Basic steps in planning nursing research : from question to proposal / Marilynn J. Wood, Janet C. Ross-Kerr.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. How to write a researchable question. Research topics -- What is a researchable question? -- Asking research questions -- Examining components of a research question -- Be interested in your idea -- 2. From question to problem. Finding the level of knowledge about a topic -- How to search the literature on your topic -- Level of theory and level of question -- Developing the research problem from the literature review -- Beginning with an observation -- 3. The full and final research problem. Elements of a research problem -- The psychology of argument -- Strongest argument last -- Substantiate what you say -- 4. Critical review of the literature. Content of a critique -- What to critique -- How to do a critique -- Guidelines for critique of published research -- Where does the critique belong? -- 5. Stating the purpose of the study. Level I: the purpose written as a declarative statement -- Level II: the purpose written as a question -- Level III: the purpose written as a hypothesis -- Examining the components of a hypothesis -- The significance of the statement of purpose -- Stating the purpose of the study: a summary -- 6. Defining your terms. Types of variables -- Defining the independent variable -- How variables are measured -- Terms that need definition -- Writing operational definitions: a review -- 7. The research design : blueprint for action. Designing your study from the question -- Characteristics of research designs -- Issues of control -- Descriptive designs -- Experimental designs -- Controlling unwanted influences -- Level of study and degree of control -- 8. Selecting the sample. Types of samples -- Sample size -- Level of study and sample selection -- 9. Selecting a method to answer the question. Observation -- Questionnaires and interviews -- Available data -- Physiological measures --

10. Reliability and validity of measurement. Errors in data collection procedures -- Validity -- Reliability -- Reliability and validity issues in field research using participant observation -- Reliability and validity in the research plan -- Self-test -- 11. Ethics in nursing research. Problems involving ethics -- Informed consent -- Balancing potential benefit against actual cost -- Maintaining anonymity and confidentiality -- Federal guidelines on the submission of proposals for review -- Ethical principles underlying protection of human subjects -- 12. Planning for analysis of data. Descriptive analysis -- Inferential analysis -- Choosing a statistical test: what does your hypothesis ask? -- The answer is in the question -- 13. Writing the research proposal. The introductory section: research problem -- Form of the final research problem -- Statement of the purpose of the study -- Definition of terms -- The research design -- The sample -- Methods and instruments -- Reliability and validity -- Data analysis -- Ethics -- In summary -- Variations in the proposed format -- The finished proposal -- Appendices : A. Appendix contents: sample research proposals -- B. The experience of nurse-midwives in Ghana with the use of the WHO partograph -- C. The incident of acute stress disorder among parents of premature infants admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit -- D. Nausea and vomiting following posterior fossa surgery: determination of incidence, risk, and protective factors in children -- The impact of older maternal age at first birth on the risk of spontaneous preterm birth in northern and central Alberta -- F. Maintaining catheter patency using recombinant tissue plasminogen activator -- G. Standardized telephone triage practice: impact of protocol implementation on reported job stress and satisfaction by nurses in a pediatric oncology outpatient setting.

Machine converted from AACR2 source record.