history A threat to internal validity when the
dependent variable is influenced by an event that
occurred during the study
homogeneity The degree to which elements are
similar or homogenous
homogenous Elements that share many com-
mon characteristics
human rights Freedoms to which all humans
are entitled
hypotheses Formal statements regarding the
expected or predicted relationship among two or
more variables
hypothesis testing Collection of objectively
measurable data that are gathered through the five
senses to confirm or refute a hypothesis; empirical
testing; a test for construct validity
impressionist tales Qualitative researchers’
storytelling and personal descriptions about the
experience of conducting the study
incidence The number of new cases of a disease
in a population during a specified period of time
inclusion criteria Characteristics that each ele-
ment must possess to be included in the sample
independent t test A variation of the t test used
when data values vary independently from one
another
independent variable Variable that influences
the dependent variable or outcome; interven-
tion or treatment that is manipulated by the
researcher; X variable
indexes A listing of electronic or print resources
indicators Quantitative criteria used to measure
outcomes
individual nurse level Practice changes that can
be implemented by an individual nurse
inductive reasoning Thinking that moves from
the particular to the general
inferential statistics Analysis of data as the basis
for prediction related to the phenomenon of interest
informants Individuals in a qualitative study;
participants
information overload State of an individual in
which excessive communication cannot be pro-
cessed or used
informed consent An ethical practice requir-
ing researchers to obtain voluntary participation
by subjects after subjects have been informed of
possible risks and benefits
innovation Something new or novel
innovator One who is willing to try new things
institutional review boards Committees that
review research proposals to determine whether
research is ethical
instrumentation A threat to internal validity
when there are inconsistencies in data collection
integrative review A scholarly paper that syn-
thesizes published studies to answer questions
about phenomena of interest
interaction of treatment and history A threat to
external validity when historical events affect the
intervention
interaction of treatment and setting A threat to
external validity when an intervention conducted
in one setting cannot be generalized to a different
setting
interaction of treatment with selection of sub-
jects A threat to external validity where the
independent variable might not affect individuals
the same way
interlibrary loan A service whereby libraries
provide items in their collections to each other
upon request; lending of items through a network
of libraries
intermediate outcomes Changes that occur after
an innovation is introduced
internal consistency An attribute of reliability
when all items on an instrument measure the
same concept
internal validity The degree to which one can
conclude that the independent variable produced
changes in the dependent variable
international level Changes that result from col-
laboration among nurses from different countries520 GLOSSARY