Ch.6 - Problems, Questions and Hypotheses
Terms
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- Purpose Statement - QUANTITATIVE
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- Summary of the goal
- Identifies key VARIABLES & possible relationship between variables
- Identifies POPULATION of interest
- The VERB often indicates that the purpose is to COMPARE, TEST or EXAMINE the relationship between 2 variables
- ex. the PURPOSE of this study is to TEST an intervention to reduce chemotherapy induced side effects - specifically to COMPARE the effectiveness of patient-controlled and nurse administered antiemetic therapy for controlling nausea/vomiting in patients on chemotherapy - Research QUESTIONS - QUANTITATIVE
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- SPECIFIC questions that need to be answered to ADDRESS the research problem
- often a DIRECT rewording of the purpose statement
- Identifies key VARIABLES and relationships between them
- Identifies POPULATION of interest
- ex. What is the relative effectiveness of patient-controlled antiemetic therapy vs. nurse-controlled antiemetic therapy with regard to: a) medication consumption and b) control of nausea/vomiting in patients on chemotherapy - Research HYPOTHESES - QUANTITATIVE
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- specific PREDICTION regarding the research question
- a HUNCH about the RELATIONSHIP between the independent and dependent VARIABLES
- statement of the EXPECTED OUTCOME
- may be derived from a THEORY, personal or practice EXPERIENCE, findings from PREVIOUS RESEARCH
- forces researchers to think logically about a problem and not simply study something at random
- findings may provide support for the prediction or may be contrary
- need to think about the logic and fit or previous research findings (were there limitations) and limitations of the current study
- Hypotheses are NEVER PROVED (only accepted or rejected)
- ex.Reinforcement Theory: behaviour that is positively reinforced will be repeated.
Hypothesis: Children who are given rewards in school for doing good work will have their homework completed more often than children who are not rewarded for their work. - Characteristics of a Testable Hypothesis:
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1. Must express a RELATIONSHIP (less than, more than, increased, decreased, different from, related to)
2. Must be based on RATIONAL/JUSTIFIABLE reasoning - 6 Types of Hypotheses:
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1. Simple
2. Complex
3. Directional
4. Nondirectional
5. Research
6. Null - Simple Hypothesis
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- SINGLE independent and dependent VARIABLE
- ex. People who take part in regular formal EXERCISE (IndV) have HIGHER SELF-EFFICACY (DepV) than people who do not take part in formal exercise - Complex Hypothesis
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- 2 or MORE independent or 2 or MORE dependent VARIABLES
- ex. people who take part in regular formal EXERCISE and eat a balanced DIET (IndV) have a LOWER BMI and HIGHER PERCEIVED HEALTH (DepV) than people who do not take part in formal exercise and do not eat a balanced diet - Directional Hypothesis:
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- indicates the EXPECTED DIRECTION of the relationship
- preferable to nondirectional hypotheses
- ex. the GREATER the level of EXERCISE, the LOWER the BMI - Nondirectional Hypothesis:
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- direction NOT SPECIFIED
- not based on theory or prior knowledge, prior findings are unclear
- ex. there is a relationship between level of exercise and BMI - Research Hypothesis:
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- the ACTUAL EXPECTED relationship
- ex. the GREATER the level of EXERCISE, the LOWER the BMI - Null Hypothesis:
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- Statistical inference dictates that NO RELATIONSHIP exists between the variables of interest
- research hypotheses are planned and written in the research report; when statistical tests are conducted, null hypotheses are assumed
- ex. Exercise is not related (null hypothesis) to BMI - Examples of Hypotheses:
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1. Participants receiving antiemetic therapy by a patient controlled pump report less nausea than participants receiving therapy by nurse administration
2. participants receiving antiemetic therapy by patient controlled pump vomit less than participants receiving the therapy by nurse administration
3. Participants receiving antiemetic therapy by a patient controlled pump consume less medication than participants receiving the therapy by nurse administration - How to Critique Research Problems:
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- Does the problem have SIGNIFICANCE for nursing?
- Will the study CONTRIBUTE to what is known about the problem or ADVANCE theory? (has it been done before? - any gaps/inconsistencies)
- Is the purpose statement, research questions, and hypotheses clear, properly worded, and appropriate?
*Note: Qualitative studies don't have a hypothesis but still have a purpose statement