Example Of Critical Analysis Paper

Critical Analysis of Quantitative Research Articles

Quantitative nursing research is a systematic inquiry of the empirical evidence, collection, and analysis of numeric information conducted within scientific methods in order to examine relationships between two variables of interest, and thus, establish grounds for evidence-based nursing practice (Loiselle, 2011). This paper will attempt to critically analyze two quantitative research articles: “Learning with older people--outcomes of a quasi-experimental study” by Koskinen, Salminen, Puukka, & Leino-Kilpi (2016) and “Impact of a stand-alone course in gerontological nursing on undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of working with older adults: A quasi-experimental study” by Koehler,

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the nursing students' interest in geriatric nursing, their attitudes towards older people, and their knowledge level about aging as outcomes of the newly implemented Learning with Older People Program (LOPP) (Koskinen et al., 2016). A thorough literature review of the topic was completed by the authors prior to the study, using research projects conducted in 2007-2015. The literature suggested that nursing students do not prefer working with older people, which creates a demand for nurses who are willing to care for the elderly. However, previous studies did not identify the most effective way to promote positive attitudes of nursing students towards older people. The research problem was formulated based on the literature review and stated that the nursing students’ interest in caring for older people needs to be enhanced through teaching and learning with older people (Koskinen et al.,

Whereas the independent variable was the implementation of LOPP for the intervention group versus no implementation of LOPP for the control group, and dependent variables were: the interest of nursing students in older people, their attitudes towards older people and their knowledge about aging. These positive directional hypotheses were consistent with previous research, clearly stated, testable, clearly identified variables and relationships among them, and were appropriately used in quantitative research where limited previous knowledge existing about the topic (Loiselle, 2011). The research question was not stated.

The authors applied quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest research design with a non-equivalent comparison group. The use of quasi-experimental research design is appropriate when the study has control and manipulation of the independent variable, but lacking randomization (Loiselle, 2011), which was restricted by institutional policies (Koskinen et al., 2016). The non-equivalent control group pre-and posttest design is the most frequently used quasi-experimental approach, which allows determining pretest similarities