NURS 305 Study Guide - Final Guide: Secondary Source, Imrad, Jargon
Document Summary
Chapter 3: key concepts and steps in qualitative and quantitative research. Construct = a more complex abstraction than a concepts/phenomenon. Theory = in a quantitative study, researchers start with a theory and do deductive reasoning until they have a prediction. In qualitative study, the theory is the product of research. Can be a human characteristic or something that a researcher creates for the purpose of the study. Can be cause/effect or just direction of influence. Operational definition: what the researchers specifically must do to measure the concept and collect needed information. Causal relationship (cause-and-effect): all things being equal, one thing causes another. Experimental research: researchers introduce a treatment/intervention: answers questions about therapy, also called clinical trials, designed to test causal relationships. Non-experimental research: researchers collect data without introducing changes: answers questions about etiology, prognosis, or diagnosis, also called observational studies. Qualitative descriptive research: the majority of qualitative research. 5 major steps in a quantitative study: conceptual phase.
