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Most nurses' first attempt at research will be a quality assurance or performance improvement project. Unfortunately, these terms do not even appear in the indexes of most nursing research textbooks. The limitations and common pitfalls of this type of research is covered in this paper.

It is often the assignment of the perianesthesia nurse to critique a research article to evaluate a suggested procedure or instrument for implementation the patient care area. Although details of what should appear in each section of the research article have appeared in past reports in this series, this article will present an outline for critiquing the entire research manuscript.

This manuscript presents some of the basic concepts of science and scientific reasoning. Whether you are reading research or planning to do a Master's thesis, understanding these concepts will be important. How theories differ from beliefs and their ultimate practicality are discussed.

The American public is being overwhelmed with scientific sounding claims for products to be ingested and/or applied to the body that have no research support. To protect ourselves and our patients from potential harm or unnecessarily wasting their resources, we need to be aware of the problem. In addition we need to apply the standards we have learned for critiquing research to the claims made by the purveyors of these products.

Surveys are essential for discovering the incidence, distribution, and inter-relationship of variables within a population. As such, it is important that we are able to critically read published surveys. This manuscript is the second of two dealing with survey research. This manuscript deals with the advantages and disadvantages of different types of surveys and what the reader should be looking for when reading survey research.

Surveys are essential for discovering the incidence, distribution, and interrelationship of variables within a population. As such, it is important that we are able to critically read published surveys. This manuscript is the first of two dealing with survey research. Sampling and external validity are covered in this manuscript.

The research design is the overall plan or structure of the study. The goal of a good research design is to insure internal validity and answer the question being asked. The only clear rule in selecting a design is that the question dictates the design. Over the next few issues this column will cover types of research designs and their inherent strengths and weaknesses. This article discusses ex post facto research.

The readers of this journal are frequently confronted with statistical analysis that includes analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). This article discusses what the authors are really telling you when they use these techniques.

This manuscript presents the beginning portions of a research project as well as a critique of the design and methods. Although it is not a complete proposal, this article may given those readers who are thinking of doing research some idea of how easy it is to make fatal flaws in the design of a project. Suggestions for how a research novice might avoid these classic mistakes are made.

The discussion section of a research manuscript is the last thing we read and often the section that leaves the most lasting impression. It is important to know what to reasonably expect to be in the discussion section. This article presents the areas that are usually covered. Over-interpretation of the results of a research project occurs all too often. This article will help you avoid being taken in by this problem.

The article explains what to look for when an investigator compares data from two distinct groups. The most common statistical methods of doing these evaluations are the chi-square test and the t test. Both tests are explained.

The goal of research is to discover new knowledge to improve patient care. Research is essential because of its ability to establish causal relationships. This article discusses the minimum requirements a research report must meet to establish a causal relationship.