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 Contributors

Daisha J. Cipher, PhD Christine Miaskowski, RN, PhD, FAAN

Clinical Associate Professor Professor & Associate Dean
College of Nursing Physiological Nursing
University of Texas at Arlington University of California
Arlington, Texas San Francisco, California
Chapters 22, 23, 24 & 25 Chapter 29

Kathryn M. Daniel, PhD, RN Rosemary C. Polomano, PhD, RN, FAAN

Assistant Professor Associate Professor of Pain Practice
College of Nursing Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences
University of Texas Arlington University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
Arlington, Texas Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Clinical Educator Faculty
Diane Doran, RN, PhD, FCAHS Department of Nursing
Professor Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Scientific Director, Nursing Health Services Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Research Unit (University of Toronto site) Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical
Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing Care
University of Toronto Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Toronto, Ontario University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Canada Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Chapter 13 Chapter 14

Kathryn Aldrich Lee, RN, PhD

Professor and Associate Dean for Research
James and Marjorie Endowed Chair in Nursing
Family Health Care Nursing
University of California
San Francisco
San Francisco, California
Chapters 20 & 27

Judy L. LeFlore PhD, RN, NNP-BC, CPNP-PC &

AC, ANEF
Director
Pediatric, Acute Care Pediatric, Neonatal Nurse
Practitioner Programs
Nursing
University of Texas at Arlington
Arlington, Texas
Nurse Practitioner
Advanced Practice Services
Children’s Medical Center, Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Chapters 10 & 11

vi
 Reviewers

Lisa D. Brodersen ED, RN Ida Slusher, RN, DSN, CNE

Allen College Professor & Nursing Education Coordinator
Waterloo, Iowa Department of Baccalaureate & Graduate Nursing
Eastern Kentucky University
Sara L. Clutter, PhD, RN Richmond, Kentucky
Associate Professor of Nursing
Waynesburg University Jeanne M. Sorrell, PhD, RN, FAAN
Waynesburg, Pennsylvania Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, Ohio
Josephine DeVito, PhD, RN
Associate Professor Molly J. Walker, PhD, RN. CNS, CNE
College of Nursing Associate Professor, Angelo State University
Seton Hall University San Angelo, Texas
South Orange, New Jersey
Angela F. Wood RN, NNP-BC, PhD
Jacalyn P. Dougherty, PhD, RN Carson-Newman College
Aurora, Colorado Jefferson City, Tennesse

Betsy Frank, RN, PhD Fatma A. Youssef, RN, MPH, DNSc

College of Nursing, Health, and Human Services Professor of Nursing, Marymount University
Indiana State University Arlington, VA
Terre Haute, Indiana
Mary Beth Zeni, MSN, ScD, RN
Sharon Kitchie, RN, PhD, CNS-BC Senior Nurse Researcher, Cleveland Clinic
Patient Education and Interpreter Services Specialist Cleveland, Ohio
Upstate University Hospital
Syracuse, New York

Madelaine Lawrence, PhD, RN

Queens University of Charlotte
Charlotte, NC

vii
 Preface
R
esearch is a major force in the nursing profes-
sion that is used to change practice, education,
and health policy. Our aim in developing the
seventh edition of The Practice of Nursing Research:
Appraisal, Synthesis, and Generation of Evidence is to
increase excitement about research and to facilitate the
development of evidence-based practice for nursing.
It is critically important that all nurses, especially those
in advanced-practice roles (nurse practitioners, clini-
cal nurse specialists, nurse anesthetists, and nurse mid-
wives) and those assuming roles as administrators and
educators, have a strong understanding of the research
methods conducted to generate evidence-based knowl-
edge for nursing practice. Graduate and undergraduate
nursing students and practicing nurses need to be
actively involved in critically appraising and synthe-
sizing research evidence for the delivery of quality,
cost-effective care. This text provides detailed content
and guidelines for implementing critical appraisal and
synthesis processes. The text also contains extensive
coverage of the research methods—quantitative, qual-
itative, outcomes, and intervention—commonly con-
ducted in nursing. Doctoral students might use this text
to facilitate their conduct of quality studies essential
for generating nursing knowledge.
The depth and breadth of content presented in this
edition reflect the increase in research activities and
the growth in research knowledge since the previous
edition. Nursing research is introduced at the bacca-
laureate level and becomes an integral part of graduate
education (master’s and doctoral) and clinical practice.
We hope that this new edition might raise the number
of nurses at all levels involved in research activities
to improve the outcomes for nursing practice.
The seventh edition is written and organized to
facilitate ease in reading, understanding, and imple-
menting the research process. The major strengths of
this text are as follows:
• State-of-the-art coverage of EBP—a topic of vital
and growing importance in a healthcare arena
focused on quality, cost-effective patient care.
• A clear, concise writing style that is consistent
among the chapters to facilitate student learning.
• Comprehensive coverage of quantitative, qualita-
tive, outcomes, and intervention research methods.
viii
• A balanced coverage of qualitative and quantitative
research methodologies.
• Electronic references and websites that direct the
student to an extensive array of information that is
important for conducting studies and using research
findings in practice.
• Rich and frequent illustration of major points and
concepts from the most current nursing research
literature from a variety of clinical practices areas.
• A strong conceptual framework that links nursing
research with EBP, theory, knowledge, and
philosophy.
Our text provides a comprehensive introduction to
nursing research for graduate and practicing nurses.
For use at the master’s and doctoral level, the text
provides not only substantive content related to
research but also practical applications based on the
authors’ experiences in conducting various types of
nursing research, familiarity with the research litera-
ture, and experience in teaching nursing research at
various educational levels.
The seventh edition of this text is now organized
into 5 units and 29 chapters. Unit One introduces the
reader to the world of nursing research. The content
and presentation of this unit have been designed to
introduce EBP, quantitative research, and qualitative
research.
Unit Two provides an in-depth presentation of the
research process for both quantitative and qualitative
research. As with previous editions, this text provides
extensive coverage of the many types of quantitative
and qualitative research.
Unit Three addresses the implications of research
for the discipline and profession of nursing. Content
is provided to direct the student in conducting critical
appraisals of both quantitative and qualitative research.
A detailed discussion of types of research synthesis
and strategies for promoting EBP is provided.
Unit Four gives students and practicing nurses the
content they need for implementing studies. This unit
includes chapters focused on data collection, statisti-
cal analysis, interpretation of research outcomes, and
dissemination of research finding.
Unit Five addresses proposal development and
seeking support for research. Readers are given

direction for developing quantitative and qualitative
research proposals and seeking funding for their
research.
The changes in the seventh edition of this text
reflect the advances in nursing research and also incor-
porate comments from outside reviewers, colleagues,
and students. Our desire to promote the continuing
development of the profession of nursing was the
incentive for investing the time and energy required
to develop this new edition.
New Content
The seventh edition provides current comprehensive
coverage of nursing research and is focused on the
learning needs and styles of today’s nursing students
and practicing nurses. Several exciting new areas of
content based on the changes and expansion in the
field of nursing research are included in this edition.
Some of the major changes from the previous edition
are as follows:
• Chapter 1, “Discovering the World of Nursing
Research,” is a strong introduction to evidence-
based practice (EBP) that is linked to nursing
research using a revised framework model for this
edition of the text.
• Chapter 2, “Evolution of Research in Building Evi-
dence-Based Nursing Practice,” has a new title
and is focused on building an EBP for nursing.
This chapter introduces the most current processes
for synthesizing research knowledge, which are
systematic reviews, meta-analyses, meta-syntheses,
and mixed-method systematic reviews. The chapter
includes a table that presents the purposes of these
syntheses, the types of research they include (the
“sampling frame”), and the analysis for achieving
the different types of syntheses. A model of the
continuum of the levels of research evidence, from
strongest to weakest evidence, is provided.
• Chapter 4, “Introduction to Qualitative Research,”
describes the philosophical perspectives that guide
the following five approaches to qualitative re-
search: (1) phenomenology, (2) grounded theory,
(3) ethnography, (4) exploratory-descriptive quali-
tative research, and (5) historical research. Excerpts
from qualitative studies are provided to emphasize
the contributions researchers using each approach
have made to nursing science.
• Chapter 6, “Review of Relevant Literature,” pro-
vides current, comprehensive strategies for search-
ing the literature to identify relevant sources.
• Chapter 9, “Ethics in Research,” features updated
coverage of (1) the Health Insurance Portability
Preface ix
and Accountability Act (HIPAA), (2) U.S. Depart-
ment of Health and Human Services (DHHS) regu-
lations for protection of human subjects in research,
and (3) U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
regulations for protection of research subjects. This
chapter also details the escalating problem of
research misconduct in all healthcare disciplines
and the actions that have been taken to manage this
problem.
• Chapter 10, “Understanding Quantitative Research
Designs,” provides new content on mixed-methods
designs that include both quantitative and qual­
itative research methods. Four common mixed-
method research strategies conducted in nursing
are discussed: sequential explanatory strategy,
sequential exploratory strategy, sequential transfor-
mative strategy, and concurrent triangulation strat-
egy. These strategies are presented using models,
narrative descriptions, and examples.
• Chapter 11, “Selecting a Quantitative Research
Design,” describes many currently used designs
that are not covered in other leading texts but that
are important to the generation of nursing knowl-
edge. It contains a detailed discussion of random-
ized controlled trials (RCTs) along with the
Consolidated Standards for Reporting Trials
(CONSORT, 2010) guidelines.
• Chapter 12, “Qualitative Research Methodology,”
is completely reorganized to address each step of
the research process from writing the problem
statement to interpreting the findings for qualitative
studies. The data collection methods of observing,
interviewing, and conducting focus groups are
described in depth. In addition, examples of using
photovoice, videos, and electronic communication
are given. Methods specific to each philosophical
approach are also discussed.
• Chapter 13, “Outcomes Research,” a unique feature
of our text, was significantly rewritten to promote
understanding of the history, significance, and
impact of outcomes research on nursing and health
care, for both students and nurses in clinical prac-
tice. New content is included on nurse-sensitive
patient outcomes, advanced-practice nursing out-
comes, and databases used in conducting outcomes
research. In addition, the methodologies for con-
ducting outcomes research have been updated and
expanded. This chapter was revised by a leading
authority in the conduct of outcomes research,
Dr. Diane Doran.
• Chapter 14, “Intervention-Based Research,” was
extensively rewritten to focus on the conduct of
intervention-based research. It offers students and
x Preface
practicing nurses detailed, current content and
guidelines for critically appraising and conducting
intervention studies. The chapter was revised by
Dr. Rosemary Polomano, an authority in the
conduct of intervention research.
• Chapter 15, “Sampling,” contains extensive cover-
age of current sampling methods and the processes
for determining sample size for quantitative and
qualitative studies. This chapter includes formulas
for calculating the acceptance and refusal rates for
potential study participants and the retention and
attrition rates for subjects participating in a study.
Additional current content is provided to assist
researchers in determining sample size for quanti-
tative and qualitative research and for recruiting
and retaining subjects for their studies.
• Chapter 16, “Measurement Concepts,” features
detailed information for examining the reliability
and validity of measurement methods and the pre-
cision and accuracy of physiological measures used
in nursing studies. Students are provided a back-
ground for understanding sensitivity, specificity,
and likelihood ratios used to determine the quality
of diagnostic tests.
• Chapter 17, “Measurement Methods Used in
Developing Evidence for Practice,” provides more
detail on the use of physiological measurement
methods in research. A growing number of nursing
studies are focused on the measurement of the
outcomes from interventions using physiological
measurement methods, and this chapter equips
the reader to understand and participate in these
studies.
• Chapter 18, “Critical Appraisal of Nursing Studies,”
has a more refined process for critically appraising
quantitative studies that consists of the following
steps: (1) identifying the steps of the research
process, (2) determining the study strengths and
weaknesses, and (3) evaluating the credibility and
meaning of a study for nursing knowledge and prac-
tice. The process of critically appraising qualitative
studies was revised to evaluate studies using the
standards of philosophical congruence, method-
ological coherence, intuitive comprehension, and
intellectual contribution.
• Chapter 19, “Evidence Synthesis with Strategies
for Promoting Evidence-Based Practice,” has
undergone extensive revision to achieve a com-
pletely new focus on how to conduct research
syntheses and use the best research evidence
in practice. The chapter now contains extensive
details for conducting systematic reviews, meta-
analyses, meta-syntheses, and mixed-method
systematic reviews. Guidelines are also provided
to direct students in evaluating these research syn-
theses, which are appearing more frequently in the
nursing and healthcare literature. Current informa-
tion is given on the activities of Evidence-Based
Practice Centers and the new initiative for funding
translation research through the National Institutes
of Health to increase the implementation of evi-
dence-based interventions in practice.
• Chapter 20, “Collecting and Managing Data,” now
covers practical aspects of developing a data collec-
tion plan, including formatting instruments, creat-
ing a data flow chart, and training data collectors. In
addition, common problems that occur during data
collection are described, with possible solutions.
• Major revisions have been made in the chapters
focused on statistical concepts and analysis tech-
niques (Chapters 21 through 25). The content is
presented in a clear, concise manner and supported
with examples of analyses conducted on actual
clinical data. Dr. Daisha Cipher, a noted statistician
and healthcare researcher, assisted with the revi-
sion of these chapters.
• Chapter 27, “Disseminating Research Findings,”
features expanded and updated content on com-
municating study findings through oral and poster
presentations and publications.
• Chapter 29, “Seeking Funding for Research,” pro-
vides current strategies to assist students and prac-
ticing nurses in obtaining funding for their studies.
Student Ancillaries
An Evolve Resources website, which is available at
http://evolve.elsevier.com/Grove/practice/, features a
wealth of assets, including the following:
• Interactive Review Questions
• Data Sets and Data Set Activities
• Sample Research Proposals
An electronic Study Guide accompanies this
edition of The Practice of Nursing Research. This
study guide is keyed chapter-by-chapter to the text. It
includes the following:
• Relevant Terms activities that help students under-
stand and apply the language of nursing research
• Key Ideas exercises that reinforce essential
concepts
• Making Connections activities that give students
practice in the higher-level skills of comprehension
and content synthesis
• Crossword Puzzles that serve not only as a clever
learning activity but also as a welcome “fun” activ-
ity for busy adult learners

• Exercises in Critical Appraisal that provide expe­
riences for students and practicing nurses to cri­
tically evaluate both quantitative and qualitative
studies
• Going Beyond activities that provide suggestions
for further study
• An Answer Key is provided at the end of each
chapter that offers immediate feedback to reinforce
learning
• A Published Studies appendix is provided for the
critical appraisal exercises in the study guide, and
other current studies are included on the Evolve
website for faculty to use in providing learning
experiences for their students.
Preface xi
Instructor Ancillaries
The Instructor Resources are available on Evolve, at
http://evolve.elsevier.com/Grove/practice/. Instructors
also have access to the online student resources. The
Instructor Resources are an Instructor’s Manual, an
expanded Test Bank including 600 questions, Power-
Point Presentations totaling more than 700 slides, and
an Image Collection consisting of most images from
the text.
 Acknowledgments
W
riting the seventh edition of this textbook
has allowed us the opportunity to examine
and revise the content of the previous
edition based on input from a number of scholarly
colleagues, the literature, and our graduate and under-
graduate students. A textbook such as this requires
synthesizing the ideas of many people and resources.
For the first time, expert contributors have revised key
chapters of this textbook. These experts have added
invaluable content in critical areas of outcomes
research, intervention research, design, data collec-
tion, and statistics. We thank these scholars for sharing
their expertise.
We have also attempted to extract from the nursing
and healthcare literature the essence of knowledge
related to the conduct of nursing research. Thus we
would like to thank those scholars who shared their
knowledge with the rest of us in nursing and who have
made this knowledge accessible for inclusion in this
textbook. The ideas from the literature were synthe-
sized and discussed with our colleagues and students
to determine the revisions needed for the seventh
edition.
We would also like to express our appreciation to
Dean Elizabeth Poster and faculty members of the
Susan K. Grove,
PhD, RN, ANP-BC, GNP-BC
xii
College of Nursing at The University of Texas at
Arlington, for their support during the long and some-
times arduous experiences that are inevitable in devel-
oping a book of this magnitude. We would also like
to thank Dr. Julie Barroso for her suggestions regard-
ing the qualitative research content in this text. We
particularly value the questions raised by our students
regarding the content of this text, which allow us a
unique view of our learners’ perceptions.
We would also like to recognize the excellent
reviews of the colleagues who helped us make impor-
tant revisions in this text. These reviewers are located
in large and small universities across the United States
and provided a broad range of research expertise.
Finally, we thank the people at Elsevier, who have
been extremely helpful to us in producing a scholarly,
attractive, appealing text. We extend a special thank
you to the people most instrumental in the develop-
ment and production of this book: Lee Henderson,
Executive Content Strategist; and Julia Curcio, Asso-
ciate Content Development Specialist. We also want
to thank others involved with the production and mar-
keting of this book—Antony Prince, Project Manager;
Karen Pauls, Designer; and Pat Crowe, Marketing
Manager.
Nancy Burns,
PhD, RN, FAAN
Jennifer Gray,
PhD, RN

Unit One
Introduction to Nursing
Research, 1
1 Discovering the World of Nursing
Research, 1
Definition of Nursing Research, 1
Framework Linking Nursing Research to the World of
Nursing, 2
Significance of Research in Building an Evidence-
Based Practice for Nursing, 11
2 Evolution of Research in Building Evidence-
Based Nursing Practice, 17
Historical Development of Research in Nursing, 17
Methodologies for Developing Research Evidence in
Nursing, 23
Classification of Research Methodologies Presented
in this Text, 25
Introduction to Best Research Evidence for Practice, 28
3 Introduction to Quantitative Research, 34
Concepts Relevant to Quantitative Research, 34
Steps of the Quantitative Research Process, 38
Selecting a Research Design, 43
Types of Quantitative Research, 49
4 Introduction to Qualitative Research, 57
Perspective of the Qualitative Researcher, 57
Approaches to Qualitative Research, 59
Unit Two
The Research Process, 73
5 Research Problem and Purpose, 73
What Is a Research Problem and Purpose?, 73
Sources of Research Problems, 75
Formulating a Research Problem and Purpose, 81
Contents
Example of Problem and Purpose Development, 83
Feasibility of a Study, 84
Example Research Topics, Problems, and Purposes
for Different Types of Research, 87
6 Review of Relevant Literature, 97
What Is “The Literature”?, 97
What Is a Literature Review?, 97
Purposes of Reviewing the Literature, 98
Practical Considerations, 100
Stages of a Literature Review, 102
Processing the Literature, 108
Writing the Review of Literature, 110
Example of a Literature Review, 112
7 Frameworks, 116
Definition of Terms, 116
Understanding Concepts, 117
Examining Relational Statements, 120
Grand Theories, 125
Application of Middle-Range Theories, 125
Appraising Theories and Research Frameworks, 127
Developing a Research Framework for Study, 130
8 Objectives, Questions, Hypotheses,
and Study Variables, 138
Formulating Research Objectives or Aims, 138
Formulating Research Questions, 140
Formulating Hypotheses, 142
Selecting Objectives, Questions, or Hypotheses for
Quantitative or Qualitative Research, 150
Identifying and Defining Study Variables, 150
Operationalizing Variables or Concepts for a
Study, 155
9 Ethics in Research, 159
Historical Events Affecting the Development of
Ethical Codes and Regulations, 159
xiii
xiv Contents
Protection of Human Rights, 163
Balancing Benefits and Risks for a Study, 175
Obtaining Informed Consent, 176
Institutional Review, 183
Research Misconduct, 187
Animals as Research Subjects, 190
14
10 Understanding Quantitative Research
Design, 195
Concepts Important to Design, 195
Study Validity, 197
Elements of a Good Design, 202
Questions to Direct Design Development and
Implementation in a Study, 207
Mixed Methods, 208
11 Selecting a Quantitative Research
Design, 214
Descriptive Study Designs, 215
Surveys, 224
Correlational Study Designs, 224
15
Defining Therapeutic Nursing Interventions, 228
Quasi-experimental Study Designs, 231
Experimental Study Designs, 244
Studies That Do Not Use Traditional Research
Designs, 254
Algorithms for Selecting Research Designs, 256
12 Qualitative Research Methodology, 264
Clinical Context and Research Problems, 264
Literature Review for Qualitative Studies, 265
Theoretical Frameworks, 265
Purposes, 266
Research Objectives or Questions, 266
16
Obtaining Research Participants, 267
Data Collection Methods, 268
Electronically Mediated Data, 276
Transcribing Recorded Data, 278
Data Management, 279
Data Analysis, 279
Methods Specific to Qualitative Approaches, 284
13 Outcomes Research, 294
Theoretical Basis of Outcomes Research, 294
Evaluating Structure, 298
Federal Government Involvement in Outcomes
Research, 300
Outcomes Research and Nursing Practice, 302
Methodologies for Outcomes Studies, 306
Disseminating Outcomes Research Findings, 318
Intervention-Based Research, 323
Intervention-Based Research Conducted by
Nurses, 323
Nursing Interventions, 324
Programs of Nursing Intervention Research, 326
Terminology for Intervention-Based Research, 329
Types of Research Designs, 335
Planning Intervention Research, 338
Design and Testing of Interventions, 339
Process of Testing the Intervention, 342
Data Collection, 345
Threats to Study Validity, 345
Critical Appraisal of Intervention-Based
Research, 345
Sampling, 351
Sampling Theory, 351
Probability (Random) Sampling Methods, 357
Nonprobability (Nonrandom) Sampling Methods
Commonly Applied in Quantitative Research, 362
Nonprobability Sampling Methods Commonly
Applied in Qualitative Research, 364
Sample Size in Quantitative Research, 367
Sample Size in Qualitative Research, 371
Research Settings, 373
Recruiting and Retaining Research
Participants, 374
Measurement Concepts, 382
Directness of Measurement, 382
Measurement Error, 383
Levels of Measurement, 385
Reference Testing of Measurement, 388
Reliability, 389
Validity, 393
Accuracy, Precision, and Error of Physiological
Measures, 402
Sensitivity, Specificity, and Likelihood Ratios, 406
 Contents xv

17 Measurement Methods Used in Developing

Evidence-Based Practice, 411
Unit Four
Analyzing Data, Determining
Physiological Measurement, 411
Observational Measurement, 421
Outcomes, and Disseminating
Interviews, 422 Research, 507
Questionnaires, 425 20 Collecting and Managing Data, 507
Scales, 429
Data Collection Modes, 507
Q-Sort Methodology, 434
Factors Influencing Data Collection, 515
Delphi Technique, 435
Data Collection and Coding Plan, 517
Diaries, 437
Pilot Study, 523
Measurement Using Existing Databases, 439
Collecting Data, 523
Selection of an Existing Instrument, 440
Serendipity, 530
Constructing Scales, 442
Having Access to Support Systems, 530
Translating a Scale to Another Language, 445
Managing Data, 531

Unit Three 21 Introduction to Statistical Analysis, 534

Putting It All Together
for Evidence-Based Health
Care, 451
18 Critical Appraisal of Nursing
Studies, 451
Evolution of Critical Appraisal of Research in
Nursing, 451
Nurses’ Expertise in Critical Appraisal of
Research, 454
Critical Appraisal Process for Quantitative
Research, 454
Critical Appraisal Process for Qualitative
Studies, 462
19 Evidence Synthesis and Strategies
for Evidence-Based Practice, 468
Benefits and Barriers Related to Evidence-Based
Nursing Practice, 468
Guidelines for Synthesizing Research Evidence, 471
Models to Promote Evidence-Based Practice in
Nursing, 493
Implementing Evidence-Based Guidelines in
Practice, 496
Evidence-Based Practice Centers, 502
Introduction to Translational Research, 503
Concepts of Statistical Theory, 534
Practical Aspects of Data Analysis, 542
Choosing Appropriate Statistical Procedures for a
Study, 546
22 Using Statistics to Describe Variables, 550
Using Statistics to Summarize Data, 550
Using Statistics to Explore Deviations in the
Data, 554
23 Using Statistics to Examine
Relationships, 560
Scatter Diagrams, 560
Bivariate Correlational Analysis, 560
Bland and Altman Plots, 565
Factor Analysis and Principal Components
Analysis, 566
24 Using Statistics to Predict, 570
Simple Linear Regression, 570
Calculation, 571
Multiple Regression, 573
Odds Ratio, 575
Logistic Regression, 576
Cox Proportional Hazards Regression, 577
xvi Contents

25 Using Statistics to Determine Seeking Approval for a Study, 644

Differences, 580
Choosing Parametric versus Nonparametric Statistics
to Determine Differences, 580
t-tests, 580
One-Way Analysis of Variance, 584
Chi-Square Test of Independence, 587
26 Interpreting Research Outcomes, 590
Examining Evidence, 590
Determining Findings, 595
Forming Conclusions, 596
Identifying Limitations, 598
Generalizing the Findings, 598
Considering Implications, 599
Recommending Further Research, 599
27 Disseminating Research Findings, 602
Content of a Research Report, 602
Audiences for Communication of Research
Findings, 619
Presenting Research Findings, 621
Publishing Research Findings, 627
Example of a Quantitative Research
Proposal, 647
29 Seeking Funding for Research, 663
Building a Program of Research, 663
Getting Started, 665
Identifying Funding Sources, 667
Submitting a Proposal for a Federal Grant, 670
Grant Management, 671
Planning Your Next Grant, 672
Appendices
Appendix A. Z Values Table, 674
Appendix B. Critical Values for Student’s t
Distribution, 677
Appendix C. Critical Values of r for Pearson Product
Moment Correlation Coefficient, 679
Appendix D. Critical Values of F for α = 0.05 and
α = 0.01, 680
Appendix E. Critical Values of the χ2 Distribution, 683
Appendix F. Statistical Power Tables
(Δ = Effect Size), 684

Glossary, 686
Unit Five
Proposing and Seeking Funding
for Research, 635 Index, 714

28 Writing Research Proposals, 635

Writing a Research Proposal, 635
Content of a Research Proposal, 636
UNIT ONE
Introduction to Nursing Research
Discovering the World
of Nursing Research
http://evolve.elsevier.com/Grove/practice/
W
elcome to the world of nursing research. You
might think it is strange to consider research
a “world,” but research is truly a new way of
experiencing reality. Entering a new world requires
learning a unique language, incorporating new rules,
and using new experiences to learn how to interact
effectively within that world. As you become a part of
this new world, your perceptions and methods of rea-
soning will be modified and expanded. Understanding
the world of nursing research is critical to providing
evidence-based care to your patients. Since the 1990s,
there has been a growing emphasis for nurses—
especially advanced practice nurses (nurse practi­
tioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse anesthetists,
and nurse midwives), administrators, educators, and
nurse researchers—to promote an evidence-based
practice in nursing (Brown, 2009; Craig & Smyth,
2012; Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2011). Evidence-
based practice in nursing requires a strong body of
research knowledge that nurses must synthesize and
use to promote quality care for their patients, families,
and communities. We developed this text to facilitate
your understanding of nursing research and its con­
tribution to the implementation of evidenced-based
nursing practice.
This chapter broadly explains the world of research.
A definition of nursing research is provided followed
by the framework for this textbook that connects
nursing research to the world of nursing. The chapter
concludes with a discussion of the significance of
research in developing an evidence-based practice for
nursing.
Definition of Nursing Research
The root meaning of the word research is “search
again” or “examine carefully.” More specifically,
1
CHAPTER
research is the diligent, systematic inquiry or investi-
gation to validate and refine existing knowledge and
generate new knowledge. The concepts systematic and
diligent are critical to the meaning of research because
they imply planning, organization, and persistence.
Many disciplines conduct research, so what distin-
guishes nursing research from research in other disci-
plines? In some ways, there are no differences, because
the knowledge and skills required to conduct research
are similar from one discipline to another. However,
when one looks at other dimensions of research within
a discipline, it is clear that research in nursing must
be unique to address the questions relevant to the
profession. Nurse researchers need to implement the
most effective research to develop a unique body of
knowledge for nursing.
The American Nurses Association (ANA, 2012)
developed the following definition of nursing that
identifies the unique body of knowledge needed by the
profession: “Nursing is the protection, promotion, and
optimization of health and abilities, prevention of
illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the
diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advo-
cacy in the care of individuals, families, communities,
and populations.” On the basis of this definition,
nursing research is needed to generate knowledge
about human responses and the best interventions to
promote health, prevent illness, and manage illness
(ANA, 2010b).
Many nurses hold the view that nursing research
should focus on acquiring knowledge that can be
directly implemented in clinical practice, which is
sometimes referred to as applied research or practical
research (Brown, 2009; Mackay, 2009). However,
another view is that nursing research should include
studies of nursing education, nursing administration,
health services, and nurses’ characteristics and roles
1
2 UNIT ONE Introduction to Nursing Research
as well as clinical situations. Riley, Beal, Levi, and
McCausland (2002) support this second view and
believe nursing scholarship should include education,
practice, and service. Research is needed to identify
teaching-learning strategies to promote nurses’ man-
agement of practice. Thus, nurse researchers are
involved in building a science for nursing education
so the teaching-learning strategies used are evidence-
based (National League for Nursing [NLN], 2009).
Nurse administrators are involved in research to
enhance nursing leadership and the delivery of quality,
cost-effective patient care. Studies of health services
and nursing roles are important to promote quality
outcomes in the nursing profession and the healthcare
system (Doran, 2011).
Thus, the knowledge generated through nursing
research provides the scientific foundation essential
for all areas of nursing. In this text, nursing research
is defined as a scientific process that validates and
refines existing knowledge and generates new knowl-
edge that directly and indirectly influences the deliv-
ery of evidence-based nursing.
Framework Linking
Nursing Research to
the World of Nursing
To best explore nursing research, we have developed
a framework to help establish connections between
research and the various elements of nursing. The
framework presented in the following pages links
nursing research to the world of nursing and is used
as an organizing model for this textbook. In the
framework model (see Figure 1-1), nursing research
is not an entity disconnected from the rest of nursing
but rather is influenced by and influences all other
nursing elements. The concepts in this model are pic-
tured on a continuum from concrete to abstract. The
discussion introduces this continuum and progresses
from the concrete concept of the empirical world of
nursing practice to the most abstract concept of
nursing philosophy. The use of two-way arrows in the
model indicates the dynamic interaction among the
concepts.
Concrete-Abstract Continuum
As previously mentioned, Figure 1-1 presents the
components of nursing on a concrete-abstract contin-
uum. This continuum demonstrates that nursing
thought flows both from concrete to abstract thinking
and from abstract to concrete. Concrete thinking is
oriented toward and limited by tangible things or by
Abstract
Philosophy
Knowledge
Science
Theory Research
Abstract
Thought
Processes
Empirical
World
(Evidence-
based nursing
practice)
Concrete
Figure 1-1 Framework linking nursing research to the world of
nursing.
events that we observe and experience in reality. Thus,
the focus of concrete thinking is immediate events that
are limited by time and space. Most nurses believe
they are concrete thinkers because they focus on the
specific actions in nursing practice. Abstract think-
ing is oriented toward the development of an idea
without application to, or association with, a particular
instance. Abstract thinkers tend to look for meaning,
patterns, relationships, and philosophical implica-
tions. This type of thinking is independent of time and
space. Currently, graduate nursing education fosters
abstract thinking, because it is an essential skill for
developing theory and creating an idea for study.
Nurses assuming advanced roles and registered nurses
(RNs) need to use both abstract and concrete thinking.
For example, a nurse practitioner must explore the
best research evidence about a practice problem
(abstract thinking) before using his or her clinical
expertise to diagnose and manage an individual
patient’s health problem (concrete thinking). RNs also
use abstract and concrete thinking to develop and
refine protocols and policies based on current research
to direct patient care.
Nursing research requires skills in both concrete
and abstract thinking. Abstract thought is required to
 CHAPTER 1 Discovering the World of Nursing Research
identify researchable problems, design studies, and
interpret findings. Concrete thought is necessary in
both planning and implementing the detailed steps of
data collection and analysis. This back-and-forth flow
between abstract and concrete thought may be one
reason why nursing research seems complex and
challenging.
Empirical World
The empirical world is what we experience through
our senses and is the concrete portion of our existence.
It is what we often call reality, and “doing” kinds of
activities are part of this world. There is a sense of
certainty about the empirical or real world; it seems
understandable, predictable, controllable. Concrete
thinking focuses on the empirical world; words associ-
ated with this thinking include “practical,” “down-to-
earth,” “solid,” and “factual.” Concrete thinkers want
facts. They want to be able to apply whatever they
know to the current situation.
The practice of nursing takes place in the empirical
world, as demonstrated in Figure 1-1. The scope of
nursing practice varies for the RN and the advanced
practice nurse (APN). RNs provide care to and coor-
dinate care for patients, families, and communities
in a variety of settings. They initiate interventions
as well as carry out treatments authorized by other
healthcare providers (ANA, 2010a). APNs, such
as nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, nurse mid-
wives, and clinical nurse specialists, have an expanded
practice. Their knowledge, skills, and expertise pro­
mote role autonomy and overlap with medical prac-
tice. APNs usually concentrate their clinical practice
in a specialty area, such as acute care, pediatrics, ger-
ontology, adult or family primary care, psychiatric-
mental health, women’s health, maternal child, or
anesthesia (ANA, 2010b). You can access the most
current nursing scope and standards for practice from
the ANA (2010a). Within the empirical world of
nursing, the goal is to provide evidence-based practice
to improve the health outcomes of individuals, fami-
lies, and communities (see Figure 1-1). The aspects
of evidence-based practice and the significance of
research in developing evidence-based practice are
covered later in this chapter.
Reality Testing Using Research
People tend to validate or test the reality of their
existence through their senses. In everyday activities,
they constantly check out the messages received from
their senses. For example, they might ask, “Am I
really seeing what I think I am seeing?” Sometimes
their senses can play tricks on them. This is why
3
instruments have been developed to record sensory
experiences more accurately. For example, does the
patient just feel hot or actually have a fever? Ther-
mometers were developed to test this sensory percep-
tion accurately. Through research, the most accurate
and precise measurement devices have been devel-
oped to assess the temperature of patients on the
basis of age and health status (Waltz, Strickland, &
Lenz, 2010). Thus, research is a way to test reality
and generate the best evidence to guide nursing
practice.
Nurses use a variety of research methods to
test their reality and generate nursing knowledge,
including quantitative research, qualitative research,
outcomes research, and intervention research. Quan-
titative research, the most frequently conducted
method, is a formal, objective, systematic meth­
odology to describe variables, test relationships, and
examine cause-and-effect interactions (Kerlinger &
Lee, 2000; Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002). Since
the 1980s, nurses have been conducting qualitative
research to generate essential theories and knowledge
for nursing. Qualitative research is a rigorous, inter-
active, holistic, subjective research approach used to
describe life experiences and give them meaning
(Marshall & Rossman, 2011; Munhall, 2012). Both
quantitative and qualitative research methods are
important to the development of nursing knowledge
(Fawcett & Garity, 2009; Munhall, 2012; Shadish et
al., 2002). Some researchers effectively combine these
two methods in implementing mixed method research
to address selected nursing research problems (Cre-
swell, 2009).
Medicine, healthcare agencies, and now nursing
are focusing on the outcomes of patient care. Out-
comes research is an important scientific methodol-
ogy that has evolved to examine the end results of
patient care and the outcomes for healthcare providers,
such as RNs, APNs, and physicians, and for healthcare
agencies (Doran, 2011). Nurses are also engaged in
intervention research, a methodology for investigat-
ing the effectiveness of nursing interventions in
achieving the desired outcomes in natural settings
(Forbes, 2009). These different types of research are
all essential to the development of nursing science,
theory, and knowledge (see Figure 1-1). Nurses have
varying roles related to research that include conduct-
ing research, critically appraising research, and using
research evidence in practice.
Roles of Nurses in Research
Generating a scientific knowledge base with imple-
mentation in practice requires the participation of all
4 UNIT ONE Introduction to Nursing Research

TABLE 1-1 Nurses’ Participation in Research at Various Levels of Education

Educational Preparation Research Functions
BSN Read and critically appraise studies. Use best research evidence in practice with
guidance. Assist with problem identification and data collection.
MSN Critically appraise and synthesize studies to develop and revise protocols, algorithms,
and policies for practice. Implement best research evidence in practice.
Collaborate in research projects and provide clinical expertise for research.
DNP Participate in evidence-based guideline development. Develop, implement, evaluate,
and revise as needed protocols, policies, and evidence-based guidelines in practice.
Conduct clinical studies, usually in collaboration with other nurse researchers.
PhD Major role in conducting independent research and contributing to the empirical
knowledge generated in a selected area of study. Obtain initial funding for
research. Coordinate research teams of BSN, MSN, and DNP nurses.
Post-doctorate Assume a full researcher role with a funded program of research. Lead and/or
participate in nursing and interdisciplinary research teams. Identified as experts in
their areas of research. Mentor PhD-prepared researchers.

nurses in a variety of research activities. Some nurses
are developers of research and conduct studies to gen-
erate and refine the knowledge needed for nursing
practice. Others are consumers of research and use
research evidence to improve their nursing practice.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing
(AACN, 2006) and ANA (2010a, 2010b) have pub-
lished statements about the roles of nurses in research.
No matter their education or position, all nurses have
roles in research and some ideas about those roles are
presented in Table 1-1. The research role a nurse
assumes usually expands with his or her advanced
education, expertise, and career path. Nurses with a
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree have
knowledge of the research process and skills in reading
and critically appraising studies. They assist with the
implementation of evidence-based guidelines, proto-
cols, algorithms, and policies in practice. In addition,
these nurses might provide valuable assistance in
identifying research problems and collecting data for
studies.
Nurses with a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
have undergone the educational preparation to criti-
cally appraise and synthesize findings from studies to
revise or develop protocols, algorithms, or policies for
use in practice. They also have the ability to identify
and critically appraise the quality of evidence-based
guidelines developed by national organizations. APNs
and nurse administrators have the ability to lead
healthcare teams in making essential changes in
nursing practice and in the healthcare system on the
basis of current research evidence. Some MSN-
prepared nurses conduct studies but usually do so in
collaboration with other nurse scientists (AACN,
2006; ANA 2010a).
The doctorate in nursing can be practice focused
(doctorate of nursing practice [DNP]) or research
focused (doctorate of philosophy [PhD]). Nurses with
DNPs are educated to have the highest level of clinical
expertise, with the ability to translate scientific knowl-
edge for use in practice. These doctorally prepared
nurses have advanced research and leadership knowl-
edge to develop, implement, evaluate, and revise
evidence-based guidelines, protocols, algorithms, and
policies for practice (Clinton & Sperhac, 2006). In
addition, DNP-prepared nurses have the expertise to
conduct and/or collaborate with clinical studies.
PhD-prepared nurses assume a major role in the
conduct of research and the generation of nursing
knowledge in a selected area of interest (Brar, Boschma,
& McCuaig, 2010). These nurse scientists often coor-
dinate research teams that include DNP-, MSN-, and
BSN-prepared nurses to facilitate the conduct of
high-quality studies in a variety of healthcare agencies.
Postdoctorate nurses usually assume full-time re-
searcher roles and have funded programs of research.
They lead interdisciplinary teams of researchers and
sometimes conduct studies in multiple settings. These
scientists often are identified as experts in selected
areas of research and provide mentoring of new PhD-
prepared researchers (AACN, 2006) (see Table 1-1).
Abstract Thought Processes
Abstract thought processes influence every element
of the nursing world. In a sense, they link all the ele-
ments together. Without skills in abstract thought, we
are trapped in a flat existence; we can experience the
empirical world, we cannot explain or understand it
(Abbott, 1952). Through abstract thinking, however,
we can test our theories (which explain the nursing
 CHAPTER 1 Discovering the World of Nursing Research
world) and then include them in the body of scientific
knowledge (Smith & Liehr, 2008). Abstract thinking
also allows scientific findings to be developed into
theories (Munhall, 2012). Abstract thought enables
both science and theories to be blended into a cohesive
body of knowledge, guided by a philosophical frame-
work, and applied in clinical practice (see Figure 1-1).
Thus, abstract thought processes are essential for syn-
thesizing research evidence and knowing when and
how to use this knowledge in practice.
Three major abstract thought processes—
introspection, intuition, and reasoning—are important
in nursing (Silva, 1977). These thought processes are
used in critically appraising and applying best research
evidence in practice, planning and implementing
research, and developing and evaluating theory.
Introspection
Introspection is the process of turning your attention
inward toward your own thoughts. It occurs at two
levels. At the more superficial level, you are aware of
the thoughts you are experiencing. You have a greater
awareness of the flow and interplay of feelings and
ideas that occur in constantly changing patterns. These
thoughts or ideas can rapidly fade from view and
disappear if you do not quickly write them down.
When you allow introspection to occur in more depth,
you examine your thoughts more critically and in
detail. Patterns or links between thoughts and ideas
emerge, and you may recognize fallacies or weak-
nesses in your thinking. You may question what
brought you to this point and find yourself really
enjoying the experience.
Imagine the following clinical situation. You have
just left John Brown’s home. John has a colostomy
and has been receiving home health care for several
weeks. Although John is caring for his colostomy, he
is still reluctant to leave home for any length of time.
You are irritated and frustrated with this situation. You
begin to review your nursing actions and to recall
other patients who reacted in similar ways. What were
the patterns of their behavior?
You have an idea: Perhaps the patient’s behavior is
linked to the level of family support. You feel unsure
about your ability to help the patient and family deal
with this situation effectively. You recall other nurses
describing similar reactions in their patients, and you
wonder how many patients with colostomies have this
problem. Your thoughts jump to reviewing the charts
of other patients with colostomies and reading rele-
vant ideas discussed in the literature. Some research
has been conducted on this topic recently, and you
could critically appraise these findings to determine
5
the level of evidence for possible use of the ideas in
practice. If the findings are inadequate, perhaps other
nurses would be interested in studying this situation
with you.
Intuition
Intuition is an insight into or understanding of a situ-
ation or event as a whole that usually cannot be logi-
cally explained (Smith, 2009). Because intuition is a
type of knowing that seems to come unbidden, it may
also be described as a “gut feeling” or a “hunch.”
Because intuition cannot be explained with ease sci-
entifically, many people are uncomfortable with it.
Some even say that it does not exist. Sometimes,
therefore, the feeling or sense is suppressed, ignored,
or dismissed as silly. However, intuition is not the lack
of knowing; rather, it is a result of deep knowledge—
tacit knowing or personal knowledge (Benner, 1984;
Polanyi, 1962, 1966). The knowledge is incorporated
so deeply within that it is difficult to bring it con-
sciously to the surface and express it in a logical
manner. One of the most commonly cited examples of
nurses’ intuition is their recognition of a patient’s
physically deteriorating condition. Odell, Victor, and
Oliver (2009) conducted a review of the research lit-
erature and described nurses’ use of intuition in clini-
cal practice. They noted that nurses have an intuition
or a knowing that something is not right with their
patients by recognizing changes in behavior and phys-
ical signs. Through clinical experience and the use of
intuition, nurses are able to recognize patterns of devi-
ations from the normal clinical course and to know
when to take action.
Intuition is generally considered unscientific and
unacceptable for use in research. In some instances,
that consideration is valid. For example, a hunch about
significant differences between one set of scores and
another set of scores is not particularly useful as an
analysis technique. However, even though intuition is
often unexplainable, it has some important scientific
uses. Researchers do not always need to be able to
explain something in order to use it. A burst of intu-
ition may identify a problem for study, indicate impor-
tant variables to measure, or link two ideas together
in interpreting the findings. The trick is to recognize
the feeling, value it, and hang on to the idea long
enough to consider it. Some researchers keep a journal
to capture elusive thoughts and hunches as they think
about their phenomenon of interest. These intuitive
hunches often become important later as they conduct
their studies.
Imagine the following situation. You have been
working in an oncology center for the past 3 years.
6 UNIT ONE Introduction to Nursing Research
You and two other nurses working in the center have
been meeting with the acute care nurse practitioner to
plan a study to determine which factors are important
for promoting positive patient outcomes in the center.
The group has met several times with a nursing profes-
sor at the university, who is collaborating with the
group to develop the study. At present, the group is
concerned with identifying the outcomes that need to
be measured and how to measure them.
You have had a busy morning. Mr. Green, a patient,
stops by to chat on his way out of the clinic. You listen,
but not attentively at first. You then become more
acutely aware of what he is saying and begin to have
a feeling about one variable that should be studied.
Although he didn’t specifically mention fear of break-
ing the news about having cancer to his children, you
sense that he is anxious about conveying bad news to
his loved ones. You cannot really explain the origin of
this feeling, something in the flow of Mr. Green’s
words has stimulated a burst of intuition. You suspect
other patients diagnosed with cancer face similar fear
and hesitation about informing their family members
of bad news, that they have cancer or that their cancer
has spread. You believe the variable “fear of breaking
bad news to loved ones” needs to be studied. You feel
both excited and uncertain. What will the other nurses
think? If the variable has not been studied, is it really
significant? Somehow, you feel that it is important to
consider.
Reasoning
Reasoning is the processing and organizing of ideas
in order to reach conclusions. Through reasoning,
people are able to make sense of their thoughts and
experiences. This type of thinking is often evident in
the verbal presentation of a logical argument in which
each part is linked together to reach a logical conclu-
sion. Patterns of reasoning are used to develop theo-
ries and to plan and implement research. Barnum
(1998) identified four patterns of reasoning as being
essential to nursing: (1) problematic, (2) operational,
(3) dialectic, and (4) logistic. An individual uses all
four types of reasoning, but frequently one type of
reasoning is more dominant than the others. Reason-
ing is also classified by the discipline of logic into
inductive and deductive modes (Chinn & Kramer,
2008).
Problematic Reasoning
Problematic reasoning involves (1) identifying a
problem and the factors influencing it, (2) selecting
solutions to the problem, and (3) resolving the problem.
For example, nurses use problematic reasoning in the
nursing process to identify diagnoses and to imple-
ment nursing interventions to resolve these problems.
Problematic reasoning is also evident when one identi-
fies a research problem and successfully develops a
methodology to examine it.
Operational Reasoning
Operational reasoning involves the identification
of and discrimination among many alternatives and
viewpoints. It focuses on the process (debating alter-
natives) rather than on the resolution (Barnum,
1998). Nurses use operational reasoning to develop
realis­tic, measurable health goals with patients and
families. Nurse practitioners use operational reason-
ing to debate which pharmacological and nonphar-
macological treatments to use in managing patient
illnesses. In research, operationalizing a treatment
for implementation and debating which measurement
methods or data analysis techniques to use in a study
require operational thought (Kerlinger & Lee, 2000;
Waltz et al., 2010).
Dialectic Reasoning
Dialectic reasoning involves looking at situations in
a holistic way. A dialectic thinker believes that the
whole is greater than the sum of the parts and that the
whole organizes the parts (Barnum, 1998). For
example, a nurse using dialectic reasoning would view
a patient as a person with strengths and weaknesses
who is experiencing an illness, and not just as the
“stroke in room 219.” Dialectic reasoning also involves
examining factors that are opposites and making sense
of them by merging them into a single unit or idea that
is greater than either alone. For example, analyzing
studies with conflicting findings and summarizing
these findings to determine the current knowledge
base for a research problem require dialectic reason-
ing. Analysis of data collected in qualitative research
requires dialectic reasoning to gain an understanding
of the phenomenon being investigated (Munhall,
2012).
Logistic Reasoning
Logic is a science that involves valid ways of relating
ideas to promote understanding. The aim of logic is to
determine truth or to explain and predict phenomena.
The science of logic deals with thought processes, such
as concrete and abstract thinking, and methods of rea-
soning, such as logistic, inductive, and deductive.
Logistic reasoning is used to break the whole into
parts that can be carefully examined, as can the rela-
tionships among the parts. In some ways, logistic rea-
soning is the opposite of dialectic reasoning. A logistic
 CHAPTER 1 Discovering the World of Nursing Research
reasoner assumes that the whole is the sum of the
parts and that the parts organize the whole. For
example, a patient states that she is cold. You logically
examine the following parts of the situation and their
relationships: (1) room temperature, (2) patient’s tem-
perature, (3) patient’s clothing, and (4) patient’s activ-
ity. The room temperature is 65° F, the patient’s
temperature is 98.6° F, and the patient is wearing
lightweight pajamas and drinking ice water. You con-
clude that the patient is cold because of external envi-
ronmental factors (room temperature, lightweight
pajamas, and drinking ice water). Logistic reasoning
is used frequently in quantitative, outcomes, and
intervention research to develop a study design, plan
and implement data collection, and conduct statistical
analyses.
Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
The science of logic also includes inductive and
deductive reasoning. People use these modes of rea-
soning constantly, although the choice of types of rea-
soning may not always be conscious (Kaplan, 1964).
Inductive reasoning moves from the specific to the
general, whereby particular instances are observed
and then combined into a larger whole or general
statement (Chinn & Kramer, 2008). An example of
inductive reasoning follows:
A headache is an altered level of health that is
stressful.
A fractured bone is an altered level of health that
is stressful.
A terminal illness is an altered level of health that
is stressful.
Therefore, all altered levels of health are
stressful.
In this example, inductive reasoning is used to
move from the specific instances of altered levels of
health that are stressful to the general belief that all
altered levels of health are stressful. By testing many
different altered levels of health through research to
determine whether they are stressful, one can confirm
the general statement that all types of altered health
are stressful.
Deductive reasoning moves from the general to
the specific or from a general premise to a particular
situation or conclusion. A premise or hypothesis is a
statement of the proposed relationship between two or
more variables. An example of deductive reasoning
follows:
PREMISES:
All human beings experience loss.
All adolescents are human beings.
CONCLUSION:
All adolescents experience loss.
7
In this example, deductive reasoning is used to move
from the two general premises about human beings
experiencing loss and adolescents being human beings
to the specific conclusion, “All adolescents experience
loss.” However, the conclusions generated from deduc-
tive reasoning are valid only if they are based on valid
premises. Consider the following example:
PREMISES:
All health professionals are caring.
All nurses are health professionals.
CONCLUSION:
All nurses are caring.
The premise that all health professionals are caring
is not necessarily valid or an accurate reflection of
reality. Research is a means to test and confirm or
refute a premise so that valid premises can be used as
a basis for reasoning in nursing practice.
Science
Science is a coherent body of knowledge composed
of research findings and tested theories for a specific
discipline (see Figure 1-1). Science is both a product
(end point) and a process (mechanism to reach an end
point) (Silva & Rothbart, 1984). An example from the
discipline of physics is Newton’s law of gravity, which
was developed through extensive research. The knowl-
edge of gravity (product) is a part of the science of
physics that evolved through formulating and testing
theoretical ideas (process). The ultimate goal of
science is to explain the empirical world and thus to
have greater control over it. To accomplish this goal,
scientists must discover new knowledge, expand
existing knowledge, and reaffirm previously held
knowledge in a discipline (Greene, 1979). Health pro-
fessionals integrate this evidence-based knowledge to
control the delivery of care and thereby improve
patient outcomes (evidence-based practice).
The science of a field determines the accepted
process for obtaining knowledge within that field.
Research is an important process for obtaining scien-
tific knowledge in nursing. Some sciences rigidly limit
the types of research that can be used to obtain knowl-
edge. A valued method for developing a science is the
traditional research process, or quantitative research.
According to this process, the information gained
from one study is not sufficient for its inclusion in the
body of science. A study must be replicated several
times and must yield similar results each time before
that information can be considered to be sound empiri-
cal evidence (Fahs, Morgan, & Kalman, 2003).
Consider the research on the relationships between
smoking, lung damage, and cancer. Numerous studies
conducted on animals and humans over the past
8 UNIT ONE Introduction to Nursing Research
decades indicate causative relationships between
smoking and lung damage and between smoking and
lung cancer. Everyone who smokes experiences lung
damage; and although not everyone who smokes gets
lung cancer, smokers are at a much higher risk for
cancer. Extensive, quality research has been con-
ducted to generate empirical evidence about the health
hazards of smoking, and this evidence guides the
actions of nurses in practice. We provide smoking
cessation education, emotional support, and drugs
like nicotine patches and Chantix (Varenicline) to
assist individuals to stop smoking. On the basis of this
scientific evidence about the hazards of smoking,
society has moved toward providing many smoke-
free environments.
Findings from studies are systematically related to
one another in a way that seems to best explain the
empirical world. Abstract thought processes are used
to make these linkages. The linkages are called laws
or principles, depending on the certainty of the facts
and relationships within the linkage. Laws express the
most certain relationships and provide the best research
evidence for use in practice. The certainty depends on
the amount of research conducted to test a relationship
and, to some extent, on the skills in abstract thought
processes to link the research findings to form mean-
ingful evidence. The truths or explanations of the
empirical world reflected by these laws and principles
are never absolutely certain and may be disproved by
further research.
Nursing is in the beginning stages of developing a
science for the profession, and additional original and
replication studies are needed to develop the knowl-
edge necessary for practice (Fahs et al., 2003; Melnyk
& Fineout-Overholt, 2011). As discussed earlier,
nursing science is being developed with the use of a
variety of research methodologies, including quantita-
tive, qualitative, outcomes, and intervention. The
focus of this textbook is to increase your understand-
ing of these different types of research used in the
development and testing of nursing theory.
Theory
A theory is a creative and rigorous structuring of ideas
used to describe, explain, predict, or control a particu-
lar phenomenon or segment of the empirical world
(Chinn & Kramer, 2008; Smith & Liehr, 2008). A
theory consists of a set of concepts that are defined
and interrelated to present a systematic view of a phe-
nomenon. A classic example is the theory of stress
developed by Selye (1976) to explain the physical and
emotional affects of illness on peoples’ lives. This
theory of stress continues to be important in under-
standing the affects of health changes on patients and
families. Extensive research has been conducted to
detail the types, number, and severity of stressors
experienced in life and the effective interventions for
managing these stressful situations.
A theory is developed from a combination of per-
sonal experiences, research findings, and abstract
thought processes. The theorist may use findings from
research as a starting point and then organize the find-
ings to best explain the empirical world. This is the
process Selye used to develop his theory of stress.
Alternatively, the theorist may use abstract thought
processes, personal knowledge, and intuition to
develop a theory of a phenomenon. This theory then
requires testing through research to determine whether
it is an accurate reflection of reality. Thus, research
has a major role in theory development, testing, and
refinement. Some forms of qualitative research focus
on developing new theories or extending existing
theories. Quantitative, outcomes, and intervention
methods of research are often implemented to test the
accuracy of theory. The study findings either support
or fail to support the theory, providing a basis for
refining the theory (Chinn & Kramer, 2008; Fawcett
& Garity, 2009).
Knowledge
Knowledge is a complex, multifaceted concept. For
example, you may say that you know your friend John,
know that the earth rotates around the sun, know how
to give an injection, and know pharmacology. These
are examples of knowing—being familiar with a
person, comprehending facts, acquiring a psychomo-
tor skill, and mastering a subject. There are differences
in types of knowing, yet there are also similarities.
Knowing presupposes order or imposes order on
thoughts and ideas (Engelhardt, 1980). People have a
desire to know what to expect. There is a need for
certainty in the world, and individuals seek it by trying
to decrease uncertainty through knowledge. Think of
the questions you ask a person who has presented
some bit of knowledge: “Is it true?” “Are you sure?”
“How do you know?” Thus, the knowledge that we
acquire is expected to be an accurate reflection of
reality.
Ways of Acquiring Nursing Knowledge
We acquire knowledge in a variety of ways and expect
it to be an accurate reflection of the real world (White,
1982). Nurses have historically acquired knowledge
through (1) traditions, (2) authority, (3) borrowing,
 CHAPTER 1 Discovering the World of Nursing Research
(4) trial and error, (5) personal experience, (6) role-
modeling and mentorship, (7) intuition, (8) reasoning,
and (9) research. Intuition, reasoning, and research
were discussed earlier in this chapter; the other ways
of acquiring knowledge are briefly described in this
section.
Traditions
Traditions consist of “truths” or beliefs that are based
on customs and past trends. Nursing traditions from
the past have been transferred to the present by written
and verbal communication and role-modeling and
continue to influence the present practice of nursing.
For example, some of the policies and procedures in
hospitals and other healthcare facilities contain tradi-
tional ideas. In addition, some nursing interventions
are transmitted verbally from one nurse to another
over the years or by the observation of experienced
nurses. For example, the idea of providing a patient
with a clean, safe, well-ventilated environment origi-
nated with Florence Nightingale (1859).
However, traditions can also narrow and limit the
knowledge sought for nursing practice. For example,
tradition has established the time and pattern for pro-
viding baths, evaluating vital signs, and allowing
patient visitation on many hospital units. The nurses
on these units quickly inform new staff members
about the accepted or traditional behaviors for the unit.
Traditions are difficult to change because people with
power and authority have accepted and supported
them for a long time. Many traditions have not been
tested for accuracy or efficiency and require research
for continued use in practice.
Authority
An authority is a person with expertise and power
who is able to influence opinion and behavior. A
person is thought of as an authority because she or he
knows more in a given area than others do. Knowl-
edge acquired from authority is illustrated when one
person credits another person as the source of informa-
tion. Nurses who publish articles and books or develop
theories are frequently considered authorities. Stu-
dents usually view their instructors as authorities, and
clinical nursing experts are considered authorities
within their clinical settings. However, persons viewed
as authorities in one field are not necessarily authori-
ties in other fields. An expert is an authority only when
addressing his or her area of expertise. Like tradition,
the knowledge acquired from authorities sometimes
has not been validated through research and is not
considered the best evidence for practice.
9
Borrowing
As some nursing leaders have noted, knowledge in
nursing practice is partly made up of information that
has been borrowed from disciplines such as medicine,
psychology, physiology, and education (McMurrey,
1982; Walker & Avant, 2011). Borrowing in nursing
involves the appropriation and use of knowledge from
other fields or disciplines to guide nursing practice.
Nursing practice has borrowed knowledge in two
ways. For years, some nurses have taken information
from other disciplines and applied it directly to
nursing practice. This information was not integrated
within the unique focus of nursing. For example,
some nurses have used the medical model to guide
their nursing practice, thus focusing on the diagnosis
and treatment of physiological diseases with limited
attention to the patient’s holistic nature. This type of
borrowing continues today as nurses use technologi-
cal advances to focus on the detection and treatment
of disease, to the exclusion of health promotion and
illness prevention.
Another way of borrowing, which is more useful
in nursing, is the integration of information from other
disciplines within the focus of nursing. Because disci-
plines share knowledge, it is sometimes difficult to
know where the boundaries exist between nursing’s
knowledge base and the knowledge bases of other
disciplines. Boundaries blur as the knowledge bases
of disciplines evolve (McMurrey, 1982). For example,
information about self-esteem as a characteristic of the
human personality is associated with psychology, but
this knowledge also directs the nurse in assessing the
psychological needs of patients and families. However,
borrowed knowledge has not been adequate to answer
many questions generated in nursing practice.
Trial and Error
Trial and error is an approach with unknown out-
comes that is used in a situation of uncertainty when
other sources of knowledge are unavailable. The
nursing profession evolved through a great deal of trial
and error before knowledge of effective practices was
codified in textbooks and journals. The trial-and-error
way of acquiring knowledge can be time-consuming,
because multiple interventions might be implemented
before one is found to be effective. There is also a risk
of implementing nursing actions that are detrimental
to a patient’s health. Because each patient responds
uniquely to a situation, however, uncertainty in nursing
practice continues. Because of the uniqueness of
patient response and the resulting uncertainty, nurses
must use trial and error in providing care. The
10 UNIT ONE Introduction to Nursing Research
trial-and-error approach to developing knowledge
would be more efficient if nurses documented the
patient and situational characteristics that provided the
context for the patient’s unique response.
Personal Experience
Personal experience is the knowledge that comes
from being personally involved in an event, situation,
or circumstance. In nursing, personal experience
enables one to gain skills and expertise by providing
care to patients and families in clinical settings. The
nurse not only learns but is able to cluster ideas into
a meaningful whole. For example, students may be
told how to give an injection in a classroom setting,
but they do not know how to give an injection until
they observe other nurses giving injections to patients
and actually give several injections themselves.
The amount of personal experience you have will
affect the complexity of your knowledge base as a
nurse. Benner (1984) described five levels of experi-
ence in the development of clinical knowledge and
expertise that are important today. These levels of
experience are (1) novice, (2) advanced beginner,
(3) competent, (4) proficient, and (5) expert. Novice
nurses have no personal experience in the work that
they are to perform, but they have preconceived
notions and expectations about clinical practice that
are challenged, refined, confirmed, or contradicted by
personal experience in a clinical setting. The advanced
beginner has just enough experience to recognize and
intervene in recurrent situations. For example, the
advanced beginner nurse is able to recognize and inter-
vene to meet patients’ needs for pain management.
Competent nurses frequently have been on the job
for 2 or 3 years, and their personal experiences enable
them to generate and achieve long-range goals and
plans (Benner, 1984). Through experience, the com-
petent nurse is able to use personal knowledge to take
conscious, deliberate actions that are efficient and
organized. From a more complex knowledge base, the
proficient nurse views the patient as a whole and as a
member of a family and community. The proficient
nurse recognizes that each patient and family have
specific values and needs that lead them to respond
differently to illness and health.
The expert nurse has had extensive experience and
is able to identify accurately and intervene skillfully
in a situation (Benner, 1984). Personal experience
increases an expert nurse’s ability to grasp a situation
intuitively with accuracy and speed. Lyneham, Parkin-
son, and Denholm (2009) studied Benner’s fifth stage
of practice development and noted the links of intu-
ition, science, knowledge, and theory to expert clinical
practice. The clinical expertise of the nurse is a critical
component of evidence-based practice. It is the expert
nurse who has the greatest skill and ability to imple-
ment the best research evidence in practice to meet the
unique values and needs of patients and families.
Role-Modeling and Mentorship
Role-modeling is learning by imitating the behaviors
of an exemplar. An exemplar or role model knows the
appropriate and rewarded roles for a profession, and
these roles reflect the attitudes and include the stan-
dards and norms of behavior for that profession (ANA,
2010a). In nursing, role-modeling enables the novice
nurse to learn from interacting with expert nurses or
following their examples. Examples of role models are
admired teachers, expert practitioners, researchers,
and illustrious individuals who inspire students, prac-
ticing nurses, educators, and researchers through their
examples.
An intense form of role-modeling is mentorship.
In a mentorship, the expert nurse, or mentor, serves
as a teacher, sponsor, guide, exemplar, and counselor
for the novice nurse (or mentee). Both the mentor and
the mentee or protégé invest time and effort, which
often result in a close, personal mentor-mentee rela-
tionship. This relationship promotes a mutual exchange
of ideas and aspirations relative to the mentee’s career
plans. The mentee assumes the values, attitudes, and
behaviors of the mentor while gaining intuitive knowl-
edge and personal experience. Mentorship is essential
for building research competence in nursing (Byrne &
Keefe, 2002).
To summarize, in nursing, a body of knowledge
must be acquired (learned), incorporated, and assimi-
lated by each member of the profession and collec-
tively by the profession as a whole. This body of
knowledge guides the thinking and behavior of the
profession and of individual practitioners. It also
directs further development and influences how
science and theory are interpreted within the discipline
(see Figure 1-1). This knowledge base is necessary in
order for health professionals, consumers, and society
to recognize nursing as a science.
Philosophy
Philosophy provides a broad, global explanation of
the world. It is the most abstract and most all-
encompassing concept in the model (see Figure 1-1).
Philosophy gives unity and meaning to the world of
nursing and provides a framework within which think-
ing, knowing, and doing occur (Kikuchi & Simmons,
1994). Nursing’s philosophical position influences its
knowledge base. How nurses use science and theories
 CHAPTER 1 Discovering the World of Nursing Research
to explain the empirical world depends on their phi-
losophy. Ideas about truth and reality, as well as
beliefs, values, and attitudes, are part of philosophy.
Philosophy asks questions such as, “Is there an abso-
lute truth, or is truth relative?” and “Is there one
reality, or is reality different for each individual?”
Everyone’s world is modified by her or his philoso-
phy, as a pair of eyeglasses would modify vision.
Perceptions are influenced first by philosophy and
then by knowledge. For example, if what you see is
not within your ideas of truth or reality, if it does not
fit your belief system, you may not see it. Your mind
may reject it altogether or may modify it to fit your
philosophy (Scheffler, 1967). For example, you might
believe that education is not effective in promoting
smoking cessation, so you do not provide your patients
this education. As you start to discover the world of
nursing research, it is important for you to keep an
open mind to the value of research and your future
role in the development or use of research evidence in
practice.
Philosophical positions commonly held within the
nursing profession include the view that human beings
are holistic, rational, and responsible. Nurses believe
that people desire health, and health is considered to
be better than illness. Quality of life is as important as
quantity of life. Good nursing care facilitates improved
patterns of health and quality of life (ANA, 2010a,
2010b). In nursing, truth is relative, and reality tends
to vary with perception (Kikuchi, Simmons, & Romyn,
1996; Silva, 1977). For example, because nurses
believe that reality varies with perception and that
truth is relative, they would not try to impose their
views of truth and reality on patients. Rather, they
would accept patients’ views of the world and help
Clinical
Expertise
Best
Research Evidence-Based
Practice
Evidence
Patient
Needs and
Values
11
them seek health from within those worldviews, an
approach that is a critical component of evidence-
based practice.
Significance of Research in
Building an Evidence-Based
Practice for Nursing
The ultimate goal of nursing is to provide evidence-
based care that promotes quality outcomes for patients,
families, healthcare providers, and the healthcare
system (Craig & Smyth, 2012; Melnyk & Fineout-
Overholt, 2011). Evidence-based practice (EBP)
evolves from the integration of the best research evi-
dence with clinical expertise and patient needs and
values (Sackett, Straus, Richardson, Rosenberg, &
Haynes, 2000). Figure 1-2 demonstrates the major
contribution of the best research evidence to the deliv-
ery of EBP. Best research evidence is the empirical
knowledge generated from the synthesis of quality
study findings to address a practice problem. A discus-
sion of the levels of best research evidence and the
sources for this evidence is presented in Chapter 2. A
team of expert researchers, healthcare professionals,
policy makers, and consumers often synthesizes the
best research evidence for developing standardized
guidelines for clinical practice. For example, research
related to the chronic health problem of hypertension
(HTN) has been conducted, critically appraised, and
synthesized by experts to develop a practice guideline
for implementation by APNs, such as nurse practi­
tioners, and physicians to ensure that patients with
HTN receive quality, cost-effective care (Chobanian
Figure 1-2 Model of evidence-based practice.
12 UNIT ONE Introduction to Nursing Research
JNC 7
Figure 1-3 Evidence-based practice for elderly
Hypertension
African-American women with hypertension
Guideline
(HTN). JNC, Joint National Committee on
(Best research
Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment
evidence)
of High Blood Pressure.
et al., 2003). The most current guidelines for the diag-
nosis and management of HTN, “The Seventh Report
of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detec-
tion, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pres-
sure: The JNC 7 Report,” were published in 2003
(Chobanian et al., 2003) and are available online at
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/hypertension. The JNC
8 Report is currently under development, with pro-
jected publication of the revised HTN guidelines
in 2012 or 2013 (see http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guide
lines/hypertension/jnc8). Many national standardized
guidelines are available through the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and profes-
sional organizations, which are discussed in more
detail in Chapters 2 and 19.
Clinical expertise is the knowledge and skills of
the healthcare professional providing care. A nurse’s
clinical expertise is determined by his or her years of
practice, current knowledge of the research and clini-
cal literature, and educational preparation. The stron-
ger the nurse’s clinical expertise, the better his or her
clinical judgment is in the delivery of quality care
(Craig & Smyth, 2012; Eizenberg, 2010). The patient’s
need(s) might focus on health promotion, illness pre-
vention, acute or chronic illness management, or reha-
bilitation (see Figure 1-2). In addition, patients bring
values or unique preferences, expectations, concerns,
and cultural beliefs to the clinical encounter. With
EBP, patients and their families are encouraged to take
an active role in managing their health care. In
summary, expert clinicians use the best research evi-
dence available to deliver quality, cost-effective care
to a patients and families with specific health needs
and values to achieve EBP (Brown, 2009; Craig &
Smyth, 2012; Sackett et al., 2000).
Nurse
Practitioner
(Clinical expert)
Women with Normal
Blood Pressure of
Less Than 120/80
(Evidence-Based Practice)
Female, elderly,
African-American
with HTN
(Patient needs
and values)
Figure 1-3 provides an example of the delivery of
evidence-based care to women with HTN. In this
example, the best research evidence on HTN is the
JNC 7 National Standardized Guideline (Chobanian et
al., 2003). An expert nurse practitioner translates this
guideline to meet the needs (chronic illness manage-
ment) and values of elderly African-American women
with HTN. In this case, the outcome of EBP is women
with a normal blood pressure, less than 120 mm Hg
systolic/80 mm Hg diastolic (see Figure 1-3). A
detailed discussion of how to locate, critically appraise,
and use national standardized guidelines in practice is
presented in Chapter 19.
In nursing, the research evidence must focus on the
description, explanation, prediction, and control of
phenomena important to practice. The following sec-
tions address the types of knowledge that need to be
generated in these four areas as nursing moves toward
EBP.
Description
Description involves identifying and understanding
the nature of nursing phenomena and, sometimes, the
relationships among them (Chinn & Kramer, 2008;
Munhall, 2012). Through research, nurses are able to
(1) explore and describe what exists in nursing prac-
tice, (2) discover new information, (3) promote under-
standing of situations, and (4) classify information for
use in the discipline. Some examples of clinically
important research evidence developed from research
focused on description include the following:
• Identification of the responses of individuals to a
variety of health conditions
• Description of the health promotion and illness pre-
vention strategies used by various populations
 CHAPTER 1 Discovering the World of Nursing Research
• Determination of the incidence of a disease locally,
nationally, and internationally
• Identification of the cluster of symptoms for a par-
ticular disease
• Description of the effects and side effects of
selected pharmacological agents in a variety of
populations
For example, Imes, Daugherty, Pyper, and Sullivan
(2011, p. 208) conducted “a qualitative study to
describe the experience of living with heart failure
(HF) from the perspective of the partner.” These
researchers synthesized their findings as follows: “The
severity of the patient’s disease limited the partner’s
lifestyle, resulting in social isolation and difficulties in
planning for the future for both the patient and the
partner. The partners were unprepared to manage the
disease burden at home without consistent information
and assistance by healthcare providers. Moreover,
end-of-life planning was neither encouraged by health-
care providers nor embraced by patients or partners”
(Imes et al., 2011, p. 208).
The findings from this study provide insights into
the experience of HF by a loved one and their experi-
ences with healthcare providers. This type of research,
focused on description, is essential groundwork for
studies that will help to explain, predict, and control
nursing phenomena.
Explanation
Explanation clarifies the relationships among phe-
nomena and clarifies why certain events occur.
Research focused on explanation provides the follow-
ing types of evidence essential for practice:
• Determination of the assessment data (both subjec-
tive data from the health history and objective data
from physical examination) needed to address a
patient’s health need
• Link of assessment data to determine a diagnosis
(both nursing and medical)
• Link of causative risk factors or etiologies to
illness, morbidity, and mortality
• Determine the relationships among health risks,
health status, and healthcare costs
For example, Manojlovich, Sidani, Covell, and
Antonakos (2011) conducted an outcomes study to
examine the links between a “nurse dose” (nurse char-
acteristics and staffing) and adverse patient outcomes.
The nurse characteristics examined were education,
experience, and skill mix. The staffing variables
included full-time employees, RN:patient ratio, and
RN hours per patient day. The adverse outcomes
examined were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus (MRSA) infections and reported patient falls
13
for a sample of inpatient adults in acute care units. The
researchers found that the nurse characteristics and
staffing variables were significantly correlated with
MRSA infections and reported patient falls. Thus, the
nursing characteristics and staffing were potential pre-
dictors of MRSA infections and patient falls. This
study illustrates how explanatory research can identify
relationships among nursing phenomena that are the
basis for future research focused on prediction and
control.
Prediction
Through prediction, one can estimate the probability
of a specific outcome in a given situation (Chinn &
Kramer, 2008). However, predicting an outcome does
not necessarily enable one to modify or control the
outcome. It is through prediction that the risk of illness
is identified and linked to possible screening methods
that will identify the illness. Knowledge generated
from research focused on prediction is critical for EBP
and includes the following:
• Prediction of the risk for a disease in different
populations
• Prediction of the accuracy and precision of a
screening instrument, such as mammogram, to
detect a disease
• Prediction of the prognosis once an illness is identi-
fied in a variety of populations
• Prediction of the impact of nursing actions on
selected outcomes
• Prediction of behaviors that promote health and
prevent illness
• Prediction of the health care required based on a
patient’s need and values
For example, Scheetz and Kolassa (2007, p. 399)
examined “crash scene variables to predict the need
for trauma center care in older persons.” The research-
ers analyzed 26 crash scene variables and developed
triage decision rules for managing persons with severe
and moderate injuries. Further research is needed to
determine whether the triage decision rules improve
the health outcomes of the elderly following trauma.
Predictive studies isolate independent variables that
require additional research to ensure that their manip-
ulation or control results in successful outcomes for
patients, healthcare professionals, and healthcare
agencies.
Control
If one can predict the outcome of a situation, the next
step is to control or manipulate the situation to produce
the desired outcome. Dickoff, James, and Wiedenbach
(1968) described control as the ability to write a
14 UNIT ONE Introduction to Nursing Research
prescription to produce the desired results. Using the
best research evidence, nurses could prescribe specific
interventions to meet the needs of patients. Nurses
need this type of research evidence to provide EBP
(see Figure 1-2). Research in the following areas is
important for generating EBP in nursing:
• Testing interventions to improve the health status
of individuals, families, and communities
• Testing interventions to improve healthcare
delivery
• Determining the quality and cost-effectiveness of
interventions
• Implementing an evidence-based intervention to
determine whether it is effective in managing a
patient’s health need (health promotion, illness pre-
vention, acute and chronic illness management, and
rehabilitation) and producing quality outcomes
Yoo, Kim, Hur, and Kim (2011) conducted a study
that examined the effect of a prescribed animation
distraction intervention on the pain response of pre-
school children during venipuncture. The intervention
or independent variable was a 3-minute animation
video that could be downloaded from the Internet and
shown to the child using a laptop computer. The pain
response was measured by the following dependent
variables: “self-reported pain response, behavioral
pain response, blood cortisol, and blood glucose” (Yoo
et al., 2011, p. 94). The researchers found a significant
difference between the experimental and control
groups for all four dependent variables of pain
response. Thus, the animation distraction intervention
was determined to be an effective method of managing
children’s pain during venipuncture. The researchers
concluded that this intervention required minimal
effort and time and might be a convenient and cost-
effective intervention to be used in clinical settings to
reduce children’s pain.
Many more studies need to be conducted to gener-
ate the research evidence in the areas of prediction and
control (Brown, 2009; Craig & Smyth, 2012; Melnyk
& Fineout-Overholt, 2011). This need for additional
nursing research provides you with many opportuni-
ties to be involved in the world of nursing research.
This chapter introduced you to the world of nursing
research and the significance of research in developing
an EBP for nursing. The following chapters will
expand your understanding of different research meth-
odologies so you can critically appraise studies, syn-
thesize research findings, and use the best research
evidence available in clinical practice. This text also
gives you a background for conducting research in
collaboration with expert nurse researchers. We think
you will find that nursing research is an exciting
adventure that holds much promise for the future prac-
tice of nursing.
KEY POINTS
• This chapter introduces you to the world of nursing
research.
• Nursing research is defined as a scientific process
that validates and refines existing knowledge and
generates new knowledge that directly and indi-
rectly influences the delivery of evidence-based
nursing practice (EBP).
• This chapter presents a framework that links nursing
research to the world of nursing and organizes the
content presented in this textbook (see Figure 1-1).
The concepts in this framework range from concrete
to abstract and include concrete and abstract think-
ing, the empirical world (evidence-based nursing
practice), research, abstract thought processes,
science, theory, knowledge, and philosophy.
• The empirical world is what we experience through
our senses and is the concrete portion of our exis-
tence where nursing practice occurs.
• Research is a way to test reality, and nurses use a
variety of research methods to test their reality and
generate nursing knowledge, such as quantitative,
qualitative, outcomes, and intervention.
• All nurses have a role in research—some are
developers of research and conduct studies to gen-
erate and refine the knowledge needed for nursing
practice, and others are consumers of research and
use research evidence to improve their nursing
practice.
• Three major abstract thought processes—
introspection, intuition, and reasoning—are impor-
tant in nursing.
• A theory is a creative and rigorous structuring of
ideas used to describe, explain, predict, or control
a particular phenomenon or segment of the empiri-
cal world.
• Reliance on tradition, authority, trial and error, and
personal experience is no longer an adequate basis
for sound nursing practice.
• The goal of nurses and other healthcare profession-
als is to deliver evidence-based health care to
patients and their families.
• EBP evolves from the integration of best research
evidence with clinical expertise and patient needs
and values (see Figure 1-2).
• The best research evidence is the empirical knowl-
edge generated from the synthesis of quality studies
to address a practice problem.
 CHAPTER 1 Discovering the World of Nursing Research
• The clinical expertise of a nurse is determined by
his or her years of clinical experience, current
knowledge of the research and clinical literature,
and educational preparation.
• The patient brings values—such as unique prefer-
ences, expectations, concerns, and cultural beliefs,
and health needs—to the clinical encounter, which
are important to consider in providing evidence-
based care.
• The knowledge generated through research is
essential for describing, explaining, predicting, and
controlling nursing phenomena.
• Nursing practice based on synthesized research
findings can have a powerful, positive impact on
patient outcomes and the healthcare system.
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 http://evolve.elsevier.com/Grove/practice/
2 CHAPTER
Evolution of Research in Building
Evidence-Based Nursing Practice
I
nitially, nursing research evolved slowly, from
Florence Nightingale’s investigations of patient
mortality in the nineteenth century to the studies
of nursing education in the 1930s and 1940s. Nurses
and nursing roles were the focus of research in the
1950s and 1960s. However, in the late 1970s and
1980s, many researchers designed studies aimed at
improving nursing practice. This emphasis continued
in the 1990s with research focused on testing the
effectiveness of nursing interventions and examining
patient outcomes. The goal in this millennium is the
development of an evidence-based practice for
nursing, with the current best research evidence being
used to deliver quality health care.
Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the conscien-
tious integration of best research evidence with
clinical expertise and patient values and needs in
the delivery of quality, cost-effective health care.
Chapter 1 presents a model depicting the elements
of EBP and provides an example (see Figures 1-2 and
1-3). You probably have many questions about
EBP because it is an evolving concept in nursing and
health care. What does “best research evidence”
mean? How is research evidence developed? Are there
levels of quality in the types of research evidence?
This chapter will increase your understanding of how
nursing research has evolved over the past 150 years
and of the current movement of the profession toward
EBP. The chapter describes the historical events rel-
evant to nursing research in building an EBP, identifies
the methodologies used in nursing to develop research
evidence, and concludes with a discussion of the best
research evidence needed to build an EBP.
Historical Development
of Research in Nursing
Some people think that research is relatively new to
nursing, but Florence Nightingale initiated nursing
research more than 150 years ago (Nightingale, 1859).
Following Nightingale’s work (1840-1910), nursing
research received minimal attention until the mid-
1900s. In the 1960s, nurses gradually recognized the
value of research, but few had the educational back-
ground to conduct studies until the 1970s. However,
in the 1980s and 1990s, research became a major force
in developing a scientific knowledge base for nursing
practice. Today, nurses obtain federal, corporate, and
foundational funding for their research, conduct
complex studies in multiple settings, and generate
sound research evidence for practice. Table 2-1 identi-
fies key historical events that have influenced the
development of nursing research and the movement
toward EBP. These events are discussed in the follow-
ing section.
Florence Nightingale
Nightingale has been described as a reformer, reac-
tionary, and researcher who influenced nursing spe-
cifically and health care in general. Nightingale’s
book, Notes on Nursing (1859), described her initial
research activities, which focused on the importance
of a healthy environment in promoting the patient’s
physical and mental well-being. She identified the
need to gather data on the environment, such as ven-
tilation, cleanliness, temperature, purity of water, and
diet, to determine their influence on the patient’s
health (Herbert, 1981).
Nightingale is also noted for her data collection and
statistical analyses during the Crimean War. She gath-
ered data on soldier morbidity and mortality rates and
the factors influencing them and presented her results
in tables and pie charts, a sophisticated type of data
presentation for the period (Cohen, 1984; Palmer,
1977). Nightingale was the first woman elected to the
Royal Statistical Society (Oakley, 2010), and her
research was highlighted in the periodical Scientific
American in 1984 (Cohen, 1984).
17
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dread of what his demon-wife might take it into her head to do now
she was foiled in her cherished ambition for her child. He had
brought a beautiful basket of roses for Mrs. Lauriston, and he
insisted on paying for their tickets himself, to save poor Nouna what
he thought might be the shock of travelling second-class. When, as
the train started, Nouna saw that, on shaking hands with her
husband, the Colonel’s eyes grew moist and kindly, she relented,
and leaning far out of the carriage window, bestowed upon her
amazed and unwilling father a kiss which, being justified only by that
relationship which he was trying so hard to conceal, was scarcely
less unwelcome than a charge of grapeshot.
The train was out of sight before he recovered a degree of
serenity, which was shaken immediately afterwards by a glimpse he
caught, as he was leaving the station, of a tall, lean man wearing a
red fez, who came out by a different door, and crossing the inclosure
in front with quick strides, was lost to his sight among the crowd in
the Strand. Although George had not informed him of all he feared
from Rahas, he had told him enough about this dark-skinned agent
of Chloris White’s to make the Colonel suspect that with all their care
they had not succeeded in evading her evil vigilance. At first he
thought he would warn George, but reflecting how common foreign
headgear of all sorts is in London, he decided that he had not
enough grounds for disturbing so soon the poor fellow’s sense of
security.
With their arrival in Paris began the third era in the married life of
George and his wife. Nouna’s delight in the bright city was so great
that at first the fact of having to live in two small rooms on the fourth
floor of a house in a narrow street off the Boulevard Poissonnière
was of no account compared with the knowledge of the pleasures
that lay outside, the walks along the lighted boulevards in the
evening before the shops were shut, the expeditions in a tramcar to
the Bois de Boulogne or Saint Cloud, above all the Sunday trips
upon the Seine on a steamer, all joys within the reach of a most
modest purse, were delirious excitements to her susceptible
temperament, in the first ecstasy of which the handsome house at
Kensington, the tropical plants, the supper parties, even the services
of her servant Sundran, were for the time forgotten. On one
memorable Sunday they indulged in a drive round the Bois in a
fiacre, and in ices at the little châlet restaurant opposite the cascade,
where the lower middle-class brides come in all their bravery of white
satin and long veil and orange-blossom wreath, looking coquettish,
happy, and at ease in the unaccustomed attire which an English girl
of the same class wears with such shamefaced awkwardness. To
Nouna that day gave a glimpse of Paradise: the fiacre was more
comfortable than her victoria in London had been, Hyde Park could
not compare with the Bois, the passers-by amused, the ice
intoxicated her. When the sunshine had faded into twilight, and they
had driven back home through the lighted streets, she climbed up
the long flights of stairs, still in a silent ecstasy, and sat down in a
little low chair George had bought for her, seeing nothing in the
gloom but moving carriages, and small trees growing thickly round a
lake that glittered in sunshine, and pretty mock châlets and a
ridiculous little waterfall that fell from nothing into nowhere.
Presently she got up and went out on to the broad balcony which,
encroaching upon the size of the rooms, was yet the chief charm of
this little home under the roof. She had hung one corner of it with
curtains, and George had contrived a canvas awning under which,
when the weather was fine, she spent most of the hours of his
absence. Her husband watched without following her as she leaned
upon the rail and looked out at the yellow glow in the west which
could still be seen behind the housetops. Suddenly she turned and
came back to him. Standing just within the window with her back to
the fading light, her face could not be seen; but her voice rang out
with a strange vibration as she called to him, holding her arms
towards him:
“George, why don’t you come out to me?”
He was with her in a moment, found her trembling and dry-lipped,
and tried to persuade her to lie down while he called to the old
woman from whom they rented the rooms, to prepare their supper.
But Nouna shook her head, and insisted on his remaining with her by
the window. Yes, she was tired, she admitted, but she wanted the air;
she would go out on the balcony again if he would go with her. As
she seemed to desire it, he let her lead him out, all the time keeping
her eyes fixed in a remarkable manner immovably on his face.
 “Look out,” she said, “at the sky—at the houses—at all you can
see.”
He let his gaze pass obediently from her face to the pale-starred
sky, the grey-blue of which was merging into the last red rays of the
disappearing sunset: to the house-roofs and chimney-pots, of which
they had a good though not an extensive view, to the street below,
with its little globes of yellow light, and the dark specks which were
all he could see of the moving passengers. Then he turned to her
curiously.
“Well, little one, I have looked at everything.”
“And you see nothing—nothing strange at all?”
“There’s a tabby cat two roofs off,” said the prosaic male
doubtfully.
“No, no,” she interrupted impatiently, still without moving her eyes
from his face. “Down below us—on the opposite side—a little to the
left—in the black shade.” Her voice had sunk gradually into a
whisper. Then she stopped.
“Well, I see nothing.”
“Not at the house where they have a floor shut up?”
George stepped forward and leaned over the rail of the balcony as
she had done, Nouna following closely and clinging to his hand. On
the opposite side, about three doors down, there was a flat on the
third floor which had borne during the first days of their residence in
Paris a large board inscribed ‘A louer.’ George saw that the board
was gone, and that one of the shutters was thrown back.
“Oh, I see they’ve let it. Well, there’s nothing to be frightened
about in that, my child.”
“You don’t notice anything else—anything strange—you don’t see
any—person?”
George started, and looked down again with searching eagerness
along the line of dead-eyed shuttered windows.
“No, child, there is nobody.”
Nouna heaved a long sigh, and looked timidly down through her
husband’s arm.
“No, it’s—gone,” she whispered.
“What is gone, dear? Tell me what you saw,” said George
caressingly, as he drew her back into the little sitting-room, where a
lamp now shed its soft light over the white table-cloth, and Madame
Barbier, who adored the picturesque young English couple, was
arranging the supper in a dainty and appetising fashion.
Nouna rubbed her eyes, and clinging to her husband’s arm, let the
words of her recital drop from her lips in a slow, hesitating and
faltering manner, as if she were fast asleep, and her brain were
working sluggishly under the half-paralysing influence of a will
stronger than her own.
“I was sitting in here,” she said, “and thinking of all the happiness
we have had to-day—the soft air and the warm sun, and your kind
eyes upon me, and all the lovely things we saw—the beautiful ladies
and the shining water, and the lights among the trees in the Champ
Elysées when we came back. And all at once,” her hands tightened
their hold upon his sleeve, “I felt that I must get up and go out—there
upon the balcony; and I looked out at the sky right in front where it
was yellow like flame, and all the pretty pictures of the day I saw
quite plainly still in my mind. But then—I don’t know how—I felt my
eyes drawn down from the bright sky, and there down below me—to
the left, I saw all black gloom, and in it I seemed to see Rahas’ room
in Mary Street, with all the pretty toys and bright shawls about just as
he used to put them for me to look at. And in the middle Rahas
himself, only not kind and gentle as he used to be, but with a wicked
cruel face, and burning eyes that frightened me. And I felt afraid, as
if I could have screamed. It seemed so strange, for even when he
used to look fierce, as he did sometimes, I never minded, and I was
never frightened. Was it a dream, George, that I saw? And if it was
only a dream, why was I afraid?”
Chiming in so appropriately with his own fears, this vision or fancy
of Nouna’s disturbed George a little. He calmed her excitement as
well as he could, and found some comfort in the fact that the crafty
Oriental had appeared to her, not as the kindly friend he had always
professed to be, but as a person inspiring horror. This seemed the
more remarkable as George had never mentioned the name of
Rahas to his wife since their wedding-day; he came, after a little
reflection, to look upon the vision as a proof of the new sympathy
which Nouna began to show with his own feelings, and to rejoice in
the fact that as the bond between him and his wife grew stronger
under the influence of his patient tenderness, the power of any
enemy to disturb their happiness was proportionately lessened. This
home peace, which was attaching Lauriston to his young wife more
strongly every day, was the more grateful to him, as his duties at the
Bank were rendered as irksome as possible to him through the
prejudice of his chief, Mr. Gurton, who never forgave the rejection of
his own candidate for the junior clerk’s post, and who scarcely
concealed his wish to find against him some lawful ground of
dissatisfaction. This George was careful not to give.
Mr. Gurton was one of those disagreeable brutes who seem to be
created as foils to show up the amiability and sweetness of ordinary
humanity. He was offensive to his few friends; he was unendurable
to the far greater number of people whom nothing but necessity
threw in his way. But as a man of business he was clear-headed,
shrewd, and enterprising, so exact and penetrating that even if he
drank, as his many detractors alleged, there seemed to be no
particular reason why he should not, as his business faculties could
not be said to be less keen at one time than at another. He hated
Lauriston from the first, bullied him on the smallest or on no
occasion, and did all in his power to induce the young fellow to throw
up his appointment. George took soft words and sour with dogged
quietness, and applied himself with all the energy of his character to
mastering every detail connected with his new profession, as
serenely as if incivility had been his daily bread for years. As a
matter of fact, the discourtesy and fault-finding of his chief did not
trouble him much; he looked upon Gurton, not without reason, as an
ill-bred brute whom one could only turn to account by noting the
methods by which he had attained such a splendid dexterity in the
management of affairs, and by thus considering him in the light of a
noisy machine it was easy to take the sting out of his insults. At the
same time this constant friction or avoidance of friction in his
business life made home and wife doubly dear and sweet to him.
On the day following Nouna’s strange vision on the balcony, he
came home at the usual time, and asked her whether she had had
any more “waking dreams.” She answered, reluctantly and shyly,
that she had not been on the balcony at all that day. George laughed
at her, and told her she should go with him, as the presence of such
a coarse creature as a man was a sure preventive of visions. She
allowed him to lead her out, being quite brave with the combined
forces of husband and sunlight. When they got on the balcony,
however, and looked to the left at the house where Nouna had
fancied she saw Rahas, a sight met their eyes which, whether a
coincidence or not, was strange enough to deepen the unpleasant
impression of the evening before.
For the shutters of the uninhabited third floor were now thrown
back, and outside the balcony hung a long strip of white calico with
this inscription in broad blue letters: “Bazar Oriental.”
George and Nouna read the words, and looked at each other in
troubled amazement.
“I’ll have this cleared up to-night,” thought George to himself.
 CHAPTER XXVI.
When, true to his determination, George Lauriston visited the new
establishment that evening and insisted on seeing the proprietor, an
explanation offered itself which robbed Nouna’s vision of most of the
mystery attaching to it. For a dapper little Frenchman, who tried to
live up to his obviously assumed business title of Ben Hassan by
wearing a scarlet fez and a pair of Turkish slippers, immediately
appeared behind the servant who opened the door, and announcing
himself with a flourishing bow as the proprietor, thrust into
Lauriston’s hand a business card, and begged him to inspect his
stock, adding that perhaps Monsieur would do him the honour to
inaugurate his business and bring him good luck by purchasing
some trifle. George consented. The Oriental bazaar consisted of
three rooms fitted up with trestles on which were placed trays full of
trumpery, gilt sequin necklaces, cheap scarves, and other so-called
Eastern wares, such as may be bought for a very small sum in the
smaller shops along the Rue de Rivoli. George bought a little feather
hand-screen, obviously an “article de Paris,” and returned to his wife
quite satisfied that it was the sight of Monsieur Ben Hassan’s red fez
at one of the windows which had conjured up in her excited
imagination the ground-floor in Mary Street and its younger
occupant.
In order to convince his wife of her mistake, George took her next
day to the establishment of Monsieur Ben Hassan, and was pleased
to find that the nervous fear which had haunted her since her
supposed vision faded away in the amusement of turning over the
cheap trinkets and toys around her, as the obsequious proprietor, an
active and voluble little Parisian, who would have been invaluable as
a showman at a country fair, encouraged her to do. George asked
him, to satisfy Nouna, whether he had not had a friend with him on
the balcony two evenings before, a foreign gentleman, in whom, he
said, he thought he recognised an old acquaintance. Ben Hassan
said No, he had been working by himself to prepare his “Bazaar” for
opening on the following day, and he had been alone except for the
occasional assistance of the servant. He admitted also, with a
charmingly candid shrug of the shoulders, that his name of Ben
Hassan was assumed, that in private life he was simply Jules
Dubois, and that there was no gentleman in the business who came
from further East than the Faubourg Saint Antoine.
Nouna, to tell the truth, hardly listened to this explanation. She
was at heart still so much a child as to find, in trying on Tunisian
earrings at a franc and a half a pair, and gold crescent brooches that
could not be warranted to retain their colour a second time of
wearing, as much pleasure as she had felt, a few weeks back, in
decking herself with her wedding diamonds. Noticing this, the artful
Ben Hassan informed the lady that he expected, in the course of a
few days, a consignment of Indian jewellery which would be well
worthy of Madame’s attention, as it was the most marvellously cheap
and beautiful assortment that had ever been seen in France.
Nouna’s face glowed with interest, which was repressed for the
moment by her husband, who said coldly that Madame did not wear
imitation jewellery; a statement which seemed calculated to be
received with doubt, as Madame, now hung from head to foot with
gilt chains and spangled handkerchiefs, was evidently very well
satisfied with herself. However, the tactful Parisian bowed low and
apologised, humbly observing that the wares in question were
continually mounted, by desire of well-known ladies of the Boulevard
Saint Germains, with real gems of the highest value. Nouna divested
herself of the trinkets with manifest regret, and was with difficulty
persuaded by her husband to buy a string of sandalwood beads
instead of the barbaric rows of eye-dazzling brass on which her
choice had first fallen. George was rather shocked; a taste for cheap
finery in his wife seemed quite a new and startling development. As
soon as they got on the stairs outside he said, in a low and puzzled
voice:
“You wouldn’t really care to have those gimcrack things, would
you, Nouna?”
She wanted to sit down on the stairs and take the paper off her
beads: stopping in the act, she looked up at him with a laugh, but yet
showing a gleam of serious meaning in her red-brown eyes.
 “Why not, if I can’t have real ones?” she said with a note of pathos
in her voice. “If I had rich things I should sell them to give you
money. But these poor ones I can keep and do you no harm.”
And George had a lump in his throat, as he often had now at
innocent speeches like this from his wife, which showed the
dawnings of a new womanly sympathy with him side by side with the
old childish love of finery and glitter.
She showed, by certain impulsive remarks in the course of the
next few days, a deep interest in the “marvellously cheap and
beautiful assortment of Indian jewellery,” of which the sham Arabian
had spoken; and when, towards the end of the week, Monsieur Ben
Hassan called one evening, not, as he assured the young
Englishman, with the intention of persuading him to buy the mock
gems which he had been informed Madame did not wear, but merely
to justify in the eyes of Monsieur the praises which he had lavished
on his own wares, Nouna showed so much eagerness to see them
that George had not the heart to deny her the pleasure. Ben Hassan
proceeded, by the light of the lamp which stood on the table amidst
the remnants of the dessert, to unfasten a little flat box which he
carried, to take out a layer of cotton-wool, and to display, against the
velvet lining, rows of flashing white gems which caused Nouna to cry
out with irrepressible admiration and longing.
“I flatter myself,” said the Parisian, laying the box on the table and
retreating a few paces with a bow, as if trusting his wares to speak
for themselves, “that there is not another firm in France which can
produce such a class of jewel for the same price.”
“Yes, yes,” said George hastily, with a shrewd guess that to see
these sparkling ornaments hidden away again in the little box and
carried off without leaving her so much as a single gem to remember
them by, would break Nouna’s heart. “But they are only sham jewels,
Monsieur Ben Hassan, and a lady who has had diamonds of her own
could not condescend to wear these.”
Nouna, who was leaning over the table, fingering the ornaments
delicately, and considering them with the intelligent interest of a
connoisseur, glanced up at her husband with a twinkle of demure
humour in her eyes, and instantly returned to her amusement with
condescension so infinite that it was not to be distinguished from the
most extravagant admiration. The astute Ben Hassan saw the look,
and bowed again with great humility.
“Monsieur, it is true an imitation is but a poor thing when you know
it is an imitation,” he said with shoulders raised and hands
outstretched in modest pleading. “But I appeal to Madame, who is
evidently a judge, if she would have known these stones from real
ones?”
Nouna hesitated, then quietly picked out a pair of diamond solitaire
earrings, and held them out under the lamp in her little pink palm.
“I should not have known these from real ones,” she said
doubtfully, and she looked up with an inquiring glance into the
Parisian’s face.
Ben Hassan drew himself up with much satisfaction.
“You hear, Monsieur,” he said proudly, “Madame would not have
known these earrings from real diamonds, and the cost of the pair is
only ten francs!”
“Ten francs!” echoed Nouna with incredulous delight.
And as she turned to her husband with a low murmur, “Oh,
George!” the paymaster saw that he was doomed. Without further
show of resistance he paid the ten francs, and signed to the bowing,
smirking Ben Hassan to pack up his traps and take himself off, which
the Parisian did, departing with a torrent of high-flown thanks for their
patronage and with every appearance of being highly satisfied with
the transaction. So contented did he seem indeed, that so soon as
the door closed behind him, and Nouna rushed into the bedroom to
try on her purchase, George instinctively took stock of all the
portable property which had been within the lively Ben Hassan’s
reach, to make sure that his ostensible occupation had not been a
cover for a predatory one. He had scarcely reassured himself on this
point when Nouna rushed in like a radiant little fire-fly, her new
ornaments twinkling in her ears, her eyes dancing with mysterious
excitement, her dress changed from a simple muslin to a ball-dress
of yellow gauzy material in honour of her brilliant bargain. She flitted
up to him almost breathlessly, and pulled his head down to her level
that she might whisper into his ear a communication which appeared
to be of vital importance.
 “Do you think,” she suggested solemnly, “that he could have made
a mistake, and that they are real?”
George laughed, and said No, he did not think it at all likely,
whereupon she was silent for a little while, and then began again in
the same tone, but with much hesitation.
“You know, George, he told me that day we went to his bazaar that
he had some real diamonds in his stock, and said that, that——”
“Well, that what?” asked her husband, keeping his voice at a
gently subdued pitch, with a intuitive feeling that a confession was
coming.
“That if I would call in—some day—by myself—he would show
them to me.”
“By yourself!” cried George, all his blood on fire in a moment.
Nouna seemed at once to become a mere terror-struck heap, and
her husband saw his fatal mistake.
“Did you go? Did you ever go?” he asked in the softest tones he
could produce. But for a few minutes she was too much frightened
even to speak, except for a muttered, “No, no, no,” as she shook and
shivered. When at last by patient gentleness he had mastered her
fear, he extracted from her, little by little, the avowal that she had met
Ben Hassan one day outside the door of the house where he lived
as she was returning home from her marketing, and that he had
persuaded her to go up stairs and see some diamonds he had just
received. At the door, however, Nouna declared that she had been
frightened by hearing another man’s voice inside, and had refused to
go in, and that Ben Hassan had brought out some earrings to show
her, and had declared that if she would like to take a pair he would
be satisfied with only a small payment to start with, and she could
pay off the rest in instalments at her convenience.
“But I was frightened, and would not, and I tossed his hand up with
the diamonds, and they fell on the floor and on the stairs, and I ran
down and left him, and have never seen him since until this
evening,” finished Nouna, hurrying to the end of her confession. “And
I know it was wrong to go up, but I didn’t go in. And now I have done
all I could by telling you everything. And you can take the earrings
back if you like, only don’t be angry with me, because I can’t bear it.”
 She burst out crying hysterically, and it was some time before she
was calm enough for her husband to be able to ask her one more
question. Did she know the voice of the man she heard talking inside
the bazaar? At first she professed she did not, but presently she
acknowledged, when asked whether it was like the voice of Rahas,
that she thought it was. Then George was very sweet to her, and
said she mustn’t trouble herself any more about the matter, that she
was a very good dear girl to tell him everything, and that it would
have been better still if she had told him at first; that she must give
up the earrings, as it was evident the man was a treacherous beast
who might get them into trouble. He added that she was tired, and
must go to bed, and fall asleep as fast as she could, and dream of
the real jewels she should have some day if she continued to be the
sweet and good little wife she now was. And so, amidst tears from
the wife and consoling kisses, the little shining ear-studs were taken
out, and George having become by this time a promising lady’s
maid, brushed out her curls for her, and tucked her up in bed, as
composedly as if nothing in the world had happened to disturb the
calm course of their daily life.
But no sooner was his wife thus disposed of than George, saying
he must write a letter and take it to the post, went out of the
bedroom, closed the door, and after waiting just long enough, as he
thought, to make Nouna think, if she was listening, that he had
written a letter, he went out and down the stairs. But Nouna had too
much native subtlety herself to be easily tricked. As soon as she
heard the outer door of the flat close, she leapt out of bed, muffled
herself up in a wrapper, and stepped out on to the balcony. She
could see that there were lights in the rooms occupied by the
Oriental Bazaar, and that the shadows of men passed and repassed
quickly on the inner side of the striped blinds. Leaning over the iron
railing, she watched in much excitement for her husband’s
appearance in the street below. In a very few minutes she heard the
wicket-gate in the porte cochére open, saw George cross the street,
and enter the house where Ben Hassan was established. She could
have cried out to him from where she stood, frozen by a great terror
lest these men, whom he had gone to punish, should be too strong
for him and should do him harm. But then, would they dare, would
they be able, even if they dared, to hurt him, the king of men? Little
by little the seed sown by patient kindness, by conscientious effort,
was moving in the earth and beginning to show itself alive. George
was not now merely the handsomest, straightest, gentlest of voice
among the men she knew, he was also the one person who never
did wrong, who if he was angry proved in the end to have what she
acknowledged to be a just cause at the bottom of his anger, whose
rather surprising notions of what one ought and ought not to do were
at least simple when one came to know him well; and whose opinion
was now beginning to have so much weight with her that this
evening it had even urged her in the strangest way to break through
her habits and make an uncomfortable confession of her own
accord. So she reasoned, arguing with herself as he crossed the
road whether or not she should try from the height of the fourth floor
to attract his attention. It would not be difficult, she felt. The influence
she was secure in possessing over him would make him stop and
look up at a call of her voice such as would scarcely be heard by the
neighbours in the adjoining flats. Suddenly she drew herself erect, a
thrill of passionate pride vibrating through her heart, and she laughed
aloud and stretched her little hands to the dark sky.
“He does not need my help, for he is one of God’s own sons,” she
whispered, and looking up steadily into the eye of night she waited,
with heart beating violently, but with head erect in valiant confidence.
He had to get up those long flights of stairs, but he would not be
long, she knew. She counted the steps he would take, picturing him
with grave, earnest face, wearing that look which, when she had
done something of which he disapproved, made her want to slide
along against the wall with her head turned away from him. The
entresol, first floor, second floor; surely by this time he must be at the
third. She clenched her fingers till the nails made red marks in her
soft palms, and strained her eyes in keen staring at the striped
blinds. The moving shadows behind them had disappeared. Ben
Hassan and Rahas—if it was he—had gone to the door when the
sharp ring came at the bell. Nouna held her breath. Surely, surely,
she heard sounds from the rooms; yes, yes, a noise of something
overturned, and then the lights were put out. The moment after, one
of the windows was burst open with a crash, and two people, whose
figures she could only see dimly in the darkness, sprang quickly, the
one after the other, out on to the balcony, climbed over on to that of
the next house, and disappeared through one of the windows. Then
there was silence for a time which seemed long to her, and she saw
a dim light reappear in the windows of the Oriental Bazaar. She
guessed that it was her husband, searching; in a few minutes the
light moved, and disappeared. She watched until she saw him
reappear in the street below, then she went back into her room, and
crept into bed again. When he came softly into the room, holding a
candle he had lit in the next room, he crept up to the bedside and
shaded the flame to look at her. As he did so, her face quivered, and
he touched her forehead lightly with his fingers. The muscles of her
mouth instinctively relaxed, and by the thrill that ran through her
frame and communicated itself to his he knew that she was awake.
“You are cold, dearest,” he whispered.
She sprang up, wide awake, full of life and love, with the bright
blood rushing up into her cheeks, and tender, passion-dark eyes.
“No, no, not now, not now,” she cried incoherently, as she threw
her arms about him. “I was cold when I thought you were going to
face those wicked men, all through my foolishness. But now you are
safe I am warm, warm, and listen, George, I am always going to be
good and tell you everything, so that you may never get into danger
through me any more.”
But George was frightened, for her feet were cold as marble, and
her lips hot and parched, and he sat up a long time beside her, afraid
lest her imprudence should have brought on a fever. Next morning
she insisted against his will on getting up. She did not feel well and
was very fanciful, astonishing him by the announcement that she
wanted to go to church. The day being Sunday, the Oriental Bazaar
was closed, and there was nothing for George to do but to gratify her
desire. He wished, as in duty bound, to take her to the English
church; but Nouna was not particular to a creed, and she had set her
heart on going to the Madeleine. So, with some scruples of
conscience, he took her to High Mass; and as she remained
perfectly quiet and attentive during the entire service, he comforted
himself with the reflection that, as what he had been taught to call
the “errors of Rome” were matters of the deepest ignorance and
indifference to her, it was hardly an ethical mistake to let her see
religion in an attractive light. When they came out he asked her
rather curiously what she thought of it.
“Oh, I liked it very, very much; I shouldn’t mind going to church
there every day,” she answered with enthusiasm.
“Why,” said George, “the service isn’t much more beautiful than
that at St. ——’s,” and he named an English ritualistic church to
which he had twice taken her in London.
“There is a difference,” she said thoughtfully.
“Well, what is it?”
Nouna considered a moment. “You know those friends of yours
that you took me to see acting in a piece at Saint George’s Hall?”
“Yes; well?”
“And then I saw the same piece acted at the Court Theatre just
before we left London?”
“Yes.”
“Well, the difference is just like that.”
George laughed. “I’ve heard people say something like that
before, Nouna.”
“Isn’t it right, then?”
“I don’t know, dear.”
“George, may I be a Roman Catholic if I like?”
“No, Nouna.”
“Why not?”
“You mustn’t choose a religion in a hurry, any more than you may
a husband. In both cases, one ought to be enough for a lifetime; and
if you once begin to change your mind about either, you never know
when to stop.”
“But I had my choice of a husband, and I didn’t of a religion; I had
to take what was given me.”
“You would never do for a Catholic, Nouna. They have to confess
all their sins, even very little ones that you think nothing of.”
“Well, that’s what you’re always wanting me to do.”
“See then. You shall go to Mass every Sunday and then confess
your sins to me, and you will be the very best of Catholics.”
“But, George, George,” she began, almost in a whisper, holding
his arm tighter, and looking away over the Place de la Concorde,
which they were now crossing, to the trees of the Tuileries, “there are
some things—not sins—that one doesn’t—like—to tell—I don’t know
why—but they make one think of so many things—that all seem new
—and make one feel—like a different person. I suppose a man—
never feels like that, but I’m a woman—quite a woman—now,
George.”
They walked on without speaking after that, till they got among the
trees; then both stopped and looked at each other—shy, for that little
whispered suggestion made each appear to the other in a new and
sanctified light. The influence of the solemn and impressive Church
rites was upon them still, and the bright sun was playing upon their
earnest faces through a moving trellis-work of leaves. They had
come to a moment which was to be the sweetest in all their lives but
one; a moment of perfect confidence, perfect happiness, perfect
hope. So they stood quite silently in an ecstasy of contented love,
each reading beautiful meanings in the other’s steadfast eyes, each
seeing and worshipping, in this moment of exalted human feeling,
what was best and most worshipful in the other. They felt so strong,
so radiant as they walked home, she leaning upon him and not
talking at all, that every evil which had been a burden yesterday and
would be a burden to-morrow, became a mere shadow slinking into
corners and dwindling into insignificance before the flood of sunshine
in their hearts. Chloris White, Rahas, Ben Hassan, and the odious
Gurton were mere names to George that day, and even when with
the following morning the drudgery and petty annoyances of
workaday life began again, he carried in his heart such a spring of
sweet human happiness that he received the snubs of his chief as
cheerfully as if they had been compliments, and bore with fortitude
the discovery that Monsieur Ben Hassan had “gone away for a few
days on business,” leaving his premises in the charge of a stolid boy
of thirteen or so, who knew nothing definite about his employer’s
movements. George therefore kept the earrings in his possession
and waited for some claim to be made. It came at the end of a week
in the shape of a bill for twelve hundred and fifty francs, ten of which
had been paid on account, for a pair of diamond ear-studs supplied
to Monsieur Lauriston. George sent back the ear-studs by registered
post with a letter threatening Ben Hassan with the police court. In a
few days he got back the ear-studs from the post-office, as the
person Ben Hassan was not to be found at the address given.
George took no further steps until he was summoned before the Civil
Tribunal, where he appeared in the full belief that he had only to
relate the facts of the case to confound Ben Hassan and lay him
open to the charge of perjury. To his great astonishment and
indignation, however, Ben Hassan solemnly swore that he had sold
the diamonds as real stones, and calling upon George to produce
them, challenged any one in the court to assert that it was possible
to suppose they could be bought for ten francs. Could the
Englishman’s wife assert that she did not know them to be real?
George had not dared to bring his wife into court, fearing the effects
of the excitement upon her. He weakened his case by asserting
emphatically that Ben Hassan was in the pay of a man who wished
to ruin him: for he had no proofs to bring forward, and the foreigner’s
halting French in which he made the accusation compared so
unfavourably with the torrent of eloquence with which the artful
Parisian refuted it, that, on Ben Hassan’s refusing to take back the
jewels, the magistrate ordered the Englishman to pay the amount
claimed, in monthly instalments of five hundred francs.
With the stolid resistance to unpleasant facts characteristic of his
nation, George treated this decision with utter contempt, and indeed
believed that Ben Hassan would not dare to push the case further.
But on arriving home one rainy day early in the following month, he
found his apartments occupied by two huissiers, who were busily
employed in dragging out into the hall poor Nouna’s trunks and such
furniture as they had bought themselves, which the landlady, anxious
to save her own things, was pointing out to them. Nouna, deathly
white and shaking from head to foot, was crouching on the sofa,
drawing her breath heavily, and watching them with bright and
burning eyes. Fear of what the consequences of this scene might be
to her sobered George in his first fierce outburst of indignation. She
had hardly moved when he came in, only glancing up at him in
shame and terror at what she knew to be the result of her own
indiscretion. He went up to the sofa and reassured her by the kind,
firm, protecting pressure of his hand upon her head, while he asked
the men by what authority they were acting. They showed him their
warrant; nothing could be more correct. He asked them whether they
would desist from their work and remain in the hall outside for half an
hour, while he went to a friend to try to raise the money. The men
consented at once, and retired while George, soothing his agitated
wife as well as he could, carried her into the next room, laid her on
the bed, and covering her with a rug, told her not to worry herself, as
it would be all right in half an hour, when he would be back again
with her, and the men would go away satisfied.
With his hand on the door he looked back yearningly. She was
quieter now, but as she leaned on her elbows and watched him with
feverish eyes, it seemed to him that her gaze was wandering and
unintelligent, and that the real matter-of-fact trouble which was
sending him on his unpleasant errand had melted in her excited
mind to a dim and horrible dread.
“George, don’t go, don’t go!” rang in his ears as he went down the
stairs and out of the house.
Poor George felt that he had never in his life had anything quite so
distasteful to do as the task he had before him now of asking a
favour of Mr. Gurton. But there was no help for it, and so he put the
best face he could upon the matter, got to the bank, where his chief
was, he knew, still at this hour to be found, and knocked at the door
of his private room.
“Come in,” called out the well-known husky voice.
Mr. Gurton was reading a letter. His face was flushed and his eyes
were dull, but he had as much command of himself as usual.
“Oh, it’s you, is it? What do you want?” he asked with the extra
shade of surliness which he used towards the people he did not like.
“Yes, sir,” said George. “I am sorry to disturb you after office hours,
but it is upon a matter of so much importance to me that I hope you
will excuse my coming to you.”
“Well, what is it? Be quick.”
The words, the appeal, stuck in the young man’s throat; but out
they must come.
“I am in pressing difficulties, sir; I can’t explain to you how now, but
it was through no fault of mine. Just now when I went home I found a
couple of men seizing my wife’s things. She is in a delicate state of
health, and I am afraid of the shock for her. Will you be so kind as to
advance me twenty pounds of my salary? I will write to my friends in
England to-night, and I shall have the money next week, and will
return it to you at once, if you please. It is a very difficult thing for me
to ask, but I hope you won’t refuse me.”
He hurried out the words, not daring to look at Mr. Gurton, who
had risen from his chair and walked over to the fireplace with a tread
which in its pompous heaviness told George before he looked up
that he had failed. There was a slight pause when he finished
speaking, Mr. Gurton rattling his watch-chain and clearing his throat.
George raised his eyes, and saw that his chief’s bloated face
expressed nothing but complacent satisfaction. Then the devil woke
in the lad with such a hungry fury that he turned hastily to the door,
afraid of himself. Mr. Gurton, unluckily, could not resist a little play
with his fish, and he called him back. George hesitated, and at last
turned slowly. Mr. Gurton paused again to find some particularly
offensive form of expression, for he thought he saw his opportunity,
by insulting the young fellow past endurance, to force him to resign
his post, and so make room for his own reputed nephew. He had
been put in possession, too, of a damaging fact against George, and
here was the occasion made to his hand, to use it.
“I’m sorry for this little misfortune, Lauriston, deuced sorry; not only
because it is quite beyond my powers to assist you, but because,
you see, it’s so particularly bad for a House that’s just starting, for
anything disreputable to be known about its employés.”
“Disreputable!” echoed George in a low voice, starting erect. “You
have no right to use such a word without knowing the facts, Mr.
Gurton.”
“Oh, I know all about the facts, and so does everybody,” said Mr.
Gurton with confidential familiarity. “You’ve got an extravagant little
madam for your wife, and somebody of course must pay the piper.”
George turned again to leave the room. Mr. Gurton, who was a
big, muscular man of six feet two, with two strides reached the door
first, admitted a lad with despatches who was waiting outside, and
held the door close as he continued:
“You must listen, sir, to what I have to say. You were received in
this House simply because we were informed that you were highly
connected, and that your social position would be an advantage to
the firm. What follows? You go nowhere, you know nobody; you are
seen in omnibuses, on penny steamers with a little oddly-dressed girl
—”
“Take care; you are speaking of my wife,” said George, in a low
tremulous voice which, with his bowed head, gave an utterly wrong
impression that he was cowed.
Mr. Gurton put his hands in his pockets.
“Well, sir, and if you choose to marry a courtesan’s daughter whom
you picked up in the slums—it is——”
Like a wild beast suddenly loosed George had him by the throat,
and with hands to which his mad anger gave a grip of steel, he
swayed the man’s huge frame once forward and flung him back with
all his force. Gasping, choking, without time to cry out, Mr. Gurton
staggered backwards, his head struck against the corner of an iron
safe that stood behind him, and he fell heavily to the floor. Lauriston
left the frightened errand-boy to pick him up, and rushed out of the
room. He had suddenly remembered that there was one more
chance; a fellow-clerk who was pretty well off lodged in the Rue
Saint Honoré. He made his way in that direction, through the still
heavily-falling rain, without another thought of the man he had just
left, except a savage wish that he had not humiliated himself by
applying to the cur.
But Mr. Gurton remained on the floor of his private room, and
neither spoke nor moved.