Statistical Assessment of Two Research Reports 1. 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. 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. 3. Include the following sections in your paper: Section I – A Review of the Data Analysis: Provide a discussion of the following elements: 1. What is the problem or question(s) this research concerns? 2. Give a brief overview of how the data were collected. 3. 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. 4. List the independent and dependent variables 5. Discuss sample size estimation. Consider the following a. Was a power analysis conducted? b. Was the sample size appropriate for the statistical test? Why or why not? 6. Describe the statistic used to measure the hypotheses/research questions. a. How is this appropriate? b. How were assumptions met? c. Is the level of measurement appropriate? Why or why not? 7. Discuss how the data were displayed (i.e., graphs, tables) a. Were these appropriate? Why or why not? Section II – Data Analysis Evaluation: 1. What did the data analysis show? 2. What conclusions were drawn by the authors? 3. Do you agree or disagree with the conclusions? Why or why not? 4. Were the study limitations discussed? What were the limitations if any? How did the authors deal with the limitations? 5. 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: 1. Provide a discussion of the usefulness of each study to your nursing peers. 2. What might they think of the study? 3. What might they find confusing? 4. What aspects of the studies might they question? 5. Summarize why you think the studies do or do not provide sufficient evidence to change practice. 6. Summarize your thoughts related to the usefulness of the statistics.
