NR 505 Advanced Research Methods
Exam 1 Test Bank | LoBiondo-Wood &
Haber, 10th Edition | Questions,
Answers & Rationales 2025/2026
## SECTION 1: FOUNDATIONS OF RESEARCH & SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
**1. What is the primary purpose of nursing research?**
A) To prove that nursing is a profession
B) To generate knowledge that informs and improves nursing practice
C) To justify the existence of nursing theory
D) To replace tradition-based nursing care
,**Answer: B**
**Rationale:** Nursing research generates scientific knowledge that informs nursing practice, improves
patient outcomes, and establishes an evidence base for clinical decision-making.
---
**2. A graduate student is designing a study to examine the lived experience of patients with chronic
pain. Which research paradigm is most appropriate?**
A) Positivism
B) Post-positivism
C) Constructivism (interpretivism)
D) Critical theory
**Answer: C**
**Rationale:** Constructivism seeks to understand subjective experiences and meanings through
qualitative methods. Positivism/post-positivism seek objective, measurable facts. For exploring lived
experiences, constructivism is the appropriate paradigm.
---
**3. A researcher states that "reality exists but can only be known imperfectly due to human
limitations." This reflects which paradigm?**
, A) Positivism
B) Post-positivism
C) Constructivism
D) Pragmatism
**Answer: B**
**Rationale:** Post-positivism accepts a critical realist ontology: reality exists but can only be
approximated. Positivism believes reality is fully knowable and measurable with certainty.
---
**4. Which of the following is a nomothetic causal explanation?**
A) Understanding one patient's unique story of recovery
B) Identifying that smoking increases lung cancer risk across populations
C) Exploring cultural meanings of illness in one tribe
D) A case study of a rare disease
**Answer: B**
**Rationale:** Nomothetic explanations seek general, probabilistic laws across populations. Idiographic
explanations focus on the particular, unique case.
---
Exam 1 Test Bank | LoBiondo-Wood &
Haber, 10th Edition | Questions,
Answers & Rationales 2025/2026
## SECTION 1: FOUNDATIONS OF RESEARCH & SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
**1. What is the primary purpose of nursing research?**
A) To prove that nursing is a profession
B) To generate knowledge that informs and improves nursing practice
C) To justify the existence of nursing theory
D) To replace tradition-based nursing care
,**Answer: B**
**Rationale:** Nursing research generates scientific knowledge that informs nursing practice, improves
patient outcomes, and establishes an evidence base for clinical decision-making.
---
**2. A graduate student is designing a study to examine the lived experience of patients with chronic
pain. Which research paradigm is most appropriate?**
A) Positivism
B) Post-positivism
C) Constructivism (interpretivism)
D) Critical theory
**Answer: C**
**Rationale:** Constructivism seeks to understand subjective experiences and meanings through
qualitative methods. Positivism/post-positivism seek objective, measurable facts. For exploring lived
experiences, constructivism is the appropriate paradigm.
---
**3. A researcher states that "reality exists but can only be known imperfectly due to human
limitations." This reflects which paradigm?**
, A) Positivism
B) Post-positivism
C) Constructivism
D) Pragmatism
**Answer: B**
**Rationale:** Post-positivism accepts a critical realist ontology: reality exists but can only be
approximated. Positivism believes reality is fully knowable and measurable with certainty.
---
**4. Which of the following is a nomothetic causal explanation?**
A) Understanding one patient's unique story of recovery
B) Identifying that smoking increases lung cancer risk across populations
C) Exploring cultural meanings of illness in one tribe
D) A case study of a rare disease
**Answer: B**
**Rationale:** Nomothetic explanations seek general, probabilistic laws across populations. Idiographic
explanations focus on the particular, unique case.
---
