Chapter 4

Research Problems, Research Questions, and Hypotheses

TEST QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR EVALUATING STUDENT LEARNING

A. Multiple Choice

1. What term is used to identify the predicted relationship between variables associated with a quantitative research study?

a. Purpose

b.Argument

c.Hypothesis

d. Significance

2. What is purpose of a problem statement?

a.To identify the aim of the research study

b. To achieve the cooperation of the participants

c. To confirm the feasibility of the stated research problem

d.To state the predicted relationship between the identified variables

3. Which term describes a hypothesis that serves to predict only the existence of a relationship between research variables?

a. Null

b.Inductive

c.Complex

d.Nondirectional

4. Which statement best describes the effect of a statistical analysis on the probability of a hypothesis being correct?

a. The goal of astatistical analysis is to prove that the hypothesis is true.

b.Only the probability of a null hypothesis can be evaluated by a statistical analysis.

c.A statistical analysis results in a tentative conclusion regarding the acceptance of the hypothesis.

d. A statistical analysis is not designed to provide evidence regarding the degree of probability of a hypothesis.

5. Which question has relevance when critiquing a research article?

a. Are the hypotheses clearly stated?

b.Has the hypothesis been proved or disproved?

c. Is the research quantitative or qualitative in mature?

d. Does the research problem have significance to professional nursing?

B. True/False

1. Clinical experiences are a common source of ideas for nursing research problems.

2. A key criteria when assessing a research problem is its clinical importance.

3.Ethical considerations are assessed when considering the feasibility of a research problem.

4. A research problem presents either a confusing or puzzling situation that can be addressed through the research process.

5. The statement of purpose summarizes the overall goal of a research study.

C. Application Questions

1.Below is a summary of some aspects of a nursing study. Read the summary and then answer the questions that follow:

Montanari was interested in studying the notes made by various members of the health care team on patients’ electronic health recordsin terms of their communication potential and use by various hospital personnel. He began his project with some general questions, such as, Are the nurses’ entries on patients’ electronic health records used by other staff? Who is most likely to read nurses’ entries? Do particular types of entries encourage utilization? Montanari proceeded to reflect on his own experiences and observations relative to these issues and reviewed the literature to find whether other researchers had studied these problems. Based on hisliterature review and reflections, Montanari developed the following hypotheses:

1.Nursing notes on patients’ electronic health records are referred to infrequently by hospital personnel.

2.Physicians refer to nursing notes on the patients’ electronic health records less frequently than other hospital staff.

3.The frequency with which hospital staff refers to nursing notes is related to the amount of experience of the nurses making the notes.

4.Nursing notes are more likely to be referred to by hospital staff if the patient has been hospitalized for more than 5 days than if the patient has been hospitalized for 5 days or fewer.

Short-Answer Questions

a.Does this summary state the research problem?

b.Does this summary present a statement of purpose? If there is a statement of purpose, what verb communicates the researcher’s intent?

c.Does the summary suggest a qualitative or a quantitative study?

d.Are all of the hypotheses testable as stated—if not, which one(s) could not be tested?

e.Which of the hypotheses (if any) are null?

f.Which of the hypotheses (if any) are directional?

g.What are the independent and dependent variables in hypothesis 4?

h.Do any of the hypotheses have the same independent variables?

i.Do any of the hypotheses have the same dependent variable?

Essay Questions

a.Write a problem statement for this study (even if what you say is hypothetical, rather than being based on what might be found in the literature).

b.Redo the hypotheses for this study and either improve on them or expand on them (or both).

2.Below is a summary of aspects of a nursing study. Read the summary and then answer the questions that follow:

Zilbermann, herself an asthmatic, noticed that when she experienced dyspnea she had a tendency to stop moving. A preliminary search of the literature on dyspnea suggested that there was relatively little research on how people with a chronic pulmonary disease react to and cope with the sensation of dyspnea. She conducted a study guided by a very general question—how is dyspnea experienced by people with a chronic pulmonary disease? As she began to discuss this issue with study participants, Zilbermann noticed that people with the three most common types of pulmonary disease—asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis—had developed somewhat different strategies for coping with dyspnea. On the basis of her in-depth interviews (and her observations of several study participants experiencing dyspnea), her final research questions evolved into the following:

What are the coping strategies used by patients with different chronic pulmonary diseases to deal with dyspnea?

What aspects of the dyspnea experience trigger different coping mechanisms?

What are the patterns of coping mechanism used by patients (i.e., what strategies are used in what order)?

Short-Answer Questions

a.Does this summary state the research problem?

b.Does this summary present a statement of purpose?

c.If there is a statement of purpose, what verb communicates the researcher’s intent?

d.Do the research questions/statement of purpose suggest a qualitative or a quantitative study?

e.Did the researcher test any hypotheses?

Essay Questions

a.Using the same general problem, write a research question that could be addressed in a phenomenologic study and in a grounded theory study.

b.Comment on how Zilbermann moved from general questions to the specific research questions about which data were collected.