IDENTIFYING A NURSING PROBLEM, PURPOSE, AND LITERATURE REVIEW

1. IDENTIFYING A NURSING PROBLEM, PURPOSE, AND LITERATURE REVIEW AMENABLE TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH STUDIES CLASS 3 JUDITH ANNE SHAW, Ph.D., R.N. September 30, 2009

2. REMINDER

3. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH SIMULTANEITY PARADIGM

4. AIMQUALIATIVE RESEARCH TO UNDERSTAND THE INDIVIDUAL’S MEANING OF THE WHOLE OF THEIR HUMAN EXPERIENCE

5. QUALITATIVE RESEACHER • The instrument • The bricoleur

6. CORE ACTIVITIESQUALITATIVE RESEARCH • Identifying question about the phenomenon • Literature review • Explicating researcher’s beliefs • Bracketing • Setting for data collection • Selection of participants • Saturation • Data analysis

7. RESEARCH TOPICS • FOCUS ON CURRENT CONCERNS AND ISSUES • CONCEPTS OR BROAD PROBLEM AREAS

8. IDENTIFYING A NURSING PROBLEM

9. Broad Problem Areas • Contain countless potential research problems

10. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE NURSE RESEARCHER? Nursing research topics focus on: • areas controlled by nursing • areas that will influence nursing practice

11. Research Problem “A situation in need of: • a solution, • an improvement, • alteration” (Adebo, 1974, p. 53) • greater understanding of the phenomenon (Speziale & Carpenter, 2007)

12. Research Problem • May be simply defined as: • what is and what should be from the perspective of those experiencing the phenomenon • what is the meaning of the phenomenon of interest

13. Questions to ask to identify a problem • What …. • is wrong • is a concern • known/not known • knowledge is needed • Where… • are discrepancies • Would… • another process be more empowering

14. WHERE CAN YOU FIND NURSING RESEARCH PROBLEMS? • NURSING PRACTICE • RESEARCHER AND PEER INTERACTION • LITERATURE REVIEW • replication of studies • THEORY • RESEARCH PRIORITIES

15. A RESEARCH PROBLEM SHOULD INDICATE: • practice experience • a gap or inconsistent finding in the literature • an interest in an untested theory • limited understanding of a phenomenon

16. REFINING THE PROBLEM STATEMENT Refinement- the researcher’s thinking

17. Refining Researcher’s Thinking Defining a specific problem area *Review of relevant literature (*varies with qualitative approach) Examine the problem’s significance to nursing Pragmatically examine the feasibility of the research problem

18. Problem Statement Crux of the research project Involves reflection and creativity Refinement of the researcher’s thinking

19. Six ElementsProblem Statement • Information about what provoked the study • Scope of problem • Why important to study the problem • Benefit to nursing science • General characteristics- population of interest • Overall study goal/aim or question to be answered Thomas, 2000

20. Characteristics of a Good Problem Statement #1 Clearly identify: • phenomenon • culture • concepts under consideration • variables (*generally quantitative research)

21. Characteristics of a Good Problem Statement #2 Clear and concise

22. Characteristics of a Good Problem Statement #3 Justification of need • gap in the literature • conflicting findings • omission of a group • limited understanding of the phenomenon

23. KEY PHRASES • Little is known about…. • Findings of previous studies are conflicting • Few studies of this have been done

24. HOW MUCH MILEAGE CAN YOU GET FROM YOUR PHENOMENOM OF INTEREST? Researchers have developed a personal research program lasting throughout their career, based on a select phenomenom of interest.

25. Purpose A Purpose BPhenomenon Purpose C of Purpose D Interest Purpose E

26. How much time is required to specify the research problem, within the research process? Specifying The Research Problem

27. Summary About the Research Problem • Identifying a problem is the initial and one of the most important steps in the research process. • A research problem should indicate: • a practice experience • a gap or inconsistent finding in the literature • an interest in an untested theory • limited understanding of a phenomenon

28. RESEARCH QUESTION Interrogative statements (who, what, which)

29. RESEARCH QUESTION Focus: What is to be described • phenomenon • concepts (such as, culture), • variables relationships among them

30. WHAT IS A RESEARCH PURPOSE Statement of the specific goal or aim of the study [concise & clear]. Includes the phenomenon, concepts/variables, population and setting for a study

31. The purpose usually indicates the type of study to be conducted. • The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the lived experience of…… • The purpose of this study was to understand the meaning of….

32. PURPOSE Why investigator is conducting the study

33. PURPOSE Generated from the problem • clearly focuses the development of the study • not to be confused with the problem

34. PROBLEM WHAT [research question to be answered] PURPOSE WHY [the study is being conducted] PROBLEM versus PURPOSE

35. Observation of real world situations(Nursing Practice)Identify research topicsGenerate QuestionsNonresearchable Questions Review of RESEARCH PROBLEM Input literature Clarification & refinement others RESEARCH PURPOSE Objectives, questions, or hypotheses

36. RESEARCH PROCESS Problem Statement Purpose Statement

37. RESEARCH PROCESS Problem Statement: • identifies gap in the knowledge in a select area.

38. RESEARCH PROCESS Purpose Statement: • clarifies knowledge to be generated in a particular study

39. How do You Formulate the Research Questions?

40. PROBLEM STATEMENT Includes: • The nature of the problem • The context of the problem • The significance of the problem

41. PROBLEM STATEMENT Terms and concepts often indicate the select research approach

42. Possible Terms and Conceptsin Problem Statement • Phenomenology – lived experience • Grounded Theory- social process • Ethnography- meaning of

43. Literature Review

44. WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW

45. LITERATURE REVIEW An examination of research sources to generate a picture of what is known and not known about a clinical problem to determine if the knowledge is ready for use in practice

46. LITERATURE REVIEW QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Purpose and Timing- vary according to the type of study to be conducted.

47. LITERATURE REVIEW Qualitative Research • Researchers differ about the extent of an initial literature review

48. LITERATURE REVIEW • Phenomenological Study: after data collection & analysis • Ethnographic Study- cursory review, early in the research/ general understanding or background for conducting the study

49. LITERATURE REVIEW • Grounded Theory Study- minimal review at the beginning, with more in-depth review during data collection & analysis • Historical Study- initial review to select a research topic and to develop a research question and is a source of data in the study

50. PURPOSELITERATURE REVIEW QUALITATIVE RESEARCH • Varies for each Qualitative Approach • (MUST determine when is the appropriate time to review literature)