LECTURE: METHODS OF RESEARCH (MABC 501)

WHAT IS RESEARCH?
A systematic inquiry that uses disciplined methods to answer questions or
solve problems; the ultimate goal is to develop, refine and expand a body of
knowledge (Polit & Beck, 2004)
Is the continuing discovery and exploration of the unknown (Sanchez, 2002)
The root meaning of research is to search again and again- a diligent,
systematic inquiry or investigation to validate and refine existing knowledge
and/ or generate new knowledge (Burns & Grove, 1997)
In nursing, is a systematic search for and validation of knowledge about
different issues important to the nursing profession / practice (Polit &
Hungler, 1999)

PURPOSES OF NURSING RESEARCH

1. Provides scientific basis for the practices and methodologies used in nursing care
management.
2. For the continuous development of and further productivity in health care.
3. Develops tools for assessing the effectiveness of nursing interventions
4. Provides solutions to problems concerning health maintenance, health delivery
and health care
5. Develops and evaluates alternative approaches to nursing education that enable
students to gain broader knowledge and specialized skills foe safe practice
6. The experience advances the personal and professional qualifications of a nurse
practitioner.

TYPES OF RESEARCH ACCORDING TO OBJECTIVE

TYPE
1. BASIC

2. EVALUATIVE

Aims to develop new theory or revise

existing theory; the outcomes may not
be realized within the foreseeable future
because formulation or revision of theory
requires reliable evidences developed
over the years
Scientific process of collecting and

3. ACTION

4. CREATIVE

5. APPLIED

analyzing information about the quality,

effectiveness and value educational/
nursing programs and practices to guide
decision making.
An inquiry process conducted to address
a felt need or solve everyday problem;
the purpose is not to contribute to
science but only to contribute to the
solution of a given problem in a given
setting.
The process of determining teachinglearning needs and consequently
developing products like instructional
materials, innovative teaching methods,
curriculum enhancement proposals, sets
of existing competencies for graduates
and management systems.
Aims to test theory to determine its
usefulness in a relevant situation

CLASSIFICATION OF RESEARCH BY METHOD (APPROACH)

A. QUANTITATIVE
o

Emphasis on objectivity in the

collection and analysis of
information
Example: Patients experiencing
discomfort due to fractured hip
Would deal with the level of
discomforts that these
patients were experiencing

B. QUALITATIVE
o Focus is on the subjective
meaning of an experience to an
individual

Viewed as hard science

emphasize deductive reasoning

and the measurable attributes of
human experience

Collects information under

conditions of control & uses
structured procedures and formal
instruments to collect information

Would deal with what it

means to be living with
fractured hips
Referred to as soft science

Attempts to understand the

phenomenon
No attempt to control the context
of the research but rather to
capture that context in its entirety
Collects information w/o formal,
structured instrument

Analyzes numeric information thru

statistical procedure

Analyzes narrative information in

an organized but intuitive fashion

BASIC RESEARCH TERMINOLOGIES

RESEARCHER/ INVESTIGATOR/ SCIENTIST person who undertakes
research
SUBJECTS/ STUDY PARTICIPANTS/ RESPONDENTS/ INFORMANTS/CORESEARCHERS people who are being studied ; those who answer questions/
questionnaire/ give data or information
VARIABLE characteristic or attribute of an individual or an organization that
can be measured or observed and that varies among the people or organization
being studied.
o

o
o
o

o
o

Continuous Variable variables that can take on a range of different

values because their values can be represented in a continuum
Ex. Height, weight
Categorical Variable variables that take only a few discreet values
which place individuals into categories
Ex. Pregnant/ not pregnant; male/ female; single/ married/
widow/ divorced
Attribute Variable variables are often inherent characteristics, such
as, age, blood type, health beliefs
Heterogeneity when an attribute is extremely varied in the group
under study
Homogeneity when members of the group are highly similar to one
another with respect that variable
Independent Variable the presumed cause of the study
Dependent or Criterion Variable the presumed effect
The terms independent and dependent variable are frequently
used to designate the direction of influence between variables
rather than cause and effect

Research Question
1. Does the type of wrapper
on gauze sponges affect the
incidence of strike-through
contamination?
2. What is the effect of two
alternative enteral feeding
schedules on overall
nutritional status of an animal
model?
3. Is tactile stimulation
associated with greater
physiologic and behavioral
arousal in infants with
congenital heart disease than
verbal stimulation?

Independent Variable
Type of wrapper
(coated v/s uncoated)

Dependent Variable
Bacterial contaminatio

Alternative enteral feeding

schedules

Nutritional status

Mode of stimulation

Physiological and beha

arousal

COMPONENTS OF PROPOSAL PAPER

(THESIS WRITING)
RESEARCH TITLE
The title :
o should summarize the main idea of the paper (draws in summary
form the content of the entire study)
o serves as a frame of reference for the whole study
o must include the major variable/s
o enables researcher to claim the title as his own
o helps other researchers to refer to the work for possible survey of
theory
Characteristics of a good title:
o Clear, specific and direct to the point so that the reader/s can
easily grasp the subject matter of the study
o Brief & concise- should contain the main concepts/ variables in
the study, the relationship among the variables & the target
population
o The general problem can serve as the thesis title
o Title must have 10-15 words
Sample Research Title:

1. Leadership Attributes and Executive Acculturation of Clinical

Instructors: Implications to Nursing Education (Abergas, 2006)
2. Leadership Capabilities of Firstline Managers and Organizational
Citizenship Behavior of Staff Nurses: Towards a Dynamic Leadership
Model (Canillas, 2012)
3. Fall Risk Assessment Tool in a Selected Hospital: Basis for
Enhancement (Reyes, 2013)
4. Acculturation of Filipino Nursesin the Middle East: Basis for Policy
Recommendation in Nursing Education (Vallesteros, 2013)
5. Nurses as Floaters: A Phenomenological Inquiry (Canero, 2015)
6. Risk Assessment of Emergency Response Time (Ileto, 2014)
7. Nursing Bridging Program for Midwives: Inputs to Curriculum
Development (Quemada,2012)
8. Competencies of Staff Nurses in A Selected Hospital in Digos City:
Basis for Staff Development Program (Corpuz, 2015)

SOURCES OF RESEARCH PROBLEMS

o Experiences of an individual, student nurse, staff nurse or an health
practitioner, nurse administrator/ manager is the riches source of
research problem
Example- a staff nurse taking care of terminal illness like renal failure,
cancer, etc
Any experience of a person which affects his personal life
Students level of competencies or results of nursing licensure
exams
o Any medical pattern or trend. Example an increase in hospital
admission & death rate in a community due to dengue or any other
infectious diseases
o Literature reviews and previous researches
Example- replication of previous studies done. Replication means the
repetition of a prior study in a different setting and time
o Interest of researcher
Example- interest/curiosity on the efficiency of e-documentation or
paperless recording

A discerned problem is said to be researchable when it meets the f

criteria:
1. solutions are available but not yet tested and unknown to the
practitioner
2. no solutions are available to fill the gap or the problem assessed
3.when answers, solutions as well as possible results that have been
given are seemingly not tested or are factually contradictory
4. a phenomenon exists and requires explanation
5. there are several possible and plausible explanations for the
existence of an undesirable condition
(Cristobal & Cristobal, Jr.,2009)
CONSIDERATIONS IN FORMULATING RESEARCH PROBLEM
A. External Criteria

B. Internal Criteria

1. Novelty

1. Experience/ qualifications

2. Availability of Subjects/ Participants

Interest/Intellectual Curiosity

2.Motivation/

3. Administrative support

3. Time factor

4. Availability of research locale & equipments 4. Costs & returns

5. Ethical considerations
handicaps

5.

Hazards,

penalties

CHAPTER 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
Purpose:

to introduce the problem, clarify important variables, identify

delimitations and present the significance of the study to the nursing
field.

Essential elements:
1. Introduction
2. Background of the Study

&

3. Statement of the Problem

4. Hypothesis
5. Scope and Limitations of the Study
6. Significance of the Study
7. Definition of Terms

INTRODUCTION/ BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The ff questions aid the researcher in formulating introduction and
background of the study:
1. What is the problem?
Describe the existing and prevailing problem situation based on
the experience
2. Why is it a problem? Or What is the rationale of the problem?
Discuss the reason/s why researcher has been persuaded to look
for solutions to the problem. A narration of the researchers
experience that led him to conduct the study.
3. What is the setting of the problem?
Define the geographic boundary of the study, include certain
demographic characteristics- describe the place where research
will be conducted (setting) which has a significant bearing on
the variables being studied.
4. How serious is the chosen research problem? Why is there a need for a
solution to the problem?

The researcher discusses the intensity and magnitude of the

problem. The researcher includes statistical or quantitative
evidence to support or assess the weight of the problem.
5. What is overall purpose of the study?
Discuss/ state the main problem of the study.

EXAMPLE 1. TITLE:

Mothers Caring Practices for Children with Acute Respiratory Tract Infection of a
Selected Village in West Java,Indonesia: Basis for Community Health Program
Introduction
Acute respiratory tract infections in most instances initially begins from a minor
symptom like colds which can progressed to serious illness. Acute respiratory tract
infections are caused by virus. This type of infections is a major cause of morbidity and
mortality worldwide. They are responsible for one in five deaths in children under the
age of five years (Harisson, 2009).
According to WHO (2009), acute respiratory tract infections continue to be the
leading cause of acute illnesses worldwide and remain the most important cause of
infants and young children mortality, accounting for about two million deaths each year
and the first rank among the causes of disability adjusted life years lost in developing
countries 94.6 million, 6.3% of total. The most risky populations of developing a fatal
respiratory disease are the very young, the elderly, and the immune compromised.
The incidents of acute respiratory tract infections in children are estimated to be
25% per child per year in industrialized countries. Most cases occur in India (43
millions), China (21 millions), Pakistan (10 millions), Indonesia and Nigeria (56 millions
each). Pneumonia is responsible for about 21% of all deaths in children, leading to
estimate that for every 1000 children born alive, 12-20 die from pneumonia before their
fifth birthday (WHO, 2012).
Background of the Study
The prevalence of acute respiratory tract infections especially among children in
Dayeuhkolot, Bandung Regency in the province of West Java, Indonesia is very high

due to poor sanitation caused by poor people living in the slums areas and in the nearby
industrial areas. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics in Bandung (2012), the
percentage of children suffering from acute respiratory tract infections in Bandung
Regency was 80.49%; Cangkuang Village, subdistrict,has recorded 75% of children
afflicted by various acute respiratory ailments.
Public health center data (2012) found out that Cangkuang Village had the
highest number of cases of children with acute respiratory tract infections. On the record
of the Ministry of Health in Indonesia (2012), children under five years old died due to
acute respiratory tract infections, and ranked as the third cause of death among infants
and under five year old children.
Based on the survey done (2013) in Bandung, Indonesia, the leading causes of
acute respiratory infections were poor environmental sanitation and poor hygienic
practices of mothers in the care of their children. The researcher, who is a community
health nurse instructor, is constantly exposed to this type of health problem in the
community she served. Hence, she is challenged to conduct a study to investigate the
mothers practices in caring for their children with acute respiratory tract infections in
Cangkuang Village, Bandung Regency, West Java, Indonesia. The results of the study
would be the basis in developing a community- based health program.

RESEARCH LOCALE
o Description of the research venue without mentioning the name of the
facility/ hospital/ school

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM (for quantitative design)

o
o

Statement of the general problem a statement of what the researcher aims

to discover or establish or what he proposes to investigate. Uses action words
such as determine, assess, discover, identify, explore, analyze, etc..
The general/ main problem is written in declarative/ statement form, this is
followed by enumeration of the subproblems/ specific problems.
Sub problems are: 1) written or stated as questions (interrogative); 2) must
define the population and the sample of the study (participants); 3) identify
the variables being studied and 4) must be empirical and testable

Example of general problem:

This study aims to investigate the mothers practices in caring for

their children with acute respiratory tract infections in Cangkuang Village,
Bandung Regency, West Java, Indonesia. The results of the study would be the
basis in developing a community- based health program.

Types of Research Questions

a. Factor isolating questions also called factor- naming questions;
questions isolate, categorize, describes or name factors and situation.
Example:
1. What is the demographic profile of the participants in terms of:
1.1. Age,
1.2. Monthly family income,
1.3. Educational Attainment, and
1.4. Number of family members?
2. What are the practices of the participants in

caring for their children with acute

respiratory tract infection with regards to:

2.1. Personal Hygiene,
2.2. Environmental Sanitation and
2.3. Treatment at home?

b. Factor-relating questions- goal is to determine the relationship

among factors that have been identified.
Example:

1. What is level of competency of level IV nursing students in

terms of the eleven core areas of competencies?
2. What is the extent of compliance of staff nurses in infection
control protocol of selected hospital?
c. Situation- relating questions these questions usually yield
hypothesis-testing or experimental study designs in which researcher
manipulates variables to see what will happen
Example:
1. Is there any significant relationship between each of demographic profile of the
participants and their caring practices?
2. Is there any significant differences in the assessment of deans and faculty of the
administrations practices regarding:
2.1. recruitment and selection,
2.2. retention,
2.3. supervision and
2.4. evaluation of faculty?

d. Situation-producing questions- these questions establish explicit goals

for nursing actions, develop plans or prescriptions to achieve goals.
Example:
1. Based on the result of the study, what community health program can be
develop?
2. Based on the findings of the study, what advocacy program can be proposed?

Research Objective ( for qualitative design)

Example:

The

study aims to explore and describe the experiences of the staff

nurses in a multicultural setting in a selected hospital in Riyadh, Kingdom of

Saudi Arabia

HYPOTHESIS
o
o

An intellectual guess; a statement of expectation

A tentative prediction about the relationship between 2 or more variables pertaining

o
o

population under study.

Translates a research question into a prediction of expected outcomes
Required in quantitative research that requires statistical comparisons- a statement of

differences or relationships
Two types:
1) Alternative (Ha) - positively stated.
Example: 1. There is significant relationship between teaching strategies and
student performance.
2. Women who exercise postpartum have lower weight retention than
women who do not.
2) Null (Ho) or statistical hypothesis expressed in negative statement, subjected to
testing in which decision is either to accept or reject it.
Example: 1. There is no significant relationship between the profile variables of
the participants and their level of competencies.
2. There is no significant differences between the ratings of the studentnurses themselves and their clinical instructors on the students level of
competencies.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

o

presents the scope and coverage of the study with regards to specific variables,
population/ participants (selection technique, no. of participants), research locale,

instrumentations, methodology
indicate what will be excluded and limit of the study

Example:

The main focus of the study was the determination of mothers practices in
caring for children with acute respiratory tract infections in Cangkuang village,

Bandung

Regency. The

mothers practices included

personal

hygiene,

environmental sanitation and home remedies to treat their childrens respiratory

ailments.
The participants in this study were 83 mothers of children with acute
respiratory tract infections and currently residing in Cangkuang Village, District
Dayeuhkolot - Bandung Regency, West Java, Indonesia. They were selected
using convenient sampling technique.
The instrument used to gather data was a validated survey questionnaire.
The questionnaires were administered to the participants on December 2013 to
January 2014. The data collected were subjected to statistical treatments using
descriptive statistics such as, frequency and percentage distribution, weighted
mean using a 5- point Likert scale and inferential statistics such as, pearson r
and chi square.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

o a statement of the value of the study and of possible applications of the results/
findings of the study
o serves to point out the rationale or reason for the study
o state how the output of the study will contribute (benefit) to the theory or practice
or both
Example:
Findings of the study may be beneficial to the following:
Nursing Administrator. Findings may shed realistic information to
provide ongoing activities congruent to multicultural nursing workforce,

Nursing Service. Results may be utilized in the integration of policies

and procedures that support and promote acceptance and respect of diverse
workforce.
Nursing Education: The information may provide valuable information to
nurse educators in integrating concepts of transcultural health and diversity
courses for undergraduate and graduate nursing education programs.
Registered nurses. The results of the study may provide insights for
foreign educated nurses with prospects of working in the Middle East, on the
different areas they need to prepare themselves like background knowledge of
the country they want to migrate or work, skills they need to acquire and the
values they uphold.
Patients/Clients: As patients and clients are the end-users of care, an
examination of the work dynamics in the multicultural setting, and how these can
be improved may benefit patients by receiving more optimal and culturally
sensitive care from a diverse work force.
Future Researchers. The study may create research space for exploring
the cultural competency of the multicultural nursing workforce. Also, the future
researchers may focus on the effects of multicultural nursing workforce to quality
patient care.

DEFINITION OF TERMS
o technical terms with words or phrases with special meanings should be defined
o focus on terminologies, on variables or concepts that are used in the study

o key words or terminologies are taken from the thesis title and from the statement
of the problems, and are arranged in alphabetical order.
o operational definition is required; if conceptual definition is used, cite the source/s
then formulate the operational definition
OPERATIONAL DEFINITION defining terms/ concepts/ variables as used in the
study. Use researchers own words to simply define the term/s for clarity and
better understanding of the study
Example:
1. Fatigue is a mood marked by weariness, inertia, listlessness or low
energy level as assessed by factor F on the Profile of Mood States scale
(Wright, 1991).
2. Normothermia is the core temperature of 98.4 oF as measured
rectally (Howell, et al, 1990).
3. Organizational Commitment refers to the strength of the feeling
of responsibility that a staff nurse has toward the mission of the
company he/ she works (Soria, 2012)
4. Mothers practices are the day-to-day activities of the mother in
caring for children with acute respiratory tract infection, which include
the following:
Personal Hygiene refers to the individual practices and
activities of mothers to promote and maintain the physical
cleanliness of their children such as hands/ nails, oral/ mouth,
hair, ears and skin.
Environmental Sanitation pertains to cleanliness of the
familys surroundings which includes ventilation, air pollution,
water management, waste management, industrial waste
management in the community
Treatment refers to the intervention or home remedies
performed by the mothers in caring for their children with acute
respiratory tract infections (Deasy, 2013)