Chapter 8 Claryifying Quantitative Research Designs

Question 1

What are the concepts of quantitative research designs?

Answer 1

~Causality
~Multicasuality
~Probability
~Bias
~Prospective versus retrospective
~Control 
~Manipulation

Question 2

What concept defines the presence of multiple causes for an effect

Ex. Patients diagnosis, age, pre surgical condition, and complications after surgery are interrelated causes of the length of a patients hospital stay

Answer 2

Multicausality

Question 3

What concept means things have causes, and causes lead to effects.

Ex. Examine the effect of an early ambulation program after surgery on the length of hospital stay

Answer 3

Causality

Question 4

What concept addresses relative rather than absolute causality

Example: while assessing the affect of multiple variables on length of hospital stay, researchers may choose to examine the ________ of a given length of hospital stay under a variety of specific sets of circumstances.

Answer 4

Probability; probability

Question 5

What concept has a slant/ deviation from the true or expected

Ex. includes attitudes or motivations of the researcher (conscious or unconscious), components of the environment in which the study is conducted, selection of the study participants, composition of the sample, groups formed, measurement methods, data collection process, and statistical analyses.

For example, some of the participants for the study might be taken from a unit of the hospital in which the patients are participating in another study involving quality nursing care or a nurse, selecting patients for a study, might include only those who showed an interest in the study.

Answer 5

Bias

Question 6

____means looking forward (24 BP for several days charted in electronic data, patient is still hospitalized current) ;_____ means looking backward (previous studies, national electronic databases, health care agencies).

Both terms used to refer to the timing of data collection

Answer 6

Prospective; retrospective

Question 7

What concept means having the power to direct or manipulate factors to achieve a desired outcome.

Ex. In a study of an early ambulation program, study participants may be randomly selected and then randomly assigned to the intervention or ______ group

Answer 7

Control; control

Question 8

What concept is a form of control generally used in quasi-experimental and experimental studies. Independent (interventions) variable is usually the one controlled

Answer 8

Manipulation

Question 9

: is a blueprint or detailed plan for conducting plan. Purpose, review of literature, and framework provide the basis for the design.

Answer 9

Research design

Question 10

What are the four common quantitative designs :

Answer 10

Descriptive (describing) ,
correlational (relationship),
quasi-experimental,
experimental

Question 11

called nonexperimental or noninterventional designs, focus on the description and examination of relationships among variables.

Answer 11

Descriptive and correlational designs

Question 12

Interventions or treatments are implemented in ____________and ____________ studies to determine their effect on selected dependent variables. Interventions may be physiological, psychosocial, educational, or a combination of these.

Answer 12

Quasi-experimental ; experimental

Question 13

Design may be used to develop theories, identify problems with current practices, make judgements about practices, identify different trends of illnesses, illness preventions, and health promotion in selected group,

Answer 13

Descriptive:

1. Simple descriptive : used to examine variables in a single sample
2. Comparative descriptive : used to describe variables and examine differences in variables in two or more groups that occur naturally in a setting

Question 14

This is an example of which descriptive design ?

Answer 14

Simple

Question 15

This is an example of which descriptive design?

Answer 15

Comparative

Question 16

Examine relationships between or among two or more variables in a single study

Example- Researchers might conduct a cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational study design, to examine the relationship of the BMI to lipid levels in early adolescent years ( ages 13-16) and late adolescency (ages 17-19 yo)

Answer 16

Correlational

Question 17

Correlation designs consists of three different types:

Answer 17

(1) descriptive correlational, in which the researcher can seek to describe a relationship;
(2) predictive correlational, in which the researcher can predict relationships among variables; and
(3) model testing design, in which all the relationships proposed by a theory are tested simultaneously.

Question 18

Definition-Facilitates the search for knowledge /examination of casuality in situations in which complete control is not possible

Example- groups may include study participants who choose to be in the intervention group and those who choose not to receive the intervention as the comparsion group

Answer 18

Quasi experimental

Question 19

Quasi-experimental design conducted to examine the difference between the treatment group that receives an intervention and the comparison group that does not; provides poor control of threats to internal validity.

Answer 19

Posttest-only design with comparison group

Question 20

Quasi-experimental design in which the intervention is applied to the experimental group following the pretest of both the experimental and comparison groups and a posttest after implementation of the intervention; evaluates the effect of the intervention that can be measured–basically, a pretest-posttestdesign without random assignment to the experimental and comparison groups.

Answer 20

Pretest-posttest design with comparison group

Question 21

some relatively simple and others very complex, have been developed for studies focused on examining casuality.

Answer 21

Experimental

Question 22

Experimental design with random assignment of participants to the intervention and control groups. Both groups receive pretest and, after the intervention, the posttest; measures effect of the intervention; often called the classic experimental design.

Answer 22

Pretest-posttest design with control group

Question 23

Experimental design in which there is no preintervention measurement of the value of the dependent variable in the experimental or control groups.

Answer 23

Posttest-only control group design

Question 24

design involves collecting data at different points in time (same participant) and might also be referred to a s a repeated measures.

Ex. A sample of woman with breast cancer could be monitored for depression before, during, and after their chemotherapy treatment.

Answer 24

Longitudinal design

Question 25

Involves data collection on variables at one point in time (not same subject monitored over time)

Ex.design involves examining a group of subjects simultaneously in various stages of development, levels of education, severity of illness, or stages of recovery to describe change in a phenomenon across stage.

Ex. researchers might describe thedepression levels of three different groups of women with breast cancer who are prechemotherapy,receiving chemotherapy, or postchemotherapy treatment to understand depression levels based onthe phase of treatment.

Answer 25

Cross-sectional

Question 26

Is the measure of the truth or accuracy of the findings obtained in a study

Answer 26

Study validity

Question 27

Is the extent to which the effects detected in the study are a true reflection of a reality, rather than the result of extraneous variables.

Answer 27

Internal validity

Question 28

Threats to the design of internal validity

Answer 28

Participant selection and assignment to group
Participant attrition
History
Maturation

Question 29

is concerned with the extent to which study findings can be generalized beyond the sample used in the study

Answer 29

External validity

Question 30

Threat to the external validity design:

Answer 30

1. Interaction of selection and intervention
2. Interaction of setting and intervention
3. Interaction of history and intervention

Question 31

the group of participants who received the study intervention is referred to as the intervention or

Answer 31

Experimental group

Question 32

the group that is not exposed to the intervention is referred to as the control

Answer 32

Comparison group

Question 33

Is noted to be the strongest methodology for testing the effectiveness of an intervention because the elements of the design limit the potential for bias

Answer 33

Randomized controlled trail (RCT)

Question 34

Critically appraising a design involves:

Answer 34

examining the study setting, sample, intervention, measurement of variables, and data collection procedures

Question 35

The essential elements of experimental research are:

Answer 35

(1) the random assignment of participants to groups;
(2) the researcher’s manipulation of the independent variable; and
(3) the researcher’s control of the experimental situation and setting, including a control or comparison group.