1. A nurse researcher wants to conduct a randomized controlled trial to compare the effects of two

different types of music therapy on anxiety levels of patients undergoing cardiac catheterization.

What is the most appropriate research design for this study?

a) Pretest-posttest design

b) Crossover design

c) Factorial design

d) Parallel-group design*

Rationale: A parallel-group design is a type of randomized controlled trial that assigns participants to

one of two or more groups that receive different interventions or a control condition. This design

allows the researcher to compare the outcomes of the groups and determine the effectiveness of each

intervention.

2. A nurse researcher is conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies that examined

the relationship between nurse staffing and patient outcomes in acute care settings. The researcher

has identified 20 relevant studies and extracted the data from each study. What is the next step in

conducting a meta-analysis?

a) Assessing the quality and risk of bias of each study*

b) Calculating the effect size and confidence interval for each study

c) Pooling the effect sizes and confidence intervals across studies

d) Testing for heterogeneity and publication bias among studies

Rationale: Assessing the quality and risk of bias of each study is an important step in conducting a

meta-analysis, as it helps to determine the validity and reliability of the findings and the potential

sources of variation among studies. Quality assessment tools and criteria may vary depending on the

type and design of the studies included in the review.

3. A nurse researcher is conducting a qualitative study to explore the experiences and perceptions of

family caregivers of patients with dementia. The researcher has conducted semi-structured

interviews with 15 caregivers and transcribed the audio recordings verbatim. What is the most

appropriate method of data analysis for this study?

a) Content analysis

b) Thematic analysis*

c) Discourse analysis

d) Narrative analysis

Rationale: Thematic analysis is a common method of qualitative data analysis that involves

identifying, analyzing, and reporting themes or patterns within the data. Themes are clusters of codes

or categories that capture the essence or meaning of the data and reflect the research question and

objectives.