University Article Review: Exercise Decisions of Jordanian MI Patients

This document presents a comprehensive review of an article focusing on exercise participation decisions among Jordanian myocardial infarction (MI) patients, applying Janis and Mann's decisional conflict theory. The study, conducted in Jordanian military hospitals, employed structured interviews with 88 MI patients to assess the impact of benefits and barriers on exercise decisions. The review critically evaluates the study's title, introduction, literature review, study design (including sampling and ethical considerations), data analysis, and limitations. It highlights the use of convenient sampling and a cross-sectional design with a questionnaire for data collection. The review also discusses the statistical methods used (means, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis) and the challenges in generalizing the findings due to the sampling frame and method. The reviewer notes that the study's findings, while potentially useful in nursing, require further research with a larger sample size for broader applicability. The review concludes by summarizing the key findings and limitations of the study.

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Article Review: l-Hassana, M., & Wierenga, M. (2000). Exercise participation decisions
of Jordanian myocardial infarction patients: application of the decisional conflict theory.
International Journal of Nursing Studies, 37, 119-126.
Student’s Name
University

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Article Review: l-Hassana, M., & Wierenga, M. (2000). Exercise participation decisions
of Jordanian myocardial infarction patients: application of the decisional conflict theory.
International Journal of Nursing Studies, 37, 119-126.
The title of the study is supposed to give an overview of the research problem and the
population under study. The title of this study has been presented well since the reader can easily
identify the problem and the population being studied. The reader can also identify the variables
of the study without having to strain. The introduction part of a research paper gives an overview
of the topic bringing the reader from the general to the specific view (Bavdekar, 2015). This
makes it easy for one to understand how the problem being studied has been developed and what
already exists on the topic. Al-Hassana & Wierenga's (2000) study introduction gives the
background information of the study to justify why the study needs to be done. Since every study
is supposed to have a justification for the study, the introduction has clearly pointed out what this
study is being done and what the authors are seeking to develop in the course of the study. Here
the researcher connects with previous studies to identify what has not been addressed in the past
and what the study can address with the new findings.
The literature section part of a study supports to build on the work of other researchers to
point out what has been done at the moment on the topic and what needs to be done further. Thus
in the literature review section, the researcher links previous studies with the current one to
identify the data that exists on the topic (Creswell, 2013). How this data is related to the research
topic and the gaps that have been informed by these studies. The basis of the research is
supposed to be addressing gaps in previous studies or working on the recommendations that have
been raised in the literature. The study has used literature from previous studies well based on

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the interaction between perceived benefits and barriers. However, the researcher did not fully
explore the literature since only eight sources were used. This means that the review may not be
adequate to address all the issues that have been raised on the topic by other researchers. There is
also no theoretical framework that can be used to justify the relationship between variables and
how the hypothesis will be answered.
The study design section is the most important part of the study since it determines how
the researcher will approach the data collection method. Convenient sampling was used to
identify the sample population that fits the nature of this study question. This is based on the fact
that only a specific segment of the population which was myocardial infarction patients was
being studied. Thus convenient sampling becomes the best method since it allows the researcher
to conveniently sample the population. However, this sampling method has been criticized due to
its ability to be subjected to researcher bias when choosing participants (Shields & Rangarajan,
2013). In this case, it becomes difficult to generalize the findings of such a study since they fail
to be representative of the whole population. However, the researcher observed ethical
considerations as required by seeking approval from the ethical board and consent from the
participants before the study started.
To carry out the research, a cross-sectional design was used with a questionnaire for data
collection. This design offer advantages in data collection since the researcher can explore all the
variables in the questionnaire easily. This design is also quantitative in nature which makes it
easy to gather statistical data that can be analyzed and presented without any bias (Nick, 2017).
Despite that internal validity of the study is low due to the nature of the sampling method and
even the size of the sampling frame. Thus the findings of this study may not be easily
generalized to the whole population due to the internal validity problem. The data for the study

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was analyzed and presented quantitatively using the means Pearson product-moment correlation
and regression analysis to measure associations between the variables in the study. Then they
were discussed in comparison with the work of other researchers to determine links and
associations.
However, this study was limited by several factors that affect the internality and its
reliability. This creates the challenge of generalizing the findings of the study to the whole
population since the nature of the sample frame is low and the sampling method is not a
representation of the whole population. This means that the findings of this study can be used in
the field of nursing but fail in being used in generalizing to the whole population. Thus this study
will require further research using a larger sample frame so that the findings can a representation
of the whole study.

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References
Al-Hassana, M., & Wierenga, M. (2000). Exercise participation decisions of Jordanian myocardial
infarction patients: application of the decisional conflict theory. International Journal of Nursing
Studies, 37, 119-126.
Bavdekar, S. B. (2015). Writing Introduction: Laying the Foundations of a Research Paper. The
Journal of the Association of Physicians of India, 63(44).
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Review of the Literature". Research Design. Qualitative, Quantitative,
and Mixed Method Approaches . Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
Nick, T. G. (2017). Descriptive Statistics. In Methods in Molecular Biology (pp. 33–52). New
York.
Shields, P., & Rangarajan, N. (2013). A Playbook for Research Methods: Integrating Conceptual
Frameworks and Project Management. Stillwater: New Forums Press.