Theory and Research Assignment

Goals
After completing this module, you will be able to do the following:
Utilize data management software to manage quantitative data.
Differentiate among the various types of quantitative data analysis methods
Select the appropriate inferential or non-inferential analysis method, given a data set
Recommend strategies for cleaning and coding data, as well as dealing with missing data
Create graphs and charts to visually display descriptive data
Differentiate among the various methods of qualitative data analysis methods
Compare and contrast structured and unstructured qualitative data analysis methods.
Overview
This module focuses on the analysis and interpretation phase of research. We begin with data
management strategies and software. Then we explore quantitative data and inferential analysis.
Topics covered include processing data, analysis of variance, and data cleaning. Missing data,
regression analysis, and structured and semi-structured analysis are also covered.
Data management is an interim step between data collection and data analysis. Proactive data
management can help you detect potential problems when they can still be corrected. It also
allows for the preliminary analyses that are often required, either for reports or for data and
safety monitoring. Beginning researchers are likely to need guidance from expert researchers,
software tech support, tutorials, and manuals as well as their consultant statistician when setting
up all but the simplest databases, but these tasks become much easier with practice.
The basic data cleanup, replacement of missing data, visual representations, descriptive
statistics, and bivariate association statistics described in this chapter are useful in the analysis
of virtually every nursing research study. For some studies, the analysis is complete after
accomplishing these basic steps. For other, more complex studies, it is necessary to continue
with the more advanced analytic techniques such as inferential analysis. Whether the analysis is
basic or advanced, you will want to have a good statistics textbook, a guide to whatever
statistical analysis software you are using, and guidance from an expert researcher and/or
statistician to help you complete your quantitative data analysis correctly.
The most structured approach to the analysis of qualitative data uses coding and quantifying of the qualitative data. Content analysis is a specific case of the quantification of qualitative data. At
the other end of the continuum are three of the great traditions in qualitative research:
ethnography, grounded theory, and phenomenological analysis. In between lie a variety of coding
and thematizing analyses that operate within a semi-structured and unstructured framework.
Each of these reflects a very different tradition, which needs to be kept in mind as you match
your data to the appropriate analytic framework. Data collection and data analysis may occur
virtually simultaneously in the most unstructured of these approaches, while the more structured
analyses are done after the data has been collected and processed.
Assignment:
Locate a nursing study that examines the effects of an intervention. Provide a summary of the
study, focusing primarily on the intervention. Was the development and implementation of the
intervention described in detail? Based on a theoretical framework? Did the design of the study
promote investigation of the effects of the study—for example, was there comparison of
experimental and control groups? Were there variables that could have impacted the findings
that were not part of the intervention? Was there evidence of efforts to monitor the safety of
participants? Are there any ways that the study could have been improved?
Locate a nursing study that utilizes some aspect of the internet (for instance, for recruitment,
delivery of an intervention, or completing online assessments. What challenges did the
researchers face, and how were these challenges overcome (or not)? How could future research
efforts be improved?
Using your computer’s office tools, develop a pie, bar, or plot chart to represent the following population estimates:
Population Percentage
European American 20
African American 30
Native American 20
Hispanic American 30
The assignment should be between 1500 and 2000 words in length and contain at least two
scholarly sources