A nurse researcher is studying the effect of a new wound care protocol on healing time. She randomly assigns patients to intervention and control groups and measures wound healing over 3 weeks. Which research design is most appropriate for this study?

1. A

   Descriptive design

2. B

   Quasi-experimental design

3. C

   True experimental design

4. D

   Correlational design

Appeared in: GMCH Nursing Officer-2025

Explanation

• A true experimental design is considered the gold standard in research for establishing cause-and-effect relationships.
• The study described in the question includes the three essential components of a true experiment: manipulation, randomization, and control.
• Manipulation: The researcher introduces a new wound care protocol.
• Randomization: Patients are randomly assigned to either the intervention or control group.
• Control: A control group is used for comparison against the group receiving the new protocol.

Why Other Options Were Wrong

• Option A: A descriptive design only observes and describes phenomena as they naturally occur. It does not involve any intervention or manipulation of variables.
• Option B: A quasi-experimental design involves an intervention but lacks randomization. Since the study explicitly states that patients were randomly assigned, this design is incorrect.
• Option D: A correlational design examines the relationship or association between two or more variables but does not manipulate them or determine cause and effect. This study actively manipulates a variable (the wound care protocol).

Related Visual

• Visual 1: Flowchart: A flowchart illustrating the key differences between true experimental, quasi-experimental, and non-experimental designs, focusing on the presence or absence of randomization, control, and manipulation.
• Visual 2: Table: A comparative table summarizing the characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses of descriptive, correlational, quasi-experimental, and true experimental research designs.

Clinical Relevance

• Nursing practice connection: Knowing Identification of appropriate research designs in nursing studies helps nurses interpret findings accurately and avoid errors in routine assessment, medication administration, and patient teaching.
• Understanding research designs is fundamental for Evidence-Based Practice (EBP), enabling nurses to critically appraise research studies and determine the validity of their findings before applying them to patient care.
• Nurses often participate in or lead research studies to improve patient outcomes. Knowing the correct design ensures the results are reliable and can contribute meaningfully to the body of nursing knowledge.
• What if? If the researcher could not randomly assign patients and instead had to use two existing groups (e.g., patients on two different floors), the design would become quasi-experimental. This would weaken the study's ability to claim the new protocol caused the healing, as pre-existing differences between the groups could be the real reason for any observed differences in outcome.

How to Approach the Question

• First, carefully read the question stem and identify the key components of the described study.
• Note the keywords: 'randomly assigns', 'intervention group', 'control group', and 'effect of a new...protocol'.
• Recall the definitions of the four research designs provided in the options.
• Descriptive: Describes a situation.
• Correlational: Looks for relationships between variables.
• Quasi-experimental: Has an intervention but lacks randomization.

Concept Tested & Keywords

• Concept Tested: Identification of appropriate research designs in nursing studies.
• Stem keywords: nurse researcher, effect, new wound care protocol, healing time, randomly assigns, intervention and control groups
• Lead-in keywords: most appropriate
• Negative lead-in flag: false

Question ID

Qi4bQ_FEDP7KURpCodBZr6

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