The following study questions will guide you in understanding and applying the material in Unit 2. If you have not taken a theory course that included concept analysis, pay particular attention to questions 16-19.

1. How does a research problem differ from a research purpose?
2. How do you identify a research topic and formulate a problem and purpose?
3. What are sources of research problems?
4. List situations/issues in nursing practice that research should address. Formulate appropriate problem statements and purposes to address those issues.
5. What factors should be considered in addressing the feasibility of research problems?
6. Discuss the formulation of research questions and hypotheses.
7. Think about the purposes of research described in Unit 1 (P & H, page 17).  Which purposes are best addressed through research hypotheses rather than research questions?
8. Describe different kinds of hypotheses: directional, non-directional, simple, complex, null (statistical).
9. Discuss the characteristics of a workable hypothesis.
10. Select two research reports from the literature or one of your classes.  For each study, describe how the research questions or hypotheses are related to the problem and purpose. Describe how the questions or hypotheses and the variables in the study are connected.
11. Select two variables that are interesting and that you would like to study. Write several hypothesis statements in different forms for these variables.
12. Describe the purposes for conducting a literature review in research? What should be the scope of this literature review?
13. What is the process for conducting a review of the literature? Is a computer search of the literature adequate to summarize the knowledge in the area? State the reasons for your answer.
14. Describe the difference between a primary and secondary source used in the literature review.
15. Read the literature reviews in your two selected studies. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of those reviews. Comment on the restrictions editors might have placed on these published literature reviews.
16. Define a theoretical/conceptual framework and its purposes for guiding research.
17. What are the elements of a framework?
18. Using the conceptual model of enrollment in a prenatal education program (P & H, page 121), write three relational statements that are NOT mentioned in the text.  Change each statement to a research question, to a directional hypothesis.
19. What is the relationship between theory and research?