Deck 4: Theoretical Frameworks for Research

Question 1

A graphic or symbolic representation of a phenomenon not directly observable, which allows the reader to visualize key constructs and their interrelationships, is called what?

A) A concept
B) A conceptual definition
C) An operational definition
D) A model

Answer 1

A model

Question 2

Pender's health promotion model is an example of what type of theory?

A) Grand nursing theory
B) Middle-range nursing theory
C) Situation-specific nursing theory
D) Another discipline's theory applied to nursing

Answer 2

Middle-range nursing theory

Question 3

Situation-specific nursing theories are becoming more popular in nursing research for which of these reasons?

A) Increased emphasis on evidence-based practice
B) Increased need for broad and generalizable models to explain phenomena
C) Decreased resources for funding of grand theory development
D) Decreased use of theories borrowed from other disciplines

Answer 3

Increased emphasis on evidence-based practice

Question 4

How is a model related to a concept or concepts?

A) A model tests conceptual theories.
B) A concept defines the purpose of a model.
C) Relationships between or among concepts are demonstrated in a model.
D) Concepts generate the theoretical basis for knowledge depicted in a model.

Question 5

In which way are theory and practice interrelated for the hospital-based nurse researcher?

A) Practice is the operational definition of theory.
B) Practice provides the opportunity to test theory.
C) Theory provides the evidence on which practice is based.
D) Theory generates questions that are used to refine practice.

Question 6

When critiquing a research study's theoretical framework, the nurse should keep in mind which information? (Select all that apply.)

A) Theoretical frameworks guide hypothesis formulation in qualitative and quantitative research studies.
B) Theoretical frameworks can be implicitly or explicitly stated in a research report.
C) A theoretical framework of a nursing research study must be based on nursing theories or models.
D) A theoretical framework may not be identified in all types of nursing research.

Question 7

When reading a report of results of a nursing research study, the nurse notices that the theoretical framework is drawn from a discipline other than nursing. When critiquing the theoretical framework, the nurse should determine the answer to which of these questions?

A) Does the research have implications across disciplines?
B) Is the researcher a recognized leader in the discipline of nursing?
C) Does the author have special expertise or education in the discipline from which the theoretical framework is derived?
D) Has the author clearly indicated the meaning of the theoretical framework to the study and linked it to nursing?

Question 8

Which nursing theory is classified as a Grand Nursing Theory?

A) Polk's Theory of Resilience
B) Mishel's Uncertainty in Illness Theory
C) Orem's Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory
D) Im's Theory of Caucasians' Cancer Pain Experience

Question 9

Which research report title suggests that theory was generated as the outcome of the study, rather than being used as the framework for the study?

A) Women's experiences of undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery (Banner, D., et al., 2011)
B) Couple functioning and post-traumatic stress symptoms in U.S. army couples: The role of resilience (Melvin, K.C., et al., 2011)
C) A randomized, clinical trial of education or motivational-interviewing-based coaching compared to usual care to improve cancer pain management (Thomas, M.L., et al., 2012)
D) A predictive and moderating model of psychosocial resilience in adolescents (Tusaie, K., et al., 2007)

Question 10

Which research report title suggests that theory was used as the framework for the study, rather than being generated as the outcome of the study?

A) The experiences of nurse practitioners providing health care to the homeless (Seilor, A.J. & Moss, V.A., 2012)
B) A transformative decision-making process for mammography screening among rural, low-income women (Purtzer, M.S., 2012)
C) A randomized, clinical trial of education or motivational-interviewing-based coaching compared to usual care to improve cancer pain management (Thomas, M.L., et al., 2012)
D) Older adults' perceptions of feeling safe in an intensive care unit (Lasiter, S., 2011)

Question 11

Which statement is an operational definition of a concept?

A) Death anxiety is an uncomfortable feeling on contemplation of one's own death, measured by Templar's Death Anxiety Scale (Templar, 1986).
B) Pain is a pattern of responses to protect the organism from harm (Sternbach, 1979).
C) Maternal identity entails maternal cognitions and affect with regard to the maternal-infant relational system (Walker and Montgomery, 1994).
D) Spirituality is a way of being or experiencing that comes about through an awareness of a transcendent dimension and one's identifiable values with regard to self, other, nature, and whatever one considers to be ultimate (Elkins, 1988).

Question 12

Which phrase correctly defines a theory?

A) The operational definition of the study's conceptual framework
B) The assumptions and beliefs of the worldview of the researcher
C) A set of interrelated concepts that provides a systematic view of a phenomenon
D) A researcher's best guess of the direction of the relationship between variables