Understanding Research: Scientific Approach for Health Care Professionals(Campion Integrated Studies)

The series from which this book is taken is designed for the new direction in health care education resulting from the implementation of Project 2000. It brings together relevant material from the various subject areas and provides practical textbooks for health care students. Each title in the series includes a variety of study activities to encourage the user and facilitate learning, and there are regular summaries and bibliographies for further study and self-testing exercises. The arrangement of each chapter is as follows - introduction, presentation of subject material, case studies, assignments, self-testing exercises, summary and bibliography. There is a growing interest in scientific research within nursing courses. This may be due in part to their closer association with higher education, but it is also related to the increasing need for nurses to be able to keep pace and evaluate progress in a field where continual and accelerating change is the norm. A proper understanding of the methodology and results of research must, today, be part of the nurse's range of basic skills. This book gives an insight into the development of scientific theories, and the importance of empirical research. It introduces the cyclical nature of some research processes, and demonstrates the range of statistical techniques and their different uses. This book should be of interest to students undertaking Project 2000 courses. It will also have application for students of the professions allied to medicine such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and radiography, and those on paramedical courses.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Defining science: the idea of the scientist; the cognitive and epistemological problems of knowledge; the theory of knowledge and the nature of reality; the scientific pursuit of knowledge. Part 2 The research process: identifying the issue; studying the literature; choosing the research plan and selecting the criteria; setting the inquiry in motion; collecting, processing and analysing data; producing the report. Part 3 The problem: defining the problem; the source of the problem. Part 4 Strategies and patterns for research: matching method to problem; the range of theoretical frameworks; matching strategies to practical circumstances; the three basic kinds of research. Part 5 Data collection: the empirical nature of data; direct or indirect origins of data; collection techniques - observation, questioning, measuring. Part 6 Reliability and validity: the correspondence between phenomenon and reality; the importance of measuring technique; the influence of obstructive and irrelevant phenomena. Part 7 Sampling: identifying the field of operation; defining observation units; finding adequate parameters for the sample. Part 8 Data analysis: the choice of statistical procedure; the nature of the question; the influence of the number of variables and the nature of the data; the two groups of statistical methodology. Part 9 Interpretation and presentation of results: the logical and creative input; handling and explaining the unexpected; a discussion of angles and considerations; balancing readability and scientific objectivity; openness and verifiability.