Reaserch Question vs Hypothsis

Mosby items and derived items © 2006, 2002 by Mosby, Inc. Slide 1

DEVELOPING RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND

HYPOTHESESChapter 3


Learning Outcomes

• Describe how the research question and hypothesis relate to the other components of the research process.

• Describe the process of identifying and refining a research question.• Identify the criteria for determining the significance of a research

question.• Discuss the purpose of developing a clinical question.• Identify the characteristics of research questions and hypotheses.• Discuss the appropriate use of the purpose, aim, or objective of a

research study.• Discuss how the purpose, research question, and hypothesis

suggest the level of evidence to be obtained from the findings of a research study.


Learning Outcomes (cont’d)

• Describe the advantages and disadvantages of directional and nondirectional hypotheses.

• Compare and contrast the use of statistical vs. research hypotheses.

• Discuss the appropriate use of research questions vs. hypotheses in a research study.

• Discuss the differences between a research question and a clinical question in relation to evidence-based practice.

• Identify the criteria used for critiquing a research question and hypothesis.

• Apply the critiquing criteria to the evaluation of a research question and hypothesis in a research report.


Research Question

• A concise, interrogative statement written in the present tense and including one or more variables/concepts

• Research questions focus on:– Describing variables– Specifying the population being studied– Examining testable relationships among

variables


Research Questions

Research questions should:

• Define specific question area

• Reflect a review of the literature

• Identify the potential significance to nursing

• Reflect the feasibility of studying the research question


Variables

• A variable is an attribute or property in which organisms vary (people, events, objects).


Variables—The X Factor

• Independent variable (IV)—the variable that has the presumed effect on the dependent variable (DV)– It is manipulated or not manipulated


Variables—The Y Factor

• Dependent variable (DV)—the presumed effect that varies with a change in the independent variable (IV)– Not manipulated


Variables—X and Y

• Is X related to Y?

• What is the effect of X on Y?

• How are X and X2 related to Y?


Definitions

• Conceptual definitions

• Operational definitions


Research Question Examples

• Do self-management educational interventions improve lung function and decrease morbidity and health care use in children and adolescents with asthma? (Cochrane Database Systematic Review, 2003)

• How do women with ovarian cancer experience cancer recurrence? (Howell, Fitch, & Deane, 2003)


Research Question Examples (cont’d)

• Do patients with head and neck cancer who perceive active involvement in treatment decision making have less uncertainty about the future and a better quality of life? (Suzuki, 2005)


Developing a Research Question: A Consumer Perspective

• Search for information from practice is converted into focused clinical questions.

• Used as a basis for searching the literature to identify supporting evidence from research.

• Significance of the question becomes apparent as the literature is critiqued.


Framing a Clinical Question:

Three Key Elements:

1. The situation (patient, patient population)

2. The intervention

3. The outcome (effect of treatment/ intervention): Does it make a difference?


Clinical Question

Does the use of pain diaries in the palliative care of patients with cancer lead to improved pain control?

1. The situation (cancer patients receiving palliative care)

2. The intervention (pain diaries)3. The quality and cost-effectiveness outcome

(decreased pain perception/low cost)


Study Purpose

• Aim or goal the researcher hopes to achieve

• Suggests the type of design to be used• Implies the level of evidence to be

obtained (discover, explore, or describe vs. compare, test the effectiveness of…)


Purpose Statement Examples

• The purpose of this study was to examine outcomes of the existing brief psychiatric treatment program. (Tucker, Moore, and Luedtke, 2000)

• The aim of this study was to describe the scientific basis of the Polydipsia Screening Tool and evaluate its scientific properties. (Reynold, Schmid & Broome, 2004)

• The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of therapeutic back massage (TBM) to reduce stress in spouses of patients with cancer. (Goodfellow, 2003)


Purpose Statement Examples (cont’d)

• The purpose of this study was to determine whether providing individualized information to men who were newly diagnosed with prostate cancer and their partners would lower their levels of psychological distress and enable them to be more actively involved in treatment decision making. (Davison et al., 2003)

• The purpose of this study was to evaluate the 2-year postbirth infant health and maternal outcomes of an early intervention program (EIP) of home visitation by public health nurses (PHNs). (Koniak-Griffin, Verzemnieks, Anderson, Brecht, Lesser, Kim, & Turner-Pluta, 2003)


Hypothesis

• Formal statement of the expected relationship(s) between two or more variables in a specified population that suggests an answer to the research question. Statement that predicts the outcomes of a study


Wording the Hypothesis

• Variables to be tested

• Population to be studied

• Design to be used

• Outcomes predicted


Hypothesis

• Causal: Cause and effect vs. associative

• Simple: Relationship between 2 variables

• Complex: Relationship between 3 or more variables


Hypothesis

• Directional: States which way the relationship should exist

• Nondirectional: States the relationship exists, but not the direction

• Null (Ho): Statistical hypothesis

• Research: Alternative hypothesis (H1 or Ha)


Feasibility

• Time

• Money

• Expertise

• Access to subjects

• Facilities and equipment

• Is it ethical?


Hypothesis Examples

1. There will be a difference in fatigue between two groups of caregivers of preterm infants (i.e., on vs. not on apnea monitors) during three time periods (i.e., prior to discharge, 1 week post-discharge, and 1 month post-discharge).

2. There will be a significant difference in menopausal hot flashes between conditions of fasting and experimentally sustained (130-140 mg/dl) blood glucose concentrations.

3. There will be a positive relationship between phase-specific telephone counseling and emotional adjustment in women with breast cancer and their partners.


Hypothesis Examples (cont’d)

4. There will be a greater decrease in stated anxiety scores for patients receiving structured informational videos prior to abdominal or chest tube removal than for patients receiving standard information.

5. The incidence and degree of severity of subject discomfort will be less after administration of medications by the Z-track intramuscular injection technique than after administration of medications by the standard intramuscular injection technique.

6. Therapeutic back massage (TBM) will reduce the effects of stress experienced by spouses of patients with cancer as measured by a positive change in mood, a decrease in perceived stress, heart rate, and blood pressure at two post-intervention time points compared to a control group of spouses of patients with cancer.


Critical Thinking Decision Path: Determining the Type of Hypothesis or

Readiness for Hypothesis Testing

Reaserch Question vs Hypothsis

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