A study, two types of definitions are required: conceptual and operational definitions.

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Piers Shields
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1 Research in Nursing Dr.Wafa A.K.Abbas Defining Variables A study, two types of definitions are required: conceptual and operational definitions. The conceptual definition is the broad, abstract meaning of a variable (concept). This definition is derived from the theorist's definition of a concept or is developed by the researcher. Conceptual definitions of variables provide the basis for formulating operational definitions. An example of a conceptual definition of "Health care activities," is: Health care activities included participation in a regular exercise program or being a nonsmoker. An operational definition is a way of defining a variable to make it measurable in the real world. An operational definition is developed so that a variable can be measured in a concrete situation and the knowledge gained from studying the variable will increase the understanding of the theoretical concept that variable represents. An example of an operational definition of "Health care activities," is: Health Care Activity Scales. Relationships among the Variables A relationship among or between variables refers to the association of the variables. (The word 'among' is used when speaking of more than two variables, the word 'between' is used when speaking of only two variables.) A relationship means that when one variable moves in a certain direction -positive or negative -the other variable moves in a

2 certain direction. These relationships are often are stated in such terms as 'greater than' or 'less than.' Or the direction of the relationship of the variables may not be known and it would be stated in such terms as 'there is a difference.' An example of a relationship between variables which has a direction is: Patients who receive reconditioning have less bladder dysfunction after indwelling catheter removal than patients who receive no conditioning. An example of a relationship between variables which does not have a direction is: There is a difference in bladder dysfunction after indwelling catheter removal in patients who receive reconditioning and patients who receive no conditioning. The way the relationship is stated depends on the knowledge available which would allow the researcher to make a prediction that the outcome would be one way or another. Population to be Studied Population is the total group that meets the criteria for a study. A population may be people, objects or events. The population in the examples above is: all patients who have indwelling catheters removed. Setting of the Study The setting of the study is the place that the subjects will be found, For example, an outpatient clinic, a large hospital, or the community.

3 Development of Sub problems: In Class Project -Small Group Work Directions: Using your own nursing knowledge and the Types of Research Sub problems and the Components of a Sub problem, formulate a research objective, a question and a hypothesis for each of the research purposes listed below. RESEARCH PURPOSES: 1. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the prematurity of an infant and the pre-natal care received by the mother. 2. This study sought to determine if the nutritional status of children was related to their age and sex. 3. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of preoperative exercises on postoperative ambulation in patients having abdominal surgery TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGNS The choice of an overall research design is one of the major decisions that must be made in conducting a research study. There are many designs that can be chosen and the researcher must use good judgment in selecting the best one. Experimental Designs

4 The strength of the true experiment over other methods lies in the fact that the experimenter can achieve greater confidence in the token fineness and interpretability of relationships because they are observed under carefully controlled conditions. The controlled experiment is considered by many to be the ideal of science. Except for purely descriptive research, the aim of scientific research is to understand the nature of relationships among phenomena called Variables in the research study). For example, does a certain drug cause the cure of a certain disease? Or, do certain nursing techniques produce a decrease in Patient anxiety? Characteristics of Experimental Designs A true experiment is a scientific investigation characterized >y rhefollowing three properties: manipulation the experimenter does something to at least some of the subjects in the study control the experimenter introduces one or more controls over the experimental situation, including the use of a control group randomization the experimenter assigns subjects to a control or experimental group on a random basis

5 Manipulation Manipulation involves doing something to at least one group of subjects. The introduction of that "something" (often referred to as the experimental treatment or experimental intervention) constitutes the independent variable. The experimenter manipulates the independent variable by administering a treatment to some subjects and withholding it from others (or by administering some other treatment, such as a placebo). The experimenter, in other words, consciously varies the independent variable and observes the effect that the manipulation has on the dependent variable of interest. For example, let us say we have hypothesized what the color for pediatric nurse's uniform affects the degree to which children display positive effective behaviors such as smiling and laughing during hospitalization. The independent r presumed causative variable in this example is uniform color, which could be manipulated by assigning some nurses white uniforms (for instance) and the nurses brightly colored uniforms, thus, in his study eight compare, 4 hours after hospitalization, the affective behaviors (the dependent variables) of two groups of children; 1) those are do white-uniformed nurses and (2) those cared for by nurses in colored uniforms. Control Control in an experimental study actually summarizes all of the major experimental activities: control is acquired by manipulating,

6 randomizing, carefully preparing the experimental protocols, and by using a control group. The term control group refers to a group of subjects whose performance on a dependent variable is used as a basis for evaluating the performance of the experimental group (the group that receives the treatment of interest to the researcher) on the same dependent variable. In some research, the experimenter administers the treatment of interest experimental group while the control group receives no treatment at all and is merely observed with respect to behavior on the dependent variable. This kind of situation probably is not possible for many nursing research rejects because t ay e impossible o isolate a control group and do nothing to those subjects For example, if we wanted to evaluate the effectiveness of some nursing intervention on hospital patients, it would be unlikely that we would devise an experiment in which the control group of patients received no nursing care at all. We would have to evaluate our new intervention not against the total absence of care but, rather, against a control group receiving conventional methods of care. Randomization Randomization involves the assignment of subjects to groups on a random basis. "Random" essentially means that every subject has an equal chance of being assigned to any group. If subjects are placed in groups randomly, there is no systematic bias in the groups in the expects of attributes that may affect the dependent variable under investigation.

7 Randomization is the preferred scientific method for equalizing groups; however, there is no guarantee that they will be equal. In an extreme example; subjects who are quite alike may end up in one of the groups and no subjects like them in the other group. Despite this possibility, randomization remains the most trust worthy and acceptable method of equalizing groups.

Key Concepts. Jie Hu, PhD., RN, FAAN

Key Concepts. Jie Hu, PhD., RN, FAAN Key Concepts Jie Hu, PhD., RN, FAAN Quantitative Research: A formal, objective, systematic process in which numerical data are used to obtain information about the world. Qualitative Research: A systematic,