Notes On... Nursing Research

Preface vii

Acknowledgements ix

About the Authors x

About the Notes On… Series xii

1 An Introduction to Nursing Research 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 What Is Research? 2

1.3 Why Is Research Important to Nursing? 2

1.4 Evidence-based Nursing 4

1.5 Research Methodologies: An Overview 7

1.6 Research Aims and Objectives 14

1.7 Prioritising Patient and Public Involvement 14

1.8 Summary 19

2 Identifying Areas of Inquiry 21

2.1 Introduction 21

2.2 The Hierarchy of Evidence 21

2.3 What Is a Literature Review? 23

2.4 Relevance of Literature Reviews in Nursing 25

2.5 Developing a Literature Review Question 26

2.6 Literature Searching 29

2.7 Screening against Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria 33

2.8 Critical Appraisal 34

2.9 Reporting the Findings 36

2.10 Limitations of the Literature Review 38

2.11 Summary 38

3 Qualitative Research 39

3.1 Introduction 39

3.2 What Is Qualitative Research? 39

3.3 Qualitative Research Design and Approaches 41

3.4 Sampling in Qualitative Research 45

3.5 Sample Populations 45

3.6 Recruitment in Qualitative Research 53

3.7 Data Generation in Qualitative Research 55

3.8 Data Analysis in Qualitative Research 58

3.9 Summary 60

4 Quantitative Research 63

4.1 Introduction 63

4.2 What Is Quantitative Research? 63

4.3 Quantitative Research Designs and Approaches 65

4.4 Key Concepts in Quantitative Research 73

4.5 Sampling in Quantitative Research 78

4.6 Data Collection Methods in Quantitative Research 82

4.7 Data Analysis and Interpretation in Quantitative Research 85

4.8 Summary 92

5 Mixed Methods Research 95

5.1 Introduction 95

5.2 Strengths and Limitations of Qualitative Research 96

5.3 Strengths and Limitations of Quantitative Research 96

5.4 Mixed Methods Research 98

5.5 Summary 101

6 Ethics and Integrity in Research 103

6.1 Introduction 103

6.2 What Are Research Ethics? 103

6.3 Ethical Principles in Research 104

6.4 Applying Ethical Principles to the Conduct of a Research Study 108

6.5 Research Governance 111

6.6 Avoiding Potential Ethical Pitfalls 112

6.7 Ethical Considerations Following Completion of the Research Study 115

6.8 Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in Research 115

6.9 Summary 117

7 Evidence Synthesis 119

7.1 Introduction 119

7.2 What Is Evidence Synthesis? 120

7.3 Evidence Synthesis or a Literature Review? 121

7.4 Types of Evidence Synthesis 121

7.5 Conducting a Systematic Review 129

7.6 Summary 135

References 137

Index 143