LA SALLE UNIVERSITY

Nursing Department
Ozamiz City

Subject: Competency Appraisal 2 Christian Joshua T. Lamban, MN, MAN

Date: Assistant Professor 1

NURSING RESEARCH

Instructions: Carefully read the statements and select the appropriate answers from the 4 choices. Write
your answer along with their rationales after each question.

Multiple Choice: (30 points)

1. Which one of the following statements about hypotheses is most accurate?

A. Hypotheses represent the main idea to be studied and are the foundations of research studies.
B. Hypotheses help frame a test of the validity of a theory.
C. Hypotheses provide the means to test nursing theory.
D. A hypothesis can also be called a problem statement.

Rationale: Although theories cannot be tested directly, hypotheses provide a bridge between
theory and the real world.

2. A nurse wants to study the effectiveness of meditation on people with anxiety disorder. Which
variable would be most relevant to explore in the literature on this topic?

A. Use of meditation during childbirth

B. Meditation techniques found to be effective
C. Pain management for people with anxiety disorders
D. Outcomes of meditation when used by elderly populations

Rationale: Literature review is one of the pillars on which your research idea stands since it
provides context, relevance, and background to the research problem you are exploring.

3. What is a characteristic of an independent variable?

A. It is the variable that is predicted to change.

B. It varies with a change in the dependent variable.
C. It is manipulated by the researcher.
D. It can be identified only by changes in the dependent variable.

Rationale: The independent variable is manipulated by the researcher and has a presumed effect
on the dependent variable.
4. Which statement is most accurate regarding hypotheses?

A. Hypotheses operationally define the dependent variables.

B. Hypotheses are statements about the relationships among variables.
C. Hypotheses describe the effect of the dependent variable on the independent variable.
D. Hypotheses must include a definition of the treatment or intervention used.

Rationale: Hypotheses are statements about the relationships between two or more variables that
suggest an answer to the research question.

5. What is a characteristic of a hypothesis?

A. It flows from interpretation of the data collected.

B. It operationally defines the variable to be studied.
C. It eliminates the need to designate a dependent variable.
D. It implies a causative or associative relationship.

Rationale: A hypothesis implies a causative or associative relationship.

6. When should a hypothesis be developed by the researcher during the research process?

A. Before development of the research question

B. After development of the research question
C. After a research design is determined
D. Before any statistical analysis

Rationale: The hypothesis is developed after development of the research question.

7. Which research hypothesis is most testable?

A. There is a relationship between meditation and anxiety disorders.

B. Patients with anxiety disorders who learn meditation techniques have less anxiety than those who do
not.
C. Teaching one meditation technique to patients with anxiety disorders will be better than teaching
multiple techniques.
D. The ability to meditate causes lower anxiety in patients with anxiety disorder than those who do
not meditate.

Rationale: This hypothesis meets the criteria of testability.

8. What is a characteristic of a statistical hypothesis?

A. It is a null hypothesis.
B. It predicts a positive relationship among variables.
C. It is a complex hypothesis.
D. It describes data-analysis methods.

Rationale: Statistical hypotheses, called null hypotheses, state that there is no relationship
between the independent and dependent variables.

9. When will a null hypothesis be rejected?

A. There is no association among variables.

B. There is evidence of significance.
C. The independent and dependent variables are related.
D. The research hypothesis is rejected.

Rationale: Because the null hypothesis states that there is no relationship between the
independent and dependent variables, it is rejected if they are related.

10. Which level is characteristic of the strength of the evidence provided by the results of a quasi-
experimental study?

A. Level I
B. Level II
C. Level III
D. Level IV

Rationale: Evidence provided by quasi-experimental studies is level III. Level I evidence is

obtained from a systematic review of all randomized, controlled trials. Level II evidence is obtained
from at least one well-designed randomized, controlled trial. Level IV evidence is obtained from
nonexperimental studies.

11. A researcher wants to discover why patients of certain ethnic backgrounds are reluctant to ask
for pain medication. Because there are little data in the literature on this topic, the researcher
designs a study to explore the relationships between cultural belief systems, the experience of pain,
and the effective use of medication to relieve pain. The researcher plans to use the findings of this
study to formulate hypotheses for a future study. What is a characteristic of this study?

A. It is a quasi-experimental study.
B. It will lead to level II data.
C. It has a directional hypothesis.
D. It is a hypothesis-generating study.
 Rationale: Not enough is known in this area at this time to formulate hypotheses, so the
researcher will conduct this qualitative study and use the findings to generate hypotheses for future
studies. This is a qualitative study, not a quasi-experimental study. Level II evidence is obtained from at
least one well-designed randomized, controlled trial. This study has no hypothesis.

12. The nurse develops the following hypothesis: Elderly women receive less aggressive treatment
for breast cancer than do younger women. Which variable would be considered to be the
dependent variable?

A. Degree of treatment received

B. Age of the patient
C. Type of cancer being treated
D. Use of inpatient treatment

Rationale: The degree of treatment received is considered the dependent variable.

13. The nurse develops the following hypothesis: Elderly women receive less aggressive treatment
for breast cancer than do younger women. Which variable would be considered to be the
independent variable?

A. Degree of treatment received

B. Age of the patient
C. Type of cancer being treated
D. Use of inpatient treatment

Rationale: The age of the patient would be the independent variable.

14. The following are considered steps in the qualitative research process, except?

A. Literature review
B. Hypothesis
C. Sample
D. Data collection

Rationale: A hypothesis is the tool of quantitative studies, and is only found in such studies.

15. Which of the following could be considered the “context” of a study?

A. Cultural understandings and beliefs of study participants

B. The hypothesis of the study
C. The sample selected for the study
D. The number of subjects in the study
 Rationale: Research context provides the lenses through which the study as well as its
methodological approaches, arguments, findings, conclusions and recommendations can be viewed.
Context can be geographical (location), historical, cultural or topical.

16. Which belief guide the constructivist paradigm?

A. There are multiple realities.

B. The truth is objective.
C. Context does not matter as much as truth.
D. The participant (subject) is a passive part of the study

Rationale: The constructivist paradigm is highly congruent with exisitng social work values.
However, at the same time, it challenges clinical social work to re-examine the meanings of its values
and to give social justice a practice priority.

17. Which of the following is consistent with the constructivist paradigm?

A. Subjectivism is valued.
B. Natural laws exist.
C. Time and place are not important.
D. Generalizability is valued.

Rationale: Values and ethics are central, everyday concerns in clinical social work based on a
constructivist perspective.

18. Which paradigm provides the basis for qualitative research?

A. Empirical analytical research

B. Constructivism
C. Postpositivism
D. Naturalistic research

Rationale: The paradigm that provides the basis for qualitative research is constructivism.

19. Which type of research allows researchers to be neutral observers?

A. Qualitative research
B. Ethnographic research
C. Quantitative research
D. Case studies
 Rationale: There are some interaction with the participants but the interaction is limited. The
researcher’s aim is to play a neutral role as much as possible.

20. Which type of research study can be affected by detracting values of the researcher?

A. Qualitative
B. Naturalistic
C. Ethnographic
D. Quantitative

Rationale: Based on the assumption that quantitative research is value-free and must not be
influenced by the values of the researcher, he or she does not need to be known to participants. In order
to avoid bias, double blind studies may be designed to exclude effects of expectation like demand
characteristics (the researcher unwittingly gives clues on the expected answer or behavior) and the
placebo effect (people experience a benefit from fake medical treatment, if they expect it to work).

21. What is the purpose of grounded theory?

A. To support theoretical frameworks

B. To generate theory from data
C. To develop explanatory models
D. To find significant differences among groups of people

Rationale: The grounded theory method refers to a qualitative approach of building theory about
a phenomenon about which little is known.

22. Why is it important to understand the philosophy underlying each type of research?

A. Conclusions reached should be congruent with the research question.

B. The research method that best meets intended purpose of the study should be used.
C. The paradigm of the method should be the same as that of the researcher.
D. The reader should understand the level of abstraction of the study.

Rationale: Different research methods accomplish different goals and offer different types and
levels of evidence that inform practice.

23. Which conceptual analysis point of the framework for rigor used for interpretive
phenomenology refers to how the study findings will continue to have meaning for the reader?

A. Resonance
B. Concreteness
C. Actualization
D. Openness

Rationale: Theoretically, an individual may develop optimally and avoid the previously
described outcomes if they experience only "unconditional positive regard" and no conditions of worth
develop. The needs for positive regard from others and positive self-regard would match organismic
evaluation and there would be congruence between self and experience, with full psychological
adjustment as a result.

24. Which question will critique the sampling of a research project?

A. Is the strategy used for analysis compatible with the purpose of the study?
B. What is the projected significance of the work to nursing?
C. Are the informants who were chosen appropriate to inform the research?
D. What are the philosophic underpinnings of the research method?

Rationale: In research terms a sample is a group of people, objects, or items that are taken from
a larger population for measurement. The sample should be representative of the population to ensure
that we can generalize the findings from the research sample to the population as a whole.

25. Which question will critique the method of a research project?

A. Is the strategy used for analysis compatible with the purpose of the study?
B. What is the projected significance of the work to nursing?
C. Are the informants who were chosen appropriate to inform the research?
D. What are the philosophic underpinnings of the research method?

Rationale: The methods section of a research paper provides the information by which a study's
validity is judged.

26. Which question will critique the purpose of a research project?

A. Is the strategy used for analysis compatible with the purpose of the study?
B. What is the projected significance of the work to nursing?
C. Are the informants who were chosen appropriate to inform the research?
D. What are the philosophic underpinnings of the research method?

Rationale: The research purpose is a statement of "why" the study is being conducted, or the
goal of the study. The goal of a study might be to identify or describe a concept or to explain or predict a
situation or solution to a situation that indicates the type of study to be conducted.
27.  Which question will critique the credibility of a research project?

A. Is the strategy used for analysis compatible with the purpose of the study?
B. Does the researcher document the research process?
C. Are the researcher’s conceptualizations true to the data?
D. Has adequate time been allowed to understand fully the phenomenon?

Rationale: Credibility is the first aspect, or criterion, that must be established. It is seen as the
most important aspect or criterion in establishing trustworthiness. This is because credibility essentially
asks the researcher to clearly link the research study’s findings with reality in order to demonstrate the
truth of the research study’s findings.

28. Which question will critique the auditability of a research project?

A. Is the strategy used for analysis compatible with the purpose of the study?
B. Does the researcher document the research process?
C. Are the researcher’s conceptualizations true to the data?
D. Has adequate time been allowed to fully understand the phenomenon?

Rationale: An audit trail is a qualitative strategy to establish the confirmability of a research

study’s findings. Confirmability involves establishing that the findings are based on participants’
responses instead the researcher’s own preconceptions and biases. Audit trails are an in-depth approach
to illustrating that the findings are based on the participants’ narratives and involve describing how you
collected and analyzed the data in a transparent manner.

29. Which question will critique the fittingness of a research project?

A. Is the strategy used for analysis compatible with the purpose of the study?
B. Does the researcher document the research process?
C. Are the researcher’s conceptualizations true to the data?
D. Has adequate time been allowed to fully understand the phenomenon?

Rationale: Fittingness or transferability of research findings refers to the study findings' fitting
outside that particular study. Fittingness also refers to the possibility that the findings would have
meaning to another group or could be applied in another context.

30. The following are the uses of qualitative research methods, except;

A. Guiding nursing practice

B. Studying the effects of nursing care on an outcome variable
C. Developing survey instruments
D. Developing nursing theory
 Rationale: Qualitative research methods are designed in a manner that they help reveal the behavior and
perception of a target audience with reference to a particular topic.