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 coronary angiography. 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 no intervention. This design allows

for comparing the effects of the interventions on the outcome of

interest, in this case, anxiety levels.

2. A nurse researcher is conducting a qualitative study to explore the

lived experiences of family caregivers of patients with dementia. The

researcher conducts in-depth interviews with 10 caregivers and

analyzes the data using thematic analysis. What is the main purpose of

this type of analysis?

a) To identify patterns and themes in the data*

b) To quantify and measure the data

c) To test hypotheses and draw conclusions from the data

d) To describe and summarize the data

Rationale: Thematic analysis is a type of qualitative data analysis that

involves identifying, analyzing, and reporting themes or patterns

within the data. This type of analysis helps to capture the richness and

complexity of the participants' experiences and perspectives.

3. A nurse researcher is conducting a systematic review and metaanalysis to synthesize the evidence on the effectiveness of

acupuncture for chronic pain. The researcher searches several

databases and identifies 20 relevant studies that meet the inclusion

criteria. What is the next step in conducting a meta-analysis?

a) Assessing the quality and risk of bias of the studies*

b) Calculating the effect sizes and confidence intervals of the studies

c) Combining the results of the studies using statistical methods

d) Presenting and interpreting the results using forest plots and tables