Self-Care and Quality of Life (Reaction Paper Sample)

Research Analysis
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This paper aims to analyze two different researches in a number of different ways or aspects, by considering various features and characteristics of the two researches in subject. The researches to be analyzed in this paper are "Self-care and quality of life among patients with heart failure. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners" by authors by the names Jody A. Britz and Karen S. Dunn, and "Alternating antipyretics: Antipyretic efficacy of acetaminophen versus acetaminophen alternated with ibuprofen in children" by authors by the names Lynne C. Kramer, Peaches A. Richards, Amy M. Thompson, David P. Harper and Mary P. Fairchok. These two researches were published in the year 2010 and 2008 respectively. In this analysis, there are several different aspects and things that are going to be considered or used in the analyzing process. These include the types of research designs used in these two studies, link between the research purpose/question and the choice of the design, the intervention, independent and dependent variables in each case, potential extraneous variables, as well as the methods used to control for confounding (variables) participant characteristics in each case. The difference between cross-sectional vs. longitudinal and retrospective vs. prospective designs will also, be handled in this paper.
To begin with, in order for an individual to identify the kind of research design employed in a study or a research paper in the correct and reliable way or manner, there are certain things and aspects of the research paper that they ought to look at, so as to make the right judgment on this matter. For instance, when trying to identify the kind of research design employed in a study when it is not indicated in the paper itself, an individual should start by looking at different things that determine the kind of a research design that an author will employ in the study. Such things include the aim of the research, nature of the phenomenon, reliability or the dependability of the information in the study, among others. The process of identifying this aspect of the research can, however, be implied in cases where the design employed is mentioned by the author.
In the research "Self-care and quality of life among patients with heart failure" by Britz and Dunn, the authors describe their research paper as a descriptive, correlational study on the basis of the research design they employ in its making. From this statement, it can be inferred that this research paper aims or attempts to describe as well as explain conditions of the present by using many subjects and to explore relationships therein, to make predictions. This is the main rationale behind the employing of this design research even if the authors did not state it. The relationship to be explored in this case that between heart failure self-care deficits and quality of life indicators. The descriptive nature of this research comes about in its attempts to describe and explain the heart failure self-care deficits by using the many subjects of recently hospitalized heart failure patients. There is a clear link between the research purpose/question and the choice of the design in this research "Self-care and quality of life among patients with heart failure." This is due to the fact that the research purpose of this research is to determine or to establish whether there are any statistically significant relationships between heart failure self-care deficits and quality of life indicators among recently hospitalized heart failure patients. From this research purpose/ question or aim, it can be seen that the research is meant to be a descriptive, correlational study, and, therefore, there is a clear link between its research purpose and the design employed by the authors. The design employed was also an appropriate one due to the fact that it enables the attaining or the achieving of the research purpose. There is nowhere in this research where there is an intervention. The independent variable in this case were the patients with heart failure while the dependent variables were the specific self-care deficits. Masking was not employed in this study. Some of the extraneous variables that might have affected the outcomes of this study include age, gender, marital status, level of education, smoking status, and the general health of the participants. This is due to the fact that all these variables impact on independent and the dependent variables in this study in one way or another and, therefore, can affect the results found. The method used to control for confounding (variables) participant characteristics is restriction. The subjects in this study do not have the same levels of the confounding factors, and hence restriction as a method is effective in the study as applied.
The research "Alternating antipyretics: Antipyretic efficacy of acetaminophen versus acetaminophen alternated with ibuprofen in children" on the other hand prepared by the authors Lynne C. Kramer, Peaches A. Richards, Amy M. Thompson, David P. Harper and Mary P. Fairchok, is described as a randomized, prospective, double-blinded, placebo-controlled research on the basis of the research design employed in the preparing of the study. In simple terms, this is an experimental research design. A double-blind experiment is an experimental method or technique that is employed mostly to ensure impartiality, and avoid errors that might arise from bias during the experiment or the research (Shuttleworth, n.d). In this case the errors avoided is kind that could arise in the comparison between the response of fever to acetaminophen alternated with placebo versus acetaminophen alternated with ibuprofen in a population of healthy children aged 6 months to 6 years that are used in the research. The authors in the provided the rationale behind the employing of this research design by stating the above statement. There is a clear link between the research purpose/question and the choice of the design when one considers the purpose of this research. From its purpose, it can understood the need to avoid any error that may arise from bias in this research, hence the need to use the double-blinded design. The research design employed here is, therefore, appropriate for this study. There is an intervention in this study which is described through the use of figures and a table. This is a very appropriate way of describing an intervention, due to the fact that it makes it simple to understand it more clearly when such tables and figures are employed. The independent variables in this study were the Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen while the dependent variables were the temperatures collected from the children at different times. Masking was employed in this study and the individuals blinded were the parents and the investigators in this study. The rationale for this was to avoid any error that could occur as a result of the placebo effect that these might have if, not blinded. Some of the extraneous variables that might have affected the outcomes of this study include race, gender, and age characteristics. This is due to the fact that all these variables impact on independent and the dependent variables in this study in one way or another and, therefore, can affect the results found. ...