NUR494 Research & Theory in Clinical Practice: Your Assignments

Prepared by Louise Kaplan, Phd, ARNP, FNP-BC, FAANP, Senior Fellow, Department of Nursing Practice and Policy

This article was originally published in The Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 26, 102-109 (2008) and has been updated to maintain currency. Provides a structured route to questioning the methodology of nursing research. A framework is provided to assist in the analysis of a research paper in a systematic, logical order. The framework does not intend to separate quantitative or qualitative paradigms but to assist the nurse in making broad observations about the nature of the research.

When caring for patients it is essential that nurses are using the current best practice. To determine what this is, nurses must be able to read research critically. But for many qualified and student nurses the terminology used in research can be difficult to understand thus making critical reading even more daunting. It is imperative in nursing that care has its foundations in sound research and it is essential that all nurses have the ability to critically appraise research to identify what is best practice. This article is a step-by step-approach to critiquing quantitative research to help nurses demystify the process and decode the terminology. This article was published in British Journal of Nursing, 16(11), 658–663 (June 14, 2007).

As with a quantitative study, critical analysis of a qualitative study involves an in-depth review of how each step of the research was undertaken. Qualitative and quantitative studies are, however, fundamentally different approaches to research and therefore need to be considered differently with regard to critiquing. The different philosophical underpinnings of the various qualitative research methods generate discrete ways of reasoning and distinct terminology; however, there are also many similarities within these methods. Because of this and its subjective nature, qualitative research it is often regarded as more difficult to critique. Nevertheless, an evidenced-based profession such as nursing cannot accept research at face value, and nurses need to be able to determine the strengths and limitations of qualitative as well as quantitative research studies when reviewing the available literature on a topic.