Research and Professional Trends
What this domain tests
Research process, designs, sampling, ethics, basic statistics, evidence-based practice and contemporary professional issues.
Core rules
- Designs: experimental (randomisation, control), quasi-experimental (no randomisation), descriptive, correlational; qualitative approaches include phenomenology, grounded theory and ethnography.
- Sampling: probability (simple random, stratified, cluster, systematic) supports generalisation; non-probability (convenience, purposive, quota, snowball) is common in qualitative work.
- Evidence hierarchy: systematic review or meta-analysis > RCT > cohort > case-control > cross-sectional > case report or expert opinion.
- Ethics: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, informed consent, confidentiality and institutional ethics committee approval.
- Statistics: p <0.05 conventionally rejects the null hypothesis; it does not prove clinical importance. Confidence intervals show precision. Sensitivity detects disease; specificity detects health.
- Professional trends: scope of practice, continuing nursing education, telehealth, digital health records, patient safety and AI-assisted care.
Worked example
A trial reports a 2 mmHg greater fall in systolic BP with intervention A than B, p = 0.03, 95% CI 0.2–3.8. The result is statistically significant at 0.05, but the effect is small. Decide whether 2 mmHg matters clinically; statistical significance is not the same as clinical significance.
Traps
Saying p = 0.03 means a 3% chance the null hypothesis is true; confusing reliability with validity; treating correlation as causation; and using convenience sampling to claim national representativeness.