George Brown COMM 1147: Quantitative Research Paper Evaluation

This assignment analyzes a quantitative research paper focusing on the efficacy of empathy training in nursing students. The research, a quasi-experimental study, investigates the impact of empathy training on students' capacity building, learning perception, and retention. The assignm...Read More

COMM 1147
Critical Enquiry in Practical Nursing
Quantitative Paper Evaluation
Target Competencies:
Describe and identify quantitative research methods in research papers.
Evaluation: 10%
Assignment Description
In this assignment, you will be assessed on your understanding of quantitative research. More
specifically, you will identify the main research questions, procedures for data collection and
analysis, and your overall understanding of quantitative mythology.
Assignment Directions
 Locate one source from the list of quantitative research articles posted to Blackboard.
Alternatively, you can choose a research article from the George Brown library website.
Read and annotate the source carefully.
 Answer the questions provided to you on the next page and in the same format. Save your
assignment as a word document on your computer. Then submit your assignment via
Blackboard.

Quantitative Paper Evaluation
Bas-Sarmiento, P., Fern, ndez-G. M., Baena-Ba, os, M., & Romero-S, nchez, J. M. (2017). Efficacy of
empathy training in nursing students: A quasi-experimental study. Nurse Education Today, 59.
https://doi-org.gbcprx01.georgebrown.ca/10.1016/j.nedt.2017.08.012
[Your name]
[You’re Student Number]
Course Name
Course Section
Date Submitted
Instruction: Answer each of the following questions in not more than 100 words. Over length
responses will be penalized.
Question 1. What is (are) the research question(s)?
Ans. Does Empathy training of nursing students is effective in capacity building, empathic
performance, high learning perception, and material retention?
What should be the curriculum and content of the training?
Does the Empathic training help in building strong relationships with the patient?
Do students develop competencies other than empathy after undergoing the training?
How should be the sampling done for conducting the research?
What would be the target group for conducting the research experiment?
What is the importance of the research?
How the research is going to help future nursing students and their patients, in other terms, the
overall medical service?

Question 2: What is the main area/subject of the study?
Ans.The main area or subject that this research is going to study focuses on the experiential
learning of the nursing students in order to develop their potential for making contribution to
medical profession, especially nursing, in the aspects of capacity building, empathizing with the
patient, enhancing the learning perspective of nursing students, and help them retain all the
information they have learnt in their training. Empathy is the competency emphasised in the
research as it is considered as an important therapeutic tool in developing an empathetic
relationship between the medical professionals and patients that otherwise may experience
repercussions on their health.
Question 3. What data collection techniques are used?
Ans.Quantitative research method has been used for conducting the research experiment. It is a
quasi-experimental study the data for which will be measured both before and after conducting
the tests on the target groups. The performance of students will be measured on the scale of
Reynolds Empathy Scale. Perception of patients about student’s behaviour will be measured
through Consultation and Relational Empathy measure. The external observers assessing the
behaviour the students will rate them on Carkhuff scale. For comparing the student scores before
and after the test descriptive analysis and non-parametric tests will be used. For correlating the
measurements Spearman’s correlation coefficient will be used.
Question 4. Do you think these data collection techniques are appropriate? Explain.
Ans.These data collection techniques are appropriate as all the results obtained for every student
are correlated with each other for analyzing the results uniformly without the deformities. The

statistical measures for measuring performances is Reynolds’s Empathy scale and Car huff scale
that will be useful for comparing student performances on different scales which will help in
optimizing the results. The measurements will also be correlated with each other using
Spearman’s coefficient that will help in adequately analyzing the students’ scores. The choice of
conducting the Quantitative research also seems to be appropriate as the subjective responses
does not give substantial results unless the results get quantified.
Question 5. What strategies were used to analyse data?
Ans.To analyse the data descriptive analysis of non-parametric factors is conducted. Descriptive
analysis will summarise the data obtained for the sample selected for the research. It revolves
around simple graphics analysis to draw conclusions and inferences about the research data for
describing events in details or superficially through any of the five descriptive statistics namely
mean median, mode, range, variance, and standard deviation to gather data analysis. The
inferences drawn about the sample will help making assumptions about the entire population.
The mean scores obtained for all the students have shown improvement in every variable. It can
be analyzed that all the students in the sample have shown positive learning.
Question 6. What strategies were used to ensure rigour in data analysis?
Ans.There are many strategies for introducing rigor in data analysis. This means a rigorous
qualitative research which is transparent, maximum validity or credibility of the research,
maximum reliability or dependency on the data, comparability, and reflexivity. The rigor for this
research is the maximum validity of the research results as the results obtained for different
variables are being testified through various scales such as Reynolds’s Empathy scale and Car

huff scale. Also the descriptive analysis of the research is being conducted with the non-
parametric contrast tests for the result comparison before and after the test. The results are also
not scattered as correlation is checked through Spearman’s coefficient.
Question 7. What were the main findings?
Ans.The main findings of the research show improvement in the mean scores for all the
variables. If these scores reveal any difference, they would be statistically different. With this
improvement in empathy of university students, the training is found to be effective. The
competency of empathy obtained by the students is found to be retained for a long time after the
training gets over. Retraining can be a solution for its permanent retention. Therefore, this
experiential training has been highly recommended for the future health professionals.
Question 8. Do you think the findings are reliable? Explain.
Ans.These findings are reliable as the validity of the results obtained have already been
established by verifying it on different types of scales to verify the consistency of the results
which can further be used to draw an analysis and finally drawing the inference or conclusion of
the data being analyzed in the research. Since the results on different variables have been
correlated the findings can said to be reliable and used for future reference of the health
professionals.