Purpose, Quality, and Value in Critical Realist Research within Nurse Education

• Main Author: Phil Coleman (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Diponegoro University, 2019-06-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 2087-7811; 2406-8799; 10.14710/nmjn.v9i1.23485
• Keywords: critical realist; nurse education; research; Nursing; RT1-120
• Source: Nurse Media: Journal of Nursing, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 103-116 (2019)

Background: There have been a wide range of practice fields in nursing research including education; however, the quality of research in these disciplines has often failed to provide a sufficiently robust foundation. Purpose: This paper explores the purpose of educational research, how quality can be assured in such research and how the value of a research study in nurse education can be determined; focusing predominantly on arguments associated with the use of qualitative, and to a lesser extent, mixed methods research. Methods: A Critical Realist review drawing upon relevant literature from the fields of nursing, education, and healthcare was undertaken to examine issues of purpose, quality, and value in such research. Results: A wide range of criteria were identified to evaluate the purpose, quality, and value of Critical Realist research using qualitative and mixed methods research within nurse education. Conclusion: The holistic, theoretically-eclectic, pragmatic, and solution-focused nature of nursing as a discipline means that Critical Realist research in nursing, and more specifically, nurse education should explicitly reflect these principles.