MODULE 6

Phases of the Nursing Research Process

Module Description
The nursing research process can be outlined using the nursing process steps of
assessment, planning, intervention and evaluation. In the assessment phase the
problem is identified, the literature is reviewed, and the variables are identified. In the
planning phase the research question or hypothesis is formulated, and decisions are
made on how the variables will be measured and how the sample will be chosen. In the
intervention phase the data collection occurs; in the evaluation phase the data is
analyzed and interpreted and the findings are communicated. By giving nurses a
detailed yet understandable plan on how to conduct nursing research, their curiosity is
encouraged and the body of knowledge will grow.
This module encourages student nurses to embrace the research process by
providing an overview of the conceptual phase, specifically on the identification of the
research problem. As an outcome, students are expected to come up with their own
research titles/topics that will serve as their working titles for their course
requirement.

Learning Outcome
1. Apply the phase of the nursing research process in developing a research
proposal

Pretest
1. What practical steps can you take before you actually start your research?
A. Find out exactly what your institution's requirements are for a dissertation.
B. Make sure you are familiar with the hardware and software you plan to use
C. Apply for clearance of your project through an ethics committee.
D. All of the above.
2. Which of the following should you think about when preparing your research?
A. Your sample frame and sampling strategy
 B. The ethical issues that might arise.
C. Negotiating access to the setting.
D. All of the above.
3. Which of the following should be included in a research proposal?
A. Your academic status and experience.
B. The difficulties you encountered with your previous reading on the topic.
C. Your choice of research methods and reasons for choosing them.
D. All of the above.
4. Why is it important to have well formulated research questions?
A. It gives greater clarity to the research process and what you wish to research.
B. It leads to more focused research.
C. It provides more structure to my work.
D. All of the above
5. It serves as a springboard for the statement of the problem which consist of the
context and historical viewpoints of the problem.
A. Title
B. Purpose
C. Background of the problem
D. Significance of the problem

Module Content
A. CONCEPTUAL PHASE
1. Identifying the Research Problem

1.1. THE RESEARCH TITLE

Generally, the title should summarize the main idea of the paper.
It should be a concise stamen about the main topic. It includes the major
variable/s and shows the relationships among the main variables under
study. The research title should be self-explanatory.

The researcher should be reminded that:

 In formulation the title, the researcher should avoid using words
that serve no useful purposes and can mislead indexers. The
words methods, results, investigations should not appear in the
title.
 In many cases, the specific questions that the research intends to
answer, when rewritten in a statement form, can serve as the title.
 Likewise, the general problem can serve as the thesis title.
 The title must have 10 to 15 words.
Sample of Research Title:
o Parenting Needs, Goals and Strategies of Adolescent Mother
 o Assessment of the Spiritual Nursing Care Competencies of
BSN Students
o Effectiveness of Information, Education and
Communication in the Awareness of Breastfeeding Among
Nursing Mothers

Sources of Research Problems:

Problems may exist in any setting where health care is given – in
hospitals or clinics, in schools, in the workplace or in the community.
They can be commonly found in places where there is/are:
1. A feeling of discomfort in the healthcare provider or the clients;
2. Perceived difficulty in the management and leadership system;
3. Gap between the theory and practice
4. daily experience of human beings that require further inquiry into,
especially if improvement is desired; and
5. a procedure requiring technologically advanced equipment which need
to function properly.

Criteria of Researchable Problem:

1. Solutions are available but not yet tested and unknown to the
practitioner.
2. No solutions are available to fill the gap or the problem assessed.
3. When answers, solutions as well as possible results that have been
given are seemingly not tested or are factually contradictory.
4. A phenomenon exists and requires explanation.
5. There are several possible and plausible explanations for the existence
of an undesirable condition

REPLICATION is a repetition of a prior research study on a different setting.

Implementing a change in variables –adding more significant variables or removing less
significant ones, changing the respondents, and revising and improving its scope and
delimitation can make a study invaluable even if the research problem is not original.

Considerations in Formulating a Research Problem:

A. External Criteria
1. Novelty - the practical value of the problem due to its newness to the field
of inquiry.
 2. Availability – the existence of people with the capability and willingness to
participate in the study; the sample of the study participants must be
representative enough to ensure reliability and validity of results.
3. Administrative Support - sponsorship by a professional organization or
academic institution, to cover the cost of the study; permission of those
concerned for the participation in the study of staff members, children, the
aged, and the mentally-retarded.
4. Facilities and equipment – the availability and adequacy of special
equipment and facilities (eg. Computers, telephones) for use in undertaking
the research.
5. Ethical Considerations – avoidance of research problems that pose
unethical demands on the part of the study participants.

B. Internal Criteria
1. Experience, training and professional qualifications – knowledge and
expertise as a result of experience constitute the researcher’s tools for
coping with the demands of research.
2. Motivation, Interest, Intellectual Curiosity and Perceptiveness of the
Researcher. The personal motive behind doing research, as cited by
scientists, is pure curiosity, along with the genuine interest and the
anticipated satisfaction or enjoyment in completing research tasks.
3. Time Factor – studies must be pursued in the given time frame.
4. Costs and Returns – research is an expensive undertaking. The amount of
funding needed depends on the size of the sample, the place where the
research is to be conducted and the treatment of data, as well as the
research design.
5. Hazards, Penalties and Handicaps - depends upon his/her physical and
intellectual capacity and moral judgment.

1.2. THE INTRODUCTION OR BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

This section presents a brief discussion of the rationale and background
of the problem or subject of inquiry. The introduction serves as a springboard
for the statement of the problem. It should stimulate the interest of the reader
and set the stage for the presentation of the study.

The introduction includes the following:

1. The context of the problem and its historical background
2. Authoritative viewpoints on the problem
3. The researcher’s interest in working on the problem
4. The purpose of the study in relation to the problem
 The following questions aid the researcher in formulating the
introduction:
o What is the rationale of the problem?
o What is the setting of the problem?
o What is the basic literature foundation of the study?
o How serious is the chosen research problem? Why is there a need
to look for a solution to the problem?
o What is the overall purpose of the problem?

1.3. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

After the investigator has clarified the rationale, identified the degree
of seriousness of the problem, and the literature review and overall objective,
the formulation of the heart of the thesis –the statement of the general and the
specific problems must be done.
Research problems may be stated in various ways:
a. The Interrogative Form
- A major question is followed by specific questions or several
questions to answer a single problem. The question is expressed
simply and direct to the point such that they serve to focus
attention on the main problem itself.

Eg. “What is the relationship between the dependency levels of

post-op renal patients and their rate of recovery?”

b. The Declarative Form

- This is followed by specific statements. Other researchers use a set
of statements each statement consists of variables to clarify and
give greater specificity to the statement of the purpose.

Eg. The Impact of Grading on the Academic and Clinical

Achievement of Junior Nursing Students

Components of the Statement of the Problem

1. The Major Problem
- The major problem directs attention to the purpose of the
investigation, particularly the main issue to be answered. This also
refers to the goal of the study that requires long-term inquiry and
broader solution.
The general problem is followed by an enumeration of the specific
problems. The specific problems are usually stated as questions the
researcher seeks to answer.

Eg. To determine the levels of job satisfaction among Filipino RNs in

the United States.

2. Minor/Specific Sub-Problems
- These are the problems implicitly contained in the major problem.
The major problem is broken down for purposes of analysis. The
minor problems support the major problem and their solutions
leads to the solution of the major problem. They also serve to guide
data collection, measurement and analysis.
- The minor or sub-problems also refer to the objectives of the study
which require short-term inquiry and specific or narrowed own
solutions. The main problem is usually broken down into 3 to 8
sub-problems, with each sub-problem contributing to the solutions
of the major problems.

Eg. This study aimed to assess the spiritual nursing care competencies of BSN
students. Specifically, it answered the following questions:
1. What is the extent of spiritual nursing care competencies of BSN students in
terms of
a. spiritual nursing knowledge,
b. spiritual values, and
c. spiritual nursing skills?
2. Is there a significant relationship in the extent of spiritual nursing care
competencies of BSN students to the following variables:
a. year level,
b. school category,
c. accreditation level and
d. with or without Spiritual Care Nursing elective subject?
3. What is the extent of spiritual nursing care competencies of BSN students in
terms of skills as assessed by the clinical instructors?
4. What training module can be developed based on the findings of the study?

The specific problems must meet the following criteria:

1. They must be in question form.
2. They must define the population and the sample of the study, the
respondents.
3. They must identify the variables being studies.
4. They must be empirically testable.
 Good research objectives have the following characteristics:
S – specific
M – measurable
A – attainable
R – Realistic and results oriented
T – time-bound
E – evidence- based
R - rewarding

4.1. SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

The scope and delimitation is determined by the major variables of the
study while the sub-variables and their characteristics, attributes, and
indicators serve as the delimitation. It is also beneficial to mention the local or
setting of the research and when data would be gathered.

KINDS OF VARIABLES:
1. Variables according to the number of categories
a. Categorical Variables – represent unordered categories, groups or
Classes
Eg. Multiple intelligences, learning styles, civil status
b. Dichotomous variables – represent only two categories.
Eg. Sex, side (L and R), diabetes
c. Polychotomous variables – have more than 2 categories
Eg. Educational attainment, economic status
d. Continuous variables – take on any of a range of values
Eg. Weight, height, speed, blood glucose level

2. Variables used in an experiment

a. Independent variables – the cause variable, the reason of changes in
dependent variables
b. Dependent variables – the variables that are affected by the cause

3. Variables according to the nature

a. Concrete variables – variables that can be perceived through the senses
Eg. Height, skin color, taste
b. Abstract variables – variables of quality
Eg. Knowledge level, perception level, recovery rate
 4. Variables according to the number being studied
a. Univariate study – one variable is being studied
b. Bivariate study – two variables are being studied
c. Polyvariate study – more than two variables are being studied

4.2. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Research is a very noble undertaking if it promises to make a
significant contribution to the welfare of a person or a group of persons,
the community or to an academic field or discipline, in this case, the
nursing profession (or health care providers in general). The significance
of the study must also discuss the importance of the study to society, the
country, the government, the community or to the institution, the agency
concerned, the curriculum planners and the developers and to the
researchers.
Significance of the study is written as part of the introduction
section of a thesis. It provides details to the reader on how the study will
contribute such as what the study will contribute and who will benefit
from it. It also includes an explanation of the work's importance as well as
its potential benefits.

4.3. Literature Review

A literature review discusses published information in a particular
subject area, and sometimes information in a particular subject area
within a certain time period. A literature review can be just a simple
summary of the sources, but it usually has an organizational pattern and
combines both summary and synthesis.

5 Key Steps in Making Literature Review

1. Search for relevant literature

 Establish first a clearly defined topic

 Start by creating a list of keywords related to the research question
 Search for relevant sources
Useful data bases:
o Google Scholar
o EBSCO
o MEDLINE
o Pubmed
  Read the abstract to find out whether an article is relevant to your
question

2. Evaluate sources

 Make sure the sources used are credible

 Find out how many times an article has been cited on Google Scholar –
a high citation count means the article has been influential in the field,
and should certainly be included in the literature review.
 The scope of the review will depend on the topic and discipline
 It is important to keep track of the sources with citations to avoid
plagiarism. It can be helpful to make an annotated bibliography, where
full citation information are compiled and a paragraph of summary and
analysis for each source must be written. This helps in remembering
what has been read and saves time later in the process.
 Use free citation generators to quickly create correct and
consistent APA citations

3. Identify themes, debates and gaps

 This step will help in working out the structure of the literature review
and (if applicable) shows how own research will contribute to existing
knowledge.

4. Outline the structure

 There are various approaches to organizing the body of a literature

review. It may be chronological, thematic, methodological or
theoretical.

5. Write the literature review

 Like any other academic text, your literature review should have an
introduction, a main body, and a conclusion. What you include in each
depends on the objective of your literature review

A good literature review doesn’t just summarize sources – it analyzes, synthesizes,

and critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the
subject.
SOURCES OF DATA

Following are the two sources of data:

A) Primary Data

 Primary data means ‘First-hand information’ collected by an investigator.

 It is collected for the first time.
 It is original and more reliable.
 For example, Population census conducted by the government of India after
every 10 years.

B) Secondary Data

 Secondary data refers to ‘Second-hand information’.

 These are not originally collected rather obtained from already published or
unpublished sources.
 For example, the Address of a person taken from the Telephone Directory

SEARCH ENGINES
Major Research Databases
 CINAHL Plus with Full Text
- CINAHL covers literature related to nursing and allied health.
 Cochrane Library
- Independent medical evidence on which to base clinical treatment
decisions.
 EMBASE : Excerpta Medica Database
- Database in biomedicine which also excels in its coverage of
pharmaceutical research. From 1974 to present.

 EBSCOHOST
 HAPI: Health and Psychosocial Instruments :
- Information on measurement instruments (questionnaires, interview
schedules, checklists, index measures, coding schemes/ manuals, rating
scales, projective techniques, vignettes/scenarios, tests). Limited to 10
simultaneous users.
 MEDLINE through Ovid (1947 to Present)
- National Library of Medicine's premier bibliographic database covering
the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health
care system, and the preclinical sciences. Limited to 30 simultaneous
users.
 MEDLINE via PubMed@UIC
- PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine, provides access to
MEDLINE citations and additional life sciences books and databases. From
mid-1960s to present.
 Nursing Reference Center Plus
- Master nursing best practices with the source for evidence-based
information designed specifically for nurses. Includes PERC (go to More
and select Patient Ed).
 SAGE Research Methods
- Contains information on research methods including over 120,000 pages
of SAGE book, journal, and reference content.
 Scopus
- Scopus contains over 20,500 titles from 5,000 publishers worldwide with
49 million records, 78% with abstracts. It Includes over 5.3 million
conference papers and provides 100% Medline coverage with
interoperability with ScienceDirect
 Web of Science
- Access to the Web of Science Core Collection which is the largest citation
database in science, engineering, medicine and technology; also the social
sciences, arts and humanities are represented. This resource was acquired
with funding from the Library/IT Assessment.
 Google Scholar
- This is a search engine that focuses on academic output. This link is
proxied for UIC users off campus so you can download full text.
USE OF SOFTWARE

Statistical Software.  Simple statistical problems, such as determining the mean or the
median of a small data set, can easily be done with a calculator.  Most formulas that will
be used in a research report, however, are a lot more complex.  While a calculator will
work, a statistical program can reduce the computation time by hours, days, or even
weeks.  Imagine trying to determine the mean, standard deviation, t-score, and z-score
conversions of twelve data sets each containing 300 subjects.  Even the best statistician
will spend many hours on this project that could be done by a computer in a matter of
minutes once the data is entered.

The most widely used statistical software used for social science research is the
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and is relatively easy to use if you
have basic computer knowledge.  SPSS can perform hundreds of statistical
computations and even graph your data.  Another program, SAS, also performs these
functions and is gaining popularity with many researchers.  Both, however, can be
expensive to purchase so it would be wise to use your school’s software or look into a
student version.

PROPER CITATION
Please visit the link below:
https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/in-text-citation/

KEY POINTS:

 The title of the study gives a general idea of what the research study is all about.
 The problem refers to the question that seeks an answer to the question. The
problem must be clearly stated, and expressed in precise terms.
 The researcher should state the purpose or reasons for undertaking the study
and leave no doubt in the reader’s mind regarding the true intent of the study.
 Significance of the study refers to the importance, responsiveness or relevance of
the expected outcomes of the investigation and its probable effects on a nursing
theory or practice.
 Scope and delimitations spell out the context of the study in terms of subject,
concept, and specific characteristics of the phenomenon, treatment, sampling
and time frame.
 The are two types of data that may be used in research: the primary data and
secondary data
 Search engines are program that searches for and identifies items in a database
that correspond to keywords or characters specified by the researcher.
 Proper citation must always be observed using the APA format 7th edition

ACTIVITY 6

DIRECTION:
A. Enumerate possible problems you may encounter as a student in the
different areas of nursing practice
1. Personal Life (Family and social)
a. ____________________________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________________________________
2. School
a. ____________________________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________________________________
3. Community
a. ____________________________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________________________
c. ____________________________________________________________________________
4. Hospital or Health Care center
a. ____________________________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________________________________
5. Relationship with others
a. ____________________________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________________________________
6. Other Areas of Concern
a. ____________________________________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________________________________
B. Based on the enumerated possible research problems, identify at least
three researchable problems and explain why you choose them
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
 _____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

POST-TEST
DIRECTION: Formulate the statement of the problem part of your research.

TITLE OF YOUR RESEARCH

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

General Problem:
The researcher aims to
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

REFLECTION
State the difficulties you have encountered in formulating your research title and your
statement of the problem. What do you think must be done to address this difficulty?