FIRST YEAR M.Sc. NURSING STUDENT ROLL NO.: 02 SUBJECT: NURSING RESEARCH GIMH MEANING OF RESEARCH:
The word research is derived from the French term recerchier, a
compound word composed of a prefix, re, and a verb, search. Re means ‘once again’, ‘anew’, or ‘afresh’ search means ‘to look for something or examine closely and carefully’, ‘to look for information’, ‘to test and try’, ‘to prove’. Langford (2001) also mentions that research means ‘to search again’ or ‘carefully examine.’ Thus, research means close and careful examination of facts and their relationship to discover new knowledge. DEFINITION OF RESEARCH:
“Research is defined as a systematic and
scientific process to answer to questions about facts and relationships between facts. It is an activity in seeking answer to unanswered questions.” “Research is systematic inquiry that uses disciplined methods to answer questions and solve problems. The ultimate goal of research is to develop, refine, and expand a body of knowledge.” (POLIT AND BECK, 2010) DEFINITION OF NURSING RESEARCH: “Nursing research is a scientific, systematic and orderly process to find out solution for problems concerned to nursing or generating and refining the nursing knowledge to improve quality of nursing care, nursing education, and nursing administration.” (S. K. SHARMA, 2005) “Nursing research is systematic inquiry designed to develop trustworthy evidence about issues of importance to the nursing profession, including nursing practice, education, administration, and informatics.” (POLIT AND BECK, 2012) 1. Orderly and systematic process 2. Based on current professional issues 3. Begin with clearly defined purposes 4. Emphasize to develop, refine, and expand professional knowledge 5. Directed towards development or testing theories 6. Finding solution of a problem 7. Dedicated to develop empirical evidence 8. Strive to collect first-hand information/data 9. An objective and logical process 10. Generate findings to refine and improve professional practices 11. Use of appropriate methodology 12. Conducted on representative sample 13. Conducted through appropriate use of methods and tools of data collection 14. Use of valid and reliable data collection tools 15. Carefully recorded and reported 16. Adequately and appropriately analyzed research 17. Patiently carried out activity 18. Researcher’s expertise, interest, motivation, and courage 19. Adequately communicated The general purpose of nursing research is to answer questions or solve problems of relevance to the nursing profession. The specific purpose of nursing research includes identification, description, exploration, explanation, prediction, and control of facts. Therefore, nursing research enables nurses in the following ways: 1. Develop, refine, and extend the scientific base of knowledge, which is required for quality nursing care, education, and administration. 2. Enhance the body of professional knowledge in nursing. 3. Provide foundation for EBN practices. 4. Help in expansion of knowledge, which is essential for continued growth of nursing profession. 5. Enhance their professional identity as research is an essential component of any profession. 6. Define the parameters of nursing, which will help nurses to identify boundaries of nursing profession. 7. Refine and eliminate old knowledge so that it helps in elimination of nursing actions that have no effect on the achievement of desired client outcomes. 8. Identify nursing care practices that make a difference in health care status of individuals and are cost-effective. 9. Enhance accuracy of different nursing educational and administrative techniques. 10. Develop and refine nursing theories and principles. 11. Solve the problems or answer the questions related to nursing practices, nursing education, and nursing administration. KINDS/TYPES OF RESEARCH Research can be classified based on several criteria. However, basically, research is classified based on either an approach of studying the variable (quantitative and qualitative research) or the purpose of conducting the research (basic and applied research). These classifications are further discussed below (Fig. 1.3). BASED ON APPROACH QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH: It is an inquiry into an identified problem, based on testing a theory composed of variables, measured with numbers and analysed using statistical techniques. In this type of research, data is collected in numerical form and analysed by using descriptive or inferential statistics. Quantitative research involves analysis of numerical data. Example of Quantitative Research A descriptive study on the prevalence of hospital-acquired infection among patients admitted in intensive-care units. In this research study, the researcher deals with numerical data. TYPES OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS:
The researcher studies the effects of the variables on
each other and describes what will be. In this research, researchers collect data without making changed or introducing treatments. Non experimental research is further classified into:
The researcher studies the relationships of
the variables and describes what is The researcher studies the variables pertinent to a specific situation. Examining the relationship between two or more variables in a natural setting without manipulation or control. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH It involves an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern human behavior. Here, data is collected in descriptive form rather than numerical form. Qualitative research involves analysis of data, such as words, pictures, or objects. Qualitative research is the examination, analysis, and interpretation of observations for the purpose of discovering underlying meanings and patterns of relationships, including classifications of types of phenomena and entities in a manner that does not involve mathematical models. Qualitative research has the following main features: Concerned with the opinions, experiences, and feelings of individuals producing subjective data. Describes social phenomena as they occur naturally. Qualitative data are collected through direct interaction with individuals, through one-to-one or group interviews or by observation. Data collection is time consuming. The intensive and time-consuming nature of data collection necessitates the use of small samples. Example of Qualitative Research A researcher is conducting a study on experiences of women who have underwent female feticide in selected rural and urban areas in Punjab. In this instance, researcher is not handling any numerical data, rather is collecting descriptive narrations verbalized by study subjects. Examines human experiences through the descriptions provided by people involved. It involves the information collected from certain cultural groups, by living with people of those groups and from their key informants, who are believed to be most knowledgeable about the selected culture. From a collection of data gathered by a participant- observer, theory is developed accordingly. Research on a phenomenon by studying in-depth about any case example. It could be any event, a group, a distinct person or an institution. This begins with the total situation, focusing attention on the system first and on its internal relationships. Sources for historical research are hospital records, order sheets, purchases orders. BASED ON APPROACH BASIC OR PURE RESEARCH
Basic (fundamental or pure) research is
performed without a specific purpose in mind. Rather, it is primarily concerned with generation of new knowledge It is used to generate and expand theories that describe, explain, or predict a phenomenon of interest to the discipline without regard to its immediate use. It is a formal and systematic process leading to the development of theories. Its main motivation is to expand the body of knowledge. JEAN PIAGET conducted a basic research on intellectual growth of all children wherein he proposed that the children learnt something new in each passing stage. Basic research is usually carried out for some of the following aims: Gather and generate information. Expand the body of knowledge to improve understanding about a discipline. Develop or refine theories and principles. Example of Basic Research: A researcher carries out a study on effect of participatory culture in an organization on work performance of employees. Here, researcher observes that workers’ performance has improved in those organizations, which have participatory culture. Thus, a researcher gives a basic theory, ‘workers’ participation in management increases their performance’ APPLIED RESEARCH
The term applied research refers to those studies that
have functional purposes and practical use or application. They focus on finding an immediate solution to an existing problem. In this, the researcher scientifically collects data to be used in clinical, administrative, or instructional area to find solution to the problem and evaluate practices and identifies needs of the patient. Applied research may be conducted to resolve a number of issues, some of which are as follows: Solve problems Make decisions Evaluate something of interest Develop something new for immediate use Example of Applied Research: A researcher has planned to conduct a study to assess the effectiveness of two different techniques of pin site care for prevention of pin site infection. Here, the researcher is interested in solving a current problem of pin site infection among patients with external skeletal fixation. ASSIGNMENTS