UNIT 4 IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH IN

NURSING
Structure
Objectives
Introduction
Nursing Research -Meaning, Definition and Importance
4.2.1 Meaning of Research
4.2.2 The Importance of Research in Nursing
4.2.3 Scope of Nursing Research
Purposes of Scientific Research
4.3.1 Description
4.3.2 Exploration
4.3.3 Prediction
Ethical Consideration in Nursing Research
4.4.1 Protecting the Rights of Human Subjects
4.4.2 Freedom from Harm
Designs for Nursing Research
4.5.1 Quantitative Research
4.5.2 Qualitative Research
Overview of Research Process
4.6.1 Steps in Research Process
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
Answers to Check Your Progress

4.0 OBJECTIVES
After going through this unit, you should be able to:
state the meaning of nursing research;
define nursing research;
describe the importance of research in nursing;
explain the scope of nursing research;
explain the ethical issues in nursing research;
discuss the purposes of research;
explain the classification system for nursing research;
@ describe the steps of research process; and
define the terms, assumptions, variables, pilot study, medline and hypothesis.

4.1 INTRODUCTION
Research is the hallmark of a professional. No profession can have its strong footing
without having its practice derived out of rigorous research endeavours. Every country in a
particular social milieu presents a different sets of unique problems calling for the profession
to devise way and means to solve them in a manner, which is in tune with the country.
Nursing is no exception. With a scientific basis, the nursing profession can do away with
repetition of useless behaviours and procedures that neither promote -better patient care
 duality Patient Care and In this unit you are going to learn the meaning definition and importance of nursink
Quality Assurance research, overview of research process, ethical consideration ?b nursing research and basic
terminology used in Research.

AND IMPORTANCE
4.2.1 Meaning of Research
The word research means "to sewch" or "to examine" carefi.dly.

In simple words the term "Research" means any kind of enquiry or information seeking
exercise more specifically. Research is defined as diligent systematic inquiry to validate and
refine existing knowledge and generate new knowledge.

Nursing Research is a systematic process that adds to knowledge through the discovery
of new facts or. relationship relating to patient care management in order to improve nursing
practices. Some research generates new facts and the other estabiishes relationship
between two or more facts.
OR.
It is a systematic application of science method to the study of phenomenon of interest to
the nursing profession.

Example 1: Does the mobility effect the incidence of bed sores in elderly ?The problem
cited above is an example of research problem where one tries to find relationship between
two phenomenon i.e. level of mobility and incidence of Bed sore and seek answer to one's
question.

4.2.2 The Importance of Research in Nursing

Nursing research is an important ingredient to improve nursing practice. A profession can
enhance its progress through continual development of a scie~tificbody of knowledge
through scientific research. f i e emergence of such a body of scizntific knowledge can be
instrumental in fastening a commitment and accountability to the profession's clientele. The
, ."-- - -. - . severdreasons-for conducting research include to:
. build body of knowledge unique to nursing
I @ improve the quality of nursing care services
establish social relevance of nursing
validate nursing as a profession.

Built a Body of Knowledge Unique to Nursing

Nurses increasingly recognize the need to extend the base of nursing knowledge as p a 5 of
professional responsibility and endorse scientific investigations as a way to achieve tMs
objective. Scientific research is the most reliable means of establishing knowledge. hbrses
need scientific knowledge in order to make important decision making relating to patient
care need and related nursing informations,

A solid research base is needed to document the effectiveness of-selected nursing

interventions in treating particular patient problems and promoting positive results. Habitual
routine and convention have guided nursing practice rather than the result of scientific
enquiry. In recent years efficacy of some practices has been questioned.

Example 2: .4n example is use of powder and spirit to prevent bed sores in imbolised
patients. This practice could find no evidence to support and activity? This is an example
of one practice whose efficacy has been in question. There are many other that have not
been investigated by scientific enquiry.

To Improve the Quality of Nursing Care Services

act in a manner so as to promote and safeguard the interests and well being of patients and Importance o f Research in
clients. maintain and improvetheir professional knowledge and competence. Therefore, all Nursing
members of the nursing profession need an understanding of the research process and the
ability and time to retrieve and assess the research critically. This is essential if professional
knowledge is to be improved and nursing is to be practiced competently. The findings of
research in nursing therefore, need to be disseminated widely if they are to be considered
by the nursing community.

To be accountable for their practice, nurses must have sound rationale for their actions.
These rationale should be based on knowledge gained through scientific research. Nurses
too have the responsibility to keep abreast with the current information appropriate for
nursing practice.
To Establish Social Relevance of Nursing .- --.-... __
Nurses today are being asked more and more than ever before to provide justification for
practices and determine the cost-effective ways of delivering them. People are recognizing
health care as a right rather than a privilege and, yith spiraling costs,various groups of A

health professionals are asking how their services contribute to the total delivery of health
care. This increased inlerest in examining health care practices makes it essential for nurses
to evaluate the efficacy of their practices shown to have no effect on clients health. These
will be the main objectives for research in nursing over the coming years. The cajl for high
standard wiil result in increasing attempt to develop scientifically credible indicators of
quality.

To Validate Nursing Profession

Research is often considered part of criteria for distinguishing nursing as a profession
rather than a service occupation. To c.omply with the criteria of profession nursing must be
based on a well defined body of specialized knowledge from other disciplines and its
relevance to nursing has not been tested. Therefore, a scientific base unique to nursing
needs to be developed to validzte nursing as a profession.

4.2.3 Scope of Nursing Research

The scope of nursing research is as broad as the scope of nursing itself. Nursing research is
not limited to aspects of care, it may be undertaken in the area of nursing education, nursing
, .. - - _ .
administration,'health care services, characteristics of nursi~g.and.nui$ingrole~,~n
additioti using research has an important role in health services research. It can be r-t---z .- --.
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undertaken to determine ways by which nuises and nursing care can contribute more
effectively to the entire specti---i;, of healthservices delivery.
> .-,
Nursing education research can provide high quality learning experiences for nursing
students. Nursing research administration and health services studieqare required to
improve the quality of health care delivery system. Studies of nurses and liursing roles can
influence nurses productivity and job satisfaction.

Summarize: Nursing Research is an important ingredient of nursing practice. Research in

nursing is required for increasing the body of knowledge, improve the quality of nursing .,
care services, social relevance of nursing and validate nursing as a profession. The scope of
nursing research is not limited to aspects of care but the scope of nursing research
'encompasses the concern of nursing practice at all levels appropriate to the role of nursing
role and the level of education.Nursing research can he!p to bridge the gap between nursing
education and nursing practice.

Let us now go to the next section where we shall discuss the purposes of scientific research.

4.3
-- PURPOSES OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
The scientific approach is a method of problem solving or a system for aquiring knowledge.
The knowledge generated through research is essential to provide a scientific basis for
description, exploration, explanation and prediction of nursing practice.
Quality Patient Care and 4.3.1 Description
Quality Assurance
Description involves identifying the nature and attributes of nursing phenomenon and
establishes relationship among these phenomenon.

Through specified research, nurses are able to describe what exists in nursing practice,
discover new informationor classify information for use in the discipline; for example, nurse
researchers have been interested in describing stress and coping mechanism, pain and
coping mechanism/management.

4.3.2 Exploration
Exploratory research aims at exploring the dimensions of the phenomenon, the manner in
which it is manifested and the other factors with which it is related. For example: a
descriptive study of pre-operatives stress might seek to document the degree of stress
patients experience before surgery and incidence of severe stress. So in exploratory study
one may investigate factors related to patient stress level and find out how does stress
manifest itself in patients with different characteri.stics. Exploratory studies are useful when
a new area or topic is being investigated or explored.

4.3.3 Prediction
As you are aware that the incidence of bedsore is more in bed ridden elderly patients than
the young patients. This is an example of prediction that determines that an elderly
immobilise patients has a greater probability of getting bedsore than young patients.
Prediction involves those situations where the researcher has the ability to predicr to some
extent, can explain the occurrences of phenomenon.

Summarise: There may be several reasons for undertaking the research description.
exploration and prediction ue examples of some of thz purposes of conducting research
studies in nursing.

Let us now proceed to the ethical consideration in nursing research in the following section.

4.4 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIQN IN NURSING

RESEARCH
Nursing professional face ethical dilemmas in their practice for example: prolongation of life
by artificial life support and testing of new products to monitor care are examples of ethical
issues or dilemmas.

Issues of ethical behaviours is central to health professionals though it has not been given
adequate attention. In simple words the term ethics refers to 2 system of principles and rules
of condition. Ethics in nursing research involves ~pplyingthose principles and actions
mandated by professional legal and social rules to protect human subjects.

The international counsel of nursing also describes the ethical concepts applied to nursing.
It says that 'inherent in nursing is respect for life' and the nurse holds in cocfidence
personal information and use the judgement in sharing them. Two important ethical issues
discussed here are:

4.4.1 Protecting the Rights of Human Subjects

Human rights are demands or privileges to which a person Is entitled. Research must
respect the rights of subject to participate in the study. Researcher will not force the
subjects into participating nor will s h e would change the purpose of study to make it more
acceptable. The main purpose of professional guidelines and ethical course is to protect the
human rights. Therefore, the researsher must weight potential benefits and risks. Human
right that require protection incl~dethe right to self- determination privacy, anonymity or
confidentiality, fair treatment and protection from harm. The right is protected when the
researcher inform the subject of all aspect of study and allow the subject to choose whether
tn n n l t i ~ i n s t en1- txr;thAt.n~it frnm tha c h l r l t r
Rights to Self Determination Importance of Research in
Nursing
The right to self determination is a person's right to act independently and make individual
decision whether or not to participate in the research study. This is ofter! termed as inform
consent.
Right to Privacy
It is an individual's freedom to determine when and how much private information will be
shared. The right is protected when an informed subject voluntarily shares private
information is obtained without subject's knowledge for example taking photograph using
Video camera and taperecorder,
Right to Anonymity or Confidentiality
The reseacher is responsible for keeping obtained information and the subject's identity
private. Confidentiality and anonymity are the mechanisms used to safeguard participants
identity. Some authorities emphasize that the respondent as cor,sumer of research may be
keen to know the result of the study. In such cases' findings of the research may be
intimated to them on the completion of research work.

4.4.2 Freedom from Harm

You have learnt the fundamental ethical principles in research relating to protecting the
rights of human subjects. Now we would like you to learn ethical principles of conducting
nursing research relating to freedom from harm.

One of the most fundamental ethical principles in research is that of beneficence, which
encompasses the maxim : Above all do no harm. Research should be conducted by
scientifically qualified people specially if potentially dangerous technical equipments or
specialized procedures are used. Exposing subject to experiences that resuit in serious or
permanent damage or disability is unacceptable. When a new medical procedure or drug is
being tested it is important to first experiment with animals or tissue cultures before
proceeding to test with humans subject to the ethical guidelines relating to the treatment of
animal subjects for research on animals. The researcher may include procedure of exposing
the subject to mild painful experience, drugs or treatment but must explain any discomfort
involved in the procedure and consent must be taken to avoid unpleasant experiences.

Sometimes psychological consequences of participating in a study may induce a state of

anxiety. an unsual emotional or painful experiences. so researcher shou!d be sensitive to the
subjects repressed feelings, efforts must be taken to calm the subject the process of data
collection should be discontinued.
Summarise: Research that involve human subject requires a careful consideration of
the procedure to use to protect their rights. Therefore ethical standards lay down for
the health research may be followed like each human subject have the right to self
determination. privacy, anonymity. confidentiality and protection from harm.

As administrator you should be aware that children and persons who are terminally ill,
mentally impaired are considered vulnerable subject and require extra precautions.

Let us now go to the next section 4.5 where we shall discuss about designs for nursing
research.

4.5 DESIGNS FOR NURSING RESEARCH

The majority of studies conducted in nursing are either quantitative or qualitative in nature.

4.5.1 Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is a formal, objective, systematic process in which numerical data are
used to obtain information. This research method is used to describe variable, examine
relationships among variables, and determine cause and effect interactions between variable
e.g. Does teaching of breathing exercises preoperatively reduce respiratory complications
Quality Patient Care and post operatively. It is an example where once tries to establish relationship between two
Quality Assurance variables i.e. breathing exercises and respiratory complications. Types of quantitave
research includes:
Descriptive Research: Helps to explore new areas of research and to describe situations
and they exist in the world.
Correlational Research is conducted to examine relationship and to develop and refine
explanatory knowledge for nursing practice.
Experimental Research
Quasi-Experimental Research: Quasi-experimental and experimental studies help to ,
determine the effectiveness of nursing interventions in producing positive outcomes for
patients and fardies.

, 4 5 2 Qualitative Research
-... .-.

Qualitative research is a systematic, subjective approach used to describe life experiences

and give them meaning. Qualitative research is essential to the development of nursing
knowledge and practices and it will be influencing health services research and help to
shape nursirig practices and the delivery of care. It offer diversity of approaches like
(1)case study. ( 2 )action research or outcome research.

Types of Qualitative Research includes:

Phenomenological Research: Phenomenological research studies examine human
experiences through the descriptions:hat are provided by the people involved.These
experiences q e called "lived experiences".
Historical Research: Historical Research is the systematic collection and critical
evaluation of data relating to past occurrences. Through historical research past mistakes
are examined to facilitate an understandi~?gof and an effective response to present
situations e.g. status of women in India before partition.
Ethnographic Research is used for investigating cultures of a group of people for example,
health practices vary among culture and these practices need to be recognized in delivering
care to patients, communities.
a) Case study Is often the first form of qualitative research undertaken by nurses because
it can fulfill the needs of educational courses that wish to expose students to the
research experience case study provides useful insight into various aspects of nursing
.. pr~blembefore the major part of the researches undertaken.
- ..--- - -
b j Acfion Research or outcome Researchis a form of sociale$&iment in which an' "

intervention is made and the results described and analysed. Action researcfviBtHe .
most appropriate strategies for the study of niirsing practice. Action resevch is low'in
cost as the researcher may already be working in the area of study. ~ u r s i caq
s an
active role in conducting outcome research by participating in multi-disciplinahi,
research team that are examining the outcome on the health care services, Thib ' ' r,

knowledge providcs a basis for improving the quality of care. . /'

-I
- f
This type of research is conducted to describe and promote understanding of human ' '

experiences such as pain, caring, powerlessness, and comfort, Qualitativb research seems to 4
be a more effective method of investigating emotional respbnses than quantitative research. '
./
Having learnt the various research designs, now let us gb to the Sec. 4.6. We skill discdfs
about the research process. 1. .
I

4.6 OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH PROCESS

I' .,
The word prxess refers to "a course of action or iroceedings" which can be followed f o ~
doing something. The research process describes the steps that one needs to follow for
conducting research.
a .'
. / -a- . ..*,. 4.6.1. Steps 'in-~esearchProcess , -!.;
,/ -. A researcher typically moves from tkhe beginn&& point of study (the posing of a question)
 Step I: Identifying problems for nursing research Importance of Research in
Nursing
The first step in the scientific process is to identify and state the research problem.Research
always starts from a question or a problem of some sort. A problem for research is a
situation in need of a solution, improvement or alteration that stimulates interest and
pronipts investigation. The resemher begins with a question "what is the problem? How
can I reduce the incidence of Nosocomial infection in hospital? What strategies or
guidelines can I plan that would be more effective to control Nosocomial infection in an
ICU?'

The question of these kinds help the researcher to identify the problem area which may be
brought initially and eventually focuses on more pertinent aspect of the question, i.e.
problem to be studied.
*.
The process that the researcher uses to arrive at the research problem is called formulating
the problem. This helps in defining the problem and research objectives clearly.

I* Defining a problem
To define a problem means to specify it in detail with precision. It means to put a fence
(boundaries) arwnd it so that it is feasible to study the problem. For example knowledge of

I
I
health care workers regding hospital waste management policies at AIIMS.Problem clearly
stated is a problem half solved . The problem should be significant or important to nursing
practice, practical in nahue, feasible and research finding should add up to the knowledge
and improve nursing practices.

A well defined problem and clearly stated objectives point out the methodology of the
study and a population on whom the results are to be generalized.
Step 2: Review of the related literature
Having identified the problem you need to examine what has been done already in the area
concerned and what is yet to be explored. This can be accomplished through the review of
literature. A review of the research literature covers a summary of earlier work on the same
or related topics. This section covers a critical analysis of earlier work that identifies what is
known about the subject area and not known about a topic or discussed issuegelevant to
the project. Possible gaps in knowledge can be identified. A discussion of methodologicpl
approaches use what mathods others find useful, difficult or not so useful should also be
incorporated. Liteatwe seatch covers:

.
Books: The research naod to be@ a 8yskmric search for badrs Each libtary has a &
catalogue. From the author index or subject index locate the book that you want from Bd
library.

Journals: Most of the research findings are first reported in journals there are cumulatIvm
journal index suchas International Nursing index, Cumulative index to nursing and allied
health, nursing studies index.

First learn how to use t

kindexes for which instructions are given in their introduction
pages. Locate the topics headings use various~lassificationsfor example to find out
research for the problem of cancer prevention you may see the subject headings:
Cancer : Meaning and Definition
Cancer : Biology and Etiology
Cancer Prevention : Primary prevention Secondfuy prevention
Modalities of treatments for cancer : Chemotherapy surgery Radiothemy

Computer Based Literature Search .

Searching literature with the aid ofcomputer saves considerable time in India MEDLARS,
MEDLINES.cancer are some of the examples of computer based literature. Retrieval of
references from this is available in many medical college libraries, WHO librsry, National
Medical Library (NML); National InformationCentre (NIC), New Delhi. There is mediline
bibliography which provides full journal citation including authors article titled journal,
Quality Patient Care and Step 3: Formulating hypothesis
Quality Assurance
A hypothesis is a statement of researcher's expectation concerning relationship between
the variables under investigations.

A hypothesis is a prediction of expected outcome, it stales the relationship the researcher

expects as a result of the study. A hypothesis predicts how thosz phenomenon are related
forexample, a problem statement might be framed as it is preeclamptic toxemia in pregnant
women associated with stress factors present during pregnancy ? This might be translated
into following hypothesis or prediction. Pregnant women with preeclamptic toxemia will
report a higher incidence of emotionally disturbing a stressful event during pregnancy than
a symptomatic pregnant women. Here you find that problem statements represent the initial
effort to give a research project direction, hypothesis represents a more formalized focus for
the collection and interpretation of data.

Step 4: Selecting a research design

Research design is an overall plan as how to obtain answers to the questions being s t ~ d y
and it indi'cate what activities the investigators and participants should be performing and
the order in which they should occur. Sample of research Design in the schematic form.
There are different research purposes therefore different research design are necessary.
The elements of research design includes the following:

Description of participants (WHO) the participant will be individual human being, couples,
families and communities.

Observation of variables (WHAT) will be the variables. Measures of time (WHEN) time
element of design is the frequency (HOW) order (WHEN) observation is to be made.

Selection of setting ( W E R E ) whether the study will be conducted in natural settings or

controlled conditions.

Step 5: Identifying the population to be studied

The population refers to the aggregate or totally of all objects, subjects or members that
confirm to a designated set of specifications for example we may specify all the individuals
who had a fetal coronary disease in Delhi during the year 2000 - 2001.

Defining population helps the researcher to specify the growth to which the results of
study can be applied.

Step 6: Specifying methods to collect the research data

In Research the investigator collects a data that are reliable and valid by using various
techniques or methods such as i) questionnaire, ii) interview and iii) observation.

Highlight is the most common research instrument comprising of number of question to be

answered by the respondent.

Interview is an oral questionaire where researcher or interviewer asks questions to the

participant or interviewee and need to consider how. While using these techniques
researcher needs to consider how each question contributes to accomplishing the purpose
of study. Questionaire an interview schedule can be used to illicit facts, beliefs, attitudes
and feelings.

Questions in~orporatedin the questionnaire may be close ended or open ended for e.g.
have you got yourself screened for diabetes (close ended question).What is the reason for
increase in the incidence of cancer? (open ended question). Designing of questionnaire1
interview schedule needs extensive review of literature, ascertain for contents validity
through experts opinion and protesting through pilot study and make modification before
administering to the subjects for final collection of data and making a subsequent plan for
scoring.

Observation is a technique used for collecting data through occurrences that can be
observed through senses. It is an important technique which can be used for study human
- . . ... . . . . -. . .
 questions about overt behaviours or events that research participants would have difficulty Importance of Research in
describing or recording. The observer may serve as a detector of behaviour, coding whether Nursing
a particular event has or has not occurred.

Observation method is more vulnerable to perclptual errors. To maximize the accuracy

training of observer is essential. Observer should be acquainted with a desired knowledge
or skills required to observe the nature of behaviour or events.
Step 7: Designing the sampling plan
Data generally collected from a sample rather than from an entire population. When the
population is too large and spread over a vast area, sampling needs to be done for the
economy of time, energy and cost. Sample size and with the rationally for choosing it should
be given. It is necessary to adopt a method of sampling by which one can generalize about
population. Sampling is of two types:
a) Probablity Sampling: It uses random proceduresfor the selection of the sample. In
probability sample every member of the population has a chance of being included in the
sample.
I
t
b) Non Probablity Sampling: In this technique there is no way of ensuring that each
, member of the population could be selected. Risk of a biased (unrepresentative)sample
is greater.
1 Step 8: Conducting pilot study
I Unforseen problem often arise in the course of the project and effect of such problem is so
severe that the study has to be stopped so that modification can be introduced for this
reason a pilot study should be conducted which is a small scale trial run of the major
studies.
Step 9: Collecting the data
During data collection phase first administrative permission must be obtained in writing. For
the collection of data researcher plan specify procedures for the actual collection of data,
where and when the data will be gathered, describing the study to the participant for
obtaining their consent than training the individuals who will be involved in the collection
of research data.
Step 10: Preparing the data for analysis
After the data are collected the preliminary activities must be performed before the actual
analysis of data can begin, one should assign identification numbers to the responses or
observations of different subjects, if this was not done previously at the time of developing
research schdol. Most often a step known as coding is required. Coding refers to the
process of translating verbal data into numerical form. For example, patients responses to a
question about his satisfaction or nursing care services during hospitalization must be
coded into positive reactions, negative reactions and neutral reactions. In the following
example you can see coding numbers assigned to different responses.
1) Patient satisfaction of nursing care services
b
1.1 positive reactions
1.2 negative reactions
1.3 neutral reactions

So the example cited above will help you to use coding during your research work.
Step 11: Analysing the data
Data collected in a study are not presented in raw form as it does not provide answer to the
research questions. Ordinarily data collected in a study are extensive and needs to be
prcsessed and analysed in some orderly coherent manner, which may be in the form of
descriptive statistics or inferential statistics so as to understand the research findings
meaningfully.

Descriptive statistics would only give an overall summary of data in terms of frequency,
percentages or averages and graphical presentation. Frequency distribution specify the
frequency with which certain values occur in a sample. Frequency distribution is used in
Quality Patient Care and relationship between two or more variables. In a frequency distribution numerical values are
Quality Assurance ordered from the lowest to the highest with a coilnt of a number of times each value was
obtained. In the following table you can see the frequency distribution and percentages
ujed in- the
. analysis of data.

Inferential Statistics enables investigator to make inferences from a sample to a large

population. Inferences may involve estimating a population, parameter h m a sample of
testing hypothesis.

Step 12: Interpretation d a b : This is the last step in the research process inteqmtation
means you can study the results of your analysis and make inferences about its
occurrences and draw conclusion about these relations.

Step 13: Disseminate information: The findings of the research should be disseminated
widely to be considered by the nursing community for its application in the respective fields
of nursing practice.

4.7 LET US-SUM UP

You have learnt about the sequential steps involved in research process.Although the
steps involved in conducting a research project and a sequence may vary somewhat from
one study to another, many of the activities are fairly standard. The m h project can be
organized into twelve following phases:
1) Identification of Problem for Nursing Research.
2) Review of related literature. '

3) Formulation of hypothesis.
4) Selecting a research design.
5) Identifying the population to be studied.
6) Specifying methods to collect the research data.
7) Design the sampling plan.
8) Conducting a pilot study.
9) Collecting the data.
.A, .. . .1 . * 4 .
 11) Analyzing the data, Importance of Research in
Nursing
12) Interpretation of data.
13) Disseminateinformation.

To conduct research you need to plan and manage the activities to be completed in a
stipulated time frame so as to achieve your objectives that is completion of your research
work or research project.

4.8 KEY WORDS

: Where the name, source or authorship remains
unknown. Anonymity refers to a state of
anonymousness.
4 Assumption : An assumption is a statement that is believed to be
true. It is a proposition whose truth is either self
evident or has been satisfactorily established by
earlier research.

Critical : Refers to making skillful analytical evaluation of the

study.

Hypothesis : A hypothesis is a statement of tentative prediction or

explanation of the relationship between two or more
variables.

Medlars : Medical literature Analysis and Retrievals System is

Computer based system of literature Retrieval. It
Provides access to both research and non-research
References.

Medline : The NLM or National Library of Medicine initiated

Medline of Medlars on line in 1971. Medline data
contain Indix Medius, International Nursing Index
and many other journal references.

Pilot Study : Pilot study is done to test the feasibility and

practicality of data collection procedure as well as the
whole research design.

Resqrch Subject/ : This refers to a person chosen for the study from
Respondent/ ' whom data is collected. These terms are used
Participant synonymously, that is, the terms have same meaning.

Variable : A variable is the chacteristic under study. It is an

abstract entity which takes on different values.

4.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1) Nursing research is a systematic process that adds to knowledge through the discovery
of new facts or relationship relating to patient care managenelit in order to improve
nursing practices.
2) a) Quantitative research
b) Qualitative research.