Fast Facts to Loving Your Research Project: A Stress-free Guide for Novice Researchers in Nursing and Healthcare / Edition 1

by Brenda Marshall EdD, PMHNP-BC, ANEF

Overview

While often greeted with trepidation, the importance of a research project—how it is conducted and its significance to practice—is an essential aspect of nursing and other healthcare arenas. This innovative resource is a user-friendly introduction to evidence-based practice and other types of research-based initiatives that improve patient outcomes. Using a method formed through years of teaching experience, Brenda Marshall translates the difficult and sometimes confusing language of research into everyday vocabulary, linking complicated concepts with easily understood scenarios.

Written in quick-access Fast Facts style, this book presents knowledge in a consistent, step-by-step format characterized by bite-sized information. Each chapter opens with learning objectives that unfold into new concepts, followed by everyday life examples. Fast Facts boxes, systematized tables, and new vocabulary reinforce learning and highlight key concepts. This application-based approach helps students question their preconceived notions about research and then engage in it with newfound confidence.

Key Features:

• Translates complex research concepts into straightforward language
• Demonstrates clear, step-by-step methods that facilitate successful attainment of research goals
• Helps students to construct an argument, build a theory, and critically explore a belief
• Promotes self-sufficiency in lifelong learning and achievement
• Written by an instructor whose classes have propelled many successful research careers

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826146366
Publisher:	Springer Publishing Company
Publication date:	10/10/2019
Series:	Fast Facts
Pages:	258
Sales rank:	914,069
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Brenda Marshall, EdD, PMHNP-BC, MAC-BC, ANEF, is a tenured full professor at William Paterson University in the College of Science and Health and a Fulbright Scholar Specialist in mental health.

Table of Contents

Contributors

Preface

Part I DEFINE, CLARIFY, SEARCH, PREPARE

1. Introduction to Research

2. Finding the BIG PROBLEM

3. From Hypothesis to Aim/Purpose

4. Why We Review the Literature

5. The Theoretical Framework

6. Research Design

Tom Heinzen

Part II STARTING THE ACTUAL PROJECT

7. Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Research Designs

8. Methods of Data Collection

9. Reliability and Validity

Katherine Roberts

10. From Population to Sample

11. Impact of the Outside World: Legal and Ethical Considerations in Research

Part III TEST, ANALYZE, DISCUSS

12. Conducting the Research

13. Data Analysis

Katherine Roberts

14. Results: What Did the Project Discover? Why Is It Important?

15. The Conclusion of the Thesis, Project, or Dissertation: Writing the Discussion, Conclusion, and Abstract

16. The Beginning: Sharing What Was Learned With the Greater Community

Index

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Lynne M. Kuhl, MSN, RN (Viterbo University)
Description: This book provides a succinct and stepwise approach to nursing and healthcare research. Written in the Fast Facts style, it is an easy "how-to" guide on constructing, conducting, and understanding complex problems through the lens of research and research methods.
Purpose: The intent is to empower readers to engage in research by eliminating fears, improving decision-making skills, and inspiring increased interest and involvement.
Audience: This pocket guide is written for novice nursing or healthcare researchers. Primary author Dr. Brenda Marshall is a recognized scholar, nursing researcher, and educator and has written other Fast Facts books. In 2018, she was awarded the National Excellence in Research Award by the American Psychiatric Nurses Association for her expertise in the field.
Features: This may not be a textbook, but it is a helpful "pocket support book" for novice researchers. It includes many helpful features, such as simple language, connections to everyday examples, key terms, a Fast Facts format, and links to learn more. As characteristic of the Fast Facts series, this book is a summary or brief explanation of the complex processes related to nursing and healthcare research. It addresses the principles that all healthcare professionals must access the best evidence, work within standards-based frameworks, support research, understand and support ethical imperatives of research (such as informed consent), present findings, and make informed healthcare decisions related to those findings. The book's three major sections offer a simple format that is easy to understand. Section one presents information on defining, clarifying, searching, and preparing; section two explores the problem; and section three focuses on testing, analyzing, and discussion. The final chapter on results is well outlined and includes an illustration and table connecting the research process, quantitative and qualitative research, and results. Each chapter offers additional resources, graphs, tables, references, and online links to more learning. The use of a continuous case study enhances understanding and an index connects key concepts. However, some of the references are dated (greater than 10 years), and statistics and statistical analysis are minimally covered.
Assessment: This book is not intended to replace a textbook, but as a pocket guide, it provides novice researchers with guidance and support to supplement their learning and research. Written with an application-based approach, Fast Facts helps beginners gain confidence in their own knowledge and abilities while reinforcing the complexities and tenets of research through user-friendly formats and processes.

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