CNE Research Methods & Evidence-Based Practice 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A nurse educator wants to determine if simulation-based learning improves clinical competency more than traditional lab practice. Which research design is MOST appropriate?
- Retrospective cohort study
- Randomized controlled trial (Correct answer)
- Case study
- Ethnographic study
Correct answer: Randomized controlled trial
A randomized controlled trial allows random assignment to intervention and control groups, minimizing bias when comparing two teaching methods.
Question 2: In a systematic review, what is the primary purpose of a PRISMA flow diagram?
- To summarize statistical results across studies
- To document the study selection process from identification to inclusion (Correct answer)
- To rate the quality of individual studies
- To display forest plot data visually
Correct answer: To document the study selection process from identification to inclusion
The PRISMA flow diagram transparently documents how many studies were identified, screened, assessed, and ultimately included in the review.
Question 3: When applying the PICO framework in nursing education research, what does the 'C' represent?
- Criteria
- Comparison (Correct answer)
- Context
- Correlation
Correct answer: Comparison
The 'C' in PICO stands for Comparison, representing the alternative intervention or control condition being compared to the primary intervention.
Question 4: A nurse educator identifies a statistically significant difference (p=0.03) in NCLEX pass rates between two teaching groups, but the difference is only 1%. What concept best explains this discrepancy?
- Type I error
- Selection bias
- Clinical versus statistical significance (Correct answer)
- Confounding variable
Correct answer: Clinical versus statistical significance
A result can be statistically significant yet clinically meaningless if the actual effect size is too small to matter in practice.
Question 5: Which sampling method would a nurse educator use to ensure proportional representation of all nursing specialty groups in a faculty satisfaction survey?
- Simple random sampling
- Snowball sampling
- Stratified random sampling (Correct answer)
- Convenience sampling
Correct answer: Stratified random sampling
Stratified random sampling divides the population into subgroups and randomly samples from each, ensuring proportional representation.
Question 6: A faculty member performs a meta-analysis and reports a pooled odds ratio of 1.0. What does this indicate?
- Strong positive association between variables
- Strong negative association between variables
- No association between the exposure and outcome (Correct answer)
- The study had insufficient statistical power
Correct answer: No association between the exposure and outcome
An odds ratio of 1.0 means the odds of the outcome are equal in both groups, indicating no association.
Question 7: Which ethical principle is MOST directly violated when a researcher fails to disclose potential conflicts of interest in a published study?
- Beneficence
- Justice
- Veracity (Correct answer)
- Autonomy
Correct answer: Veracity
Veracity requires truthfulness and full disclosure; concealing conflicts of interest directly violates this obligation to honesty.
CNE Research Methods & Evidence-Based Practice 2
A nurse educator wants to determine if simulation-based learning improves clinical competency more than traditional lab practice.
Which research design is MOST appropriate?