The Role of Philosophical Tools in Nursing Research.

The objective of this article is to illustrate the importance of the role philosophy and its tools play in the designing and undertaking of nursing research and its importance to be understood by the practicing researcher to ensure the selected methodology and the tools used provide the framework for obtaining reliable and valid answers to their research questions. The article discusses the three major paradigms (Positivism, Interpretivism, and Pragmatism) which have characterized much of health-related research together with a set of essential and practical tools with no metaphysical assumptions that will hopefully provide an explicit framework and a nomenclature which can be applied as we proceed through the research process.

Story completion (SC) - an epistemological approach to the interpretation of patient-reported outcomes?

Introduction: Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) quantitative data are increasingly accompanied by qualitative narrative data, which does not always provide the insights required to inform healthcare.

Areas Covered: This perspective considers how story completion (SC) may be used to gain a deeper insight on people's experiences and guide interpretation of the meaning of PROM responses.

Expert Opinion: Story completion (SC) is an epistemological approach involving participants telling a story in response to a pre-determined 'stem' they have been presented with.

A philosophical perspective on the development and application of patient-reported outcomes measures (PROMs).

Questionnaires are a common method in healthcare and clinical research to collect self-reported data on patients' behaviour and outcomes rather than the clinician's perspective. As a consequence there is a plethora of questionnaires and rating forms developed to measure a range of concepts such as health-related quality of life and health status. Given that these measures have been developed within a nomothetic paradigm to enhance our understanding of peoples self-perceived health status by translating complex personal feelings and experiences into a simple numeric score, the patient's illness narrative is lost along the way.

Patient-reported outcome measures: an overview.

With the increasing prominence of the patients' involvement in the care they receive, the assessment of outcomes based on the patient's perspective using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), are increasingly accompanying the traditional clinical ways of measuring health and the effects of treatment on the patient. This article provides an overview as to what PROMs are and the different health constructs they are purported to measure. Differences between generic and disease-specific, multidimensional and index scored PROMs are also described.

So you want to do research? 6: Reporting research.

This last article of the series reviews some of the key issues that need to be considered when preparing your research findings for dissemination. Dissemination is an integral part of the research process and this article outlines some of the initial steps that need to be taken, including the establishment of agreements between authors. The importance of writing for a specific audience and how this determines the content of the report is then discussed.

So you want to do research? 5: Questionnaire design.

This article describes the key aspects in the design, construction and adaptation of survey questionnaires. There are different types of questionnaire, each of which has its advantages and disadvantages. Aspects of constructing the questionnaire are discussed in detail; choosing the mode of administration; the objectives of the survey; availability of resources; characteristics of the target population; and quality of data.

So you want to do research? 4: An introduction to quantitative methods.

This fourth article of a series of six focuses on some of the key aspects of quantitative research methods. Starting with a review of what quantitative research is, the distinguishing characteristics of experimental and non-experimental research strategies, the different approaches for collecting data including self-completion questionnaires, interviews and scales, together with their respective strength and weaknesses are discussed. The differences between probability and non-probability sampling and the different methods for selecting a sample are described.

So you want to do research? 3. An introduction to qualitative methods.

This article describes some of the key issues in the use of qualitative research methods. Starting with a description of what qualitative research is and outlining some of the distinguishing features between quantitative and qualitative research, examples of the type of setting where qualitative research can be applied are provided. Methods of collecting information through in-depth interviews and group discussions are discussed in some detail, including issues around sampling and recruitment, the use of topic guides and techniques to encourage participants to talk openly.

So you want to do research? 2: developing the research question.

The development of the research question for a study can be where a lot of research fails. Without a well-defined and specific research question or hypothesis, findings from the research are unlikely to tell us very much. Developing a tightly focused research question or hypothesis defines how and what data is collected and analysed and provides a context for the results.

So you want to do research? 1: an overview of the research process.

Relative to some other health care professionals, nursing has an immature research tradition as well as a limited body of research-based knowledge to draw on. Nevertheless, research is important to the nursing profession which over the past 15 years has increasingly had pressure placed on it to be more accountable for its actions. Research is also important so as to answer specific and broader clinical questions.