Statistical Assessment of Two Research Reports
- Examine two research articles which incorporate a statistical analysis discussed in this course but not previously examined in your submission of activity 1 or 2.
- Briefly summarize and report on each statistic and discuss whether the assumptions of each test were met and if the type of data was appropriate for each statistical test.
- Include the following sections in your paper:
Section I – A Review of the Data Analysis:
Provide a discussion of the following elements:
- What is the problem or question(s) this research concerns?
- Give a brief overview of how the data were collected.
- What is the source of data? (i.e., questionnaire, physiological data, existing statistical information, etc.). In some studies there are two or more sources of data.
- List the independent and dependent variables
- Discuss sample size estimation. Consider the following
- Was a power analysis conducted?
- Was the sample size appropriate for the statistical test? Why or why not?
- Describe the statistic used to measure the hypotheses/research questions.
- How is this appropriate?
- How were assumptions met?
- Is the level of measurement appropriate? Why or why not?
- Discuss how the data were displayed (i.e., graphs, tables)
- Were these appropriate? Why or why not?
Section II – Data Analysis Evaluation:
- What did the data analysis show?
- What conclusions were drawn by the authors?
- Do you agree or disagree with the conclusions? Why or why not?
- Were the study limitations discussed? What were the limitations if any? How did the authors deal with the limitations?
- Give your overall evaluations of the methods used in this article, including a discussion of the following questions:
- What things were done well?
- What were done poorly?
- How much trust do you put in the findings?
Section III – Understanding the Data:
- Provide a discussion of the usefulness of each study to your nursing peers.
- What might they think of the study?
- What might they find confusing?
- What aspects of the studies might they question?
- Summarize why you think the studies do or do not provide sufficient evidence to change practice.
- Summarize your thoughts related to the usefulness of the statistics.
Your paper must be:
- 4-12 pages, excluding cover page;
- composed using Microsoft Word;
- typed in Times New Roman, font size 12.
This and all papers should be written in APA format and follow standard rules of grammar and formatting.
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