Quantitative Nursing Research

You may stop looking now. Quantitative Nursing Research is the answer to the prayers of graduate students and practitioners who have sought the key to this often intimidating subject. In this highly readable (dare we say enjoyable?) work, Thomas R. Knapp guides the reader through the basic definitions, fundamentals of design, and techniques of quantitative research.

The book opens with discussions of the nature of quantitative nursing research and then explores research questions, hypotheses, causality, generalizability, and randomization. A thoughtful consideration of ethical issues in nursing research rounds out the first section. In subsequent parts, Dr. Knapp examines research designs, techniques for data gathering and analysis, and specialized techniques in quantitative research. The book concludes with discussions about running subjects one at a time, the measurement of change, strategies for coping with missing data problems, and the dissemination of research results. Quantitative Nursing Research is an excellent introduction for graduate nursing students or a refresher for practitioners undertaking research for the first time or after a long hiatus. For individual reference or designed course work, this book includes numerous examples and guides for further reading on specific topics, as well as exercises to help the reader get into the research literature.