Textbook of Nursing Research and Statistics, 3/Ed.

Nursing Research is the term used to describe the evidence to support nursing practice. Nursing has been developing since the time of Florence Nightingale to the present day, where many nurses now work as researchers based in universities as well as in the health care setting. Nurse education places emphasis upon the use of evidence from research in order to rationalize nursing interventions. Nursing research falls largely into two areas:

• Quantitative research is based in the paradigm of logical positivism and is focused upon outcomes for clients that are measurable, generally using statistics. The dominant research method is the randomized controlled trial.

• Qualitative research is based in the paradigm of phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography and others, and examines the experience of those receiving or delivering the nursing care, focusing, in particular, on the meaning that it holds for the individual. The research methods most commonly used are interviews, case studies, focus groups and ethnography.

The Nursing Research delivers dynamic content and enables the readers to personalize features that support your interests. The author has created collections to support teaching and research on (a) violence, injury and human safety, (b) health disparities, (c) qualitative studies, (d) methods, (e) nursing clinical trials, (f) adherence behavior and (g) HIV/AIDS. The purpose of this book is to provide information about Nursing Research that is not fully available elsewhere. This book provides a forum for reader communication. This book is designed to assist the students to acquire an understanding of the research methodology and statistical methods as a basis for identifying research problem, planning and implementing a research plan. It will further enable the students to evaluate research studies and utilize research findings to improve quality of nursing practice, education and management. This book defines basic research terms and concepts, presents review of literature utilizing various sources, describes research methodology, develops a research proposal, helps to conduct a research study, analyze and interpret the research data, communicate research findings, utilize research findings and critically evaluate nursing research studies. It throws light on Problem Solving and Scientific Method, Inductive and Deductive Reasoning, Research – definition, characteristics, purposes, kinds of research, Historical Evolution of Research in Nursing, Basic Research Terms, Scope of Nursing Research: areas, problems in nursing, health and social research, Role of Research in Nursing, Evidence based practice, Ethics in Research, Overview of Research Process. This book explains vividly about Phenomenology, Grounded Theory, Ethnography, Research Designs, its importance, characteristics of good design, Identification of research problem, Identification of variables, Hypothesis – definition, formulation and types, Population and Sample, Factors Influencing Sampling, Sampling Techniques, Sample Size, Probability and Sampling Error, Problems of Sampling, Tools and Methods of Data Collection. Another feature of this book is that it explains the basic concepts related to Statistics: Describes the Scope of Statistics in Health and Nursing, helps to draw conclusions of the study and predict statistical significance of the results. It describes Vital Health Statistics and their use in health related research and states about the use of statistical packages for data analysis. The second part of this book deals with the following topics: Probability, characteristics and application of Normal Probability Curve; Sampling Error, Cumulative Distribution, Cumulative Frequency Graph, Percentiles and Percentile Ranks, Cumulative Percentage Curve or Ogive, Correlation – need and meaning, Likert Scale, Nominal Scale, Ratio Scale, Rank Order Correlation, Scatter Diagram Method, Product Moment Correlation, Mode and Median, Simple Linear Regression, Analysis and Prediction, Experimental Designs, Comparison in Pairs, Randomized Block Design, Latin Squares, Testing of Hypothesis, Null Hypothesis, Chi-square Test, ‘t’ Test, F-test, ANOVA, MANOVA, ANCOVA, etc., are precisely defined and explained, Application of Statistics in Health with the help of Ratios, Rates, Trends, Vital Health Statistics – Birth and Death Rates, Measures related to Fertility, Morbidity and Mortality and Use of Computers for Data Analysis.