Week 4: Quantitative Methods: Analyzing Quantitative Data
Research allows us to learn more. It will enable us to go beyond simple questioning and curiosity. It allows us to dig deeper, search for outcomes, and explore meaning. Throughout your practice, you will experience the need for research. Whether in your educational journey or within your career, research is an essential skill set for your role as a DNP-prepared nurse.
Research begins as a question that leads to the study and collection of data. Through understanding and examining variables, determining levels of measurement, and analyzing outcomes, the question presented comes into a more explicit focus. This week, you consider the role of research in nursing. You will explore variables in research and analyze data to develop understanding and meaning.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
• Analyze independent and dependent variables for research questions
• Identify levels of measurement for independent and dependent variables
• Analyze approaches for addressing advantages and challenges in the data analysis for variables and levels of measurement
• Evaluate frequency and descriiptive statistics
• Summarize descriiptive statistics
Required Reading
Gray, J. R., & Grove, S. K. (2020). Burns and Grove’s the practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence (9th ed.). Elsevier.
• Chapter 21, “Introduction to Statistical Analysis” (pp. 635–651)
• Chapter 22, “Using Statistics to Describe Variables” (pp. 652–662)
• Chapter 26, “Interpreting Research Outcomes” (pp. 699–716)
Gholami, S., Mojen, L. K., Rassouli, M., Pahlavanzade, B., & Farahani, A. S. (2020). The predictors of postoperative pain among children based on the theory of unpleasant symptoms: A descriiptive-correlational study. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 55, 141–146. doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2020.08.006
Huang, J., Qi, H., Lv, K., Chen, X., Zhuang, Y., & Yang, L. (2020). Emergence delirium in elderly patients as a potential predictor of subsequent postoperative delirium: A descriiptive correlational study. Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, 35(5), 478–483. doi:10.1016/j.jopan.2019.11.009
Document: Week 4 Descriiptive Statistics SPSS Output (PDF)
Document: CITI Program Learner Registration Guide (PDF)
(Please find attached downloads for the above reading resources for Discussion)
Week 4 Discussion: Levels of Measurement (1.5pgs)
What is the incidence of blood clots from COVID-19 in females over the age of 35?
The above question is an example of a research question. A research question consists of three parts and guides the methods and approaches in which you will study the question to find answers. The research question includes: the question, the topic, and the population or variables. In the example provided above, the question is examining the prevalence of blood clots from severe COVID-19 in a selected population. From this question, the variables can be assessed, considerations can be analyzed, and populations can be sampled in order to guide the research.
During Week 2, you developed a research problem statement based on a topic of interest to you or your specific area of practice. Using this research problem statement, you will develop a research question. “A research question is a concise, interrogative statement that is worded in the present tense and includes one or more of a study’s principal concepts or variables” (Gray & Grove, 2020). These questions typically point to the type of study that will be conducted and serves as a guide for the research.
For this Discussion, reflect on your research problem statement. Consider the independent and dependent variables of your research problem through the construction of a research question. Reflect on the potential levels of measurement for your variables and the rationale for the labels, as well as consider the advantages and challenges that you might experience in the statistical analysis of your proposed variables.
Reference: Gray, J. R., & Grove, S. K. (2020). Burns and Grove’s the practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence (9th ed.). Elsevier.
To Prepare:
• Review your research problem statement from Week 2 to develop your research question.
• Review the Learning Resources on how to describe variables.
• Consider the levels of measurement for your variables: nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio.
• After reviewing your research question and considering the levels of measurement, analyze your classification for each variable. What was behind your reasoning for labeling the variables? How might the data be analyzed based on these labels?
• Consider advantages and challenges that you might encounter in the statistical analysis of your proposed variables.
Post A Discussion
1) your research question and describe the independent and dependent variables. Then,
2) identify the level of measurement of both your independent and dependent variables.
3) Provide a brief rationale for your classification of each variable.
4) Be specific. Explain considerations of analyzing data related to each variable based on its level of measurement.
5) Be sure to include any advantages or challenges that you might encounter in your statistical analysis of each variable and explain why.
