Week 5 Discussion: Experimental Design
Step 1 Read the article in Appendix B of your required textbook (Coria et al, 2020).
Step 2 Discuss the following questions related to the Appendix B article taken from Experimental Designs found in your textbook in the Critical Appraisal Criteria Box on p. 186
1. What experimental design is used in the study?
2. How are randomization, control and manipulation implemented?
3. Are the findings generalizable to the larger population of interest?
PLEASE RESPOND TO THE TWO DSICUSSION BELOW. CITE REFERENCES IN APA CITATION WITH LINK TO WEBSITES USED
DISCUSSION #1
The experimental design used in the study was a randomized control trial (RCT). RCT’s are seen as the gold standard in measuring the effectiveness of new interventions and treatments (Hariton & Locascio, 2018). As in the study, the participants were randomly selected and assigned to either the group receiving the intervention or the control group. The group that received the intervention received a structured and individualized education program by a primary care nurse, which is how the study was manipulated (Cabo et al., 2020). The program included educational reinforcements and the support of their families in the study in order to achieve their long-term therapeutic target goals and metabolic control of their diabetes (Cabo et al., 2020). The control group only received the usual care. It consisted of 236 participants from Spain with them meeting for six face-to-face sessions with each lasting 30 minutes (Cabo et al., 2020).
The participants being selected at random helped to ensure that the groups were similar at the beginning of the study, which helps increase confidence that the manipulated factors caused the outcome they received. The control group was used in a comparative manner against the intervention group. The findings of the study were limited to the population of interest. This is because it was completed on 236 participants with Diabetes Mellitus in Spain within a primary care setting. It does not include other geographical, societal, environmental, and social factors that have the potential to sway the results. On the other hand, the study can be used as a starting point for further research in other populations and setting. With other populations and settings being included in future studies, it can increase the generalizability of the study with hope that the results of those studies being replicated.
References
Cobo, C., Coria, M., & Santi-Cano, M. (2020). Effectiveness of a primary care nurse delivered educational intervention for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in promoting metabolic control and compliance with long-term therapeutic targets: Randomized controlled trial. ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002074891930224X Links to an external site.
Hariton, E., & Locascio, J. J. (2018). Randomized controlled trials – the gold standard for effectiveness research. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6235704/ Links to an external site.
DISCUSSION #2
This study was a randomized control trial. A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted with two arms – an intervention and a control group, was conducted in the study (Coria et al, 2020). One group of participants had health improvement education from a nurse, the intervention group, and the other group, the control group, did not. Therefore, there was an intervention group and a control group. The hypothesis reflecting experimental designs test the experimental treatment of nursing interventions to lower A1c and lower fasting blood sugar. They also measured the effect on blood pressure, so this was he second variable, the first was diabetic indicators. The manipulation was the intervention of the health education. Randomization, or random assignment, is required for a study to be considered an experimental design with the distribution of subjects to either the experimental or the control group on a random basis (Lobiondo-Wood & Haber, 2022). each subject has an equal chance of being assigned to one of the two groups. This ensures that other variables that could affect change in the dependent variable will be equally distributed between groups, reducing systematic bias. It also decreases selection bias (Lobiondo-Wood & Haber, 2022). Control refers to the process by which the investigator holds conditions constant to limit bias that could influence the dependent variable(s). Control is acquired by manipulating the independent variable, randomly assigning subjects to a group, using a control group, and preparing intervention and data collection protocols that are consistent for all study participants. Manipulation is the process of “doing something,” a different dose of “something,” or comparing different types of treatment by manipulating the independent variable for at least some of the involved subjects (typically those randomly assigned to the experimental group). The independent variable may be a treatment, a teaching plan, or a medication (Lobiondo-Wood & Haber, 2022).
The findings came from a single Health Center and changes made to medications were not measured, so they can not be generalized for the entire population (Coria et al, 2020).
References
Cobo, C., Coria, M., & Santi-Cano, M. (2020). Effectiveness of a primary care nurse delivered educational intervention for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in promoting metabolic control and compliance with long-term therapeutic targets: Randomized controlled trial. ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002074891930224X Links to an external site.
Lobiondo-Wood, G., & Haber, J. (2022). Nursing research: Methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice. (10th ed.). Elsevier.