Session 4 : Research is Focused
The aim of this session is to focus upon your research
project. You were asked in the last session to come up with a researchable topic and then
to do a literature search on it.
You were also asked to bring your literature along with you to this session. Much of the
session will be devoted to reviewing this literature, devising a conceptual framework, and
developing your research question or hypothesis.
In order to do this it is important that we expand on some topics we have briefly touched
on before.
Literature Review
"A critical summary of research on a topic of
interest, often prepared to put a research problem in context or as the basis for an
implementation project."
Polit & Hungler (1997) Essentials of Nursing Research : Methods, Appraisal, and
Utilization 4th Edition.
Often nurses find that reviewing the literature presents
a difficult task, often the researcher embarking on a new project is less familiar with
the topic than the writers of the articles they are reviewing.
Therefore they may not be in a good position to make judgements about the material being
reviewed.
However many aspects are able to be evaluated by readers who are not experts.
Some of the points which should be considered are listed below.
Authors :
It is appropriate to ascertain the status of the
author(s).
Is this a lay person's account, a journalistic account or a manufacturer's account for
example?
What is the author's level of expertise?
Content:
Relevance
The content should obviously be relevant to the topic
being discussed.
For example there can be ethnic differences. U.S. vs British. Although we share a common
language there are many differences between the two cultures.
Accuracy
Does the information gain support from other literature?
This can be either by reference or by comparison with other aricles.
Referencing
Does the article contain appropriare and accurate
referencing?
Is the article up-to-date with it's referencing? For example an article published last
year would not inspire us with confidence if all the references were to articles written
in the 1970's and 1980's.
Currency
Is the article itself up to date or was it published a
long time ago? There is always change in nursing and relying on older articles may not
reflect the true current knowledge base.
Ambiguity
Can the content of the article be misinterpreted?
Does the content contain contradictory remarks?
Balance
Is there a balance of views represented?
Is there evidence of bias towards on or other point of view?
Omissions
Are there any areas which have not been included but
would have been warranted?
For example if the article covers temperature taking methods but it does not consider
tympanic membrane monitoring it may be considered to be deficient.
Critical Thinking
Is there evidence of that the author(s) has used critical
thinking?
Note that apurely descriptive account of a topic does not normally require this element.
Conceptual Framework
A conceptual framework proposes explanations for
potential relationships.
It helps to place the study in perspective among other studies and to justify asking the
subjects to take part.
It is used to support studies looking for relationships between variables. For example a
relationship between prenatal nutrition of mothers and intellectual performance of their
offspring.
"If no conceptual framework is provided, there is no indication of where the study
might fit in the universe of nursing research and thus the value of the study is
questionable." (Wood & Brink [1989] p.108-9)
Nursing has in the past been criticised for it's production of numerous isolated pieces of
research which lack a theoretical foundation and are therefore difficult to integrate.
However Polit & Hungler (1997) feel that in some instances the research "may be
so pragmatic in nature that it does not really need a theory to enhance it's
usefulness."(p.116-117)
They provide the example of a piece of research on turning patients in order to find the
optimal regime. Polit & Hungler feel that this has a utilitarian goal and as such
there is little extra to be gained by placing ithe problem within a theoretical frame
work.
If a conceptual framework is not developed an exploratory study could be used. Using our
example above, if there had been no testing of the notion that there is a relationship
between prenatal nutrition and the intellectual ability of the child an exploratory study
would be required.
The conceptual framework is usually summarised in the form of questions supporing the
tentative nature of the framework. That is, no unwarranted emphasis is placed on the
thoughts about the relationship.
This page last updated on Monday April 05, 1999 13:45 +0100
Please e-mail any comments or queries to johnross@cwcom.net
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