Critique Template for a Quantitative Study

Critique Template for a Quantitative Study
NURS 6052
Week 6 Assignment: Application: Critiquing Quantitative, Qualitative, or Mixed Methods Studies (due by Day 7 of Week 7)
Date:           
Your name:           
Article reference (in APA style): Gelfman, L., Meier, D., and Morrison, R. (2008). Does Palliative Care Improve Quality? A Survey of Bereaved Family Members. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 36(1), 22-28
URL: /pmc/articles/PMC2527760/
What is a critique? Simply stated, a critique is a critical analysis undertaken for some purpose. Nurses critique research for three main reasons: to improve their practice, to broaden their understanding, and to provide a base for the conduct of a study.
When the purpose is to improve practice, nurses must give special consideration to questions such as these:
Are the research findings appropriate to my practice setting and situation?
What further research or pilot studies need to be done, if any, before incorporating findings into practice to assure both safety and effectiveness?
How might a proposed change in practice trigger changes in other aspects of practice?
To help you synthesize your learning throughout this course and prepare you to utilize research in your practice, you will be critiquing a qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research study of your choice.
If the article is unavailable in a full-text version through the Walden University Library, you must e-mail the article as a PDF or Word attachment to your Instructor.
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH CRITIQUE
Research Problem and Purpose
What are the problem and purpose of the referenced study? (Sometimes ONLY the purpose is stated clearly and the problem must be inferred from the introductory discussion of the purpose.)
 FORMTEXT
     HYPER15The aim of this study is to find out whether palliative cares improves quality.
Hypotheses and Research Questions
What are the hypotheses (or research questions/objectives) of the study? (Sometimes the hypotheses or study questions are listed in the Results section, rather than preceding the report of the methodology used. Occasionally, there will be no mention of hypotheses, but anytime there are inferential statistics used, the reader can recognize what the hypotheses are from looking at the results of statistical analysis.)
 FORMTEXT
     HYPER15The research question in this study is whether palliative care consultations helped in improving the quality of care.

Literature Review
What is the quality of the literature review? Is the literature review current? Relevant? Is there evidence that the author critiqued the literature or merely reported it without critique? Is there an integrated summary of the current knowledge base regarding the research problem, or does the literature review contain opinion or anecdotal articles without any synthesis or summary of the whole? (Sometimes the l...