Purpose: To assess the synthesis of key course concepts and the ability to design and implement a statistical analysis plan (Objectives 1 - 5).

This assignment is the final assignment in the course. Throughout the course, students should be thinking about their clinical scholarly projects and how key concepts are generally or specifically related to the project.

Because planning an analysis is far more difficult than running a statistical test on a computer, this course emphasizes statistical thinking, rather than computational recipes.

This final assignment provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate in an authentic context what they have learned in the course. Although limited in scope, this final assignment is a draft of Chapter 3 of the Clinical Scholarly Project (CSP). The focus of the assignment is on developing a clear vision of (a) what should be done in a project to analyze and interpret data appropriately and (b) the likely results of the proposed project. Thus, this assignment should assist students in completing their final doctoral projects in an effective and timely manner and prepare them to complete the methodology chapter of their CSP. This assignment builds on assignments from previous courses, particularly DNPU-706 which helped students identify appropriate outcomes, develop a data collection plan, and obtain formal approval from the CSP Chair on the project plan.

This assignment must be submitted in LiveText by Sunday of Week 7. Students must use the assignment template provided in LiveText and attach a Microsoft Word document (DOC or DOCX). The assignment must also be uploaded in Blackboard to the Week 7 Academic Integrity folder for analysis by Turnitin.

Students are expected to use the feedback they got from their instructors on previous assignments as they prepare for this assignment. Students are encouraged to work with classmates, instructors, and mentors/chairs when preparing the assignment. However, this assignment is not group work. Each student's final paper should be unique to the student and reflect his/her background, experience, expertise, integrity, and specific CSP.

The student should prepare an appropriately formatted (APA) manuscript (See APA Handbook Chapter 2),organized in the format described in the Clinical Scholarly Project Handbook (pp. 20-22). Students should make sure that the audience will understand what change in practice s/he will be evaluating, why it is an important problem, why s/he is predicting the results s/he is predicting, and how the results will impact nursing practice if s/he achieves them.

From the CSP Handbook:

Chapter III should include a detailed description of the proposed research methods and procedures, in essence, the design of the study. It should be sufficiently explanatory and detailed to enable other researchers to read the proposal, and by referring to it alone, conduct the same research that the student proposes to undertake. This is known as "replication." As such, Chapter III must not be an abstract description, but a complete step-by-step account of what will be done, in what order, how, and by whom. Whether the study will be quantitative, qualitative, or a combination should be clearly stated. The following sections must be included in the methods chapter. Any additional sections needed to appropriately describe issues associated with the research operations (i.e., transcripts from focus group interviews) can be included as an appendix (p. 20).

Remember that the Methodology Paper, which will form the basis of Chapter 3, should build logically on the Background and Significance (Chapter 1) as well as the exhaustive literature review (Chapter 2). Please carefully review the CSP Handbook for detailed descriptions of each of the following required sections as well as the APA Handbook for formatting and content tips. Your paper should be structured as follows:

I. Title Page: Your title should be an empirical title (as discussed at immersion) (APA 2.01 and 2.02).

II. Abstract: Your abstract should be a "brief, comprehensive summary" of the paper (APA 2.04).

III. Overview: A brief introduction to the chapter (APA 2.05). Briefly introduce the problem and summarize the significance.

IV. Purpose Statement: Clear and concise explanation of the purpose of your clinical scholarly project.. Remember that your purpose should use empirical language and address measurable outcomes.

Your research question(s) should be clearly and empirically stated (APA 2.05).

V. Data

a. Population: This should describe the population addressed in your research question (APA 2.06).

b. Sample: Describe the subset (sample) of the population of interest, the sample size, and the extent to which results can be generalized (APA 2.06). Also include subject recruitment if appropriate. A mock APA table of descriptive statistics must be included and referenced in the narrative (APA 5.10).

c. Instrumentation: Describe the process or rationale used to select or design the data collection process if appropriate (APA 2.06)

d. Data Collection: Describe the process of data collection in detail (APA 2.06)

e. Variables: Describe, in detail, each of the variables you will be using (APA 2.06).

f. Research design: Describe the design of the study (pre/post, treatment/control, quasi- experimental, etc.). If appropriate, describe the intervention used (APA 2.06).

VI. Results

a. Analysis: Describe the analysis of the data, the methods used, issues of missing or abnormal data, and the results (APA 2.07). A mock APA table of results must be included and referenced in the narrative (APA 5.10).

VII. Discussion

a. Conclusions: Clearly explain your findings and make an explicit statement of support or nonsupport for your research question(s). If you had no significant findings, provide explanations. Clearly explain both the statistical and clinical significance of your study (APA 2.08).

b. Limitations: Explain the limitations of the study, address alternate explanations, sources of bias, and external validity of your findings (APA 2.08).

c. Significance and Implications: Present a "reasoned and justifiable commentary on the importance of your findings" (APA 2.08).

VIII. References

IX. Tables and Figures