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The person conducting the research is called researcher, investigator, or scientist. When a researcher poses a problem or answers a question using the scientific approach, it is called a study, an investigation, or a research project. The people who are being studied are called subjects or study participants. Scientific research is mainly concerned with vehicles of thought defined as concepts. The process of developing and refining concepts is referred to as conceptualization. A construct is an abstraction or mental representation inferred from situations, events, or behaviors. Constructs are different from concepts in that the constructs are deliberately invented (or constructed) by researchers for a specific scientific purpose. These concepts or constructs are ideas that formulate a theory (a set of concepts and propositions that provide an orderly way to view phenomena). “In a theory, concepts (or constructs) are knitted together into an orderly system to explain the way in which our world and the people in it function” (Polit & Hungler, 1998, p. 22). (continue reading…)

Nursing is a profession characterized by educational standards, autonomy, socialization, an established
knowledge base, licensure, formal entry examinations, code of ethics, technical expertise, professional standards, altruistic service, and public trust. The main characteristics of a profession are established, specialized training in a body of abstract knowledge and a collectivity of service orientation. The science of nursing knowledge is established by the same systematic, investigative process used by all science-based disciplines, the research process. Research is a systematic method of exploring, describing, explaining, relating, or establishing the existence of a phenomenon, the factors that cause changes in the phenomenon, and how the phenomenon influences other phenomena. Nursing practice activities are substantiated as predicting valid and reliable outcomes for clients (the individual, family, group, or community) only after a body of knowledge has been established and confirmed by numerous research efforts.

Nursing as a profession has always recognized the importance of research as an essential basis for its development. The identification of the knowledge base for nursing practice contributes to achieving client outcomes and making nursing practice credible (McPheeters & Lohr, 1999). During the past decade, nursing has witnessed increasing emphasis on the integration of research and clinical care with the evolution of evidence-based practice and best practices. Taylor-Piliae (1998) describes evidence-based practice as the application of the best available empirical evidence that applies recent research findings to clinical practice in order to assist the provider’s clinical decision-making. “Evidence-based practices are proven ways to diagnose and treat patients based on rigorous scientific evidence and clinical effectiveness studies” (Ling, 2000, p. 81). (continue reading…)