A research study contains the following in its Introduction section: “This study was

undertaken to explore the effect of massage on total hours of sleep per 24-hour day, in persons
averaging fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night, attributable to insomnia. . . . Presumably by
increasing endorphin levels, massage seems to provide an immediate relaxation and an ability
to sleep immediately following the session, but it is unclear whether these benefits actually
extend to total sleep, despite anecdotal support. The claim that massage increases total hours
of sleep has been inadequately researched. . . . Does massage increase the total number of
hours of daily sleep? . . . It was posited that provision of daily late-morning massage would
affect total hours of sleep per 24-hour day. The study’s causational explanation was based on
the physiologic matrix of McCarthy, which includes effects of endorphins on sleep, learning
ability, pain, digestive function, and cardiac output. . . . It was taken as established fact that
massage is pleasant, that research subjects getting fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night were
sleep-deprived, and that endorphins mediated the changes observed.”

3. What is the research problem?

a. This study was undertaken to explore the effect of massage on total hours of sleep
per 24-hour day, in persons averaging fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night,
attributable to insomnia.
b. It was posited that provision of daily late-morning massage would affect total
hours of sleep per 24-hour day.
c. It was taken as established fact that massage is pleasant, that research subjects
getting fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night were sleep-deprived, and that
endorphins mediated the changes observed.
d. Presumably by increasing endorphin levels, massage seems to provide an
immediate relaxation and an ability to sleep immediately following the session, but
it is unclear whether these benefits actually extend to total sleep, despite anecdotal
support.
ANS: D
A research problem is an area of concern or phenomenon of interest about which there is a
gap in the knowledge base needed for nursing practice. The problem identifies an area of
concern or phenomenon of interest for a particular population and often indicates the concepts
to be studied.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: Page 39

4. What is the research framework?

a. It was taken as established fact that massage is pleasant, that research subjects
getting fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night were sleep-deprived, and that
endorphins mediated the changes observed.
b. Presumably by increasing endorphin levels, massage seems to provide an
immediate relaxation and an ability to sleep immediately following the session, but
it is unclear whether these benefits actually extend to total sleep, despite anecdotal
support.
c. It was posited that provision of daily late-morning massage would affect total
hours of sleep per 24-hour day.
d. The study’s causational explanation was based on the physiologic matrix of
McCarthy, which includes effects of endorphins on sleep, learning ability, pain,
digestive function, and cardiac output.
 ANS: D
A framework is the abstract, logical structure of meaning that will guide the development of a
study and enable the researcher to link the findings to the body of nursing knowledge. In
quantitative research, the framework is often a testable midrange theory that has been
developed in nursing or in another discipline, such as psychology, physiology, or sociology.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: Page 41

5. What is the research assumption?

a. This study was undertaken to explore the effect of massage on total hours of sleep
per 24-hour day, in persons averaging fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night,
attributable to insomnia.
b. It was posited that provision of daily late-morning massage would affect total
hours of sleep per 24-hour day.
c. It was taken as established fact that massage is pleasant, that research subjects
getting fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night were sleep-deprived, and that
endorphins mediated the changes observed.
d. Presumably by increasing endorphin levels, massage seems to provide an
immediate relaxation and an ability to sleep immediately following the session, but
it is unclear whether these benefits actually extend to total sleep, despite anecdotal
support. The claim that massage increases total hours of sleep has been
inadequately researched.
ANS: C
Assumptions are statements that are taken for granted or that are considered true, even though
they have not been scientifically tested. Assumptions are often embedded (unrecognized) in
thinking and behavior, and uncovering them requires introspection. Sources of assumptions
include universally accepted truths, theories, previous research, and nursing practice.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: Page 41

6. What is the research purpose?

a. This study was undertaken to explore the effect of massage on total hours of sleep
per 24-hour day, in persons averaging fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night,
attributable to insomnia.
b. It was posited that provision of daily late-morning massage would affect total
hours of sleep per 24-hour day.
c. Presumably by increasing endorphin levels, massage seems to provide an
immediate relaxation and an ability to sleep immediately following the session, but
it is unclear whether these benefits actually extend to total sleep, despite anecdotal
support. The claim that massage increases total hours of sleep has been
inadequately researched.
d. The study’s causational explanation was based on the physiologic matrix of
McCarthy, which includes effects of endorphins on sleep, learning ability, pain,
digestive function, and cardiac output.
ANS: A
 The research purpose is generated from the problem and identifies the specific focus or aim of
the study. The focus of the study might be to identify, describe, explain, or predict a solution
to a situation. The purpose often indicates the type of study to be conducted (descriptive,
correlational, quasi-experimental, or experimental) and usually includes the variables,
population, and setting for the study.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: Page 41

7. What is the research question?

a. This study was undertaken to explore the effect of massage on total hours of sleep
per 24-hour day, in persons averaging fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night,
attributable to insomnia.
b. It was posited that provision of daily late-morning massage would affect total
hours of sleep per 24-hour day.
c. Does massage increase the total number of hours of daily sleep?
d. Presumably by increasing endorphin levels, massage seems to provide an
immediate relaxation and an ability to sleep immediately following the session, but
it is unclear whether these benefits actually extend to total sleep, despite anecdotal
support.
ANS: C
Research objectives, questions, and hypotheses bridge the gap between the more abstractly
stated research problem and purpose and the study design and plan for data collection and
analysis. Objectives, questions, and hypotheses are narrower in focus than the research
purpose and often (1) specify only one or two research variables, (2) identify the relationship
between the variables, and (3) indicate the population to be studied. A research question is a
concise, interrogative statement that is worded in the present tense and includes one or more
variables (or concepts).

DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: Page 39

8. A researcher conducting a study to examine linkages among age, gender, driver’s license
suspension, and zip code poverty, educational level, and income, sourced from the records of
the State Department of Motor Vehicles, is using which of the following types of research?
a. Descriptive research
b. Correlational research
c. Problem solving
d. Triangulation
ANS: B
Through descriptive research, concepts are described and relationships are identified but not
examined. A researcher conducting a study to examine linear relationships between two or
more variables is using the quantitative research process for correlational research.
In descriptive and correlational studies, no treatment is administered, so the study design
centers on describing variables, examining relationships, and improving the precision of
measurement. In descriptive research concepts are explored and phenomena are described in
real-life situations. This approach is used to generate new knowledge about concepts or topics
about which limited or no research has been conducted. In correlational research linear
relationships between two or more variables are explored and the strength between variables
is quantified.
 DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: Page 49

9. A student completes her master’s thesis on correlates of depression in retired airline pilots,
and it is shelved in the library. Has this student communicated her research findings?
a. Yes, because the thesis is in the library and can be accessed.
b. No, because the findings have not been made available to persons who will utilize
them.
c. Yes, because the students in this particular master’s program often discuss their
work in progress.
d. No, because if the findings do not appear in print in a nursing journal, they have
not been communicated.
ANS: B
Research is not considered complete until the findings have been communicated.
Communicating research findings involves developing and disseminating a research report to
appropriate audiences; the research report is disseminated through presentations and
publications. Analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and writing a report of the findings are
essential steps in conducting research—but they do not complete the process.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: Page 49

10. Hospital nurses are observed in order to determine exactly how long nurses swab IV ports
with alcohol. Because they are being observed, they “scrub the hub” longer than they
ordinarily would have. This is an example of what concept relevant to quantitative research?
a. Bias
b. Control
c. Inaccurate operationalization of variables
d. Hawthorne effect
ANS: D
Subjects’ knowledge of a study could influence their behavior and possibly alter the research
outcomes. This threatens the validity or accuracy of the study design. An example of this type
of threat to design validity is the Hawthorne effect, which was identified during the classic
experiment at the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company during the 1920s and
1930s. The employees at this plant exhibited a particular psychological response when they
became research participants: they changed their behavior simply because they were subjects
in a study, not because of the research treatment.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: Page 38

11. A researcher studies the effect upon dental caries formation of a year-long regimen of daily
rinsing with a particularly noxious-flavored oral solution, only to discover than 285 of the 300
subjects in the study have withdrawn from it by the end of the first month. Which step in the
research process was not properly undertaken?
a. Defining the purpose
b. Conducting the literature review
c. Selecting study variables
d. Performing a pilot study
ANS: D
 A pilot study is commonly defined as a smaller version of a proposed study conducted to
refine the methodology. It is developed much like the proposed study, using similar subjects,
the same setting, the same treatment, and the same data collection and analysis techniques.
Some of the reasons for conducting pilot studies are to determine feasibility, to develop a
treatment or intervention, to develop an implementation protocol, to identify problems with
the design, to evaluate the sampling method, to examine instrument reliability or validity, to
refine instruments, to refine plans for data collection and analysis, to provide research
experience, and to evaluate data analysis techniques.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: Page 46

12. A researcher studies the effect of three one-hour counseling sessions on eliminating bullying
behaviors in teenagers. For the dependent variable, the researcher selects the outcome of being
reported to the principal’s office in the two weeks following the sessions. The results of the
research are dismissed by reviewers as meaningless, severely limiting generalization. What is
the problem here?
a. Theoretical limitations
b. Not enough independent variables
c. Methodological limitations
d. Insufficient sample size
ANS: A
Limitations are restrictions or problems in a study that may decrease the generalizability of
the findings. Study limitations often include a combination of theoretical and methodological
weaknesses. Theoretical weaknesses in a study might include poorly developed study
framework and unclear conceptual definitions of variables. The limited conceptual definitions
of the variables might decrease the operationalization or measurement of the study variables.
This is the case here, since a two-week measuring period is sufficient only for purposes of
suppressing a behavior, not changing it. Methodological limitations result from factors such as
nonrepresentative samples, weak designs, single setting, limited control over treatment
(intervention), instruments with limited reliability and validity, limited control over data
collection, and improper use of statistical analyses. These study limitations can limit the
credibility of the findings and conclusions and restrict the population to which the findings
can be generalized.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: Page 48

13. Which is the best statement that differentiates between the sizes of samples and populations?
a. A sample has a maximum size; a population does not.
b. A sample cannot be the same size as a population.
c. If a person is a member of a population, he or she is a member of the sample
chosen from that population.
d. A population is usually larger than a sample.
ANS: D
The population is all the elements (individuals, objects, or substances) that meet certain
criteria for inclusion in a given universe. The researcher must determine which population is
accessible and can be best represented by the study sample. A sample is a subset of the
population that is selected for a particular study. Being a subset, the sample is either smaller
than the population or, very occasionally, equal in size to it; it cannot be larger.