To prepare:
- Review the articles presented in this week’s Learning Resources and analyze each study’s use of nonparametric tests.
- Critically analyze each article, considering the following questions in your analysis:
- What are the goals and purpose of the research study each article describes?
- How are nonparametric tests used in each study? What are the results of their use?
- Why are parametric methods (t tests and ANOVA) inappropriate for the statistical analysis of each study’s data?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of each study (e.g., study design, sampling, and measurement)?
- How could the findings and recommendations of each study contribute to evidence-based practice in the health care field?
- Reflect on the quantitative statistical analyses presented throughout this course in the research literature, the Learning Resources, media presentations, and those articles you reviewed for your abbreviated research proposal.
- Ask yourself: Which method is most commonly used in research studies that pertain to my area of nursing practice, and why this might be so?