Threats to the Internal Validity of Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Research in Healthcare.

The article defines, describes, and discusses the seven threats to the internal validity of experiments discussed by Donald T. Campbell in his classic 1957 article: history, maturation, testing, instrument decay, statistical regression, selection, and mortality. These concepts are said to be threats to the internal validity of experiments because they pose alternate explanations for the apparent causal relationship between the independent variable and dependent variable of an experiment if they are not adequately controlled.

The t-test: An Influential Inferential Tool in Chaplaincy and Other Healthcare Research.

The t-test developed by William S. Gosset (also known as Student's t-test and the two-sample t-test) is commonly used to compare one sample mean on a measure with another sample mean on the same measure. The outcome of the t-test is used to draw inferences about how different the samples are from each other.

Studying Associations in Health Care Research.

This article discusses some of the types of relationships observed in healthcare research and depicts them in graphic form. The article begins by explaining two basic associations observed in chemistry and physics (Boyles' Law and Charles' Law), and illustrates how these associations are similar to curvilinear and linear associations, respectively, found in healthcare. Graphs of curvilinear associations include morbidity curves and survival and mortality curves.

Measures of variability in chaplaincy, health care, and related research.

This article discusses statistical measures of variability in relation to measures of central tendency and levels of measurement. Three measures of variability used in healthcare research (the range, the interquartile range, and the standard deviation) are described and compared, including their uses and limitations. The article describes how each of the three measures is calculated, and it provides a step-by-step example of calculating the sums of squares, variance, and standard deviation.

Independent, dependent, and other variables in healthcare and chaplaincy research.

This article begins by defining the term variable and the terms independent variable and dependent variable, providing examples of each. It then proceeds to describe and discuss synonyms for the terms independent variable and dependent variable, including treatment, intervention, predictor, and risk factor, and synonyms for dependent variable, such as response variables and outcomes. The article explains that the terms extraneous, nuisance, and confounding variables refer to any variable that can interfere with the ability to establish relationships between independent variables and dependent variables, and it describes ways to control for such confounds.

Operational definitions in research on religion and health.

This article summarizes the historical development of operational definitions and discusses their application to research on religion and health, and their importance for research, in general. The diversity of religious concepts that have been operationalized is described, as well as the development of multi-dimensional self-report measures of religion specifically designed for use in health research. The operational definitions of a variety of health concepts are also described, including the development of multi-dimensional self-report measures of health.

Fundamentals of measurement in health care research.

This article discusses levels of measurement and their application to research and practice in health care. The concept of levels of measurement was codified in a seminal article by S. S.

Toward a theory of holistic needs and the brain.

This article reviews Maslow's theory of motivation wherein he proposes a hierarchy of human needs. First, it describes the principal elements of Maslow's theory and discusses considerations relating to the flexibility of the hierarchy. Second, it explains the relationship among Maslow's theory of human needs, attachment theory, and evolutionary threat assessment system theory.

When do nurses refer patients to professional chaplains?

Nursing has historically realized the importance of spirituality in patient care, and more than other healthcare staff, they also have recognized the integral role of chaplains in meeting the spiritual needs of patients. The present study examines specific patient and family issues for which nurses make referrals to chaplains. A previously piloted questionnaire asking how often nurses and allied staff refer patients to chaplains was distributed to 133 staff members at a New York area hospital, the majority of whom were registered nurses (RNs).

Nurses and healthcare chaplains: natural allies.

The collaborative relationship between nurses and chaplains in the health care setting is well documented. The authors review research findings including survey results demonstrating the importance of religion and spirituality in the general population and the importance of the religion and faith in people suffering illnesses. Nurses and physicians show marked differences in their attention to spiritual care as evidenced by nurses' higher rates of referrals to chaplains and the greater quantity of nursing research on sprirituality in professional journals.

Defining spiritual care: an exploratory study.

An electronic search was conducted on Medline for the years 1980-2005 identified 101 journal articles with the words "spiritual care" in their title, the majority of which were from nursing journals. Content analysis performed on 28 articles judged to be most relevant yielded 250 unique descriptions of interventions, which were subsequently consolidated to form 66 discrete interventions. Twenty five professional chaplains rated each item on the degree to which they considered it to be part of providing spiritual care to patients.

A test of the factor structure of the patient spiritual needs assessment scale.

Factor analysis was conducted on the responses of 683 individuals who completed a 24-item version of the Patient Spiritual Needs Assessment Scale. The results provided strong support for 4 of the 6 dimensions of spiritual needs and weaker support for one of the others. The 6 dimensions were appreciation of art and beauty, meaning and purpose, love and belonging, death/resolution, positivity/gratitude/hope/peace, and the Divine.

Religious and spiritual variables in three major oncology nursing journals: 1990-1999.

Purpose/objectives: To review qualitative and quantitative research studies measuring religious and spiritual variables published in American oncology nursing journals from 1990-1999 and the types of measures used.

Data Sources: All research studies published from 1990-1999 in Oncology Nursing Forum, Cancer Nursing, and the Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing.

Data Synthesis: A higher percentage of qualitative (27%) than quantitative (14%) oncology nursing studies reported findings on religious and spiritual variables.