College of Central Florida

Nursing Research

Take Home Exam 1 – Summer 2015

 

 

Name:_______Jasmin Smith __________

 

The following 17 questions relate to the first study by Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, and Beauvais (2013).

 

1. In the research study, “Factors Related to Academic Success Among Nursing Students: A Descriptive Correlational Research Study, please state if this research a qualitative or quantitative study? Document 3 specific statements in this study to support your findings (include the page number(s)). (4.5 pts)

 

1.a) This research approach was quantitative in nature. Supporting statements of this type of research include a) this is a “Descriptive Correlational Research study” ( which is part of the research title, page 1). Quantitative research is structured and the purpose of descriptive research is to observe the study group , describe the phenomenon, document aspects of the scenario as it naturally occurs, and potentially trigger the formation of a hypothesis (Polit & Beck, 2012). Descriptive Correlational Research studies are used in quantitative research to “ describe relationships among variables rather than support inferences of casualty” (Polit & Beck, 2012, p., 226). This insight leads me to my second finding support that this is a quantitative study: b) The researches compare the relationship of academic success being able to be predicted by resiliency (p. 2-3) of the student and standardized testing scores (p. 2). “Traditionally, a student's high

school grade point average (GPA) and standardized test scores such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Test® (ACT) have been identified as predictors of academic success” (as cited in Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014, p. 3). Finally, confirmation that this is a quantitative study is c) the use of numerical statistics. Polit and Beck, 2012, point out that in quantitative research “numeric information [is] obtained from a formal measurement and is analyzed statistically” (p., 14). In the article there are many instances of statistical data like when referring to the response rate : “Thirty six percent of the students (n = 186) answered the initial website survey” (Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014, p.3); and, when describing characteristics of the study group the authors acknowledged “The sample mean age was 30 years old with a range from 18 to 59 years old and a standard deviation of 12.50” (Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014, p.3).

 

 

2.What was the design that was used for this study? What is the significance of this design? (2.5 pts.)

 

2a.) As referenced in the first response the design used was a Descriptive Correlational Design.

The significance of this type of research is that its purpose is to describe the relationships between variables instead of supporting inferences of causality (Polit & Beck, 2012). “Studies designed to address diagnosis/ assessment questions - that is, whether a tool or procedure yields an accurate assessment or diagnostic information about a condition or outcome - typically involve descriptive correlational studies” (Polit & Beck, 2012, p., 226).

 

 

 

3.In some research definitions will be included in the study. Why is this necessary? (1 pts.)

 

3a.) “Study concepts need to be defined and explicated, and dictionary definitions are seldom adequate” (Polit & Beck, 2012, p. 52).

These definitions are further broken done into conceptual or operational definitions. Conceptual definitions are abstracts of theoretical interpretation of the concepts being researched while operational definitions focus on congruency with conceptual definitions and specifies processes the researchers must take in order to measure the outcome (Polit & Beck, 2012).

 

 

 

4.In one sentence describe the purpose of the study. Did the researcher clearly state the purpose? Why or why not? (1 pts.)

 

4a.) The purpose of this study was to explore a variety of factors influencing the academic success of nursing students.

Yes, the purpose of the study is clearly listed under the objectives portion of the introductory summary : “Objectives: The purpose of the correlational study was to describe the relationship between emotional intelligence, psychological empowerment, resilience, spiritual well-being, and academic success in undergraduate and graduate nursing students” (Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014, p. 1).

 

 

 

 

5.Is a theorist used in this study? What is the purpose of using a theorist in a research project? Who could the researcher used in this section and explain why? (2 pts.)

 

5a.) No theorist was identified in this article. The purpose of utilizing a theorist when conducting research is to use their metapardigmn to and theoretical framework to provide a foundation/ direction to your study. Two potential theorists that would have provided solid frameworks to this study are Nightingale and Nueman. Nightingale realized that individuals were influenced by their environment and that “external influences can prevent, suppress or contribute to disease or death” ("Nursing Theorists," 2011). This coincides with the study as the authors reflect on how certain factors can influence nursing success rates. As far as Neuman goes she was focused on maintaining “balance and harmony between internal and external environment by adjusting to stress and defending against tension-producing stimuli” and recognized a “flexible line of defense” and a flexible line of resistance is needed (“Nursing Theorists,” 2011). This correlates to the article’s mention of how resilience is needed in nursing, and that nurses who practice resilience are more likely to succeed.

 

 

 

6.In the study’s “Literature Review”, how is Kneipp et al., 2009 relevant to the researchers’ own study? Is this study citation done in APA format (in-text and in the Reference section)? Why or why not? (1.5 pts.).

 

6a.) The researchers referenced Kneipp et al., 2009 as this study had been conducted around “spiritual well-being,” and how there is a correlation between spiritual well-being and stronger academic scores. The authors’ goal is to identify factors that contribute to academic success, and this study provided a new avenue to consider. It does not appear to be APA citation in either location as in the reference section it is not called “References,” but rather “Article in Press,” and then the actual citation does not italicize the periodical title and volume and does not have a doi. Also there are just commas between the authors and no “&” between Kelly and Cyphers. As for the in text citation the author did not identify all the cited authors the first time acknowledging their work. In APA the first time a work is referenced all authors are mentioned and then following that only the first authors name followed by et. al.

 

7.Please list any dependent and independent variables. How do you determine the difference? Indicate whether the variable is dependent or independent. (3 pts.)

 

7a.) The article identified academic success and spiritual well being as variables. My interpretation of this is that spiritual well being is the independent variable in this case as it claims to positively influence the dependent variable of academic success. Polit and Beck describe dependent variables as those that “depend on or [are] caused by another variable (independent variable); the outcome variable of interest” (2012, p. 725). Polit and Beck acknowledge that the independent variable influences the outcome of the dependent variable (2012).

 

8.What steps must any nursing researcher do before conducting research? Did the researchers follow these steps? How do you know? (3 pts.)

 

8a.) Prior to conducting research, researchers must take several ethical factors into consideration. Full disclosure, a process of clearly disclosing the nature of the study to participants is indicated and includes likely risks/benefits, along with the researcher’s responsibilities (Polit & Beck, 2012). Respect for human dignity must be addressed and it is common for self -determination of participants to take place. Self determination in a nutshell means that the researcher’s participants can volunteer whether or not they wish to participate in the study (Polit & Beck, 2013). Once potential subjects are located, informed consent must be obtained stating that the participants understand what they are agreeing to be researched for. Informed consent usually takes place on a tangible copy that the participant signs and is witnessed (Polit & Beck, 2012). Next, authorization to access private health information must be obtained. This can be part of the informed consent, or a second sign-able form (Polit & Beck, 2012). Authorization must include: “ (1) who will receive the information, (2) what type of information will be disclosed, and (3) what further disclosures the researcher anticipates” ( p.160,162). Finally, the researcher needs to offer the participants either anonymity or confidentiality, terms both used to refer to privacy. Anonymity is full privacy and readers would not be able to trace the data back to the subjects, while confidentiality means the data will not be shared with people who could identify the subjects (Polit & Beck, 2012).

In this study there was International Review Board (IRB) approval, along with disclosure of who would be conducting the study, and promise of confidentiality. Interested parties could practice self-determination and choose to participate in the study of their own free will via an email link, where a consent form was provided as well (Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014).

 

9. How would we know if this researcher had fully disclosed the nature of the study?

(1.5 pts.)

9a.) This study’s disclosure does not appear straightforward , because although the researchers informed the students of who would be conducting the research and who could participate, this disclosure was left up to the discretion of the nursing professors so some may have disclosed more than others. It was also up to the students to review the information, which some may have thoroughly done and others may have skimmed and not realized all the survey entailed.

“The students were informed that the researchers were nursing professors and notified that no distinguishing information would be gathered that would enable the researchers to associate them with their responses” (Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014, p. 3).

“The students were informed that they were required to be 18 years of age or older to partake and to carefully review the information” (Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014, p. 3).

 

 

10. Was anonymity provided in this study? Why or why not? (1.5 pts.)

 

10a.) Although I feel confidentiality was practiced, I do not feel anonymity was provided. Identifiers such as gender, marital status, race, nursing program , and that the subjects were older than 18, and not freshmen were disclosed to the reader. Also the location was described as a small, private Catholic University located in New England (Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014). Such identifiers, though vague, could narrow the search of who participated if someone was overly zealous to find out.

 

 

 

11.What is research misconduct? How is one way we can determine if misconduct has taken place in this study? (2 pts.)

 

11a.) Research misconduct occurs when researchers are misleading, fraudulent, and do not provide full disclosure about their research (Polit & Beck, 2012). As cited in Polit & Beck, the standing definition laid out by the U.S. Public Health service is : “ fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research” (2012, p. 169). Since the study discloses it went under IRB review, it is more than likely that research misconduct did not occur. “When a report specifically mentions a formal review, it is usually safe to assume that a group of concerned people did a conscientious review of the study’s ethical issues” (Polit & Beck, 2012, p. 169).

 

 

 

12. On page 5, why did this researcher include demographics in her research and why is it important? (1.5 pts.)

 

12a.) The authors included demographics to show the variety of participants. “When designing a survey, the research needs to assess who to survey and how to breakdown overall survey response data into meaningful groups of respondents. Both assessments are based on demographic considerations” ( Wyse, 2012).

 

 

 

13. List all the instruments that were used to conduct this study? (2.5 pts.)

 

13a.) “The instruments utilized were the Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), Spreitzer Psychological Empowerment Scale, Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale, the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS), as well as a background data sheet” (as cited in Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014, p.2).

 

Participants accessed the study/ consent via an email and then underwent surveys via Survey Monkey.

 

 

 

14.On page 3, the researchers state that the content and construct validity have been verified. Why is this important and how is it done? (3 pts.)

 

14a.) Content validity is focused on how well the instruments used to conduct the research has an appropriate amount of samples that sufficiently cover the research domain (Polit & Beck, 2012).

Content validity is focused on affective measurement, which would include both cognitive and psychological domains (Polit & Beck, 2012). An example of an instrument used that would fall under this category to assess validity would be the Sprietzer's Psychological Empowerment Scale. Often a CVI, content validity index, is utilized to test validity, although this is primarily based upon a group of expert’s judgment. The experts rate instruments based on a 4-point scale:

1= not relevant

2= somewhat relevant

3= quite relevant

4= highly relevant

(Polit & Beck, 2012, p. 337). Then the CVI is calculated based upon the number of experts giving it a rating of quite relevant (3), or highly relevant (4), which is then further divided by the number of experts (Polit & Beck, 2012). “For example, an item rated as “quite” or “highly” relevant by 4 out of 5 judges would have a I-CVI of .80 which is considered an acceptable value,” although values of .90 are strived for (Polit & Beck, 2012, p. 337).

 

Construct validity is just as important as it assesses the quality of the study. (Polit & Beck, 2012). This evaluation is challenging but important. “Construct validation can be approached in several ways, but it always involves logical analysis and hypothesis tests” (Polit & Beck, 2012, p. 339).

 

The authors pointed out that the MSCEIT had a validity of r = .91 overall, and r = .80 - .91, when broken down and examined in segments. (Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014).

 

15. The research indicates that the reliability ranged from 0.85 – 0.94. What is the significance of these numbers? (2.5 pts.)

 

15a.) These numbers show high validity. Between 85% and 94% of the experts evaluated the Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale, (Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014), as a valid, reliable and an appropriate instrument for this research study.

 

16. On page 5, the researchers state that the resilience was related to academic success. How was this determined? (2 pts.)

 

16a.) This finding is related to the graduated level of students researched, as the undergraduate students showed limited correlation between resilience and academic success (Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014). This conclusion about the graduate students was determined by a combination of GPA, to evaluate academic success, and score on the Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale, to determine resilience.

 

 

 

17. List at least 4 findings that would be of value to the profession of nursing? (2 pts.)

 

17.a)

1. Advancing academic success results in positively influencing nursing graduation rates, attrition, and retention (Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014).
2. Further research exploring if psychosocial factors correlate with academic success could be beneficial to nursing as a whole (Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014).
3. There is a positive correlation between spiritual well being and academic success (Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014).
4. A student’s GPA is a positive indicator of academic potential, but not solely able to predict academic success, which tends to be influenced by a variety of factors (Beauvais, Stewart, DeNisco, & Beauvais, 2014).

 

 

 

 

 

The following four questions relate to the second study (.pdf file) by Davies, Jenkins, and Mabbett (2010):

 

18. In the study, “Emotional Intelligence : District nurses’ lived experiences,” please indicate if this study is: (3 pts)

Mixed Method

Qualitative - As identified in the abstract.

Quantitative

 

19. This study is a: (3 pts)

Grounded Theory Design

Phenomenological Design

Ethnographic Design

Descriptive Design

 

20.What were the six major themes that emerged from this study? (1.5 pts)

 

20a.)

Self-Awareness

Control

Assessment

Experience

Palliative Care

Leadership

(Davies, Jenkins, & Mabbett, 2010, p. 141).

 

21. How did the authors arrive at these themes? (2.5 pts)

21a.) The authors conducted semi-structured interviews among a small sample, which were sub sequentially followed up with analysis (Davies, Jenkins, & Mabbett, 2010). The authors focused on repeated themes mentioned by the participants, and gauged their research around these reoccurrences.

 

22. Describe what the Hawthorne Effect is. (1.5 pts)

 

22a.) The Hawthorne Effect is “a placebo-type effect caused by people’s expectations” (Polit & Beck, 2012, p. 216). It acknowledges that when participants know they are being studied they try to produce the desired effect.

 

23. ) Name two groups of people who it would be difficult to do a longitudinal study on. Why might it be difficult? (1.5 pts)   23a.) Longitudinal studies are those which collect data on a sample at more than one point in time (Polit & Beck, 2012).

_________Hospice Patients : It would be difficult to conduct a thorough longitudinal study on hospice patients as such research takes time and although some patients are assigned hospice care and then make a turn around, it is not usually initiated unless the patient is expected to pass in the next 6 months. Due to this short time frame, it would be difficult to collect data on the sample and then repeat it again.

______The effects of frequent alcohol consumption among previous non drinkers: This population would be difficult to longitudinally study as it would be unethical to impose alcohol consumption when the sample would have be abstaining from it otherwise due to personal reasons. It would also be impractical to observe the subjects until cirrhosis and malignancies began to develop as this could take many years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Beauvais, A. M., Stewart, J. G., DeNisco, S., & Beauvais, J. E. (2014). Factors related to academic success among nursing students: A descriptive correlational research study. Nurse Education Today, 34(6), 918-923. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2013.12.005

Davies, S., Jenkins, E., & Mabbett, G. (2010). Emotional intelligence: district nurses’ lived experiences. Br J Community Nursing, 15(3), 141-146. doi:10.12968/bjcn.2010.15.3.46903 Nursing Theorists. (2011, October 17). Retrieved from http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/nursing_theorists.html

Polit, D. F., Beck, C. T., & Polit, D. F. (2012). Resource manual for nursing research:

         Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice. Philadelphia: Wolters

         Kluwer Health/lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Wyse, S. (2012, March 12). Why Use Demographic Questions in Surveys? Retrieved from http://www.snapsurveys.com/blog/demographics-questions-surveys/