chapter004

Copyright © 2010 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Chapter 4

Reading and Critiquing Research Reports


Types of Research Reports• Presentations at professional

conferences

– Oral reports

– Poster sessions

• Journal articles

– Papers often subjected to peer review

– Peer reviews are often blind (reviewers are not told names of authors and vice versa)


Content of Research Journal Articles

• IMRAD Format:

– Title and Abstract

• Introduction

• Method

• Results

• And Discussion

• References


Abstract

• Brief description of major features of a study at the beginning of a journal article

– Old style—single paragraph, about 100 to 150 words

– New style—more detailed, with specific headings


Introduction

• Description of:

– Central phenomena, concepts, or variables

– Study purpose, research questions, or hypotheses

– Review of literature

– Theoretical/conceptual framework

– Study significance, need for study


Method Section

• Quantitative Studies:

– Research design

– Sampling plan and characteristics of study participants

– Methods of operationalizing variables and collecting data

– Study procedures, including procedures to protect participants

– Analytic methods and procedures


Method Section (cont.)• Qualitative Studies:

– Research tradition

– Sampling approach and description of study participants

– Setting and context

– Data collection approaches

– Study procedures

– Analytic strategies


Question

Is the following statement True or False?

• The review of literature is typically found in the Method section of the research report.


Answer

• False

– The review of literature is usually found in the Introduction of the research report.


Results Section • Findings:

– Quantitative Studies:

• Descriptive information (e.g., description of subjects)

• Results of statistical analyses

• Names of statistical tests

• Value of calculated statistics

• Level of statistical significance

• Precision and magnitude of effects (sometimes)


Results Section (cont.)

• Findings (cont.)

– Quantitative Studies (cont.):

• Level of statistical significance—index of how probable it is that the findings are reliable

• For example, p < .05: Probability is less than 5 in 100 that the findings are spurious (probability is 95 in 100 that the findings are “real” and replicable)


Results Section (cont.)• Findings (cont.)

– Qualitative Studies:

• Findings often organized according to major themes, processes, or categories identified in the analysis

• Almost always includes raw data—quotes directly from study participants


Discussion

• Interpretation of the results

• Implications for nursing practice and for further research

• Study limitations


Question


• A researcher would describe the limitations of the study in the Results section of the report.


Answer

• False

– The study limitations are typically described in the Discussion section of the report.


Style of Research Journal Articles

• Often difficult to glean the “story” being told, because of:

– Compactness—page constraints

– Jargon

– Objectivity, impersonality

– Statistical information

• Last two especially prominent in quantitative research articles


Tips on Digesting Research Reports• Read regularly, get used to style

• Read copied articles—underline, highlight, write notes

• Read slowly

• Read actively

• Look up technical terms in glossary

• Don’t be intimidated by statistics—grasp gist of story

• “Translate” articles or abstracts


Research Critiques

• Careful and objective appraisals of the strengths and limitations of a study

• Critiques of individual studies can be done for a variety of reasons (e.g., for a student assignment; for making decisions about whether or not to publish a manuscript; for EBP purposes)

• Vary in scope, length, and form, depending on purpose


Research Critiques (cont.)

• Can be comprehensive, appraising the substantive, methodologic, theoretical, ethical, interpretive, and stylistic aspects of both the study and the report (e.g., students can critique a single study to demonstrate their research skills)

• Noncomprehensive critiques tend to focus on key substantive and methodologic issues, focusing on the integrity of the study’s evidence.


Research Critiques (cont.)

• Critiques can be facilitated by:

– Using a formal protocol or critiquing guideline—although a one-size-fits-all guideline does not typically work perfectly (see guidelines for quantitative and qualitative studies in this chapter as models)

– Reviewing a model of a good critique


Key Challenges of Doing Research• Researchers face numerous challenges

and make many decisions:

– Conceptual/substantive

– Financial

– Ethical

– Practical

– Methodologic


Question


• Research critiques are done to evaluate the strengths and limitations of a study.


Answer

• True

– Although there are a wide variety of reasons for critiquing research, research critiques provide careful and objective appraisals of the strengths and limitations of a study.


Major Methodologic Challenge

• Designing studies to support inferences that are:

– Reliable and valid (quantitative studies)

– Trustworthy (qualitative studies)


Criteria for Evaluating Quantitative Research

• Reliability

– The accuracy and consistency of obtained information

• Validity

– The soundness of the evidence—whether findings are convincing, well-grounded, and support the desired inferences


Evaluative Criteria in Qualitative Studies

• Trustworthiness

– The overall integrity of the study’s evidence


Trustworthiness• Dimensions of trustworthiness:

– Credibility—a key criterion, achieved to the extent that researchers can engender confidence in the truth of the data and their interpretations

– Confirmability

– Dependability

– Transferability

– Authenticity


Triangulation

• Triangulation is the use of multiple sources or referents to draw conclusions about what constitutes the truth.

– Triangulation can contribute to credibility.

– Triangulation is a useful strategy in both qualitative and quantitative research.


Question

Which of the following would be a key aspect of trustworthiness?

a. Triangulation

b. Reliability

c. Credibility

d. Validity


Answer

c. Credibility

– Credibility is a key criterion for trustworthiness. Reliability and validity are key for evaluating quantitative research. Triangulation is the use of multiple sources or referents to draw conclusions.


Bias• An influence producing a distortion in

study results

• Examples of factors creating bias:

– Lack of participants’ candor

– Faulty methods of data collection

– Researcher’s preconceptions

– Participants’ awareness of being in a special study

– Faulty study design


Research Control

• In quantitative studies, research control involves holding constant extraneous factors (confounding variables) that influence the dependent variable, to better understand relationships between the independent and dependent variables.

• Research control is one method of addressing bias.


Randomness

• Randomness—allowing certain aspects of the study to be left to chance rather than to researcher or participant choice

• An important tool for achieving control over confounding variables and for avoiding bias


Masking (Blinding)

• Masking—or blinding—involves concealing information (usually about the study hypotheses or about participants’ status in different groups) from those playing a role in the study.

• Used in quantitative studies to reduce biases stemming from awareness


Masking (Blinding), cont.

• Single blind—only one group is blinded (e.g., study participants)

• Double blind—two groups (e.g., study participants and people collecting the outcome data) are blinded

• A study without blinding is sometimes called an open study, while a study with blinding may be referred to as a closed study.


Reflexivity

• The process of reflecting critically on the self, and of attending to personal values that could affect data collection and interpretations of the data

• A strategy used primarily by qualitative researchers (e.g., they may maintain an ongoing journal to record their reflections before and during the study)


Question


• Blinding is used in qualitative studies.


Answer

• False.

– Blinding is used in quantitative studies to reduce bias that results from awareness.


Generalizability and Transferability

• Generalizability (Quantitative research): The extent to which study findings are valid for others not in the study

• Transferability (Qualitative research): The extent to which qualitative findings can be transferred to other settings

• Thick description supports transferability.


End of Presentation

chapter004

Documents

research questions

study participantscopyright

data study procedures

variables study purpose

qualitative studies

results im

research design sampling

participants analytic