Research Methods and Statistical Analyses

Research Methods and Statistical Analyses
Exercise 7 Sample Study Scenarios

Student:

For each of these study scenarios, determine the most appropriate test to evaluate the data collected. You are to assume that all assumptions for any parametric test have been met, and that the sample size is sufficient to run any statistical analysis. Provide the most appropriate test and the rationale for your choice directly on this sheet after each scenario. Each response should be no more than 150 words in length. References are not required. APA format and a title sheet is also not required for this exercise. Once completed upload this to the dropbox for this exercise in this module.

1. A nurse researcher wants to know if the number of falls in a hospital is related to nurse job satisfaction. The researcher will, at random collect data on 250 hospitals from across the United States. The data collected for each hospital will be the total number of patient falls and the average job satisfaction for all staff nurses for the past calendar year. The research question asked is “Are nurse job satisfaction and the number of patient falls in a hospital correlated? Which test should the researcher use to evaluate their data? Provide a brief rationale for your response.

Response/Rationale:

2. A nurse administrator is interested in studying unit staffing levels and nurse turnover in a large healthcare organization. There are 10 hospitals in this company, that have a combined total of 200 different nursing units, such as the ER, the Medical-Surgical unit, etc. Each of the 200 hospital units is rated as (a) significantly over-staffed, (b) over-staffed, (c) appropriately staffed, (d) under-staffed, and (e) severely under-staffed; and each unit is rated as having (a) no staff nurse turnover, (b) minimal staff nurse turnover, (c) moderate staff nurse turnover, (d) high levels of staff nurse turnover, and (e) extremely high levels of staff nurse turnover. The research question asked is “Are nurse staffing levels and staff nurse turnover correlated? Which test should the researcher use to evaluate their data? Provide a brief rationale for your response.

Response/Rationale:

3. A pediatric nurse practitioner works with obese children. She wants to study two different approaches found in the literature. She will divide her pediatric patients into two groups, (a) one group will play active games such as soccer and tag, one hour per day, three days per week; and (b) the other group will recieve diet education. At the conclusion of her study she will determine if weight loss is different for the two groups. A very important note. She will weigh each child before and after the study, but she will only use one number “weight lost in pounds” to compare all of the children. Her research question is, “In obese school aged children is there a difference in weight loss for those who have increased activity through structured group play and those who receive diet education?” Which test should the researcher use to evaluate their data? Provide a brief rationale for your response.

Response/Rationale:

4. A researcher assesses cholesterol levels in 67 patients before and after they begin a new diet treatment program. The researcher wants to know “In patients who have high cholesterol levels, does a high protein, low carbohydrate diet result in a decrease in cholesterol level after six months?” Which test should the researcher use to evaluate their data? Provide a brief rationale for your response.

Response/Rationale:

5. A graduate nursing student notices that patients in her hospital who have a urinary tract infection after having a urinary catheter (a CAUTI) seem to be those who had the catheter started by a medical resident, and not by an RN. She sets up a retrospective study in which she we go back in the EMR for one calendar year and find all patients who had a urinary catheter while they were hospitalized. She will determine which provider started the catheter (her independent variable will be PROVIDER, having two conditions or groups: MD and RN.) Then she will further review the chart and note if the patient had a CAUTI or not (her dependent variable will be CAUTI, having two conditions, no CAUTI and CAUTI.) She will determine if the frequency of those having a CAUTI is different between these two providers. Her question is “Is there a difference in the frequency of CAUTI in patients who have a urinary catheter when the MD resident starts the urinary catheter as compared to when the RN starts the urinary catheter?” Which test should the researcher use to evaluate their data? Provide a brief rationale for your response.

Response/Rationale:

6. A researcher is interested in determining the effects of different types of drugs on problem solving. The researcher will randomly assign fifty participants each to one of these three groups: (a) one group will take a depressant, (b) a second group will take a stimulant, and (c) a third group will take a placebo (i.e., sugar pill). All of the participants will be given an hour to complete a set of simple arithmetic problems, which will be scored as a percentage score of correct responses. The researcher wants to know “In college students does the administration of depressants, stimulants, or a placebo affect problem solving skills?” Which test should the researcher use to evaluate their data? Provide a brief rationale for your response.

Response/Rationale: