title: An overview of research designs relevant to nursing: Part 1: Quantitative research designs.
abstract: This three part series of articles provides a brief overview of relevant research designs in nursing. The first article in the series presents the most frequently used quantitative research designs. Strategies for non-experimental and experimental research designs used to generate and refine nursing knowledge are described. In addition, the importance of quantitative designs and the role they play in developing evidence-based practice are discussed. Nursing care needs to be determined by the results of sound research rather than by clinical preferences or tradition.
authors.affiliation: College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, United States of America. vdsousa@uncc.edu
authors.forename: Valmi D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Driessnack
authors.forename: Isabel Amélia Costa
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Mendes
mesh_terms: D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D015399:Nursing Research / Q000379:methods*