Sally Shane Arroyo MAN-DL

Statistical Methods in Nursing Research

Descriptive statistics are used to describe the basic features of the data in a study. They provide simple
summaries about the sample and the measures. Together with simple graphics analysis, they form the basis
of virtually every quantitative analysis of data. Descriptive Statistics are used to present quantitative
descriptions in a manageable form. In a research study we may have lots of measures. Or we may measure a
large number of people on any measure. Descriptive statistics help us to simplify large amounts of data in a
sensible way. Each descriptive statistic reduces lots of data into a simpler summary. (Trochim,2021)

In the article of the relationship between ethical climate and nursing service behavior in public and private
hospitals: a cross-sectional study in China. The descriptive statistics of the journal Of all the nurses who
participated in the survey, 94.7 % were female, were of young age (88.7 % under 40 years of age) and had
college education (51.1 % with a bachelor’s degree or higher). In terms of hospital ownership, 70.3 % were
from the public hospital, and 29.7 % were from the private hospital. The respondents’ demographic
information and group differences on in-role and extra-role service behaviors are described in detail in
Table 1. Participants with high level of in-role service behaviors were > 40 years old (p < .001), worked for
11–15 years (p < .001), had bachelor’s degree (p < .001), had senior nurse professional title (p < .001),
temporary employed (p < .001) and were from public hospitals (p < .001). Nurses who had higher level of
extra-role service behaviors were > 40 years old (p < .001), worked for 16–20 years (p < .001), had
master’s degree or above (p < .001), had junior nurse professional title (p < .001), and temporary employed
(p < .001). (Zhang et al’.s (2021).

Variabl Me S. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1
es an D. 5

1. Hospital 1.30 0.4 1                            

ownership 57

2. Gender 1.06 0.2 0.085* 1                          

46

3. Age 2.35 0.8 −  −  1                        

 Variabl Me S. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1
es an D. 5

(years) 14 0.166** 0.060

4. Clinical 1.93 1.2 −  −  0.803** 1                      

tenure 79 0.103* 0.054

5. 2.35 0.7 −  0.013 0.378** 0.224** 1                    

Education 98 0.173**
level

6. 1.67 0.8 −  −  0.648** 0.630** 0.418* 1                  

Profession 07 0.202** 0.065 *

al title

7. Position 1.50 0.8 0.232** 0.008 0.310** 0.219** 0.123* 0.126** 1                

*
76

8. 1.83 0.6 0.093* −  −  −  −  −  −  1              

Employme 64 0.085* 0.115** 0.168** 0.091* 0.247** 0.038
nt type

9. Caring 3.52 1.1 0.043 −  0.373** 0.227** 0.215* 0.141** 0.339 0.0 1            
* **
07 0.018 13

10. Law 4.10 0.9 −  −  0.478** 0.263** 0.425* 0.316** 0.088 0.0 0.52 1          
and code 66 0.228** 0.074 * *
07 4**

11. Rule 4.21 0.9 −  −  0.506** 0.281** 0.451* 0.318** 0.099 0.0 0.50 0.85 1        
21 0.283** 0.072 * *
04 3** 6**

12. 3.24 1.0 0.247** 0.072 0.240** 0.085* 0.124* −  0.466 0.0 0.49 0.32 0.29 1      
* **
Instrument 77 0.038 52 6** 1** 4**
ality

13. 3.02 1.1 0.254** 0.082 0.201** 0.070 0.159* −  0.527 0.0 0.51 0.23 0.23 0.78 1    
* **
Independe 78 0.043 52 7** 9** 4** 5**
nce

14. ISB 4.16 0.9 −  −  0.507** 0.280** 0.446* 0.328** 0.150 0.0 0.53 0.85 0.86 0.33 0.28 1  
29 0.212** 0.027 * **
13 7** 6** 5** 9** 8**

15. ESB 3.63 1.0 0.013 −  0.378** 0.195** 0.273* 0.146** 0.391 0.0 0.57 0.47 0.49 0.50 0.52 0.57 1
* **
39 0.032 08 9** 7** 6** 2** 7** 8**

1. N = 559 observations; * p < .05,** p < .01 (2-tailed)

2. ISB: In-role service behavior; ESB: Extra-role service behavior

Hypothesis:

There is no significant difference between ethical climate types and service behaviors of nurses in public
and private hospitals.
Inferential statistics, you are trying to reach conclusions that extend beyond the immediate data alone. For
instance, we use inferential statistics to try to infer from the sample data what the population might think.
Or, we use inferential statistics to make judgments of the probability that an observed difference between
groups is a dependable one or one that might have happened by chance in this study. Thus, we use
inferential statistics to make inferences from our data to more general conditions; we use descriptive
statistics simply to describe what’s going on in our data.

With the article, titled “Are male nurses sexually harassed? A cross-sectional study in the Greek Health
System” used inferential statistics. Like the T-test and ANOVA.

A t-test is a type of inferential statistic used to determine if there is a significant difference between the

means of two groups, which may be related in certain features. It is mostly used when the data sets, like the
data set recorded as the outcome from flipping a coin 100 times, would follow a normal distribution and
may have unknown variances.( Investopedia, 2021)

T-tests between employment sector and sexual harassment behaviours. T-tests showed that private nurses
compared to public nurses, more frequently experienced sexually harassing behaviours. On the contrary,
public nurses compared to private nurses more frequently dealt with sexual comments and were made
unwanted attempts to have sex against their will. ANOVA between work experience and sexual harassment
behaviours

An ANOVA test is a way to find out if survey or experiment results are significant. In other words, they
help you to figure out if you need to reject the null hypothesis or accept the alternate hypothesis. (ANOVA
Test, 2021).

The analysis ANOVA showed that years of experience is a crucial factor influencing the frequency of sexual
harassment. Specifically, those with up to 5 years of experience (<1 year of experience and 1-5) more
frequently dealt with sexual harassment than those with more than five years of experience. Post hoc tests
(LSD) revealed that those with 1-5 years of experience more frequently faced gender harassment and sexual
coercion, whereas those less than a year of experience dealt with unwanted sexual attention more regularly.

Multiple regression analysis between sexual harassment and negative consequences

Physical consequences
Table 3 reveals that three independent variables; offensive, sexist remarks, unwanted attempts for sex
against nurse's consent, and offers for better treatment in exchange for sexual cooperation, had a
statistically significant relationship with the variable exploring the magnitude of the adverse physical
outcomes of sexual harassment (R2= 52%, p value<0.01)

Outcome-Negative physical consequences, score 1-5 (linear regression)

Predictor variables in the model Coef. Std. error P value 95% Confidence Interval

Lower Upper

Offensive sexist remarks 2.500 0.157 <0.001 -2,500 2,500

Attempts for unwanted sex 2.475 0.054 <0.001 -2,475 2,475

Implied faster promotions if you were sexually 2.232 0.111 <0.001 -2,232 2,232
cooperative

(Constant) 5.705 0.157 <0.001 -1,500 5,705

1. R2: 0.52 (Adjusted R2: 0.48)

Comparative research essentially compares two groups in an attempt to draw a conclusion about them.
Researchers attempt to identify and analyze similarities and differences between groups, and these studies
are most often cross-national, comparing two separate people groups. Comparative studies can be used to
increase understanding between cultures and societies and create a foundation for compromise and
collaboration. (Richardson, H., 2018).

In the article, with title “Why so stressed? A comparative study on stressors and stress between hospital
and non-hospital nurses.” This is a comparative analytic cross-sectional study conducted in year 2018
among registered nurses working at all government health facilities in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.

Table 1 and Table 2 demonstrates the comparison of sociodemographic and occupational profiles,
workplace and household stressors, and stress status between hospital and non-hospital nurses.

Table 1. Comparison of numerical variables using Student’s T-test

Table 2. Comparison of categorical variables using chi square test
Hypothesis:
There was no significant difference in the sociodemographic and occupational profiles of the two groups
except for work schedule and job position. The proportion of participants working in shift and holding a
job position as a community nurse or a staff nurse was significantly higher among hospital nurses as
compared to non-hospital nurses. There was no significant difference in the overall score of household
stressor between hospital and non-hospital nurses. However, hospital nurses had significantly higher
level of household stressors related to ‘not enough money’, ‘no time with family’ and ‘personal problem
cause strain’. With regards to workplace stressors, hospital nurses had significantly higher overall score
of workplace stressors and each of its components namely ‘workload’, ‘death and dying’, ‘inadequate
preparation’, lack of staff support’, ‘uncertain treatment’, ‘conflict with doctors’, and ‘conflict with
nurses’. The overall prevalence of stress among participants was 27.3%. Although the hospital nurses
had significantly higher level of stress score as compared to non-hospital nurses, there is no significant
difference in the prevalence of stress between both groups.( Robat,et.al’s, 2018).

Correlational research is a type of nonexperimental research in which the researcher measures two
variables and assesses the statistical relationship (i.e., the correlation) between them with little or no effort
to control extraneous variables. (Chiang, 2015)

The article namely “Nurses’ trust in managers and its relationship with nurses’ performance behaviors: a
descriptive- correlational study” This study was descriptive- correlational research that was carried out in
the year 2019. The study population included the entire nursing staff working in hospitals of the Ardabil
University of Medical Sciences (N = 1126). The sample size was estimated to be 392 through Cochran’s
sample size formula, which was calculated to be 431 with a 10% drop (t = 1.96, d = 0.04, p = 0.5).(Hadi-
Moghaddam., et.al’s, 2021)
n=Nt2pqNd2+t2pq

Table 4. Relation between nurse trust in head-nurse and the nurses’ functional behavior
Hypothesis:
There was no significant relationship between nurse trust in head-nurse and nurses’functional behavior (P = 
0.58).

A questionnaire is a research instrument that consists of a set of questions or other types of prompts that
aims to collect information from a respondent. A research questionnaire is typically a mix of close-ended
questions and open-ended questions. Open-ended, long-form questions offer the respondent the ability to
elaborate on their thoughts. (Bhat, 2021)

In the article, “Nurses’ trust in managers and its relationship with nurses’ performance behaviors: a
descriptive- correlational study”. The The data collection tool was a three-part questionnaire. Part 1
contained demographic characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, education, work
experience, managerial experience, employment status, work shifts, and workplace), Part 2;
McAllister’s trust instrument (1995), and Part 3; Paterson’s job performance questionnaire
(1922).McAllister’s questionnaire comprised trust scale of 11 questions. The first six questions made
up the cognition-based subscale and the following five questions made up the affect-based subscale.
is rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) and the overall
scores fall into three categories;a low level of trust (12–14), a medium (25–36), and a high (37–60). ).
(Hadi-Moghaddam., et.al’s, 2021)

Cronbach’s alpha is a measure of internal consistency, that is, how closely related a set of items are as a
group.    It is considered to be a measure of scale reliability. A “high” value for alpha does not imply that the
measure is unidimensional. If, in addition to measuring internal consistency, you wish to provide evidence
that the scale in question is unidimensional, additional analyses can be performed. Exploratory factor
analysis is one method of checking dimensionality. Technically speaking, Cronbach’s alpha is not a
statistical test – it is a coefficient of reliability (or consistency).(What does Crohnsbach alpha mean, 2021)

The reliability and the validity of the questionnaire were also primarily measured in Cronbach’s alpha in a
study that was conducted by Arizi, et al. (2012) which had yielded between 85 to 89%.

Stratified random sampling is a method of sampling that involves the division of a population into smaller
sub-groups known as strata. In stratified random sampling, or stratification, the strata are formed based on
members' shared attributes or characteristics such as income or educational attainment.

A stratified random sampling method was used for sampling so that the research community was divided
into 5 classes based on therapeutic centers, and samples were selected from each class according to the
sample size. Inclusion criteria included having a bachelor’s degree or higher in nursing, nursing work
experience of more than 3 months, and interest in participating in the study. ).(Hadi-Moghaddam., et.al’s,
2021)
Quasi-experimental research is research that resembles experimental research but is not true experimental
research. Although the independent variable is manipulated, participants are not randomly assigned to
conditions or orders of conditions (Cook & Campbell, 1979). Because the independent variable is
manipulated before the dependent variable is measured, quasi-experimental research eliminates the
directionality problem.
In the article, “The effect of an educational intervention to improve tuberculosis infection control among
nurses in Ibadan, south-west Nigeria: a quasi-experimental study”. This quasi-experimental study involved
200 nurses (100 each in the intervention and comparison groups). Baseline data were collected in May
2014. This was followed by training of the nurses in the intervention group. After 6 months, the second wave
of data was collected and the nurses in the comparison group also received the training thereafter. The
final wave of data collection took place 12 months after the commencement of the study. (Akanda, 2021)

Correlation coefficients are used to measure how strong a relationship is between two variables. There are
several types of correlation coefficient, but the most popular is Pearson’s. Pearson’s correlation (also called
Pearson’s R) is a correlation coefficient commonly used in linear regression. If you’re starting out in
statistics, you’ll probably learn about Pearson’s R first. In fact, when anyone refers to the correlation
coefficient, they are usually talking about Pearson’s. (Correlation, 2021).

In the article, titled “Do knowledge, knowledge sources and reasoning skills affect the accuracy of nursing
diagnoses? a randomized study”. Cohen’s weighted kappa, the intra-class correlation coefficient and
Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient, as well as their 95 percent confidence intervals are
presented in Table 2. All of the coefficients are larger than .70 and have their left boundary of the
confidence interval greater than .50.(Paans et.al’s.2012)

Qualitative research involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data (e.g., text, video, or audio) to
understand concepts, opinions, or experiences. It can be used to gather in-depth insights into a problem or
generate new ideas for research. (Bhandari, 2020)

In the article, titled “Resident and family perceptions of the nurse practitioner role in long term care
settings: a qualitative descriptive study”. The study applied a qualitative descriptive approach. In-depth
individual and focus group interviews were conducted with 35 residents and family members from four LTC
settings that employed a NP. Conventional content analysis was used to identify themes and sub-themes.
(Ploeg et.al’s, 2013)

Hypothesis:
There is no significant difference between the perceptions of residents and family members of nurse
practitioner and concepts of person-centred and relationship-centred care.
Quantitative research is defined as a systematic investigation of phenomena by gathering quantifiable data
and performing statistical, mathematical, or computational techniques. (Flewtwood, 2021)

In the article, titled “A comparison of trends in research into home care services in Japan and Korea”.
Quantitative research is applied. All academic journals relating to home care services and all publications
relating to community health nursing studies published the year of 2004 to 2008 in Japan and Korea were
considered for inclusion in the present literature review. (Arita & Ryu, 2013)

Hypothesis:
There is no significant difference between home care services in Japan and Korea.

References:

Akande, P., (2020). The effect of an educational intervention to improve tuberculosis infection control
among nurses in Ibadan, south-west Nigeria: a quasi-experimental study. BMC Nursing, 19(1).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-020-00474-2
Arita, K., Ryu, H., (2013). A comparison of trends in research into home care services in Japan and Korea.
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https://www.statisticshowto.com/probability-and-statistics/hypothesis-testing/anova/
Bhandari, P.,(2020, Jul 30). An introduction to qualitative research. Scribbr.
https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/qualitative-research/
Bhat, A., (2021). The ultimate guide to great questionnaires. QuestionPro.
https://www.questionpro.com/blog/what-is-a-questionnaire/
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Fleetwood, D.( 2021, Jun 22). Quantitative Research: Definition, Methods, Types and
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Hadi-Moghaddam, M., Karimollahi, M., Aghamohammadi, M., (2021). Nurses’ trust in managers and its
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https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-021-00653-9
Paans, W., Sermeus, W., Nieweg, R., Krijnen, W., van der Schans, C., (2012). Do knowledge, knowledge
sources and reasoning skills affect the accuracy of nursing diagnoses? a randomised study. BMC Nursing,
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