Table
of Contents
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Preface |
vii |
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Chapter 1 |
How to Write a Researchable Question |
1 |
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Research Topics |
3 |
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What is a Researchable Question? |
5 |
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Asking Research Questions |
7 |
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Examining Components of a Research Question |
10 |
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Be Interested in Your Idea |
21 |
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Bibliography |
23 |
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Chapter 2 |
From Question to Problem |
25 |
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Finding the Level of Knowledge About a Topic |
26 |
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How to Search the Literature on Your Topic |
32 |
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Level of Theory and Level of Question |
34 |
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Developing the Research Problem from the Literature Review |
36 |
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Beginning with an Observation |
41 |
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Bibliography |
47 |
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Chapter 3 |
The Full and Final Research Problem |
49 |
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Elements of a Research Problem |
50 |
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The Psychology of Argument |
55 |
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Strongest Argument Last |
57 |
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Substantiate What You Say |
58 |
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Bibliography |
60 |
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Chapter 4 |
Critical Review of the Literature |
63 |
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Content of a Critique |
66 |
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What to Critique |
66 |
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How to do a Critique |
67 |
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Guidelines for Critique of Published Research |
75 |
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Where does the Critique Belong? |
76 |
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Bibliography |
77 |
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Chapter 5 |
Stating the Purpose of the Study |
79 |
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Level I: The Purpose Written as a Declarative Statement |
80 |
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Level II: The Purpose Written as a Question |
82 |
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Level III: The Purpose Written as a Hypothesis |
85 |
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Examining the Components of a Hypothesis |
90 |
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The Significance of the Statement of Purpose |
91 |
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Stating the Purpose of the Study: A Summary |
91 |
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Bibliography |
93 |
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Chapter 6 |
Defining Your Terms |
95 |
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Types of Variables |
100 |
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Defining the Independent Variable |
101 |
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How Variables are Measured |
103 |
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Terms that Need Definition |
110 |
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Writing Operational Definitions: A Review |
110 |
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Bibliography |
112 |
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Chapter 7 |
The Research Design: Blueprint for Action |
113 |
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Designing Your Study from the Question |
115 |
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Characteristics of Research Designs |
116 |
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Issues of Control |
120 |
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Descriptive Designs |
121 |
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Experimental Designs |
131 |
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Controlling Unwanted Influences |
137 |
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Level of Study and Degree of Control |
145 |
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Bibliography |
147 |
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Selecting the Sample |
151 |
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Types of Samples |
155 |
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Sample Size |
164 |
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Level of Study and Sample Selection |
166 |
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Bibliography |
169 |
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Chapter 9 |
Selecting a Method to Answer the Question |
171 |
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Observation |
173 |
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Questionnaires and Interviews |
181 |
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Available Data |
192 |
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Physiological Measures |
194 |
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Bibliography |
195 |
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Chapter 10 |
Reliability and Validity of Measurement |
197 |
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Errors in Data Collection Procedures |
198 |
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Validity |
203 |
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Reliability |
209 |
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Reliability and Validity Issues in Field Research Using
Participant Observation |
215 |
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Reliability and Validity in the Research Plan |
219 |
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Self-Test |
220 |
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Bibliography |
222 |
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Chapter 11 |
Ethics in Nursing Research |
225 |
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Problems Involving Ethics |
228 |
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Informed Consent |
233 |
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Balancing Potential Benefit Against Actual Cost |
235 |
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Maintaining Anonymity and Confidentiality |
237 |
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Federal Guidelines on the Submission of Proposals for Review |
238 |
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Ethical Principles Underlying Protection of Human Subjects |
240 |
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Bibliography |
243 |
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Chapter 12 |
Planning for Analysis of Data |
247 |
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Descriptive Analysis |
248 |
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Inferential Analysis |
261 |
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Choosing a Statistical Test: What does Your Hypothesis Ask? |
264 |
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The Answer is in the Question |
268 |
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Bibliography |
272 |
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Chapter 13 |
Writing the Research Proposal |
275 |
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The Introductory Section: Research Problem |
277 |
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Form of the Final Research Problem |
278 |
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Statement of the Purpose of the Study |
286 |
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Definition of Terms |
286 |
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The Research Design |
287 |
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The Sample |
288 |
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Methods and Instruments |
291 |
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Reliability and Validity |
291 |
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Data Analysis |
292 |
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Ethics |
293 |
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In Summary |
294 |
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Variations in the Proposed Format |
294 |
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The Finished Proposal |
297 |
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Bibliography |
299 |
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Appendix A |
Appendix Contents: Sample Research Proposals |
301 |
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Appendix B |
The Experience of Nurse-Midwives in Ghana with the Use of the WHO Partograph |
303 |
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Appendix C |
The Incidence of Acute Stress Disorder Among Parents of Premature
Infants Admitted into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit |
329 |
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Appendix D |
Nausea and Vomiting Following Posterior Fossa
Surgery: Determination of Incidence, Risk, and Protective Factors in Children |
375 |
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Appendix E |
The Impact of Older Maternal Age at First Birth on the Risk of
Spontaneous Preterm Birth in Northern and Central Alberta |
409 |
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Appendix F |
Maintaining Catheter Patency Using
Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen Activator |
453 |
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Appendix G |
Standardized Telephone Triage Practice: Impact of Protocol
Implementation on Reported Job Stress and Satisfaction by Nurses in a
Pediatric Oncology Outpatient Setting |
477 |
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Index |
503 |
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