
B)Likert scale
C)Visual analog scale
D)Forced choice

Question 6

Which of the following are physiological measures?

A)A subject's report of episodes of tachycardia per day
B)Score on the Mini Mental Status Exam
C)Pulse rate as displayed on an ICU's monitor
D)Serum sodium
E)Use of a tuning fork to measure bone conduction hearing loss

Question 7

A Canadian researcher has had a tool published in English. The tool examines the embedded meanings of life in a country that has colonial roots but still maintains allegiance to the mother country. There is a demand for use of the tool in French-speaking Canadian cities. Which is the type of translation that is most appropriate for this tool?

A)Pragmatic translation
B)Aesthetic-poetic translation
C)Ethnographic translation
D)Linguistic translation

Question 8

A university that is publicly funded is located in a state that is experiencing serious budget shortfall, and the budget has been halved. The university's 32 departments are asked to list each of their programs on an index card, resulting in 90 cards. A panel comprised of the president, provost, and five deans each independently arranges the cards into categories of 3 essential, 7 highly desirable, 15 very desirable, 40 mainstream, 15 expendable, 7 immediately expendable, and 3 targeted elimination. This is an example of which methodology?

A)Delphi technique
B)Rating scale
C)Likert scaling
D)Q-sort method

Question 9

Preexistent databases used in nursing research for secondary analysis contain data of different sorts. What are these?

A)Data collected internally by a healthcare institution for quality assurance or other review of its processes
B)Data collected by unknown people for unknown reasons
C)Data collected by governmental and private agencies, such as insurance companies, external to a healthcare institution
D)Records locked by the courts
E)Data collected by another researcher for a previous study

Question 10

In a study of teasing among third-graders, after an intervention on peer interactions, behavioral observers collect the data, rating six behaviors on a 0- to 4-point scale. The observers are not trained by the same person, and there is no measure of interrater reliability. What is likely to happen?

A)The variable of teasing will not be measured accurately.
B)Peer interactions will not be able to be rated.
C)The data will have to be scored independently by the researcher.
D)Comparison with norms is unlikely.

Question 11

Which of the following are direct measures?

A)The patient's radial pulse rate
B)The dimensions in centimeters of a decubitus ulcer
C)The nurse's observations of an infant's apparent pain
D)The physician's measure of the patient's deep tendon reflexes
E)The patient's estimate as to whether his lithium level is within therapeutic range
F)The mother's report of her toddler's anxiety level before a blood draw
G)The patient's serum serotonin levels

Question 12

The principal disadvantages of administering open-ended questions are which of the following?

A)They are difficult to construct.
B)They are time-consuming to analyze.
C)They are impractical for use with large samples.
D)They cannot produce exhaustive, exclusive answers.
E)They force answers.
F)They can be difficult to interpret.

Question 13

A researcher plans to conduct interviews with the first four participants in a qualitative study, and then the researcher plans to have an assistant conduct several interviews, for the remainder of the interviews. The first thing the researcher does with the research participants is to perform a pilot interview on one participant and to have the assistant conduct a pilot interview on a different participant, and then they compare notes, discussing the process. Why is this a good idea?

A)This establishes interrater reliability.
B)Their styles may differ, and this way they can imitate one another's styles.
C)Pretesting of the interview protocol is essential.
D)They can begin the process of data analysis at once.

Question 14

The principal advantages of using a subject's diary either instead of interview data, or to supplement interview data, would be which of the following?

A)Subjective perception at the time of the event is retrievable.
B)Private and clandestine topics that have previously been inaccessible may be obtained through diaries.
C)Diaries contain more truthful information than do other sources.
D)No contact with the subject is necessary.
E)Diaries may be used without consent.
F)Information obtained from a diary is thought to be more accurate than that obtained from pure recall.

Question 15

An outpatient's daughter has been using a diary to track the appearance of her mother's decubitus ulcer when the daughter performs the daily dressing change. The patient has been newly consented for participation in the trial of a new product, presumed to accelerate healing and prevent infection. The researcher instructs the daughter in use of the new product and the use of a scale for tracking the ulcer's healing. Scale items are change in total area (width times depth), drainage color, surrounding tissue integrity, pain, and odor. What are the advantages of using a scale instead of a diary?

A)It reduces all items to a Likert scale.
B)It makes wound care easier.
C)It forces a level of precision that may or may not be present in a diary.
D)It produces numerical data that the researcher can easily analyze in order to provide evidence of difference between the new method and the old method.
E)It makes sure that subjects all will have daily recordings of the variables the researcher intends to measure.

Question 16

Which of the following would be non-physiological measures that could be used in nursing research?

A)Surveys that determine the percentage of counseling appointments that have decreased psychological pain in the 72 hours following each appointment
B)Photographs of chimpanzee chromosomes
C)Observation ratings of the depth of a pressure ulcer
D)Surgical interventions intended to ablate pain
E)Opinion surveys of what patients want to have included in their discharge teaching after outpatient surgery

Question 17

An outpatient being treated in the infusion center for thalassemia is asked to fill out a form about satisfaction with the center, while the patient waits for the appointment. The form consists of five questions, each a statement, with six possibilities after it: Strongly Agree, Agree, Slightly Agree, Slightly Disagree, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree. What is the best description of these questions?

A)A questionnaire
B)A Likert scale
C)A forced choice scale
D)Observational checklist

Question 18

How would a rating scale item be worded?

A)"I can be alone for hours and not feel lonely": Strongly Agree, Agree, Undecided, Disagree, Strongly Disagree
B)When I walk one block, I feel:
(1) healthy and invigorated, (2) no different from the way I ordinarily feel, (3) pleasantly tired, (4) exhausted and out of breath
C)Place a vertical line intersecting this line to show what your anxiety is; the scale's ends are 0 for "No Anxiety at All," and 10 for "The Worst Anxiety I Have Ever Experienced."
D)Rank your supervisor's leadership ability: Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor

Question 19

Which of the following constructs would be inappropriate to measure with a visual analog scale?

A)Dichotomous variables
B)Blood pressure
C)Visual acuity
D)Anxiety
E)Playfulness

Question 20

A researcher is interested in discovering whether the topics of written family complaints are shared by the majority of patients' families in a major university hospital, or whether merely a minority of the patients' families are disgruntled. The researcher goes throughout the hospital each day and hands family members a printed form and pencil and asks them to answer the 10 questions, all of which have three to five responses, in return for a "$3 off" coupon to be used in the hospital cafeteria. What is this printed form called?

A)A questionnaire
B)A Likert scale
C)A forced choice scale
D)An interview

Question 21

Which of the following are examples of items that could be included in a visual analog scale?

A)Stronger than Hercules, weak as a kitten
B)Passive, nonassertive
C)Strongly agree, uncertain
D)Stunningly beautiful, repulsively ugly
E)Perfect, wrong in all respects

Question 22

Why might a researcher use a structured interview rather than an unstructured one?

A)The desired data for this interview are quantitative.
B)Interview time is limited.
C)The researcher is collecting only demographic data for the study.
D)The research subjects are confused and garrulous.
E)Other data were gathered previously, using an unstructured interview.

Question 23

Why is the visual analog scale (VAS) used so frequently in healthcare research?

A)Validity is the same, regardless of how the visual analog scale is used.
B)It elicits nominal-level data.
C)It is easy for clients to understand.
D)It is more sensitive to small changes than are numerical and rating scales.
E)It requires a minimum of translation to be used in languages other than English.
F)It is easy to administer and score.

Question 24

A researcher plans to administer a valid research tool in another language. What must be done in order to establish its validity in the second language?

A)Reliability testing
B)Testing and then back-translating with different translators
C)Analysis of values obtained with both scales
D)Testing in both languages with bilingual subjects
E)Concept analysis