Essentials of Nursing Research: Appraising Evidence for Nursing
Practice 8th edition Polit, Beck Test Bank chapter 2
Question 1
What is the primary purpose of a problem statement in a research study?
A) To state the predicted relationship between two or more variables.
B) To provide a detailed plan for data collection.
C) To articulate the research problem and make an argument to conduct a new study.
D) To offer a summary of the study's findings and their implications.
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The problem statement is the foundational part of a research report. Its main function
is to introduce the problem being addressed, provide context, explain the scope of the problem,
and present a compelling argument for why a new study is necessary to generate evidence.
Question 2
A researcher is studying the effect of a new educational intervention on the medication adherence
of patients with hypertension. Which of the following is the independent variable?
A) The patients with hypertension.
B) The new educational intervention.
C) The level of medication adherence.
D) The patients' blood pressure readings.
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: The independent variable is the variable that is manipulated or varied by the
researcher to see what effect it has on the outcome. In this case, the researcher is implementing
the educational intervention to see its effect, making it the independent variable.
Question 3
In the same study, the researcher measures the patients' level of medication adherence to see if it
changes after the intervention. Medication adherence is the:
A) Independent variable
B) Dependent variable
, [Type here]
C) Confounding variable
D) Demographic variable
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: The dependent variable is the outcome that the researcher is interested in
understanding, explaining, or predicting. It is the variable that is expected to be affected by the
manipulation of the independent variable. Here, medication adherence is the outcome being
measured.
Question 4
A research question is stated as: "Is there a relationship between the amount of sleep a nursing
student gets and their final exam score?" This is an example of what type of research question?
A) A question for a therapy/intervention study.
B) A question for a descriptive study.
C) A question for a prognostic study.
D) A question for a relational/etiology study.
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: This question seeks to understand the relationship or association between two
variables (amount of sleep and exam score) as they naturally occur, without the researcher
implementing an intervention. This is characteristic of a correlational or etiologic study.
Question 5
What is the primary difference between a simple hypothesis and a complex hypothesis?
A) A simple hypothesis predicts a relationship between two variables, while a complex
hypothesis predicts a relationship between three or more variables.
B) A simple hypothesis is easier to test statistically than a complex hypothesis.
C) A simple hypothesis is stated as a question, while a complex hypothesis is a declarative
statement.
D) A simple hypothesis does not specify the direction of the relationship, while a complex
hypothesis does.
Practice 8th edition Polit, Beck Test Bank chapter 2
Question 1
What is the primary purpose of a problem statement in a research study?
A) To state the predicted relationship between two or more variables.
B) To provide a detailed plan for data collection.
C) To articulate the research problem and make an argument to conduct a new study.
D) To offer a summary of the study's findings and their implications.
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The problem statement is the foundational part of a research report. Its main function
is to introduce the problem being addressed, provide context, explain the scope of the problem,
and present a compelling argument for why a new study is necessary to generate evidence.
Question 2
A researcher is studying the effect of a new educational intervention on the medication adherence
of patients with hypertension. Which of the following is the independent variable?
A) The patients with hypertension.
B) The new educational intervention.
C) The level of medication adherence.
D) The patients' blood pressure readings.
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: The independent variable is the variable that is manipulated or varied by the
researcher to see what effect it has on the outcome. In this case, the researcher is implementing
the educational intervention to see its effect, making it the independent variable.
Question 3
In the same study, the researcher measures the patients' level of medication adherence to see if it
changes after the intervention. Medication adherence is the:
A) Independent variable
B) Dependent variable
, [Type here]
C) Confounding variable
D) Demographic variable
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: The dependent variable is the outcome that the researcher is interested in
understanding, explaining, or predicting. It is the variable that is expected to be affected by the
manipulation of the independent variable. Here, medication adherence is the outcome being
measured.
Question 4
A research question is stated as: "Is there a relationship between the amount of sleep a nursing
student gets and their final exam score?" This is an example of what type of research question?
A) A question for a therapy/intervention study.
B) A question for a descriptive study.
C) A question for a prognostic study.
D) A question for a relational/etiology study.
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: This question seeks to understand the relationship or association between two
variables (amount of sleep and exam score) as they naturally occur, without the researcher
implementing an intervention. This is characteristic of a correlational or etiologic study.
Question 5
What is the primary difference between a simple hypothesis and a complex hypothesis?
A) A simple hypothesis predicts a relationship between two variables, while a complex
hypothesis predicts a relationship between three or more variables.
B) A simple hypothesis is easier to test statistically than a complex hypothesis.
C) A simple hypothesis is stated as a question, while a complex hypothesis is a declarative
statement.
D) A simple hypothesis does not specify the direction of the relationship, while a complex
hypothesis does.
