Evidence-Based Practice for Nurses

1. What statistics were used to describe the characteristics of the sample? What statistics were
   used to analyze the data that were collected? Were the statistics appropriate for the level of
   measurement?


2. Were measures of central tendency provided? If so, which ones were used? Are they the
   most appropriate? How sensitive to outliers is the measure reported?


3. Were measures of variation/dispersion provided? Were standard deviations reported for each
   mean that was reported?


4. What was the distribution of the data? Were data normally distributed? Was skewness or
   kurtosis discussed?


5. What statistics were used to determine differences between the groups? Were the results
   significant?


6. What statistics were used to express relationships among variables of interest? What was the
   magnitude and direction of the relationship? Was it significant?


7. Are all the hypotheses addressed in the analysis section of the report?


8. Is the selected level of significance appropriate for the purpose of the study and the types of
   analyses being conducted?


9. Do the tables and graphs agree with the text? Are they precise and do they offer economy of
   information?


10. Are the results understandable and presented objectively?

BOX 13-2 Questions for Appraising Analysis of Data

Statistics

Descriptive

Frequency

Inferential Epidemiological

* Nominal or ordinal level data

^ Interval or ratio level data

Is there a

difference between

the groups?

Measures

of

variability

Standard

deviation

Range

Semi-quartile

range

Model

percentage

Percentile

Variance

z Scores

Measures of

central

tendency

Is there a

relationship among

the variables

Mean

Medium

Mode

ANOVA^

t test^

Paired t test^

Chi square*

Multiple

regression^

Person’s r^

Kendall’s tau* Relative risk

Odds ratio

FIGURE 13-14

372 CHAPTER 13 What Do the Quantitative Data Mean?