Deck 5: Research Problems, Purposes, and Hypotheses

Question 1

An appropriate source for identification of a clinical-based research problem would be a/an:

A) Chief nurse administrator.
B) Nurse researcher.
C) Nursing faculty.
D) Practicing registered nurse.

Answer 1

Practicing registered nurse.

Question 2

In the literature report of a study on quality of life, the researcher describes two previous investigations suggesting that spirituality is related to quality of life. This information suggests that the current study is significant because it:

A) addresses multidisciplinary concerns.
B) builds on previous research.
C) challenges existing theory.
D) influences theology.

Answer 2

builds on previous research.

Question 3

The statement, "This study explores the experience of caregiving by adult daughters of parents with Alzheimer's disease," is an example of which of the following components of a research study?

A) Aim or objective
B) Hypothesis
C) Operational definition
D) Question

Answer 3

Aim or objective

Question 4

What type of hypothesis is the following? "Normal saline flush with heparin is more effective than normal saline flush alone in maintaining patency of an intermittent intravenous site."

A) Complex, causal
B) Complex, nondirectional
C) Simple, directional
D) Simple, null

Question 5

Read the following statement and answer the question: "Structured preoperative support is more effective in reducing surgical patients' perception of pain and request for analgesics than structured postoperative support." This statement represents what type of hypothesis?

A) Complex, directional, research
B) Complex, nondirectional, null
C) Simple, directional, research
D) Simple, nondirectional, statistical

Question 6

The initial and one of the most significant steps in conducting the research process is:

A) defining the research variables.
B) determining the feasibility of the study.
C) identifying the research problem.
D) stating the research purpose.

Question 7

The research purpose should identify the study variable(s) and what other key aspect of the study?

A) Design
B) Measurement tools
C) Population
D) Statistics

Question 8

Read the following statement and answer the question: "Structured preoperative support is more effective in reducing surgical patients' perception of pain and request for analgesics than structured postoperative support." What type of variable is "Perception of pain"?

A) Attribute
B) Dependent
C) Independent
D) Extraneous

Question 9

Which of the following would be considered a demographic variable?

A) Heart rate
B) Oral temperature
C) Pain intensity
D) Socioeconomic status

Question 10

The dependent variable is defined as a:

A) characteristic or element of the human subjects involved in the study.
B) quality, property, or characteristic identified in the problem.
C) response or outcome that the researcher wants to understand.
D) stimulus or activity that is varied by the researcher.

Question 11

The purpose of a research hypothesis is to:

A) clarify the concepts used in the study.
B) define the theoretical framework for the study.
C) identify the source of the problem under study.
D) predict the expected results or outcomes of the study.

Question 12

What type of hypothesis is the following?
"Low-fat diet is related to lower total cholesterol and higher HDL (high-density lipoprotein)."

A) Complex, directional, associative
B) Complex, directional, causal
C) Simple, nondirectional, research
D) Simple, directional, causal

Question 13

Read the following statement and answer the question: "Structured preoperative support is more effective in reducing surgical patients' perception of pain and request for analgesics than structured postoperative support." What type of variable is "Request for analgesics"?

A) Attribute
B) Dependent
C) Extraneous
D) Independent

Question 14

The feasibility of conducting a study is determined by examining which of the following?

A) Availability of subjects
B) Previous studies
C) Researcher's credibility
D) Significance of research problem

Question 15

Read the following statement and answer the question: "Structured preoperative support is more effective in reducing surgical patients' perception of pain and request for analgesics than structured postoperative support." What type of variable is "Type of support"?

A) Attribute
B) Dependent
C) Independent
D) Extraneous

Question 16

Identify the independent variable in the following hypothesis: "Cancer patients who receive music therapy complain less frequently of pain and require less pain medication than cancer patients not receiving music therapy."

A) Complaints of pain
B) Incidence of cancer
C) Music therapy
D) Pain medication use

Question 17

A research question focuses on:

A) the characteristics of a variable.
B) the framework for conducting the investigation.
C) what relationships might exist among variables.
D) the framework for conducting the investigation, which variables are to be manipulated.

Question 18

The statement below is an example of which of the following? "In this study, pain is reflected as a score between 0 and 10 on the postoperative pain rating scale."

A) Associative hypothesis
B) Conceptual definition
C) Operational definition
D) Problem statement

Question 19

In a research proposal, the investigator notes that written permission has been obtained from three local hospitals to access patients for the proposed study. This is an example of what aspect of a study?

A) Ethics
B) Feasibility
C) Methodology
D) Reliability

Question 20

What type of hypothesis is the following? "Cancer patients who receive music therapy complain less frequently of pain and require less pain medication than cancer patients not receiving music therapy."

A) Complex, directional
B) Complex, null
C) Simple, associative
D) Simple, nondirectional

Question 21

A researcher uses the following hypothesis in a study: excessive listening to alternative music will lead to increased depression in young teenagers. Which of the following descriptors can be applied to this hypothesis?

A) Complex, associative
B) Complex, negative
C) Positive, causal
D) Simple, nondirectional

Question 22

Which of the following would be an appropriate research question for a qualitative study?

A) How do parents decide when to take their child to a physician?
B) How many visits do physicians' offices receive on Mondays as opposed to Wednesdays?
C) Should parents take their child to the physician for routine visits?
D) What is the most common reason for a trip to a physician's office?

Question 23

One researcher wanted to investigate whether nursing students should take psychiatric mental health nursing before they take medical surgical nursing. Which of the following is a correctly stated objective of this study?

A) Do nursing students ultimately perform better on NCLEX when they have had the content in psychiatric mental health nursing first or when they have the content in medical surgical nursing first?
B) Does putting the psychiatric mental health nursing content before medical surgical content better prepare nursing students to pass NCLEX?
C) This research study examines whether having psychiatric mental health content before medical surgical content better prepares nursing students to perform well on their NCLEX.
D) This study explores what students think about their psychiatric mental health nursing content preceding the content on medical surgical nursing.

Question 24

What is a difference between correlational and quasi-experimental research?

A) Correlational research is less significant than quasi-experimental research.
B) The hypotheses in correlational research are more complex.
C) The researcher wants to predict what will happen in quasi-experimental research.
D) There are many more variables in quasi-experimental research.

Question 25

Demographic variables are often used to indicate which of the following?

A) Extraneous variables
B) Population parameters
C) Research hypothesis
D) Sample characteristics

Question 26

What is true about funding priorities in nursing research?

A) Any nursing research evaluating the best educational path for entry into practice is considered high priority for funding.
B) Most major nursing organizations develop research priorities for research. It is wise to go to the web site of an agency to view these priorities before asking for research dollars.
C) The American Nurses Association is the organization that represents nurses and makes their research priorities clear.
D) The National Institutes of Health determine funding priorities for nursing and other disciplines.

Question 27

A researcher uses the following hypothesis in a study: "Excessive listening to alternative music will lead to increased depression in young teenagers." Which of the following dependent variables would need to be defined operationally in the research study?

A) Alternative music
B) Depression
C) Excessive listening
D) Young teenagers

Question 28

A researcher uses the following hypothesis in a study: "Excessive listening to alternative music will lead to increased depression in young teenagers." Which of the following statements is an acceptable operational definition of "excessive listening"? Excessive listening is defined as:

A) listening to alternative music more than the average number of hours young teenagers listen to that type of music.
B) that number of hours over which parents begin to place limitations on listening time.
C) the number of hours a subject spends listening to alternative music.
D) the number of hours the subjects listen to alternative music. A mean of these hours will be calculated, and "excessive" will be anything over the mean.

Question 29

Which of the following is an acceptable operational definition according to the requirements of how to operationalize a variable? Depression will be operationalized as:

A) the subject's score on the State-Trait Anxiety scale.
B) the total number of times a subject uses words, such as empty, blue, sad, or depressed.
C) a below-normal physical appearance.
D) a self-defining concept, based on the individual's definition of depression.

Question 30

Which of the following statements describing the research purpose is true?

A) "It is seldom possible to include all the necessary components of a research purpose within one sentence."
B) "The research statement is oftentimes disclosed with the discussion of the findings."
C) "The reader can determine the research purpose in most titles of research articles."
D) "The research purpose is revealed only after the foundation has been laid in the literature review."

Question 31

What type of definition is the following? "CDD lymphocyte counts are the measure of immune function."

A) Conceptual
B) Operational
C) Physiological
D) Theoretical

Question 32

What statement is true regarding objectives in qualitative studies?

A) Qualitative studies usually do not have an objective statement since the focus in the study shifts as the study progresses. In qualitative research, the study objective and hypothesis are the same.
B) Objective statements are long and complex in qualitative studies since they are more difficult and involve many more variables.
C) The variables and concepts in qualitative studies are usually more complex, so the objective statement is broader in focus. Qualitative studies usually do not have an objective statement since the focus in the study shifts as the study progresses.
D) The variables and concepts in qualitative studies are usually more complex, so the objective statement is broader in focus.

Question 33

What would be the strongest evidence in support of a researcher's qualifications for conducting a study? The researcher has

A) A doctoral degree from a prestigious university.
B) Assembled a team of high-quality investigators.
C) Published five previous studies on the same topic.
D) 15 years of practice in the clinical specialty area.

Question 34

A researcher found significant evidence that women who had undergone chemotherapy treatment develop a very strong sensitivity in recognizing the smell of the chemotherapeutic agent. The researcher now wants to apply for a grant to further investigate this result. Given that reviewers will consider the significance of this study, what feedback are they likely to include? "The present study:

A) Addresses the funding priorities for nursing research."
B) Appears to provide no immediate implication for nursing practice."
C) Clearly builds on previous research."
D) Is likely to produce a testable theory for nursing practice."

Question 35

What question helps determine the significance of a research study?

A) "Does this study build on previous work in the area?"
B) "Is the report well written and easy to read, thereby conveying the essence and importance of the research?"
C) "Is the topic of the study one that is of interest to the researcher?"
D) "Will this study provide significant statistical information?"

Question 36

An experienced, published researcher's funded study is to recruit a sample of mothers with children under the age of 30 entering a shopping complex with $100 spending money. The purpose of the study is to test the hypothesis that younger mothers will spend the money on themselves rather than on their children. What are the possible issues with the feasibility of this study?

A) Availability of subjects
B) Ethical violations
C) Researcher's expertise
D) Money commitment

Question 37

Which of the following is a correct statement regarding operational and conceptual definitions in qualitative studies?

A) Developing conceptual definitions are usually the reason for a qualitative study.
B) Qualitative studies do not use conceptual or operational definitions.
C) The conceptual and operational definitions should be consistent in a qualitative study.
D) The operational and conceptual definitions are often first found in the summary and conclusions section in a qualitative research report.

Question 38

A researcher uses the following hypothesis in a study: "Excessive listening to alternative music will lead to increased depression in young teenagers." Which kind of variable is "listening"?

A) Complex
B) Continuous
C) Dependent
D) Extraneous

Question 39

A researcher wants to investigate the possibility that diabetic patients who are allowed to cook their own meals will adhere to dietary restrictions better than patients who do not. What is the dependent variable?

A) Adherence to dietary restrictions
B) Diabetes
C) Dietary restrictions
D) Meal cooking

Question 40

In which situation would the research and the null hypothesis be the same?

A) Researcher does not think that the research is going to mean anything.
B) Researcher predicts that there will be no difference among the groups.
C) Statistical analysis reveals a correlation coefficient of zero.
D) Study has serious flaws and is declared null and void.