Quantitative research appraisal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Quantitative research appraisal - Essay Example Determinations of the effectiveness of pain management, effectiveness of nurse-led diabetic clinic, effectiveness of appropriate or specific dressing methods in management of venous ulcer, effectiveness of specialist nurse practitioner in the accident and emergency as a primary care giver are just few of the numerous examples to assess evidence and change practice based on evidence (Sousa et al., 2007, 502-507). Observational and Interventional Research Designs: The investigator conducting observational research observes both the independent and the dependent variables, when there is insufficient knowledge about a phenomenon, or for ethical reasons or otherwise, an observational design is most suitable. In experimental research, researchers actively intervene and create the independent variable, which means that people in the sample will be exposed to different treatments or conditions (Driessnack, et al., 2007, 684-688). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs: Experimental designs provide strong evidence about the hypothesis and provide a causal relationship between independent and dependent variables. ... However, quasi-experimental designs lack randomization to treatment groups, which characterizes true experiments. Quasi-experiments, thus, are not as powerful as experiments in establishing causal connections between interventions and outcomes (Coughlan et al, 2007, 658-663). Differences between Inferential and Descriptive Statistics: Statistics are either descriptive or inferential. Descriptive statistics are used to describe and synthesize data. Averages and percentages are examples of descriptive statistics. Actually, when such indices are calculated on data from a population, they are called parameters. Inferential statistics on the other hand is used to draw some inferences out of the numerical data (Zellner et al., 2007, 55-59). The title of the research article chosen by the author to base this assignment is "Randomised controlled trial to compare surgical stabilisation of the lumbar spine with an intensive rehabilitation programme for patients with chronic low back pain: the MRC spine stabilisation trial" by Fairbank and coworkers published in the British Medical Journal (Fairbank et al., 2005, 1233). Purpose: The purpose of this particular study is to assess the clinical effectiveness of surgical stabilization in the form of spinal fusion compared with that with intensive stabilization for patients with chronic low back pain. The design obviously was a multicentric randomized controlled trial (Cook et al., 2008, 128-133). Randomization or random assignment involves placing subjects in groups at random. Random essentially means that every subject has an equal chance of being assigned to any group to avoid systematic bias in the groups that could affect the dependent variable. Randomization remains the most trustworthy and acceptable method of

Two Requirements of Mental State Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Two Requirements of Mental State - Essay Example In order to understand such concepts, this paper will use the case of a friend who was recently involved in an accident and cannot be allowed to leave hospital since the doctors are unsure of the student’s mental state. Doctors claim that her brain is not normal whereas she has a clear memory of the accident and behaves in the same way as before. In my opinion of whether the hospitalized friend ha mental states or not, I believe that one can have a mental state even without an organic brain. Moreover, behaving like a human being does not prove that one has a mental state. The hospitalized friend does not show a normal range of mental states, but she shows some mental states. All the doctors in the cases have different perspectives on mental state. Their arguments represent different philosophical theories. The first doctor claims that mental states are type-identical to states of the human brain and since the patient in our case lacks a normal brain, he cannot have mental states. Doctor two said that the patient had some mental states since he could behave exactly like others but insisted that the patient did not have all of mental states. Thus in doctor two’s view, right behavior is only a necessary condition of mental states. Doctor three believes that mental states required a Cartesian soul. Dr. four disagrees and claims that same behavior is sufficient for mental states. Dr. Five rejected that human brain is necessary for mental states. In addition, he claims that if what in the patient’s head is a digital computer, then he cannot have mental states. All doctors are represent some philosophical theories. Dr. #1 is an identity theorist, #2 believes functionalism and Dr. #3 is a Cartesian. Dr. #4 is behaviorist and #5 represents parts of John Searle’s view that against machine can possibly think. This paper will focus on discuss Dr #1 and Dr #5. It is important to understand what a mental