THE RESEARCH PROCESS IN NURSING AND MIDWIFERY

THE RESEARCH PROCESS IN NURSING AND MIDWIFERY

1. College of Education
School of Continuing and Distance Education
2014/2015 –2016/2017
NURS 345
NURSING RESEARCH
Session 3 –THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Lecturer: Dr. Florence Naab, University of Ghana School of Nursing
Contact Information: [email protected]

2. Session Overview
•Research as a process is made up of cyclical steps. These steps
are described as cyclical because the researcher makes many
back and forth decisions about the process. In this session,
students will learn about the various steps involved in the
research process. The objectives of this session are to:
1.Describe the research process
2.Explain the phases and steps involved in the process
Slide 2

3. Session Outline
The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows:
•Topic one: Overview of the research process
•Topic two: Phases/Steps of the research process
Slide 3

4. Reading List
Nieswiadomy, R.M (2008). Foundations of Nursing Research.
5th Ed. Pearson Education, USA.
Slide 4

5. OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH
PROCESS
Topic One
Slide 5

6. What is the research process?
Slide 6

7. The Research Process
•The figure on the previous slide shows that the research
process involves cyclical steps.
•The research process is a step by step decision making
process to consider different alternatives and decide what
methods will answer the research questions appropriately.
•The process may be described as circular because
researchers go back and forth to re-think about the
research problem.
Slide 7

8. Phases in the Research process
•There are five main phases of the research process
1.Selecting and defining the problem/identify the
research area. This includes literature review.
2.Selecting a research design
3.Methods
4.Analyzing data
5.Interpretation/dissemination
Slide 8

9. Selecting and defining the research
area
•Select and define an area of research that advances
nursing knowledge e.g
–Health promotion
–Nursing education
–Human care
–Infertility
–Depression
Slide 9

10. Selecting and defining the problem
cont.
•When trying to decide whether a topic is appropriate for
a scientific investigation, many factors should be
considered
•Factors involved include:
–Ethical issues
–Significance of the problem to nursing
–Personal motivation of the researcher
–Qualification of the researcher
–Feasibility of the study
•NOTE: Each of the above points will be elaborated in the
subsequent slights
Slide 10

11. Ethical issues
•It is the responsibility of every researcher to ensure that
the research is ethically appropriate.
•The researcher must be familiar with the ethical
guidelines of professional organizations and the
institution where the research is to be conducted.
•The human rights of the participants must be protected.
•Every research participant has the right to:
–Be free from harm
–Privacy and dignity
–Anonymity and confidentiality
Slide 11

12. Significance of the research problem
to nursing
•Every nursing study must be significant to nursing.
•Ask yourself the following questions and if the
answer to any of them is yes, then your study is
significant to nursing.
–Will clients or the nursing profession benefit from the
findings of the study?
–Will the body of nursing knowledge be increased as a
result of this study?
–Can the results be used by nurses?
Slide 12

13. Personal motivation
•Without personal
interest, the research
process will be tedious
and the study may never
be completed.
•Therefore, personal
curiosity to know is
important.
•If you are not as excited
as the guy in the picture
on your right, then you
may never complete your
study
Slide 13

14. Researcher qualification
•Not every nurse is qualified to do research. Research
skills must be developed through higher education.
•The nurse researcher must understand the research
process and the steps involved.
•More importantly, the nurse researcher must be
abreast with the ethical considerations involved in
every research.
Slide 14

15. Assessing feasibility of the study
•The researcher needs to
be sure that the study
can be carried out
successfully.
•Feasibility is assessed
through the following
factors.
•Factors involved in
feasibility are;
–Time
–Cost
–Equipment and supplies
–Administrative support
–Peer support
–Availability of subjects
Slide 15

16. Assessing feasibility-Time
•How long will the
research take?
•Projects that are time
bound influences the
design to be chosen.
•Time is always an
important factor to
consider.
•If possible, it is wise to
allow more time in any
research.
Slide 16

17. Assessing feasibility-cost
•How much money is
involved in the project?
•The researcher must
realistically consider the
financial resources
available.
•Seeking funding is not
an easy task and should
be considered.
•Research involves
money.
Slide 17

18. Assessing feasibility -Equipment
•Refers to the availability
of accurate instruments
to measure the variables
involved.
•If instruments are
available, are they
culturally appropriate for
the chosen sample?
•Appropriate decisions
about the instruments
should be made before
the research starts.
Slide 18

19. Assessing feasibility-equipment cont.
Do you have any of the following to facilitate your
research?
–Computers
–Printer/ink
–Paper
–Software for analysis
Slide 19

20. Assessing feasibility-Administrative
support
•Do you have the
support of your
institution in this
research?
•Knowing that your
superiors support your
research efforts is a
very powerful
motivating force.
•Support is powerful
Slide 20

21. Assessing feasibility-peer support
•Ideas from peers are
complementary.
•Research problems are
best identified through
discussions with peers.
•Peer support is
especially important for
novice researchers.
•Involve peers
Slide 21

22. Assessing feasibility-Subject
availability
•Think about the
availability of the
population you want to
study.
•Also think about the
inclusion criteria for the
research.
•How easy or difficult
will it be for you to
recruit subjects for your
study?
Slide 22

23. Where do nursing research problems
come from?
Slide 23

24. Sources of nursing research problems
•Research problems are derived from:
–Personal experiences
–Literature sources
–Existing theories
–Previous research
Slide 24

25. STEPS IN THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Topic Two
Slide 25

26. Steps in the research process
•Each of the five phases discussed earlier has steps.
These steps will be elaborated in subsequent slides
Slide 26

27. Phase 1: How do you identify the
problem?
•Steps involved,
–Review related literature
–Identify pertinent variables
–Formulate research questions and hypotheses
Slide 27

28. Phase 2: Selecting a research design
•Steps involved:
–The researcher designs the study and plans the methods of
subject selection, testing, and measurement.
–Choice of the design is based on how the research problem
is conceptualized.
–Identify the sample and setting
–Define all measurements
•Questionnaire
•Interview
•Observation
•A combination of all
Slide 28

29. Phase 3: Methods
•The researcher
implements the plans
designed in phase 1 and
2
•Step involved:
–data collection, which is
the most time
consuming part
–Organizing the data for
analysis
Slide 29

30. Phase 4: Data analysis
•Involves analyzing,
interpreting and making
valid conclusions about
the data.
•Statistical procedures
are used to quantify the
data meaningfully.
•The tested hypothesis
will either be supported
or not.
Steps involved,
–Hypotheses testing
–Interpretation of findings
Slide 30

31. Phase 5: Dissemination of research
Steps involved,
•The findings are interpreted and conclusions are
drawn.
•Dissemination involves sharing research findings
through:
–Journal articles
–Abstracts
–Oral presentations
–Poster presentations
Slide 31

32. Summary and Conclusion
In this session, we have discussed the research process,
the phases and steps involved in the process. In the
next session, we will discuss the background and
problem statement.
Slide 32

33. References
Nieswiadomy, R.M (2008). Foundations of Nursing Research.
5th Ed. Pearson Education, USA.
Polit, D. F. and Beck, C.T (2008). Nursing Research: Generating
and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice. 8th Ed.
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, USA.
Robsin, C. (2002). Real World Research: A Resource for Social
Scientist and Practitioner-Researchers. 2nd Ed. ISBN,
USA.
Slide 33