Module 06: Findings of a Quantitative Research Study – Critique (40 points)

Provide complete sentences to answer the questions. Include all sources in the reference list
at the end. Please put your responses in this document, it serves as the rubric with the
points associated for each question here in the assignment. Please read the questions care-
fully and provide details/depth/insight with answers.
Student NAME: Payton Eggering
1. Citation: Cite the assigned article below in 7th ed APA format. 2 pts
Yildirim, D. & Yildiz, C. C. (2022). The effect of mindfulness-based breathing and music

therapy practice on nurses’ stress, work-related strain, and psychological well-being

during the COVID-19 pandemic. Holistic Nursing Practice: The Science of Health

and Healing, 36(3), 156-165. https://doi.org/10.1097/HNP.0000000000000511

Synopsis of the Research: (see each question for points)

a. What is the purpose or aim of the study? What is the Problem Statement? This informa-
tion is found on the first two pages of the article. 2 pts
The listed aim of the study is to “investigate the effect of the mindfulness-based breathing
and music therapy on stress, work-related strain, and psychological well-being levels of
the nurses who play a crucial role in the struggle against COVID-19” (Yildirim & Yildiz,
2022, p. 157). The purpose of choosing this aim is because there is very little research
where both mindfulness-based breathing and music therapy were tested at the same time.
b. Is IRB or human subject’s approval discussed? How did the authors ensure protection of
human subjects? 1pt
The article did get ethical approval from the Ethics Committee of Istanbul Sabahattin
Zaim University. They also had them fill out informed consent forms. These both are the
minimum protections that participants should have in studies that they ensured to have
done for this study and included it within their study under the methods section. They
also reiterated that the participants were volunteers and even had some people opt out of
the study at some point, which was completely within their right to do so. They also
talked about how the study itself conformed with the principles of the Declaration of
Helsinki (Yildirim & Yildiz, 2022).
c. Can the research question or hypothesis be identified or inferred? If so, what is/are the
research question(s) or hypothesis(es)? 3 pts
They listed their hypotheses in a dedicated section before their methods and then walked
through how the findings supported all three hypotheses listed. The hypotheses are listed
as:

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 Hypothesis 1: The practice of mindfulness-based breathing and music therapy is
effective in reducing nurses’ stress levels.
Hypothesis 2: The practice of mindfulness-based breathing and music therapy is
effective in raising nurses’ well-being levels.
Hypothesis 3: The practice of mindfulness-based breathing and music therapy is
effective in lowering nurses’ work-related strain levels. (Yildirim & Yildiz, 2022,
p. 158).
d. What is the research design? Provide a definition of the research design (include a
citation and reference from your text). 2 pts
The research design is a randomized controlled trial. A randomized controlled trial,
according to Schmidt & Brown (2022), is a design where the “participants are assigned to
groups by chance and thus the groups are equal on various characteristics” (p. 18). This
makes the results of the study high quality because it makes it unbiased and disperses the
variables equally so that, if there is both clinical significance and statistical significance
regardless of things like gender, age, and sex, then it supports the findings even more.
e. Did the authors identify a conceptual model or theory that they used to guide the research
development? 1pts
They do not specifically list a theory or model they utilized within their study, but it
seems to indicate they are working under the theory that mindfulness-based breathing and
music therapy reduce stress and COVID-19 has increased the stress nurses feel, so
applying those interventions to nurses who experienced stress related to the COVID-19
epidemic would display decreased stress. Essentially, their hypotheses are the concepts
that they are working with to guide the research development.
f. How many research subjects were included in this study? How many subjects were
eligible to participate? Discuss how the sample was chosen. 2 pts
110 were initially included in the study, but then six people left the study, so it went
down to 104. They were eligible to participate in the study if they met the following
criteria: 18 years of age or older, volunteered to be in the study, had no psychiatric
diagnoses, had no communication problem, and had no course or practice about coping
with anxiety, strain, and stress. This is more of an implied one, but they also needed to
work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

g. What did the authors share about the required sample size needed for this study? Discuss
the role of power in determining a sample size. 2 pts
The authors of this study discussed that the sample size was calculated using a software
called GPower 3.1.9. It determined that 45 was the minimum required amount to have a
power of 94.6%. This power stands for the accuracy and quality of the RCT and they then
said that 55 would be the number they would go with because they are accounting for
losses during the study itself (Yildirim & Yildiz, 2022). The reason the power is an
important part is because that software is using information that they are putting into the

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 study to determine how many participants would be enough for the conclusions to be
applied to a greater sample.
h. What were the exclusion and/or inclusion criteria used for this study? 1 pt
There was no listed exclusion criteria, just a section listing the inclusion criteria: “Nurses
who were 18 years or older, volunteered to participate in the study, had no psychiatric
diagnoses, had no communication problem, and had no course or practice about coping
with anxiety, strain, and stress were included in the study” (Yildirum & Yildiz, 2022,
p.158).
i. Was there drop-out from study implementation to study conclusion? (Number of subjects
agreeing to participate and the number of completed surveys) 1pt
Three nurses from the intervention group and three nurses from the control group
who did not want to participate in the research and were not included in the
evaluations. Thus, a total of 104 nurses took part in the research (52 nurses in the
intervention group and 52 nurses in the control group). (Yildrirum & Yildiz,
2022, p. 158)
There were also people who were excluded because they did not meet inclusion criteria,
but that does not fall within the study implementation to study conclusion criteria (I
think, which is why I’m putting it in case).
j. Identify the Independent and Dependent Variables. Are the variables clearly identified
and presented with appropriate classification terms (independent, dependent?) 3 pts
The independent variable was the mindfulness-based breathing and music therapy that
they used on the intervention group.The dependent variable is the inventories that they
used: State Anxiety Inventory, Psychological Well-Being Scale, and Work-Related Strain
Scale. They do not specifically state what the independent and dependent variables are,
but they do use the ideas of this intervention has shown to have this outcome, which is
loosely related to independent and dependent variables.

k. Discuss how the subjects were assigned to the intervention group and the control group.
2 pt
The participants who agreed to take part in the research were assigned to the study
groups through an internet application. Assuming that set 1 and set 2 would
successively represent the intervention and control groups, the numbers from 1 to
110 were randomly assigned to the 2 study groups. Via the internet application,
the assignment order of the nurses who made up the research sample was
randomly designated. (Yildirum & Yildiz, 2022, p. 158)
l. Was an intervention tested? If so, please describe the intervention. 2 pts
The intervention that was tested was the mindfulness-based breathing being taught to the
intervention group over Zoom while music played in the background, which served as the
music therapy aspect to this study (Yildirum & Yildiz, 2022).

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 m. What methods were used to collect data? 1 pt
The methods used were Google Forms to collect their personal information to reflect the
homogeneity of the study, the State Anxiety Inventory, Psychological Well-Being Scale,
and the Work-Related Strain Scale before and after the intervention to see how it may
have affected scores.
n. What are the main findings/results of this study? 3 pts
They found that there was no statistically significance between the two groups before
interventions were used to reflect the homogeneity of the randomization. They then
explain the statistical significance that verified each of their hypotheses:
[M]indfulness-based breathing and music therapy is effective in reducing nurses’
stress levels[…] The practice of mindfulness-based breathing and music therapy
is effective in raising nurses’ well-being levels[… and] The practicee of
mindfulness-based breathing and music therapy is effective in lowering nurses’
work related strains. (Yildirum & Yildiz, 2022, p. 158)
o. Did the authors disclose or discuss limitations to the study? (1 pt)
“The limitation of the study is that the long-term effects of mindfulness-based breathing
and music therapy were not evaluated and the therapy was applied in a single session”
(Yildirum & Yildiz, 2022, p. 163).
p. What were the authors interpretations and conclusions? Paraphrase in your own words.
3pts
Their conclusions were basically that, since this is shown to be effective in this setting, it
should be studied further to make sure that it is effective long term and more therapeutic
practices such as this should be utilized to address work-related strain to enhance
psychological well-being (Yilidirum & Yildiz, 2022).
1. Credibility: Check the box and provide supporting detail in complete sentences. Not
clear is a perfectly acceptable response, just validate it in your detailed response. (6 points for
this section, see each question for points)
a. Is the study published in a source  Yes   No   Not clear
that required peer review?
How did you confirm? 1 pt
This study is published in the Holistic Nursing Practice, The Science of Health and Healing,
which lists that they are a peer-reviewed bimonthly journal (Holistic Nursing Practice: The
Science of Health and Healing, 2022).
b. Did the data obtained and the  Yes   No   Not clear
analysis conducted answer the
research question? 1pt
I believe that it did because they utilized statistical analysis to evaluate the several different data
points they used to support the hypotheses they had. Not only that, but they laid out the

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information with the hypothesis that the numbers supported.

c. Identify the instrument(s) used to measure the

variables in the study. Discuss the authors  Yes   No   Not clear
presentation of any reliability and validity information.
(2 pts). This discussion should include the Cronbach’s Alpha.

State Anxiety Inventory, Psychological Well-Being Scale, and Work-Related Strain Scale are the
instruments used to measure the variables in the study. Because they utilized well-established
and heavily tested inventories so that they knew they would be effective in communicating what
each of the inventories was looking at (well-being, work strain, and anxiety). They also used
three different inventories of things that, while they are all related, they cannot be grouped
together, so it makes the variables their own isolated variables, but can make the implication that
work strain affects psychological well-being and anxiety. In Schmidt & Brown (2022),
Cronbach’s alpha is defined as “a test for instrument reliability used with interval or ratio items;
all items are simultaneously compared using a computer” (p. 535). This works in determining
their reliability because they put the calculated coefficients for the inventories both within their
study, based on their other variables, and for the inventories outside of their particular study.

4. Significance: Check the box and provide supporting detail in complete sentences. (4
points for this section, see each question for points)
a. Are the findings significant to nursing? 1 pt  Yes    Yes Some   No

The findings of this is significant to nursing because it is incredibly important for nurses to be
aware of the mental well-being and anxiety related to work-related strain. Having options for
intervention that are proven to be effective will assist in nurses having outlets for coping.

5. Personal Reflection: 3 points What did you learn about the Quantitative research process as a
result of this assignment. Share anything unique, surprising, interesting or an “Aha! Moment” of
understanding from your assigned reading or critique of this research article.

What I really enjoyed about doing this assignment is that it shows that concepts that are hard to
quantify and physically count can be qualified by utilizing scales and inventories so that people
can put those feelings and concepts down as a solidified example. It was just very reassuring to
see that there are ways to take these things that we feel and have evidence-based research to back
it up. Because while I have really strong convictions about things like stress and stress

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management, I can’t just make a rule based on my convictions. There needs to be a base of
research to back up what it is I feel strongly about so that it supports my case of why I feel
strongly about certain concepts.

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 References

Yildirim, D. & Yildiz, C. C. (2022). The effect of mindfulness-based breathing and music

therapy practice on nurses’ stress, work-related strain, and psychological well-being

during the COVID-19 pandemic. Holistic Nursing Practice: The Science of Health and

Healing, 36(3), 156-165. https://doi.org/10.1097/HNP.0000000000000511

Holistic Nursing Practice: The Science of Health and Healing. (2022). About the journal.

https://journals.lww.com/hnpjournal/pages/aboutthejournal.aspx

Schmidt, N. A. & Brown, J. M. (2022). Evidence-based practice for nurses: Appraisal and

application of research. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

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