CHAPTER 6  researchers choose a problem to study based
RESEARCH PROBLEMS, QUESTIONS, AND HYPOTHESES
OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH PROBLEMS
I. BASIC TERMINOLOGY
 research problem – enigmatic, perplexing, or
troubling condition
 purpose of research is to solve the problem or
contribute to its solution by accumulating
relevant information
 problem statement – articulates the problem to
be addressed and indicates the need for a
study through the development of an
argument
 statement of purpose – summary of overall
goal
 aims/objectives – specific accomplishments to
be achieved by conducting the study
 research questions – specific queries to be
answered in addressing the research problem
 hypotheses – tested empirically
II. RESEARCH PROBLEMS AND PARADIGMS
 quantitative studies – usually involve concepts
that are fairly well developed and for which
reliable methods of measurement have been
(or can be) developed
 qualitative studies – often undertaken
because a new phenomenon has emerged or
some aspect of a phenomenon is poorly
understood
III. SOURCES OF RESEARCH PROBLEMS
1. Clinical experience
2. Nursing literature
3. Social issues
4. Theories (nursing and related disciplines)
5. Ideas from external sources
IV. DEVELOPMENT/REFINEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEMS
 development of a research problem is a
creative process
 begin with interests in a broad topic area and
then develop a more specific researchable
problem
LYNETTESKIE
on several factors, including its inherent interest
to them and its fit with a paradigm of
preference
COMMUNICATING RESEARCH PROBLEMS & QUESTIONS
I. PROBLEM STATEMENTS
 articulation of what it is that is problematic and
that is the impetus for the research
 research reports also present either a
statement of purpose, research questions, or
hypotheses (often, a combination of the three)
 express the dilemma or disconcerting situation
that needs investigation and incorporate a
rationale for a new inquiry
 a well-structured formulation of what it is that is
problematic, what it is that “needs fixing,” or
what it is that is poorly understood
 six components of quantitative study problem
statements:
1. problem identification
2. background (nature, context, what
needs to be understood)
3. scope of the problem
4. consequences of the problem (cost of
not fixing the problem)
5. knowledge gaps
6. proposed solution
 problem statements for a qualitative study
similarly express the nature of the problem, its
context, its scope, and information needed to
address it
 problem statement for a phenomenological
study might note the need to know more
about people’s experiences or the meanings
they attribute to those experiences
II. STATEMENTS OF PURPOSE
 establishes the general direction of the inquiry
and captures the substance of the study
 the word “purpose” is explicitly stated and
sometimes, synonyms are used instead
 in quantitative studies, a SOP identifies key
study variables and possible interrelationships,
as well as the population of interest
 in qualitative studies, the SOP indicates the
nature of the inquiry, the key concept or
 phenomenon, and the group, community, or
setting under study
 communicates more than just the nature of
the problem – suggests the manner in which
the researchers sought to solve the problem or
the state of knowledge on the topic
 quantitative researchers also use verbs to
communicate the nature of the inquiry –
choice of verbs should connote objectivity
 a SOP indicating that the intent of the study
was to prove, demonstrate, or show something
suggests a bias
III. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
 direct rewordings of statements of purpose,
phrased interrogatively (question form)
 in quantitative studies, research questions
identify the key study variables, the
relationships among them, and the population
studied (measurable/quantifiable concepts)
 questions are sometimes phrased in terms of
the effects of an independent variable on the
dependent variable
 there is always a designated comparison,
because the independent variable must be
operationally defined
 in questions involving mediators, researchers
may be as interested in the mediator as they
are in the independent variable, because
mediators are key explanatory mechanisms
 some research questions are primarily
descriptive
 research questions in qualitative statements
include the phenomenon of interest and the
group or population of interest
 questions sometimes evolve over the course of
the study
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
 hypothesis – prediction, almost always
involving the predicted relationship between
two or more variables
I. FUNCTION OF HYPOTHESES: QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
 the validity of a theory is never examined
directly, but the soundness of a theory can be
evaluated through hypothesis testing
LYNETTESKIE
 even in the absence of a theory, well-
conceived hypotheses offer direction and
suggest explanations
 development of predictions in and of itself
forces researchers to think logically, to exercise
critical judgment, and to tie together earlier
findings
 failure of data to support a prediction forces
researchers:
 to analyze theory or previous research
critically
 to carefully review the limitations of
the study’s methods
 to explore alternative explanations for
the findings
II. CHARACTERISTICS OF TESTABLE HYPOTHESES
 state the expected relationship between the
independent/cause (IV) & dependent/effect
(DV) within a population
 without a prediction about an anticipated
relationship, the hypothesis cannot be tested
using standard statistical procedures
 should be based on justifiable rationales and
follow from previous research findings or
deduced from a theory
III. WORDING OF HYPOTHESES
 should be in the present tense
 can predict the relationship between a single
IV and DV (simple hypothesis) or between ≥ 2
IVs and DVs (complex hypothesis)
 directional hypothesis – specifies not only the
existence but the expected direction of the
relationship between variables
 ex. 1: older patients are more at risk of
experiencing a fall than younger
patients
 ex. 2: the older the patient, the greater
the risk that she or he will fall
 nondirectional hypothesis – does not stipulate
the direction of the relationship
 ex. 1: there is a relationship between a
patient’s age and the risk of falling
 ex. 2: older patients differ from
younger ones with respect to their risk
of falling
 hypotheses based on theory are almost always
directional because theories explain
 phenomena and provide a rationale for
explicit expectations
 nondirectional hypotheses suggest impartiality
 research/substantive/scientific hypotheses –
statements of expected relationships between
variables
 null/statistical hypotheses – state that no
relationship exists between the IVs and DVs
IV. HYPOTHESIS TESTING AND PROOF
 formally tested through statistical analysis –
whether hypotheses have a high probability of
being correct
 stat. analysis does not provide proof but only
supports inferences that a hypothesis is
probably correct or not
 hypotheses are never proved but are
accepted or supported
CRITIQUING RESEARCH PROBLEMS, RESEARCH
QUESTIONS, AND HYPOTHESES
 evaluate whether researchers have
adequately communicated their research
problem
 delineation of the problem, SOP, research
questions, and hypotheses set the stage for the
description of what was done and learned
 consider whether the problem has significance
for nursing and has the potential to produce
evidence to improve nursing practice
 methodologic issues whether research
problem is compatible with the research
paradigm and its methods
 evaluate whether the SOP/research questions
have been properly worded and lend
themselves to empirical inquiry
 evaluate whether the hypotheses are logically
connected to the research problem and
whether they are consistent with available
knowledge or relevant theory
 wording of the hypothesis should be assessed
CHAPTER 7
LITERATURE REVIEWS: FINDING AND REVIEWING
BASIC ISSUES RELATING TO LITERATURE REVIEWS
I. PURPOSES OF RRLs
LYNETTESKIE
 help shape research questions, contribute to
the argument about the need for a new study,
suggest appropriate methods, and point to a
conceptual/theoretical framework
 helps determine how to contribute to the
existing evidence base and helps interpret
findings of a study
 provides readers with a background for
understanding current knowledge on a topic
and illuminates the significance of the new
study
II. TYPES OF INFO TO SEEK FOR A RESEARCH REVIEW
 primary source – descriptions of studies written
by researchers who conducted the study
 secondary source – prepared by someone
other than the original researcher but are
seldom completely objective
 a literature search may yield non-research
references like opinion articles, case reports,
and clinical anecdotes
III. MAJOR STEPS AND STRATEGIES IN DOING A
LITERATURE REVIEW
 start with a question, formulate and implement
a plan for gathering information, and analyze
and interpret the information
 conducting a high-quality literature review is
not a mechanical exercise – it is an art and a
science
 characteristics of a high-quality review:
1. comprehensive and thorough and
must have up-to-date references
2. systematic – decision rules need to be
clear and criteria for including or
excluding a study need to be explicit
3. reproducible – able to apply the
same decision rules and come to
similar conclusions about the state of
evidence on the topic
LOCATING RELEVANT LITERATURE
I. FORMULATING A SEARCH STRATEGY
 searching for references through bibliographic
databases
 ancestry approach aka “footnote chasing” –
use citations from relevant studies to track
 down earlier research on which the studies are
based (the “ancestors”)
 descendancy approach – find a pivotal early
study and to search forward in citation indexes
to find more recent studies (“descendants”)
that cited the key study
 grey literature – studies with more limited
distribution, such as conference papers or
unpublished reports
II. SEARCHING BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASES
 typically begin by searching bibliographic
databases that can be accessed by
computer
 keyword – a word/phrase that captures the
key concepts in your question
 mapping – a feature that allows to search for
topics using own keywords; software translates
or maps the keywords into the most plausible
subject heading
 textword search – will search for a specific
keyword in the text fields of the records in the
database
 wildcard character – a symbol such as “$” or
“*” which can be used to search for multiple
words that share the same root (ex. searching
nurs* in the search field and results – nurse,
nurses, nursing)
 Boolean operators – and/or
 2 electronic databases for nurses:
1. CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing
and Allied Health Literature)
2. MEDLINE (Medical Literature On-Line)
CINAHL Database
 covers references to virtually all English-
language nursing and allied health journals
 provides bibliographic information for locating
references, as well as abstracts of most
citations
MEDLINE Database
 developed by the U.S. National Library of
Medicine and is widely recognized as the
premier source for bibliographic coverage of
the biomedical literature
 can be accessed for free on the Internet
through the PubMed website
LYNETTESKIE
 uses a controlled vocabulary called MeSH
(Medical Subject Headings) to index articles
III. SCREENING AND GATHERING REFERENCES
 must be readily accessible – full dissertations
are not easy to retrieve
 relevance of the reference which is usually
surmised by reading the abstract
 study’s methodologic quality
IV. DOCUMENTATION IN LITERATURE RETRIEVAL
 it’s wise to maintain a notebook (or computer
database program) to record your search
strategies and results
V. ABSTRACTING AND RECORDING INFORMATION
 it is helpful to use a formal system of recording
information from each study
 formal literature review protocol
 use of a coding scheme and a set of matrices
 protocols are a means of recording various
aspects of a study systematically
EVALUATING AND ANALYZING THE EVIDENCE
I. EVALUATING STUDIES FOR A REVIEW
 critiques for a literature review tend to focus on
methodologic aspects – remains controversial
 likely to involve the use of a formal evaluation
instrument that gives quantitative ratings to
different aspects of the study
II. ANALYZING AND SYNTHESIZING INFORMATION
 a thematic analysis essentially involves the
detection of patterns and regularities and
inconsistencies
 different types of themes include the following:
 substantive themes (ex. what is the
pattern of evidence, how much
evidence)
 methodologic themes (ex. designs,
methods, strategies)
 generalizability/transferability themes
(ex. do the findings vary for different
types of people or setting)
  historical themes (ex. when was most  if the review is written as part of an original
of the research conducted) research report, an equally important question
 researcher themes (ex. who has been is whether the review lays a solid foundation for
doing the research) the new study

PREPARING A WRITTEN LITERATURE REVIEW CHAPTER 8

THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS
I. ORGANIZING THE REVIEW
 conceptual integration – research questions
are appropriate for the chosen methods,
 overall goal is to structure the review in such a
questions are consistent with existing
way that the presentation is logical,
evidence, and there is a plausible conceptual
demonstrates meaningful thematic
rationale for expected outcomes
integration, and leads to a conclusion about
the state of evidence on the topic
THEORIES, MODELS, AND FRAMEWORKS
 number of references is less important than
their relevance and the overall organization of
I. THEORIES
the review

 theory – abstract generalization that

II. WRITING A LITERATURE REVIEW
systematically explains how phenomena are
interrelated
 should provide readers with an objective, well-
 consist of concepts and a set of propositions
organized synthesis of the current state of
that form a logically interrelated system,
evidence on a topic
providing a mechanism for logically deducing
 should be neither a series of quotes nor a series
new statements from the original propositions
of abstracts
 descriptive theory – accounts for and
 literature should be summarized in your own
thoroughly describes a single phenomenon
words and should demonstrate that
 inductive, empirically driven
consideration has been given to the
abstractions that describe or classify
cumulative worth of the body of research
specific dimensions/characteristics of
 should be objective, to the extent possible
individuals, groups, situation, or events
 literature review typically concludes with a
by summarizing commonalities
concise summary of current evidence on the
 help to stimulate research and the extension of
topic
knowledge by providing both direction and
 if the literature review is conducted as part of
impetus
a new study, the critical summary should
 grand/macro-theories – purport to explain
demonstrate the need for the research and
large segments of the human experience
should clarify the context within which any
 middle-range theories – explain a portion of
hypotheses were developed
human experience such as certain
 hypotheses are not proved, they are
phenomena like decision-making and stress
supported by research findings
 related stylistic problem is the interjection of
II. MODELS
opinions into the review – should include
opinions sparingly and should be explicit about
 conceptual model – deals with abstractions or
their source
concepts assembled d/t their relevance to a
common theme
CRITIQUING RESEARCH LITERATURE REVIEWS
 more loosely structured than theories and do
not link concepts in a logically derived
 in assessing a literature review, the question is
deductive system
whether it summarizes the current state of
 mechanism for representing phenomena with
research evidence
a minimal use of words

LYNETTESKIE
  statistical models – math equations that  uncertainty occurs when people are
express the nature and magnitude of unable to recognize and categorize
relationships among a set of variables stimuli
 schematic models/conceptual maps – visual  results in the inability to obtain a clear
representations of relationships among conception of the situation, but a
phenomena situation appraised as uncertain will
 linkages are represented graphically mobilize individuals to use their
through boxes, arrows, or other resources to adapt to the situation
symbols
OTHER MODELS USED BY NURSE RESEARCHERS
III. FRAMEWORKS
1. Social Cognitive Theory
 conceptual underpinnings of a study  Albert Bandura
 make clear the conceptual definition of key  explanation of human behavior using
variables, thereby providing information about the concepts of self-efficacy,
the study’s framework (often implicit) outcome expectations, and
incentives
IV. NATURE OF THEORIES AND CONCEPTUAL MODELS  self-efficacy expectations determine
the behaviors a person chooses to
 not discovered rather created and invented perform, their degree of
 theories and models are built inductively from perseverance, and the quality of the
observations performance
2. Transtheoretical Model
CONCEPTUAL MODELS AND THEORIES USED BY NURSE  Prochaska et al.
RESEARCHERS  core construct is stages of change,
which conceptualizes a continuum of
I. CONCEPTUAL MODELS OF NURSING motivational readiness to change
problem behavior
 human beings, environment, health, and  five stages of change are pre-
nursing – 4 concepts central to models of NSG contemplation, contemplation,
 Roy’s Adaptation Model – humans are viewed preparation, action, and
as biopsychosocial adaptive systems who maintenance
cope with environmental change through the 3. Health Belief Model
process of adaptation  Becker
 Goal of NSG acc. to this model is to  framework for explaining people’s
promote client adaptation health-related behavior, such as
health care use and compliance with
OTHER MODELS AND MIDDLE RANGE THEORIES a medical regimen
DEVELOPED BY NURSES  health-related behavior is influenced
by a person’s perception of a threat
 Pender’s Health Promotion Model (HPM) –
posed by a health problem as well as
focuses on explaining health-promoting
by the value associated with actions
behaviors, using a wellness orientation
aimed at reducing the threat
 entails activities directed toward
4. Theory of Planned Behavior
developing resources that maintain or
 TPB; Azjen
enhance a person’s well-being
 provides a FW for understanding
 Mishel’s Uncertainty in Illness Theory – focuses
people’s behavior and its
on “uncertainty” – inability of a person to
psychological determinants
determine the meaning of illness-related
 behavior that is volitional is
events
determined by people’s intention to
perform that behavior

LYNETTESKIE
 5. Theory of Stress and Coping  systematic review of qualitative studies –
 Lazarus and Folkman another strategy that can lead to theory
 offers an explanation of people’s development; metasyntheses
methods of dealing with stress
 coping strategies are learned and II. THEORIES IN QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
deliberate responses to stressors, and
are used to adapt to or change the  classic approach is to test hypotheses
stressors deduced from a previously proposed theory
 people’s perception of mental and  a conjecture, derived from a theory or
physical health is related to the ways conceptual framework, can serve as a starting
they evaluate and cope with the point for testing the theory’s adequacy
stresses of living  quantitative researchers deduce implications
(as in the preceding example) and develop
Additional Info hypotheses
 focus of the testing process involves a
 when a borrowed theory is tested and found comparison between observed outcomes
to be empirically adequate in health-relevant with those predicted in the hypotheses
situations of interest to nurses, it becomes  it should be noted that many researchers who
shared theory cite a theory or model as their framework are
not directly testing the theory
USING A THEORY OR FRAMEWORK IN RESEARCH
CRITIQUING FRAMEWORKS IN RESEARCH REPORTS
I. THEORIES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
 determine whether the theory seems logical,
 some qualitative researchers insist on an whether the conceptualization is truly
atheoretical stance vis-à-vis the phenomenon insightful, and whether the evidence is solid
of interest, with the goal of suspending a priori and convincing
conceptualizations (substantive theories) that  first task is to determine whether the study
might bias their inquiry does, in fact, have a conceptual framework
 grounded theory – general inductive method  the absence of a formally stated framework
that is not attached to a particular theoretical suggests conceptual fuzziness and perhaps
perspective; facilitate the gen. of theory that is ensuing methodologic problems
conceptually dense (many patterns &
relationships)
 symbolic interaction or interactionism – an
underpinning of grounded theory with 3
premises:
1. humans act toward things based on
the meanings that the things have for
them
2. the meaning of things is derived from
(or arises out of) the interaction
humans have with other fellow
humans
3. meanings are handled in, and
modified through, an interpretive
process
 critical theory – paradigm that involves a
critique of society and societal processes and
structures

LYNETTESKIE