What are the independent and dependent variables in this study?

Literature Search, Rapid Critical Appraisal, and Summarization

· Locate a minimum of 4 research articles related to the topic and PICOT questions that you developed (Do not use the article that was used before)

PICOT QUESTION

1. In children under the age of six years, do physical activities compared to healthy diet result to decrease in body weight within three months?

2. In obese children between the age of two to 19 years, how does collective family involvement in healthy lifestyle compare to isolating the children lifestyles leads to reduced obesity within a year?

3. In low-income families, does an increase in parents education level compared to physical exercises result in a decrease in obesity rate within five years?

· The articles must be current (2003 to the present), and two articles must be quantitative, and two articles must be qualitative.

The selected articles should be original research articles. Review articles, meta-analysis, meta-synthesis, and systemic review should not be used. Mixed-methods studies should not be used.

Part 1: Complete a Rapid Critical Appraisal Checklist chart for each research article (4 total).

Elements for Analysis

Review Findings

Why was the study done?

What is the problem as it is presented in the research study article?

Will the study solve a problem relevant to nursing?

(Make sure that the study is directly relevant to your topic/ and or clinical question.)

What is the study setting?

(Include who, where and when.)

What is the sample size? (Size can and should vary according to the nature of the study.)

What was the process for randomization?

Are instruments of the variables in the study clearly defined and reliable?

What are the independent and dependent variables in this study?

Are the operational definitions of the variables given? If so, are they concrete and measurable?

Is the research question or the hypothesis stated? What is it?

(Make sure the variables were consistently applied throughout the study and that they measured what the research said they were going to measure.)

(Report reliability and validity statistics if noted.)

How were the data analyzed?

Were there any unusual events during the study? (If the sample size changed, do the reasons for the change have ramifications on its replicability?)

Did participants drop from the research? Why?

How do the results fit in with previous research in this area? (Compare to your other sources.)

Do the studies build upon previous research?

What are the implications of the research for clinical practice?

Is the study relevant and important to the clinical question?

Are the results applicable to your set or subset of patients or sample, identify the risks and benefits of a treatment recommendation or conform to patient preferences?

What are the findings as reported by the researcher?

Part II: Write a summary (2-3pages) Describe the similarities and differences among the four research articles.