Question 1

A nurse researcher assigns participants to experimental and control groups in such a manner that each participant in a population has an equal chance of being selected.What is the researcher using?

Accepted Answer

The nurse researcher is using randomization, which means that participants are being selected at random with an equal chance of being selected. This helps to reduce the potential for selection bias and increase the internal validity of the study. Convenience sampling, on the other hand, involves selecting participants based on their availability or accessibility, which may introduce bias into the study.

Question 2

Which of the following aspect of the study is considered a measure to maintain the uniformity of conditions of a quantitative study?

Accepted Answer

Control is the aspect of the study that is considered a measure to maintain the uniformity of conditions of a quantitative study. Control refers to the process of keeping all variables, except the one being tested, constant or unchanged in order to reduce the influence of extraneous variables on the results. This helps to ensure that any differences observed between groups can be attributed to the variable being tested. Accuracy, methods, and validity are important aspects of a study, but they do not necessarily contribute to maintaining uniformity of conditions.

Question 3

How could a nurse researcher's use of a homogeneous sample weaken a research study?

Accepted Answer

Homogeneous sample means that all participants share similar characteristics or traits. If the sample is homogeneous, the findings of the study may not be generalizable to a broader population. This could limit the study's external validity and weaken its effectiveness in contributing to nursing knowledge.

Question 4

A nurse researcher is investigating the effect of type of operating room mattress and surgical position on tissue interface pressures in healthy young adults.Which component of research is most affected by the choice of participants?

Accepted Answer

The choice of participants affects the external validity of the study, which refers to the generalization of the findings to the broader population beyond the sample used in the study. Selecting healthy young adults as participants may limit the external validity of the study as the findings may not be applicable to older or less healthy individuals.

Question 5

For which of these reasons would a nurse researcher choose to assign participants randomly to groups in a study?

Accepted Answer

Random assignment helps ensure that groups are representative of the larger population by minimizing selection bias, thus making the groups more comparable with respect to known and unknown factors.

Question 6

A nurse is designing a study to determine whether a videotape or a written pamphlet is more effective in teaching young women how to perform breast self-examination (BSE).Which of these actions would provide the best control for a mediating variable?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A nurse is designing a study to...

Question 7

A nurse researcher assigns half a study sample to an experimental group and the other half to a control group.What does this action represent?

Accepted Answer

The nurse researcher assigning half of the study sample to an experimental group and the other half to a control group represents the manipulation of the independent variable. The independent variable is the variable that is being manipulated or changed by the researcher to assess its effect on the dependent variable. In this case, the independent variable is likely the intervention or treatment being tested in the experimental group, while the control group does not receive the intervention or receives a placebo. By randomly assigning participants to either group, the researcher is trying to reduce the potential influence of extraneous variables that could impact the study results.

Question 8

When should a nurse researcher include an extraneous variable as part of a study's design?

Accepted Answer

The answer of When should a nurse researcher include an...

Question 9

Which of these situations describes a reactive (Hawthorne)effect?

Accepted Answer

The reactive (Hawthorne) effect occurs when participants in a study change their behavior simply because they are being observed or know they are part of a study, not necessarily due to the intervention itself. In option A, control participants experiencing a reduction in anxiety might be altering their behavior or perceptions because they are aware they are part of a study, even though they did not receive the active intervention.

Question 10

The issue of control would be less important in a quantitative study with which type of research design?

Accepted Answer

Exploratory studies are often conducted to gather preliminary data or insights on a topic, without a specific hypothesis or research question. Since the focus is on generating ideas or hypotheses, rather than testing them, the issue of control is less important. In contrast, experimental, correlational, and randomized clinical trial designs all involve some form of manipulation or control over variables, making control a more critical concern.

Question 11

A study is examining the effect of a new antilipemic drug,compared with placebo,on lipoprotein levels in postmenopausal women.Which of these actions represents the researcher's attempt at constancy in data collection to control extraneous variables?

Accepted Answer

Drawing the serum lipoprotein levels of all participants at the same time of day helps control for diurnal variations in lipoprotein levels, ensuring consistency in data collection.

Question 12

What is the overall purpose of research design in a quantitative research study?

Accepted Answer

The overall purpose of research design in a quantitative research study is to provide a plan for answering the research question. It outlines how data will be collected, analyzed, and interpreted to answer the research question. While determining sample size, identifying the problem statement, and identifying gaps in the knowledge base are all important components of conducting quantitative research, they are not the overall purpose of research design.

Question 13

How would a nurse researcher ensure that the sample used in a quantitative study is homogeneous?

Accepted Answer

By using eligibility criteria, the nurse researcher can limit the inclusion of participants who may introduce extraneous variables that may muddle the study's findings. By ensuring that the sample is homogeneous, the researcher can increase the internal validity of the study, which can ultimately enable the identification of causal relationships. Random assignment (B) is a method that is commonly used in experimental studies to control for extraneous variables; it does not guarantee homogeneity of the sample. Assigning one research assistant to collect data from all participants (C) may introduce bias if the assistant interacts differently with participants in the control versus experimental group. Collecting data from all participants at the same time of day (D) may be useful in controlling for some extraneous variables, such as circadian rhythms, but it may not guarantee homogeneity of the sample.

Question 14

Which situation represents a threat to internal validity in an experimental study measuring the effect of a videotape of discharge instructions for patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft (CABG)surgery?

Accepted Answer

Patients in the experimental group discussing aspects of the videotape with patients in the control group can contaminate the results and affect internal validity by allowing the control group to receive some of the treatment. This is known as diffusion of treatment. A key aspect of experimental design is keeping the experimental and control groups separate to minimize the influence of extraneous variables. The other options do not directly affect the internal validity of the study.

Question 15

Why should a nurse researcher want to limit or eliminate extraneous variables in a study?

Accepted Answer

Extraneous variables can compete with the independent variable as explanations for the study's outcome, potentially leading to inaccurate or misleading conclusions. Therefore, it is important for a nurse researcher to limit or eliminate extraneous variables in order to isolate the effects of the independent variable and increase the internal validity of the study.

Question 16

When reviewing a research report,the nurse determines that all aspects of a study systematically and logically follow from the research problem.Which condition has been met?

Accepted Answer

Accuracy refers to the degree to which the research design and methods logically and systematically follow from the research problem, ensuring that the study is well-structured and coherent.

Question 17

A nurse researcher should consider mortality a threat to the study's internal validity for which of these reasons?

Accepted Answer

Mortality, in research terminology, refers to the dropout rate of participants from a study. It threatens internal validity because if the characteristics of those who drop out are significantly different from those who remain, it can introduce bias and affect the study's outcomes, making it difficult to determine if the intervention itself caused any observed changes.

Question 18

In which of these ways does the nurse researcher's literature review help select the appropriate study design?

Accepted Answer

The answer of In which of these ways does the...

Question 19

The nurse researcher designed a study examining anxiety among elementary school children.If a widely publicized murder of a child occurred in the city during the time frame of the study,what type of threat to internal validity would the murder represent?

Accepted Answer

The murder of a child in the city during the time frame of the study represents a historical threat to internal validity. Historical threats occur when changes in the external environment during the study period affect the outcome being measured. In this case, the murder would likely cause an increase in anxiety among the elementary school children, making it difficult to determine if the anxiety levels measured in the study were due to the intervention or the external event.

Question 20

A nurse researcher can control for selection bias in a study by taking which of these actions?

Accepted Answer

By using defined selection criteria for approaching potential participants, the nurse researcher can ensure that selection bias is minimized. This approach will help to ensure that the participants selected are representative of the population being studied and that the sample includes a diverse range of individuals. Allowing participants to self-select or handpicking participants can introduce bias into the study, and having someone else select participants may not guarantee that the selection criteria are followed appropriately.

Quiz 9: Introduction to Quantitative Research