Task Assignment 3 (TA 3)

Instructions

Task Assignment 3(TA 3) builds on the initial sections of the research proposal initiated in Task Assignment 2 (TA 2). Task Assignment 3 focuses on the methodology for the proposed study. You will be able to use what is in this paper for your final Bare Bones Proposal assignment. Be sure to make corrections based on faculty feedback before you incorporate into the Bare Bones Proposal. Note that faculty comments cannot be viewed from a device such as a phone or IPad.

Building on TA 2, include the following in the paper.

• Purpose

Use the corrected draft from TA 2: identify the purpose of the study. You will write this as: The purpose of the study is to.... Be sure to use the correct verbiage to match your study design. Typical phrasing examples include:

o The purpose of the study is to examine the effectiveness of X intervention on Y. X would be the independent variable and Y would be the outcome variable.

o The purpose of the study is to identify whether a correlation exists between X and Y.

o The purpose of the study is to determine whether X has an influence on Y.

o The purpose of the study is to explore factors that (influence, describe, correlate, etc.) Y variable.

• Methodology

o Research Design: identify the type of design you will use. Be specific-descriptive, quasi-experimental or experimental is not enough. Examples might include: Randomized control trial, cohort, correlational, pre-test-post-test, etc. The text provides descriptions of the designs. Be sure to include why the design is appropriate for the study. This sentence should be referenced. For example:

- Type of design:A cross-sectional, correlational study will be conducted to examine the relationship between knowledge of HIV transmission, prophylactic use of antiretroviral medications, altruism, and the use of safe sexual practices (no reference needed since this is our study). A cross-sectional design is a non-experimental research design in which the data is collected at one point in time (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2014). Because participants will be completing variable specific questionnaires at one point in time, the research design is appropriate for the study.

- Extraneous variables: These can be situational-such as a cold environment when taking a test, personal-such as an individual taking a test being sleepless; or researcher based-such as if the researcher gave clues on how to act or respond during the study. Additionally, using self-report instruments or tools might be an extraneous variable-because the individual is having to ‘self-report information').

o Sampling plan: describe the type of sampling plan you will conduct-usually a non-probability or probability sample-the LoBiondo-Wood and Haber textbook describes the types of sampling plans you can choose to fit your study. Be sure to indicate the specific sampling plan and to reference the information.

- Population: include the population your sample will represent and an estimated sample size you would obtain to conduct the study. Be sure to include exclusion and inclusion criteria and remember that these criteria can help to control extraneous variables and bias too.

- Obtaining sample: describe how you would obtain the sample. Describe your recruitment process or any plans for using flyers or advertisements. If you plan a randomized study, how will you randomize the participants (coin toss/computer program)?

o Assumptions and limitations: Assumptions are things you assume about the study. Things you believe are true. Examples: if you were assessing the effectiveness on nurse follow up phone calls on medication compliance, you would assume all participants have a working phone-but this should be an inclusion criterion. Other examples: if you are giving questionnaires to participants, you would assume they would answer the questions honestly; if measuring blood pressure, you would assume the person taking the measurement knows how to correctly use a sphygmomanometer and stethoscope. Limitations are things that can limit your study. Examples include a small sample size, inability to generalize because the sample is so specific, etc. Be sure to address internal and external validity.

o Operational definitions: How you define your variables and populationfrom the Hypothesis or Research Question in measurable terms. For example, if you were using blood pressure as an outcome variable, your operational definition would be: Blood pressure will be measured using a manual sphygmomanometer and a stethoscope. The cuff will be placed one inch above the antecubital area and the stethoscope will be placed over the brachial artery.... If you were using an instrument or tool to measure the variable, you would state the name of the instrument. For example, Knowledge of HIV transmission will be measured using the HIV Knowledge Questionnaire.

o Plan for Data Collection: describe the how, when, and where of data collection. Be sure to include that you will first obtain IRB approval and how you will obtain informed consent-include the venue where you would conduct the study.

o Data Collection Tools/Measures

- If you decide to use a tool (questionnaire or instrument) from a study you read, include the number of items (or questions) the tool has, who created the tool, and reliability and validity of the tool. A copy of the tool should be added as an appendix to the paper. If the reliability and validity of the tool is not available in the literature, this would be a limitation.

- If you plan to develop your own data collection tool, a copy must be provided as an appendix. Be sure to describe how your methodology speaks to reliability and validity and how the tool you develop ensures accurate measurement of the variable. For example, if you plan to examine the number of hours someone walks per week, how will you document that to ensure consistency among participants? If you plan to develop a table for data entry, that must also be included as an appendix. All appendices are placed behind the references.

- If using physiologic measures, describe how you will ensure consistency in data collection among all participants.

o Plan for Data Analysis

- Identify appropriate statistics (descriptive, inferential) for description of the sample and study variables and statistical inference. Descriptive and inferential statistics should reflect the appropriate level of data (nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio). Inferential statistics are used to compute level of significance for tests of association (relationships, correlations) or differences (ANOVA, t-tests, chi square) in the study variables. Sullivan-Bolyai and Bova (2014) in LoBiondo-Wood and Hager, Chapter 16, provides lists of tests and discussion. Include the set level of significance (alpha level) for statistical significance for the study.

Submission of Task Assignment 3

Upload the document as a Word file. APA formatting is required with a running head, title page, section headings, and references. The paper must contain a minimum of 4 and no more than 6 pages of text.

Attachment:- Task-2.rar