Template Explanation on the Direct Practice Improvement (DPI) Project
Proposal and the DPI Final Manuscript Template (all-in-one)
This template is used for both the DPI Project Proposal as well as the Final Manuscript.
You are required to refer to yourself as the Primary Investigator throughout the proposal and final manuscript. It is preferred that you write your manuscript in the third person, but when necessary, you must refer to yourself as the Primary Investigator.
In your proposal, you will write in the future tense (present tense, i.e., the purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental project is to…). In contrast, in the final manuscript , you will write in the past tense (the purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental project was to… as now you have implemented your project)
In DNP 955, you will be writing chapters 1-3 which also includes your 10-Strategic Points as an appendix. The learner is required to submit to AQR-1 by the due date week 8 (or you will not pass the course) with your manuscript in the present (future tense). In addition, in DNP 955, the appendices are as follows:
DO NOT DELETE CHAPTERS 4 AND 5 FROM THE PAPER OR YOU WILL LOSE THE FORMATTING. THE REVIEWERS ARE AWARE THEY WILL BE INCLUDED BUT ARE NOT GOING TO BE REVIEWED DURING AQR-1.
In DNP 960, you are required to make all recommended changes listed within your AQR-1 review for chapters 1-3. This is not optional; failure to do so may result in a failing grade for DNP-960. Address all comments in the 10-Strategic Points. All edits from your AQR-1 revisions are to remain in the present (future tense) until you have received the written GCU DNP IRB Outcome Letter (typically between weeks 3-7). After you have begun implementation, you may start to write in the past tense for all 5 chapters. While waiting for the outcome letter, it is expected that all learners will write chapters 4 (including tables and figures) and 5 as a draft in preparation for the data they will be collecting in implementation.
In DNP 965, all writing in the manuscript is written in the past tense (as long as you have received the GCU DNP IRB Outcome Letter. Submission to AQR-2 occurs at the end of week 5 in DNP 965 (required to progress to final manuscript review, no AQR- 2= continuation course).
In this AQR-2 submission, you will submit all five chapters with the actual data (not the made update from DNP-960) along with your cover page, copywrite page, title page, abstract (paragraph form), TOC (updateable), the body of the manuscript, and all applicable appendices:
*Please make certain that you have used programs such as Grammarly (check into investing in Grammarly Premium), ThinkingStorm (GCU), an editor, a formatter, statistician, and any additional resources you feel like you need to be successful before you submit to AQR-2 and most importantly, before final manuscript review.
Feel free to contact the AQR Manager for any questions or concerns related specifically to AQR-1 or AQR-2. Meet regularly with your Chair, mentor, and/or content expert to ensure that your manuscript meets all requirements, deadlines, and revisions. Your DNP faculty, Chairs, and Program Lead want you to be successful and are here to support you each step of the way! Please use your University Policy Handbook on your chain of command and any appeal you feel you might need.
Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord. – Psalm 89:15
DELETE THESE FIRST TWO PAGES!!!!!
The Direct Practice Improvement Project Appears in Title Case and Is Centered
Submitted by
Insert Your Full Legal Name (No Titles, Degrees, or Academic Credentials)
Equal Spacing
~2.0” –
(7 lines)
A Direct Practice Improvement Project Presented in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Equal Spacing
~2.0” –
(7 lines)
Grand Canyon University
Phoenix, Arizona
[Insert Current Date]
© by Your Full Legal Name (No Titles, Degrees, or Academic Credentials), 2020
All rights reserved.
GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY
The Direct Practice Improvement Project Title Appears in Title Case and is Centered
by
Insert Your Full Legal Name (No Titles, Degrees, or Academic Credentials)
has been approved
September 22, 2020
APPROVED:
Full Legal Name, Ed.D., DBA, or Ph.D., DPI Project Chairperson
Full Legal Name, Ed.D., DBA, or Ph.D., DPI Project Mentor
Full Legal Name, Ed.D., DBA, or Ph.D., DPI Project Content Expert
ACCEPTED AND SIGNED:
________________________________________
Lisa Smith, PhD, RN, CNE
Dean and Professor, College of Nursing and Health Care Professions
_________________________________________
Date
Abstract
The first sentence or two outlines the problem; why is this being addressed? Do not make statements that require a citation as there are no citations in an abstract! The second statement is the supporting what is happening at the site. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental project was to determine if or to what degree the implementation of _________________ (intervention) would impact ______________(what) when compared to current practice among ___________(population) in a ________ (setting i.e.: primary care clinic, ER, OR) in ________ (state) over four-weeks. State the nursing model/theory and other frameworks used in ONE SENTENCE! Data analysis and the sample size is next Now you want to state how the results were statistically and clinically significant. How did these results impact patient outcomes impact the practice at the site and recommendations for what should be done in the future based on the project findings
Keywords : Abstract, theory, theorists, tools, instruments, assist future investigators, vital information
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| The abstract provides a succinct summary of the project including the problem statement, clinical questions, methodology, design, data analysis procedures, location, sample, theoretical foundations, results, and implications. | |||
| The abstract is written in APA format, 1 paragraph, no indentations, double spaced with no citations, and includes key search words. The abstract is fully justified. | |||
| Abstract is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, uses correct paragraph structure, uses correct sentence structure, uses correct punctuation, and uses correct APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1(unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present, but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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Dedication
An optional dedication may be included here. While a practice improvement project is an objective, scientific document, this is the place to use the first person and to be subjective. The dedication page is numbered with a Roman numeral, but the page number does not appear in the Table of Contents. It is only included in the final practice improvement project and is not part of the proposal. If this page is not to be included, delete the heading, the body text, and the page break below. If you cannot see the page break, click on the ¶Show/Hide button (go to the Home tab and then to the Paragraph toolbar).
Acknowledgments
An optional acknowledgements page can be included here. This is another place to use the first person. If it applies, acknowledge and identify grants and other means of financial support. Also acknowledge supportive colleagues who rendered assistance. The acknowledgments page is numbered with a Roman numeral, but the page number does not appear in the Table of Contents. This page provides a formal opportunity to thank family, friends, and faculty members who have been helpful and supportive. The acknowledgements page is only included in the final practice improvement project, and is not part of the proposal. If this page is not to be included, delete the heading, the body text, and the page break below. If you cannot see the page break, click on the Show/Hide button (go to the Home tab and then to the Paragraph toolbar).
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction to the Project 1
Advancing Scientific Knowledge. 11
Significance of the Project 13
Nature of the Project Design. 15
Comparison and Intervention Group. 18
Assumptions, Limitations, Delimitations. 20
Summary and Organization of the Remainder of the Project 23
Chapter 2: Literature Review.. 25
Population and Sample Selection. 49
Instrumentation or Sources of Data 52
Data Collection Procedures. 55
Potential Bias and Mitigation. 59
Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Results. 68
Chapter 5: Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations. 81
Summary of Findings and Conclusion. 83
Recommendations for Future Projects. 87
Recommendations for Practice. 88
The Parts of a Practice Improvement Project 92
What is my DPI project design?. 94
Power Analysis Using G Power 96
Example SPSS Dataset & Variable View.. 97
How to Make APA Format Tables and Figures Using Microsoft Word. 98
Writing up your statistical results. 108
Table 1. Characteristics of Variables. 42
Table 2. Type of Methodology and Rationale for Selecting It 45
Table 3. A Sample Data Table Showing Correct Formatting. 71
Table 4. t-Test for Equality of Emotional Intelligence Mean Scores by Gender 75
Table 5. The Servant Leader 76
(Note: single-space table titles; use “Add a Space After Paragraph” (12pt) in Line Spacing Options between table titles)
Figure 1. Approaches to Collecting the Data to Answer the Clinical Questions. 43
Figure 2. Parametric Statistics for Analysis of Ratio or Interval Level Dependent Variable. 58
Figure 3. Non-Parametric Statistics for Analysis of Nominal or Ordinal Level Dependent Variable 59
Figure 4. Scattor Plot Example – Strong Negative Correlation. 78
(Note: single-space figure titles; use “Add a Space After Paragraph” (12pt) in Line Spacing Options between table titles) double-space between entries)
The Introduction section of Chapter 1 briefly overviews the project focus or practice problem, states why the project is worth conducting, and describes how the project will be completed. The introduction develops the significance of the project by describing how the project translates existing knowledge into practice, is new or different from other works and how it will benefit patients at your clinical site. This section should also briefly describe the basic nature of the project and provide an overview of the contents of Chapter 1. This section should be three or four paragraphs, or approximately one page, in length.
Keep in mind that you will write Chapters 1 through 3 as your direct practice improvement (DPI) project proposal and Chapters 1 through 5 for your final project manuscript. (see Appendix A) However, there are changes that typically need to be made in these chapters to enrich the content or to improve the readability as you write the final DPI project manuscript. Often, after data analysis is complete, the first three chapters will need revisions to reflect a more in-depth understanding of the topic, change the tense to past tense, and ensure consistency.
To ensure the quality of both your proposal and your final practice improvement project and reduce the time for Academic Quality Review (AQR) reviews, your writing needs to reflect standards of scholarly writing from your very first draft. Each section within the proposal or final DPI project should be well organized and presented in a way that makes it easy for the reader to follow your logic. Each paragraph should be short, clear, and focused. A paragraph should (a) be three to eight sentences in length, (b) focus on one point, topic, or argument, (c) include a topic sentence the defines the focus for the paragraph, and (d) include a transition sentence to the next paragraph. Include one space after each period. There should be no grammatical, punctuation, sentence structure, or American Psychological Association APA formatting errors. Be sure to use the check document feature in the Microsoft Word Review Menu. This feature will check for spelling errors and grammatical issues.
Verb tense is an important consideration for Chapters 1 through 3 versus the final manuscript. For the proposal, the investigator uses present tense (e.g., “The purpose of this project is to…”), whereas in the practice improvement final project, the chapters are revised into past tense (e.g., “The purpose of this project was to…”). Taking the time to put quality into each draft will save you time in all the steps of the development and review phases of the practice improvement project process. It will pay to do it right the first time.
As a doctoral investigator, it is your responsibility to ensure the clarity, quality, and correctness of your writing and APA formatting. The DC Network provides various resources to help you improve your writing. Neither your chairperson nor your committee members will provide editing of your documents, nor will the AQR reviewers provide editing of your documents. If you do not have outstanding writing skills, you will need to identify a writing coach, editor, or other resources such as GrammarlyTM or ThinkingstormTM (GCU service) to help you with your writing and to edit your documents. The most important outcome is a scholarly product.
The quality of a DPI project is not only defined by the quality of writing. It is also defined by the criteria that have been established for each section of the project. The criteria describe what must be addressed in each section within each chapter. As you develop a section, first read the section description. Then review the criteria contained in the table below the description. Use both the description and criteria as you write the section. It is important that the criteria are addressed in a way that it is clear to your chairperson, committee, and an external reviewer to illustrate that the criteria have been met. You should be able to point out where each criterion was met in each section. Prior to submitting a draft of your proposal or practice improvement project, or a single chapter to your chairperson, please assess yourself on the degree to which criteria have been met. There is a table at the end of each section for you to complete this self-assessment. Your chairperson may also assess each criterion when returning the document with feedback. The following scores reflect the readiness of the document:
Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for the AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
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The background section of Chapter 1 explains both the history of and the present state of the problem and the DPI project focus. This section summarizes the Background section which will be expanded upon in Chapter 2 and is two or three paragraphs in length.
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| Background of the Project
The background section explains both the history and the present state of the problem and project focus. This section summarizes the Background section from Chapter 2. (Two or three paragraphs) |
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| This section provides an overview of the history of and present state of the problem and project focus. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section of the final manuscript is two or three paragraphs long. It clearly states the problem or project focus, the population affected, and how the project will contribute to solving the problem. This section of Chapter 1 should be comprehensive yet simple, providing context for the practice project.
A well-written problem statement begins with the big picture of the issue (macro) and works to the small, narrower, and more specific problem (micro). It clearly communicates the significance, magnitude, and importance of the problem and transitions into the Purpose of the Project with a declarative statement such as “It is/was not known if or to what degree the implementation of ___________ (intervention) would impact ______________(outcome) when compared to current practice among ___________ (population).
| Criterion | Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
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| Problem Statement
This section includes the problem statement, the population affected, and how the project will contribute to solving the problem. (Two or three paragraphs) |
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| This section states the specific problem for investigation by presenting a clear declarative statement that begins with “It is not known if and to what degree/extent…,” or “It is not known how/why and….” | |||
| This section identifies the need for the project. | |||
| This section identifies the broad population affected by the problem. | |||
| This section suggests how the project may contribute to solving the problem. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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The Purpose of the Project section of Chapter 1 should be two or three paragraphs long, provide a reflection of the problem statement, and identify how the project will be accomplished. It explains how the project will contribute to the field. The section begins with a declarative statement, “The purpose of this project is….” Included in this statement are also the project design, population, variables to be investigated, and the geographic location. For example, “the purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental quality improvement project is (for AQR-1) was (AQR-2) to determine if or to what degree the implementation of Sutter’s oral hygiene protocol would impact aspiration pneumonia rates compared to current practices among adults age 65 and up residing in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) in urban New Jersey over six weeks.” Further, the section clearly defines the dependent and independent variables, relationship of variables, or comparison of groups (comparison versus intervention) for quantitative analyses. Keep in mind that the purpose of the project is restated in other chapters of the practice improvement project (abstract and ONCE in each Chapter MAX!) and should be worded exactly as presented in this section of Chapter 1.
Creswell and Creswell (2018) provided a sample template for the purpose statements aligned with the quasi-experimental design. Please see the template for quantitative method as follows: The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental project is to determine if or to what degree the implementation of _________________ (intervention) would impact ______________(what) when compared to current practice among ___________(population) in a ________ (setting i.e.: primary care clinic, ER, OR) in ________ (state). The ________ (independent variable) will be defined/measured as/by _______ (provide a general definition). The (dependent variable) will be defined/measured as/by ______ (provide a general definition). This purpose statement aligns to the PICOT components from previous courses.
| Criterion | Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
Chairperson Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) | Comments or Feedback |
| Purpose of the Project
The purpose statement section provides a reflection of the problem statement and identifies how the project will be accomplished. It explains how the project will contribute to the field. (Two or three paragraphs) |
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| This section presents a declarative statement: “The purpose of this project is….” that identifies the project design, population, variables (quantitative) to be investigated, and geographic location. | |||
| This section identifies project method as quantitative and identifies the specific design. | |||
| This section describes the specific population group and geographic location for the project. | |||
| This section defines the dependent and independent variables, relationship of variables, or comparison of groups (quantitative). | |||
| This section explains how the project will contribute to the field. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section should be two or three paragraphs in length, narrow the focus of the project, and specify the clinical questions to address the problem statement. Based on the clinical questions, the section describes the variables or groups. The clinical questions should be derived from, and are directly aligned with, the problem and purpose statements, methods, and data analyses. The Clinical Questions section of Chapter 1 will be presented again in Chapter 3 to provide clear continuity for the reader and to help frame your data analysis in Chapter 4.
In a paragraph prior to listing the clinical questions, include a discussion of the clinical questions, relating them to the problem statement. Templated statement: To what degree does the implementation of _______________ (intervention) impact(s) __________________ (what) when compared to _____________ among _____________ (population) patients in a ______ (setting) in _______ (state)?
Then, include a leading phrase to introduce the questions such as: The following clinical questions guide this quantitative project:
Q1:
Q2:
| Criterion | Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
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| Clinical Question(s)
This section narrows the focus of the project and specifies the clinical questions to address the problem statement. Based on the clinical questions, it describes the variables or groups for a quantitative project. (Two or three paragraphs) |
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| This section states the clinical questions the project will answer, identifies the variables, and predictive statements using the format appropriate for the specific design. | |||
| This section includes a discussion of the clinical questions, relating them to the problem statement. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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The Advancing Scientific Knowledge section should be two or three paragraphs in length, and specifically describe how the project will advance population health outcomes on the topic. This advancement can be a small step forward in a line of the current clinical site practice, but it must add to the current body of knowledge in the literature. This section also identifies the gap or need based on the current literature and discusses how the project will address that gap or need. This section summarizes the Theoretical Foundations section from Chapter 2 by identifying the theory or model upon which the project is built. It also describes how the project will advance that theory or model.
| Criterion | Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
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| Advancing Scientific Knowledge
This section specifically describes how the project will advance population health outcomes on the topic. It can be a small step forward in a line of current project, but it must add to the current body of knowledge in the literature. It identifies the gap or need based on the current literature and discusses how the project will address that gap or need. This section summarizes the Theoretical Foundations section from Chapter 2. (Two or three paragraphs) |
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| This section clearly identifies the gap or need in the literature that was used to define the problem statement and develop the clinical questions. | |||
| This section describes how the project will address the gap or identified need in the literature. | . | ||
| This section identifies the theory or model upon which the project is built. | |||
| This section describes how the project will advance the theory or model upon which the project is built. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section identifies and describes the significance of the project. It also discusses the implications of the potential results based on the clinical questions and problem statement. Further, it describes how the project fits within and will contribute to the current literature or the clinical site practice. Finally, it describes the potential practical applications from the project. This section should be three or four paragraphs long and is of particular importance because it justifies the need for, and the relevance of, the project.
| Criterion | Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
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| Significance of the Project
This section identifies and describes the significance of the project and the implications of the potential results based on the clinical questions and problem statement. It describes how the project fits within and will contribute to the current literature or the clinical site practice. It describes potential practical applications from the project. (Three or four paragraphs) |
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| This section provides overview of how the project fits within other current literature in the field, relating it specifically to other studies. | ||
| This section describes how addressing the problem will impact and add value to the population, community, or society. | ||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | ||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section introduces the methodology for the DPI project and explains the rationale for selecting this quantitative methodology. The Rationale for Methodology section of Chapter 1 clearly justifies the methodology the investigator plans to use for conducting the project. It argues how the methodological framework is the best approach to answer the clinical questions and address the problem statement. Finally, it contains citations from textbooks and articles on the DPI project methodology or articles on related studies (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). DPI project are typically quantitative due to the nature of measuring a practice improvement.
This section describes the clinical questions the project will answer and identifies the variables using the format appropriate for the specific design. Finally, this section includes a discussion of the clinical questions, relating them to the problem statement. This section should be two or three paragraphs long and illustrate how the methodological framework is aligned with the problem statement and purpose of the project, providing additional context for the project.
| Criterion | Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
Chairperson Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) | Comments or Feedback |
| Rationale for Methodology
This section clearly justifies the methodology the investigator plans to use for conducting the project. It argues how the methodological framework is the best approach to answer the clinical questions and address the problem statement. It uses citations from textbooks and articles on DPI project methodology or articles on related studies. (Two or three paragraphs) |
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| This section identifies the specific project method for the project. | |||
| This section justifies the method to be used for the project by discussing why it is the best approach for answering the clinical question and addressing the problem statement. | |||
| This section uses citations from textbooks or literature on the DPI project methodology to justify the use of the selected methodology. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section describes the specific project design (quasi-experimental) to answer the clinical questions and why this approach was selected. (see Appendix B) Here, the learner discusses why the selected design is the best design to address the problem statement and clinical questions as compared to other designs. You should be focusing on the design rather than the methodology in this section. Briefly describes how the design supports the intervention and solution to the practice problem. This section also contains a description of the project sample being investigated, as well as the process that will be used to collect the data on the sample. In other words, this section provides a preview of Chapter 3 and succinctly conveys the project approach to answer clinical questions.
| Criterion | Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
Chairperson Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) | Comments or Feedback |
| Nature of the Project
This section describes the specific project design to answer the clinical questions and why this approach was selected. It describes the project sample as well as the process that will be used to collect the data on the sample. |
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| This section describes the selected design for the project. | |||
| This section discusses why the selected design is the best design to address the problem statement and clinical questions as compared to other designs. | |||
| This section briefly describes the specific sample and the data collection procedure to collect information on the sample. Briefly describes how the design supports the intervention and solution to the practice problem. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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The Definition of Terms section of Chapter 1 defines the project constructs and provides a common understanding of the technical terms, exclusive jargon, variables, phenomena, concepts, and sundry terminology used within the scope of the project. Terms are defined in lay terms and in the context in which they are used within the project. Each definition may be a few sentences to a paragraph in length. This section includes any words that may be unknown to a lay person (words with unusual or ambiguous meanings or technical terms) from the evidence or literature. It provides a rationale for each assumption and defines the variables.
Definitions must be supported with citations from scholarly sources. Do not use Wikipedia to define terms. This popular “open source” online encyclopedia can be helpful and interesting for the layperson, but it is not appropriate for formal academic scholarly writing. Additionally, do not use dictionaries to define terms. A paragraph introducing this section prior to listing the definition of terms can be inserted. However, a lead in phrase is needed to introduce the terms such as: “The following terms were used operationally in this project.” This is also a good place to operationally define unique phrases specific to this project. See below for the correct format:
Clinical significance (also known as clinical relevance) indicates whether the results of a project are meaningful or not for several stakeholders. Statistical significance does not assure that the results are clinically relevant. Indeed, the use of significance testing rarely determines the practical importance or clinical relevance of findings (Armijo-Olivo, 2018)
Refers to the sample groups of data in your project as the comparison group and the intervention group. These groups can be used to compare the baseline practice to the direct practice improvement. There are two approaches to the data of these groups. Between–group differences show how two or more groups of the data are sampled or participants are different, whereas within–group differences show differences among data or participants who are in the same single group of the sample (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Further, within–group differences can come to light when looking at the results of a between–groups approach including individual differences associated with the sample or group. (see Figure 1). Please note that there are no control groups in the DPI. If the learner writes control groups as a comparison group, the DPI will not move forward.
Statistical significance shows a result is unlikely due to chance. It is a result which indicates a level of confidence a result did not occur solely from sample selection. The investigator determines the level of significance for the project (e.g. p<.05 or p<.01). The p-value is the probability of obtaining the difference measured from a sample if there really is not a difference for all users. If the p-value obtained is less than this level determined in the proposal by the investigator, it would be considered statistically significant. The investigator would infer the intervention caused the difference. Statistical significance is not clinical significance or whether the results of a project are meaningful or not for several stakeholders (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).
Terms often use abbreviations. According to APA (2010), abbreviations are best used only when they allow for clear communication with the audience. Standard abbreviations, such as units of measurement and names of states, do not need to be written out.
Only certain units of time should be abbreviated. Abbreviate hr. (hour), min (minute), ms (millisecond), ns (nanosecond), or s (second). However, do not abbreviate day, week, month, and year [4.27]. To form the plural of abbreviations, add “s” alone without apostrophe or italicization (e.g., vols., IQs, Eds.). The exception to this rule is not to add “s” to pluralize units of measurement (12 m not 12 ms) [4.29].
| Criterion | Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
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| Definitions of Terms
This section defines the project constructs and provides a common understanding of the technical terms, exclusive jargon, variables, phenomena, concepts, and sundry terminology used within the scope of the project. Terms are defined in lay terms and in the context in which they are used within the project. (Each definition may be a few sentences to a paragraph in length.) |
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| This section Defines any words that may be unknown to a lay person (words with unusual or ambiguous means or technical terms) from the evidence or literature. | |||
| This section defines the variables for a quantitative project. | |||
| Definitions are supported with citations from scholarly sources. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section identifies the assumptions and specifies the limitations, as well as the delimitations, of the project. It should be four to six paragraphs in length.
An assumption is a self-evident truth. Assumptions are things that are accepted as true, or at least plausible, by other researchers, peers, and generally to most people will read your project. In other words, any scholar reading your paper will assume that certain aspects of your project are true given your population, statistical test, project design, or other delimitations. For example, if you tell your friend that your favorite restaurant is an Italian place, your friend will assume that you don’t go there for the sushi. It’s assumed that you go there to eat Italian food. Because most assumptions are not discussed in-text, assumptions that are discussed in-text are discussed in the context of the limitations of your project, which is typically in the discussion section. This is important, because both assumptions and limitations affect the inferences you can draw from your project.
This section should list what is assumed to be true about the information gathered in the project. State the assumptions being accepted for the project as methodological, theoretical, or topic specific. For each assumption listed, you must also provide an explanation. Provide a rationale for each assumption, incorporating multiple perspectives, when appropriate. For example, the following assumptions were present in this project:
It is important to remember that your limitations and assumptions should not contradict one another. Assumptions are also present with the statistical tests performed in the DPI. These assumptions refer to the characteristics of the data, such as distributions, trends, and variable type, just to name a few. Violating these assumptions can lead to drastically invalid results, though this often depends on sample size and other considerations.
Limitations are a systematic bias that you did not or could not control which could inappropriately affect the results. Delimitation is a systematic bias intentionally introduced into the project or instrument by you. Possible limitations and delimitations in the project design or impact and statistical or data limitations: For example, sample choice and size of the sample, the availability and reliability of data , access to protected or proprietary data, methods/instruments/techniques used to collect the data, the use of self‐reported data, time constraints or cultural and other communication issues.
Delimitations are things over which the investigator has control, such as location of the project, population and sample, and data collection tools like the electronic health record (EHR).
Identify the limitations and delimitations of the project design. Discuss the potential generalizability of the project findings based on these limitations. For each limitation and delimitation listed, make sure to provide an associated explanation. For example: The following limitations/delimitations were present in this project:
Identify the limitations of your project and explain the importance of each. Reflect on the nature of the limitations and justify the choices made during the project. Advance the evidence by suggesting how such limitations could be overcome in future.
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| Assumptions, Limitations and Delimitations
This section identifies the assumptions and specifies the limitations, as well as the delimitations, of the project. (3-4 paragraphs) |
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| This section states the assumptions being accepted for the project (methodological, theoretical, and topic-specific). | |||
| This section provides rationale for each assumption, incorporating multiple perspectives, when appropriate. | |||
| This section identifies limitations and delimitations of the project design. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section summarizes the key points of Chapter 1 and provides supporting citations for those key points. It then provides a transition discussion to Chapter 2 followed by a description of the remaining chapters. For example, Chapter 2 will present a review of current evidence on the centrality of the practice improvement project literature review and the existing evidence available to guide project preparation. Chapter 3 will describe the methodology, design, and procedures for this investigation. Chapter 4 details how the data was analyzed and provides both a written and graphic summary of the results. Chapter 5 is an interpretation and discussion of the results, as they relate to the existing body of evidence related to the practice improvement project topic.
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| Organization of the Remainder of the Project
This section summarizes the key points of Chapter 1 and provides supporting citations for those key points. It then provides a transition discussion to Chapter 2, followed by a description of the remaining chapters. |
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| This section summarizes key points presented in Chapter 1. | |||
| This section provides citations to support key points. | |||
| Chapter 1 summary ends with transition discussion to Chapter 2. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This chapter presents the theoretical framework for the project and develops the topic, specific practice problem, question(s), and design elements. In order to perform significant practice improvement projects, the learners must first understand the literature related to the project focus. A well-articulated, thorough literature review provides the foundation for substantial, contributory projects or evidence. The purpose of Chapter 2 is to develop a well-documented argument for the selection of the project topic, formulate the clinical questions, and justify the choice of methodology as introduced in Chapter 1. A literature review is a synthesis of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and investigators. It is not an expanded annotated bibliography or a summary of peer reviewed articles related to your topic.
The literature review will place the project focus into context by analyzing and discussing the existing body of knowledge and effectively presenting the reader with an exhaustive review of known information. The comprehensive presentation should include as much information as possible pertaining to what has been discovered in the evidence about that focus, and where the gaps and tensions in the evidence exist. As a piece of writing, the literature review must convey to the reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic and build an argument in support of the practice problem.
This section describes the overall topic to be investigated, outlines the approach taken for the literature review, and defines the evolution of the problem based on the evidence to cover the gap or need to improve population health outcomes. Make sure the Introduction and Background section of your literature review addresses the following required components:
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This section identifies the nursing theories and evidence-based practice change models that provide the foundation for the Direct Practice Improvement (DPI) Project. It also contains an explanation of how the problem under investigation relates to the nursing theories and evidence-based practice change models. The seminal source for each nursing theory and evidence-based change model should be identified and described. Please note: models and theories are not capitalized in APA style.
The theories or models(s) guide the clinical questions and justify what is being measured (variables), as well as how those variables are related. This section also must include a discussion of how the clinical question(s) align with the a nursing theory or nursing model and illustrates how the project fits within other evidence, based on the theories or models. You are encouraged to use a change model to outline how the DPI project would be implemented in a healthcare organization. Please outline and define the change model steps or processes and how those steps are implemented for the DPI project. The learner should cite references reflective of the foundational, historical, and current literature in the field. Overall, the presentation should reflect that the learner understands the theory or model and its relevance to the project. The discussion should also reflect knowledge and familiarity with the historical development of the theories or models.
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| theoretical Foundations
This section identifies the nursing theory and (if used) change model that provide the foundation for the project. This section should present the theories or models(s) and explain how the problem under investigation relates to the theory or model. The theories or models(s) guide the clinical questions and justify what is being measured (variables) as well as how those variables are related. |
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| This section identifies the nursing theory and (if used) change model that provide the foundation for the project. | |||
| This section identifies and describes the seminal source for each theory or model. | |||
| This section discusses how the clinical question(s) align with the respective theories or models. | |||
| This section illustrates how the project fits within other evidence-based literature on the theory or model. | |||
| This section reflects understanding of the theory or model and its relevance to the project. | |||
| This section cites references reflecting the foundational, historical, and current literature in the field. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section provides a broad, balanced overview of the existing literature related to the topic. It identifies themes, trends, and conflicts in methodology, design, and findings. It provides a synthesis of the existing literature, examines the contributions of the literature related to the topic, and presents an evaluation of the overall methodological strengths and weaknesses of the evidence. Through this synthesis, the gaps in evidence should become evident to the reader.
This section describes the literature in related topic areas and its relevance to the project topic. It provides an overall analysis of the existing literature examining the contributions of this literature to the field, identifying the conflicts, and relating the themes and results to the project. Citations are provided for all ideas, concepts, and perspectives. The investigator’s personal opinions or perspectives are not included.
The required components for this section include the following:
The body of a literature review can be organized in a variety of ways depending on the nature of the project. Work with your committee chairperson to determine the best way to organize this section of Chapter 2, as it pertains to your overall project design. This template organizes the evidence thematically as illustrated below.
You may want to organize this section by themes and subthemes. To do so, use the pattern below.
Grouped findings related to Theme 1.
Grouped findings related to Theme 1.
Grouped findings related to Theme 1.
In a concluding paragraph, provide a synthesis of the evidence studies presented in Theme 1. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each project, as well as the variables, instrumentation, and findings of each project as they relate to each other and use the findings of the studies in the subtheme to build an argument for your project. Discuss what is missing or how the design or methodology could have changed in studies to improve the quality of the project. Discuss inconsistencies or gaps that emerge in the evidence providing opportunity for additional projects. Provide a transition sentence to the next theme.
evidence providing opportunity for additional projects. Provide a transition sentence to the next theme. Need at least three themes.
Chapter 2 can be particularly challenging with regard to APA format for citations and quotations. Refer to your APA manual frequently to make sure your citations are formatted properly. It is critical that each in-text citation is appropriately listed in the References section.
| Criterion | Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
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| Review of the Literature
This section provides a broad, balanced overview of the existing literature related to the project topic. It identifies themes, trends, and conflicts in methodology, design, and findings. It describes the literature in related topic areas and its relevance to the project topic. It provides an overall analysis of the existing literature examining the contributions of this literature to the field, identifying the conflicts, and relating the themes and results to the project. Citations are provided for all ideas, concepts, and perspectives. The investigator’s personal opinions or perspectives are not included. |
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| Chapter 2 needs to be at least 20-25 pages in length. It needs to include a minimum of 50 scholarly sources with 85% from the sources published within the past 5 years. Additional sources do not necessarily need to be from the past 5 years. It should not include any personal perspectives. | |||
| This section describes each variable in the project discussing the prior evidence that has been done on the variable. | |||
| This section Discusses the various methodologies and designs that have been used to understand evidence presented on topics related to the project. Uses this information to justify the design. | |||
| This section argues the appropriateness of the practice improvement project’s instruments, measures, and/or approaches used to collect data. | |||
| This section discusses topics related to the practice improvement project topic and may include (a) studies relating the variables (quantitative) or exploring related phenomena (qualitative), (b) evidence –based studies on related factors associated with the topic, (c) Relates the literature back to the DPI-project topic and the practice problem. d) studies on the instruments used to collect data, and (e) studies on the broad population for the project. Set of topics discussed in the Review of Literature demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of the broad area in which the topic exists. | |||
| Each section within the Review of Literature includes an introductory paragraph that explains why the particular topic was explored relative to the practice improvement project topic. | |||
| Each section within the Review of Literature requires a summary paragraph that (a) compares and contrasts alternative perspectives on the topic, (b) provides a summary of the themes relative to the topic discussed that emerged from the literature, and (c) identifies how themes are relevant to your practice improvement project topic. | |||
| The types of references that may be used in the literature review include empirical (original research) articles (MUST HAVE) evidence-based research, meta-analysis, systematic reviews, randomized control trials, or seminal works, peer-reviewed or scholarly journal articles, and books that are cutting-edge views on a topic. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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For a quote within a quote, use a set of single quotation marks. [4.08]. As a rule, if a quote comprises 40 or more words, display this material as a freestanding block quote. Start formal block quotes on a new line. They are indented one inch in from the left margin. The entire block quote is double-spaced. Quotation marks are not used with formal block quotes. The in-text citation is included after the final punctuation mark. [6.03]. Below is an example of a block quote: In an important biography, The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin, historian H. W. Brands writes:
In February 1731, Franklin became a Freemason. Shortly thereafter, he volunteered to draft the bylaws for the embryonic local chapter, named for St. John the Baptist; upon acceptance of the bylaws, he was elected Warden and subsequently Master of the Lodge. Within three years, he became Grandmaster of all of Pennsylvania’s Masons. Not unforeseeable he—indeed, this was much of the purpose of membership for everyone involved—his fellow Masons sent business Franklin’s way. In 1734 he printed The Constitutions, the first formerly sponsored Masonic book in America; he derived additional [printing] work from his brethren on an unsponsored basis. (Brands, 2000, p. 113)
This section restates what was written in Chapter 2 and provides supporting citations for key points. It synthesizes the information from the chapter using it to define the “gaps” in or “project needs” from the literature, the theories or models to provide the foundation for the project, the problem statement, the primary clinical question, the methodology, the design, the variables or phenomena, the data collection instruments or sources, and population. It then provides a transition discussion to Chapter 3.
Overall, this section should:
This section should help the reader clearly see and understand the relevance and importance of the project to be conducted. The Summary section transitions to Chapter 3 by building a case for the project, in terms of project design and rigor, and it formulates the clinical questions based on the gaps and tensions in the literature .
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| Summary
This section restates what was written in Chapter 2 and provides supporting citations for key points. It synthesizes the information from the chapter using it to define the “gaps” in or “evidence –based practice needs” from the literature, the theories or models to provide the foundation for the project, the problem statement, the primary clinical question, the methodology, the design, the variables or phenomena, the data collection instruments or sources, and population. It then provides a transition discussion to Chapter 3. |
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| This section synthesizes the information from all of the prior sections in the Review of Literature and uses it to define the key strategic points for the project.
This section summarizes the gaps and needs in the background and introduction and describes how it informs the problem statement. This section identifies the theories or models and describes how they inform the clinical questions. This section uses the literature to justify the design, variables or phenomena, data collection instruments or sources, and answer the clinical questions on your selected intervention protocol, clinical setting and patient population.be evaluated. |
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| This section builds a case for the project in terms of the value of the project. | |||
| This section explains how the current theories, models, and topics related to the DPI project will be advanced through your intervention and outcomes. | |||
| This section summarizes key points in Chapter 2 and transition into Chapter 3. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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Chapter 3 documents how the project is conducted in enough detail so that replication by others is possible. The introduction begins with a summary of the project focus and purpose statement to reintroduce the reader to the need for the project. This can be summarized in three or four sentences from Chapter 1. Summarize the clinical questions in narrative format, and then outline the expectations for this chapter.
Remember, throughout this chapter depending on where you are in your project, the verb tense must be changed from present tense (proposal) to past tense (DPI Project manuscript). Furthermore, consider will happen during data collection and analysis as it is planned here. Sometimes, the DPI project protocol ends up being modified based on committee, Academic Quality Review (AQR), or Institutional Review Board (IRB) recommendations. After the practice project is complete, make sure this chapter reflects how the project was actually conducted.
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This section restates the problem for the convenience of the reader. Copy and paste the Statement of the Problem from Chapter 1. Then, edit, blend, and integrate this material into the narrative. Change future tense to past tense for DPI Project manuscripts.
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| Statement of the Problem:
This section restates the Problem Statement from Chapter 1. |
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| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section restates the clinical question(s) for the project from Chapter 1. The following clinical questions guide this quantitative project:
Q1:
Q2:
It then presents the matching of the variables. This discussion includes the independent variable (intervention or practice change) and the dependent variable (outcome of the DPI) (see Table 1)
Table Characteristics of Variables
| Variable | Variable Type | Level of Measurement |
| Project Groups (Pre-Intervention & Post Intervention) | Independent | Nominal
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| Rates or events (Outcome) | Dependent | Nominal
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| Socio-economic status or categories in order | Dependent | Ordinal
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| Time, Temperature | Dependent | Interval
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| Age, height, Scores of tests (Outcome) | Dependent | Ratio |
Note: An outcome variable can be any of the four levels of measurement. (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).
The section also briefly reviews the approaches to collecting the data to answer the clinical questions (see Figure 1).
Approaches to Collecting the Data to Answer the Clinical Questions
Between-subjects (or between-groups) designs include different people or data in each collection so that each person is only in one group or the other. Within-subjects (or repeated-measures) design include the same person in all collections both before and after the intervention.
The section should describe the instrument(s) or data source(s) to collect the data for each variable. It also discusses why the design was selected to be the best approach to answer the clinical question(s).
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| Clinical Question(s)
This section restates the clinical questions for the project from Chapter 1. It then explains the variables. |
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| This section describes the approaches used to collect the data to answer the clinical questions. For a quantitative project, it describes the instrument(s) or data source(s) to collect the data for each variable. | |||
| This section discusses why the design was selected to be the best approach to answer the clinical questions. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section describes the methodology for the DPI project and explains the rationale for selecting this quantitative methodology. It also describes why this methodology was selected as opposed to the alternative methodologies. (see Table 2) DPI projects are typically quantitative due to the nature of measuring a practice improvement.
Type of Methodology and Rationale for Selecting It
| Method | Rationale for Selection |
| Quantitative | The data from a quantitative method is in a numeric form and statistical tests can be applied in making statements about the data. Quantifiable, objective, and easy to interpret results.
Identifying the scale of measurement (e.g. nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio) helps determine how best to organize the data for analysis. |
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Qualitative |
The data from a qualitative method is a description of the qualities or characteristics of something. Thematic, subjective and subject to interpretation are the results. These descriptions cannot be easily reduced to numbers—as the findings from quantitative methods can. Qualitative methods discover new perspectives and are not feasible for testing a DPI.
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| Mixed: | The data from a mixed method is a combination of the quantitative and qualitative method. Mixed method can use qualitative designs to identify the factors under investigation, then use that information to devise quantitative designs to further measure it. Or findings from quantitative methodology can be further explored using a qualitative method. Mixed methods can be time consuming and not feasible for testing a DPI. |
Note: Quantitative methods are recommended for DPI projects due to feasibility and clinical relevance associated with the measurement of a practice improvement. Reference: Creswell, J.W. & Creswell, J.D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.) Thousand Oaks: CA. Sage Publications.
This section should elaborate on the Methodology section (from Chapter 1) providing the rationale for the selected project method (e.g. quantitative). Arguments are supported by citations from articles and books on methodology or design. It is also proper in this section to outline the predicted or expected results in relation to the clinical questions based on the existing literature. Describe how the method selected supports the attainment of information that will answer the clinical questions.
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| Project Methodology
This section elaborates on the Methodology section (from Chapter 1), providing the rationale for the selected project method (e.g. quantitative) and includes a discussion of why the selected method was chosen instead of another method. Arguments are supported by citations from articles and books on project methodology or design. Describe how the methodology selected supports the attainment of information that will answer the clinical questions. |
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| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section elaborates on the nature of the Project Design section from Chapter 1. In most DPI projects, a quasi-experimental design is the recommended due to measurement of a direct practice improvement. If other methods are considered, it should be discussed with your chair/committee including the capacity to measure a practice improvement and time frame needed to complete it.
This section includes a detailed description of, and a rationale for, the specific design for the project. Quantitative designs include descriptive, correlation, quasi-experimental, and experimental designs (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Each associated with an approach to the data being collected. See Appendix B for an algorithm to assist with design determination. Designs involving a practice change or intervention are either a quasi-experimental or experimental type. However, an experimental design is usually not feasible for a DPI (The DPI is quasi-experimental, quality Improvement) due to the requirement for randomization and manipulation of the intervention within and between the project groups to address the statistical assumptions.
This section further describes how it aligns to the selected methodology indicated in the previous section. Additionally, it describes why the selected design is the best option to collect the data to answer the clinical need for the project.
The section explains exactly how the selected design will be used to collect data for each variable. It identifies the specific instruments and data sources to be used to collect all of the different data required for the project. Arguments are supported by citations from articles and books on DPI project method or design. This section should specify the independent, dependent, or classificatory variables, as appropriate. These variables should be defined in Chapter 1. Be sure to relate the variables back to the clinical questions. A brief discussion of the type of data collection tool chosen (survey, interview, observation, etc.) can also be included in this section as related to the variables. Collecting data using an instrument may require a consent versus collecting data from the EHR may require a HIPAA waiver. These considerations should be addressed later in the proposal.
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| Project Design
This section elaborates on the Nature of the Project Design for the Project (from Chapter 1) providing the rationale for the selected project design and includes a discussion of why the selected design is the best one to collect the data needed. Arguments are supported by citations from articles and books on methodology or design. |
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| This section describes how the specific selected DPI project design will be used to collect the type of data needed to answer the clinical questions and the specific instruments or data sources that will be used to collect or source this data. This section discusses why the design was selected to be the best approach to answer the clinical question(s). | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section discusses the setting, total population, project population, and project sample. The discussion of the sample includes the project terminology specific to the type of sampling for the project. This section should include the following components:
Clearly defines and differentiates between the number for the project population and the project sample versus the number for the people who will complete any instruments. Details the sampling procedure including the specific steps taken to identify, contact, and recruit potential project sample participants from the project population.
Describes the informed consent process, confidentiality measures, project participation requirements, and geographic specifics.
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| Population and Sample Selection
This section discusses the setting, total population, project population, and project sample. The discussion of the sample includes the project terminology specific to the type of sampling for the project. |
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| This section describes the characteristics of the total (general) population and the project (target) population from which the project sample (sample) (project participants) is drawn. | |||
| This section describes the characteristics of the project population and the project sample and clearly defines and differentiates the sample for the project versus the number of people completing instruments on the project sample. | |||
| This section describes the project population size and project sample size and justifies the project sample size (e.g., power analysis) based on the selected design. This section clearly defines and differentiates between the number for the project population and the project sample versus the number for the people who will complete any instruments. | |||
| This section details the sampling procedure, including the specific steps taken to identify, contact, and recruit potential project sample participants from the project population. | |||
| This section describes the informed consent process, confidentiality measures, project participation requirements, and geographic specifics. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section fully identifies and describes the types of data that will be collected, as well as the specific instruments and sources used to collect those data (tests, questionnaires, interviews, databases, media, etc.). Discuss the specific instrument or source to collect data for each variable or group. Use subheadings for each data collection instrument or source of data and provide a copy of all instruments in a separate appendix.
If you are using an existing instrument, make sure to discuss in detail the characteristics of the instrument. For example, on a preexisting survey tool describe the way the instrument was developed and constructed, the validity and reliability of the instrument, the number of items or questions included in the survey, and the calculation of the score as appropriate.
If you are using a source of data, discuss the detail on how the source of data was accessed, the validity and reliability of the source of data and how the information was collected and stored. If the learner is acquiring data from medical records or databases, e.g. electronic health records including being provided a delimited database of data, this access and permission should be specified and how the identifiable patient information is being protected within the project. A HIPAA waiver may be specified.
| Criterion | Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) | Chairperson Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
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| Instrumentation or Sources of Data
This section describes, in detail, all data collection instruments and sources (tests, questionnaires, interviews, databases, media, etc.); the specific instrument or source to collect data for each variable or group (quantitative project) |
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| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section describes and defends the procedures used to determine the validity of the data collected. Validity refers to the degree to which a project accurately reflects or assesses the specific concept that the investigator is attempting to measure. Ask if what is actually being measured is what was set out to be measured. As an investigator, you must be concerned with both external and internal validity.
For this section, provide specific validity statistics found in the literature for quantitative instruments, identifying how they were developed. NOTE: Learners should not be developing any quantitative instruments without permission from the DNP department.
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| Validity
This section provides specific validity statistics for quantitative instruments, identifying how they were developed, and explains how validity will be addressed during data collection approaches. NOTE: Learners should not be developing nor modifying any quantitative instruments. |
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| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
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This section describes and defends the procedures used to determine the reliability of the data collected. Reliability is the extent to which an experiment, test, or any measuring procedure is replicable and yields the same result with repeated trials. For this section, provide specific reliability statistics for quantitative instruments, identifying how the statistics were developed from the literature.
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| Reliability
This section provides specific reliability statistics for quantitative instruments, identifying how the statistics were developed, and explains how reliability will be addressed during data collection approaches. |
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| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
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This section details the entirety of the process used to collect the data. Describe the step-by-step procedures used to carry out all the major steps for data collection for the project in a way that would allow another investigator to replicate the project. The key elements of this section include:
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| Data Collection Procedures
This section details the entirety of the process used to collect the data. It describes each step of the data collection process in a way that another investigator could replicate the project. |
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| This section describes the step-by-step procedures used to carry out all the major steps for data collection for the project in a way that would allow another investigator to replicate the project. | |||
| This section describes the procedures for project sample recruitment, sample selection, and assignment to groups (if applicable). | |||
| This section describes the procedures for obtaining informed consent and for protecting the rights and well-being of the project sample participants, as well as those completing instruments on them. | |||
| This section describes the procedures adopted to maintain data securely, including the length of time data will be retained, where the data will be retained, and how the data will be destroyed. | |||
| This section describes the procedures for data collection, including how each instrument or data source was used, how and where data was collected, and how data were recorded. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
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This section provides a step-by-step description of the procedures to be used to conduct the data analysis. The key elements of this section include:
A detailed description of any statistical and nonstatistical analysis to be employed. (see Figure 2 & 3) A rationale is provided for each of the data analysis procedures (statistical and nonstatistical) employed in the project. A demonstration that the data analysis techniques align with the DPI project design. The level of the statistical significance used for the quantitative analyses is identified a priori (p<.05). References to the software used for the data analyses and assurance that the language used to describe the data analysis procedure is consistently used in Chapters 4 and 5.
Parametric Statistics for Analysis of Ratio or Interval Level Dependent Variable
Note. Image taken from Creswell and Creswell (2018).
The independent variable within a quasi-experimental design will be a nominal or categorical level variable identifying the sample or group associated with the intervention. It is the dependent variable’s level of measurement which will direct the type of statistical analysis e.g. parametric versus non-parametric. If the dependent variable is a ratio, interval, the test to be used would be a parametric one. If the dependent variable is an ordinal or nominal level, a non-parametric test would be used.
Figure 3
Non-Parametric Statistics for Analysis of Nominal or Ordinal Level Dependent Variable
Note. Image taken from Creswell and Creswell (2018).
Be specific on the type of analysis being performed, the type of variables analyzed, the level of measurement, and the statistical test performed to answer the clinical question.
When we refer to bias in quantitative methodology, we are often referring to threats to the internal validity of the project. Internal validity is the degree to which the results are accurate and the procedures of the experiment support the ability to draw correct assumptions or inferences about the results (Roush, 2020). Bias can be intentional or unintentional, and intentional is not moral and invalidates your projects results. So let’s stick to how bias can occur!
Bias in sampling can occur. A sampling method is called biased if it systematically favors some outcomes over others. The following example shows how a sample can be biased, even though there is some randomness in the selection of the sample.
Example:
If my project employs an intranet survey and there are people who meet the criteria but do not have access to the internet to take the survey, I will miss all those people who met the criteria for participation!
Here are some common sources and consequences of bias:
Convenience samples:
Sometimes it is not possible or not practical to choose a random sample. In those cases, a convenience sample might be used. Sometimes it is plausible that a convenience sample could be considered as a random sample, but often a convenience sample is biased. If a convenience sample is used, inferences are not as trustworthy as if a random sample is used.
Bias may be present in data collection. While collecting data for the DPI, there are numerous ways by which the Learners may introduce bias to the project. If, for example, during patient recruitment, some patients are less or more likely to participate in the project such sample would not be representative of the population in which
this project is done (Roush, 2020). In that case, these subjects who are less likely to enter the study will be underrepresented and those who are more likely to enter the study will be over-represented relative to others in the general population, to which conclusions of the study are to be applied to (Roush, 2020). This is what we call a selection bias. To ensure that a sample is representative of a population, sampling should be random, i.e. every subject needs to have equal probability to be included in the DPI. It should be noted that sampling bias can also occur if sample is too small to represent the target population. For example, if the aim of the DPI is to assess the if motivational interviewing in psychiatric patients improves medication adherence the Learners may only be able to recruit otherwise healthy, stable patients during a regularly scheduled well check-up. By recruiting only well patients and the inability to use all psychiatric clients that can consent this is another bias.
Bias can also occur in the data analysis right? We often are only looking at data that gives preference to answering the clinical question. If the data is misrepresented or not fully reported or even manipulated this is a bias (Fox & Lash, 2020).
Bias may occur in the data interpretation. It is imperative to run the correct statistical analysis (Fox & Lash, 2020). The data must be correctly analyzed and presented as is. Do not report only what was significant or discuss what was not significant. Consider a project where your pre and post-knowledge test for nurses did not show a statistical significance in using the tool. However, if the tool decreased readmission rates by 50% was it clinically significant? This observation should be discussed in detail.
This section discusses the potential ethical issues surrounding the project, as well as how human subjects and data will be protected. The key ethical issues that must be addressed in this section include:
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| Ethical Considerations
This section discusses the potential ethical issues surrounding the DPI project, as well as how human subjects and data will be protected. It identifies how any potential ethical issues will be addressed. |
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| This section provides a discussion of ethical issues related to the project and the sample population of interest. | |||
| This section addresses anonymity, confidentiality, privacy, lack of coercion, informed consent, and potential conflict of interest. | |||
| This section demonstrates adherence to the key principles of the Belmont Report (respect, justice, and beneficence) in the project design, sampling procedures, and within the theoretical framework, problem, and questions. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
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While Chapter 1 addresses the broad, overall limitations of the project, this section discusses in detail the limitations related to the DPI project approach and methodology and the potential impacts on the results. This section describes any limitations related to the methods, sample, instrumentation, data collection process, and analysis. Other methodological limitations of the project may include issues with regard to the sample in terms of size, population and procedure, instrumentation, data collection processes, and data analysis. This section also contains an explanation of why the existing limitations are unavoidable and are not expected to affect the results negatively.
Here you need to consider potential limitations and delimitations, which could impact your proposed project’s implementation. Are the nursing staff resistant to change? Is there currently a culture inherent in the site where the use of evidence-based practice is openly used/welcomed by staff? What strategies might you use to overcome any barriers you might face? How will you capitalize upon any facilitators you have identified?
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| Limitations
This section discusses, in detail, the limitations related to the project approach and methodology and the potential impacts on the results. |
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| This section describes any limitations related to the methods, sample, instrumentation, data collection process, and analysis. This section explains why the existing limitations are unavoidable and are not expected to affect the results negatively. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
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This section restates what was written in Chapter 3 and provides supporting citations for key points. Your summary should demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the overall project design and analysis techniques. The Chapter 3 summary ends with a discussion that transitions the reader to Chapter 4.
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| Summary
This section restates what was written in Chapter 3 and provides supporting citations for key points. |
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| This section summarizes key points presented in Chapter 3 with appropriate citations. | |||
| This section demonstrates in-depth understanding of the overall project design and data analysis techniques. | |||
| This section ends with a transition discussion focus for Chapter 4. | |||
| This section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, and uses correct paragraph structure, sentence structure, punctuation, and APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
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The purpose of this chapter is to summarize the collected data, how it was analyzed and then to present the results. This section of Chapter 4 briefly restates the problem statement, the methodology, the clinical question(s) or phenomena, and then offers a statement about what will be covered in this chapter. Chapter 4 should present the results of the project as clearly as possible, leaving the interpretation of the results for Chapter 5. Make sure this chapter is written in past tense and reflects how the project was actually conducted.
This chapter typically contains the analyzed data, often presented in both text and tabular or figure format. To ensure readability and clarity of findings, structure is of the utmost importance in this chapter. Sufficient guidance in the narrative should be provided to highlight the findings of greatest importance for the reader. Most investigators begin with a description of the sample and the relevant demographic characteristics presented in text or tabular format.
Ask the following general questions before starting this chapter:
Visual organizers, including tables and figures, must always be introduced, presented and discussed within the text first. Never insert them without these three steps. It is often best to develop all of the tables, graphs, charts, etc. before writing any text to further clarify how to proceed. Point out the salient results and present those results by table, graph, chart, or other form of collected data. See Appendix E for examples of APA formatted tables and figures.
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This section of Chapter 4 provides a narrative summary of the population or sample characteristics and demographics of the participants in the project. It establishes the number of subjects, gender, age, education level or employee classification, (if appropriate), organization, or setting (if appropriate), and other appropriate sample characteristics (e.g. education level, program of project, employee classification etc.). The use of graphic organizers, such as tables, charts, histograms and graphs to provide further clarification and promote readability, is encouraged to organize and present coded data. Ensure this data cannot lead to anyone identifying individual participants in this section or identifying the data for individual participants in the data summary and data analysis that follows.
For numbers, equations, and statistics, spell out any number that begins a sentence, title, or heading – or reword the sentence to place the number later in the narrative. In general, use Arabic numerals (10, 11, 12) when referring to whole numbers 10 and above, and spell out whole numbers below 10. There are some exceptions to this rule:
A sample table in APA style is presented in Table 3. Be mindful that all tables fit within the required margins, and are clean, easy to read, and formatted properly using the guidelines found in Chapter 5 (Displaying Results) of the APA Publication Manual 7th Edition.
A Sample Data Table Showing Correct Formatting
| Column A
M (SD) |
Column B
M (SD) |
Column C
M (SD) |
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| Row 1 | 10.1 (1.11) | 20.2 (2.22) | 30.3 (3.33) |
| Row 2 | 20.2 (2.22) | 30.3 ( 3.33) | 20.2 (2.22) |
| Row 3 | 30.3 (3.33) | 10.1 (1.11) | 10.1 (1.11) |
Note. Adapted from “Sampling and Recruitment in Studies of Doctoral Students,” by I.M. Investigator, 2010, Journal of Perspicuity, 25, p 100. Reprinted with permission.
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| DESCRIPTIVE DATA
This section of Chapter 4 provides a narrative summary of the population or sample characteristics and demographics of the participants in the project. It establishes the number of subjects, gender, age, level (if appropriate), organization, or setting (if appropriate). The use of graphic organizers, such as tables, charts and graphs to provide further clarification and promote readability, is encouraged. |
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| Provides a narrative summary of the population or sample characteristics and demographics. | |||
| Graphic organizers are used as appropriate to organize and present coded data, as well as descriptive data such as tables, histograms, graphs, and/or charts. | |||
| Section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, uses correct paragraph structure, uses correct sentence structure, uses correct punctuation, and uses correct APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1(unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present, but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section presents a description of the process that was used to analyze the data. If clinical question(s) guided the project, data analysis procedures can be framed relative to each clinical question. Data can also be organized by chronology of phenomena, by themes and patterns, or by other approaches as deemed appropriate according for the project. The key components included in this section are:
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This section, which is the primary section of this chapter, presents a summary and analysis of the data in a non-evaluative, unbiased, organized manner that relates to the clinical question(s). List the clinical question(s) as you are discussing them in order to ensure that the readers see that the question has been addressed. Answer the clinical question(s) in the order that they are listed for quantitative studies. The key components included in this section are:
The results must be presented without implication, speculation, assessment, evaluation, or interpretation. Discussion of results and conclusions are left for Chapter 5. Refer to the APA Style Manual for additional lists and examples. In quantitative practice improvement projects, it is not required for all data analyzed to be presented; however, it is important to provide descriptive statistics and the results of the applicable statistic tests used in conducting the analysis of the data. It is also important that there are descriptive statistics provided on all variables. Nevertheless, it is also acceptable to put most of this in the Appendix if the chapter becomes too lengthy.
Required components include descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics describe or summarize data sets using frequency distributions (e.g., to describe the distribution for the IQ scores in your class of 30 pupils) or graphical displays such as bar graphs (e.g., to display increases in a school district’s budget each year for the past five years), as well as histograms (e.g., to show spending per child in school and display mean, median, modes, and frequencies), line graphs (e.g., to display peak scores for the classroom group), and scatter plots (e.g., to display the relationship between two variables). Descriptive statistics also include numerical indexes such as averages, percentile ranks, measures of central tendency, correlations, measures of variability and standard deviation, and measures of relative standing.
Inferential statistics describe the numerical characteristics of data, and then go beyond the data to make inferences about the population based on the sample data. Inferential statistics also estimate the characteristics of populations about population parameters using sampling distributions, or estimation. Table 4 presents example results of an independent t test comparing Emotional Intelligence (EI) mean scores by gender.
t-Test for Equality of Emotional Intelligence Mean Scores by Gender
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| t | Df | p | |
| EI | 1.908 | 34 | .065 |
After completing the first draft of Chapter 4, ask these general questions:
Chapter 4 can be challenging with regard to mathematical equations and statistical symbols or variables. When including an equation in the narrative, space the equation as you would words in a sentence: x + 5 = a. Punctuate equations that are in the paragraph, as you would a sentence. Remember to italicize statistical and mathematical variables, except Greek letters, and if the equation is long or complicated, set it off on its own line.
Refer to your APA manual for specific details on representation of statistical information. Basic guidelines include:
Make sure to include appropriate graphics to present the results. Always introduce, present, and discuss the visual organizers in narrative form. Never insert a visual organizer without these three steps.
A figure is a graph, chart, map, drawing, or photograph. Below is an example of a figure labeled per APA style. Do not include a figure unless it adds substantively to the understanding of the results or it duplicates other elements in the narrative. If a figure is used, a label must be placed under the figure. As with tables, refer to the figure by number in the narrative preceding the placement of the figure. Make sure a table or figure is not split between pages. Below is another example of a table and figure for you to review. (see Table 5 and Figure 4)
The Servant Leader
| Trait | Descriptors |
| Values People | By believing in people
By serving other’s needs before his or her own By receptive, non-judgmental listening |
| Develops People
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By providing opportunities for learning and growth
By modeling appropriate behavior By building up others through encouragement and affirmation |
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Builds Community |
By building strong personal relationships By working collaboratively with others By valuing the differences of others |
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Displays Authenticity
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By being open and accountable to others By a willingness to learn from others By maintaining integrity and trust |
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Provides Leadership
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By envisioning the future By taking initiative By clarifying goals |
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Shares Leadership
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By facilitating a shared vision By sharing power and releasing control By sharing status and promoting others
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Note. Derived from Laub, J. (1999). Assessing the servant organization: Development of the servant organizational leadership assessment (SOLA) instrument (Doctoral Practice improvement project). Available from ProQuest Practice improvement project and Theses Database. (UMI No. 9921922)
Scattor Plot Example – Strong Negative Correlation
Note, An example of a strong negative correlation for SAT composite score and time spent on Facebook for 11th grade high school students enrolled in IMSmart SAT Prep Course.
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| RESULTS
This section, which is the primary section of this chapter, presents an analysis of the data in a nonevaluative, unbiased, organized manner that relates to the clinical question(s). List the clinical question(s) as you are discussing them in order to ensure that the readers see that the question has been addressed. Answer the clinical question(s) in the order that they are listed. |
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| The analysis of the data is presented in a narrative, nonevaluative, unbiased, organized manner by clinical question(s). | |||
| Includes appropriate graphic organizers such as tables, charts, graphs, and figures. | |||
| The amount and quality of the data or information is sufficient to answer the clinical question(s) is well presented, and is intelligently analyzed. | |||
| Quantitative: Findings are presented by using section titles. They are presented in order of significance, if appropriate. | |||
| Quantitative: Results of each statistical test are presented in appropriate statistical format with tables, graphs, and charts. | |||
| Quantitative: For inferential statistics, p-value and test statistics are reported. | |||
| Quantitative: Control variables (if part of the design) are reported and discussed. Outliers, if found, were reported. | |||
| Section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, uses correct paragraph structure, uses correct sentence structure, uses correct punctuation, and uses correct APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1(unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present, but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section provides a concise summary of what was found in the project. It briefly restates essential data and data analysis presented in this chapter, and it helps the reader see and understand the relevance of the data and analysis to the clinical question(s). Finally, it provides a lead or transition into Chapter 5, where the implications of the data and data analysis relative to the clinical question(s) will be discussed. The summary of the data must be logically and clearly presented, with the factual information separated from interpretation. For quantitative studies, summarize the statistical data and results of statistical tests in relation to the clinical question(s). Finally, provide a concluding section and transition to Chapter 5.
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| Summary
This section provides a concise summary of what was found in the project. It briefly restates essential data and data analysis presented in this chapter, and it helps the reader see and understand the relevance of the data and analysis to the clinical question(s). Finally, it provides a lead or transition into Chapter 5, where the implications of the data and data analysis relative to the clinical question(s) will be discussed. |
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| Summary of data is logically and clearly presented. | |||
| The factual information is separated from analysis. | |||
| Quantitative: Summarizes the statistical data and results of statistical tests in relation to the clinical question(s). | |||
| Provides a concluding section and transition to Chapter 5. | |||
| Section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, uses correct paragraph structure, uses correct sentence structure, uses correct punctuation, and uses correct APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document. | |||
This section introduces Chapter 5 as a comprehensive summary of the entire project. It reminds the reader of the importance of the topic and briefly explains how the project intended to contribute to the body of knowledge on the topic. It informs the reader that conclusions, implications, and recommendations will be presented.
Chapter 5 is perhaps the most important chapter in the practice improvement project manuscript because it presents the investigator’s contribution to the body of knowledge. For many who read evidence-based literature, this may be the only chapter they will read. Chapter 5 typically begins with a brief summary of the essential points made in Chapters 1 and 3 of the original DPI project and includes why this topic is important and how this project was designed to contribute to the understanding of the topic. The remainder of the chapter contains a summary of the overall project, a summary of the findings and conclusions, recommendations for future practice, and a final section on implications derived from the project.
No new data or citations should be introduced in Chapter 5; however, references should be made to findings or citations presented in earlier chapters. The investigator can articulate new frameworks and new insights. The concluding words of Chapter 5 should emphasize both the most important points of the project and what the reader should take from them. This should be presented in the simplest possible form, making sure to preserve the conditional nature of the insights. Refer to the Grand Canyon University practice improvement project rubric for guidance on the content of this chapter.
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This section provides a comprehensive summary of the overall project that describes the content of the project to the reader in the simplest possible terms. It should recap the essential points of Chapters 1-3, but it should remain a broad, comprehensive view of the project. It reminds the reader of the clinical question(s) and the main issues being evaluated, and provides a transition, explains what will be covered in the chapter and reminds the reader of how the project was conducted.
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| SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT
Reminds the reader of the clinical question(s) and the main issues being evaluated. |
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| Provides a transition, explains what will be covered in the chapter and reminds the reader of how the project was conducted. | |||
| Section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, uses correct paragraph structure, uses correct sentence structure, uses correct punctuation, and uses correct APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
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This section of Chapter 5 is organized by clinical question(s), and it conveys the specific findings of the project. The section presents conclusions made based on the data analysis and findings of the project and relates the findings back to the literature, significance of the project in Chapter 1, advancing scientific knowledge in Chapter 1. Significant themes/ findings are compared and contrasted, evaluated and discussed in light of the existing body of knowledge. The significance of every finding is analyzed and related to the significance section and advancing scientific knowledge section of Chapter 1. Additionally, the significance of the findings is analyzed and related back to Chapter 2, and ties the project together. The findings are bounded by the DPI project parameters described in Chapters 1 and 3, are supported by the data and theory, and directly relate to the clinical question(s). No unrelated or speculative information is presented in this section. This section of Chapter 5 should be organized by clinical question(s), theme, or any manner that allows summarizing the specific findings supported by the data and the literature. Conclusions represent the contribution to knowledge and fill in the gap in the knowledge. They should also relate directly to the significance of the project. The conclusions are major generalizations, and an answer to the practice problem developed in Chapters 1 and 2. This is where the project binds together. In this section, personal opinion is permitted, as long as it is backed with the data, grounded in the project methods and supported in the literature.
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| Summary of Findings and Conclusions
This section is organized by clinical question(s), and it conveys the specific findings of the project. It presents all conclusions made based on the data analysis and findings of the project. It relates the findings back to the literature, significant chapters in Chapter 1, and advancing scientific knowledge in Chapter 1. |
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| Organized by the same section titles as Chapter 4, clinical question(s) or by themes. | |||
| Significant themes/ findings are compared and contrasted, evaluated and discussed in light of the existing body of knowledge. | |||
| Significance of every finding is analyzed and related to the significance section and advancing scientific knowledge section of Chapter 1. | |||
| The conclusion summarizes the findings, refers back to Chapter 1, and ties the project together. | |||
| The findings are bounded by the DPI project parameters described in Chapters 1 and 3. | |||
| The findings are supported by the data and theory, and directly relate to the clinical question(s). | |||
| No unrelated or speculative information is presented in this section. | |||
| Section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, uses correct paragraph structure, uses correct sentence structure, uses correct punctuation, and uses correct APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1(unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present, but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section should describe what could happen because of this project. It also tells the reader what the DPI project results imply theoretically, practically, and for the future. Additionally, it provides a retrospective examination of the theoretical framework presented in Chapter 2 in light of the practice improvement project’s findings. A critical evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the project, and the degree to which the conclusions are credible given the methodology, project design, and data, should also be presented. The section delineates applications of new insights derived from the practice improvement project to solve real and significant problems. Implications can be grouped into those related to theory or generalization, those related to practice, and those related to future projects. Separate sections with corresponding headings provide proper organization.
Theoretical implications involve interpretation of the practice improvement project findings in terms of the clinical question(s) that guided the project. It is appropriate to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the project critically and include the degree to which the conclusions are credible given the method and data. It should also include a critical, retrospective examination of the framework presented in the Chapter 2 Literature Review section in light of the practice improvement project’s new findings.
Practical implications should delineate applications of new insights derived from the practice improvement project to solve real and significant problems.
Two kinds of implications for future projects are possible: one based on what the project did find or do, and the other based on what the project did not find or do. Generally, future DPI projects could look at different kinds of subjects in different kinds of settings, interventions with new kinds of protocols or dependent measures, or new theoretical issues that emerge from the project. Recommendations should be included on which of these possibilities are likely to be most fruitful and why.
| Criterion | Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
Chairperson Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
Comments or Feedback |
| Implications
This section should describe what could happen because of this DPI project results. It also tells the reader what the outcome and results implies theoretically, practically, and for the future. |
|||
| Provides a retrospective examination of the theoretical framework presented in Chapter 2 in light of the practice improvement project’s findings. | |||
| Critically evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the project, and the degree to which the conclusions are credible given the methodology, project design, and data. | |||
| Delineates applications of new insights derived from the practice improvement project to solve real and significant problems. | |||
| Section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, uses correct paragraph structure, uses correct sentence structure, uses correct punctuation, and uses correct APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1(unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present, but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
|||
Summarize the recommendations that result from the project. Each recommendation should trace directly to a conclusion.
This section should contain a minimum of four to six recommendations for future DPI projects, as well as a full explanation for why each recommendation is being made. Additionally, this section discusses the areas of project that need further examination, or addresses gaps or new patient or system needs the project found. The section ends with a discussion of “next steps” in forwarding this line of DPI project evaluations. Recommendations relate back to the project significance and advancing scientific knowledge sections in Chapter 1.
| Criterion | Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
Chairperson Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
Comments or Feedback |
| Recommendations for Future PROJECTS
This section should contain a minimum of four to six recommendations for future DPI projects, as well as a full explanation for why each recommendation is being made. The recommended project methodology/design should also be provided. |
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| Contains a minimum of four to six recommendations for future projects. | |||
| Identifies and discusses the areas that need further examination, or addresses gaps or new patient or system needs the project found. | |||
| Suggests “next steps” in forwarding this line of evidence and clinical implications. | |||
| Recommendations relate back to the project significance and advancing scientific knowledge sections in Chapter 1. | |||
| Section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, uses correct paragraph structure, uses correct sentence structure, uses correct punctuation, and uses correct APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your Chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1(unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present, but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
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This section should contain two to five recommendations for future practice based on the results and findings of the project, as well as a full explanation for why each recommendation is being made. It provides a discussion of who will benefit from reading and implementing the results of the project and presents ideas based on the results that practitioners can implement in the work or educational setting. Unrelated or speculative information that is unsupported by data is clearly identified as such. Recommendations should relate back to the project significance section in Chapter 1.
| Criterion | Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
Chairperson Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
Comments or Feedback |
| Recommendations for Future Practice
This section should contain two to five recommendations for future practice based on the results and findings of the project, as well as a full explanation for why each recommendation is being made. |
|||
| Contains two to five recommendations for future practice. | |||
| Discusses who will benefit from reading and implementing the results of the project. | |||
| Discusses ideas based on the results that practitioners can implement in the work or educational setting. | |||
| Unrelated or speculative information unsupported by data is clearly identified as such. | |||
| Recommendations relate back to the project significance section in Chapter 1. | |||
| Section is written in a way that is well structured, has a logical flow, uses correct paragraph structure, uses correct sentence structure, uses correct punctuation, and uses correct APA format. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1(unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present, but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
|||
American Psychological Association [APA]. (2019). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Armijo-Olivo, S. (2018). The importance of determining the clinical significance of research results in physical therapy. Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy, 22(3): 175-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjpt.2018.02.001
Brands, H. W. (2000). The first American: The life and times of Benjamin Franklin. New York, NY: Doubleday.
Creswell, J.W. & Creswell, J.D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks: CA. Sage Publications.
Nock, A. J. (1943). The memoirs of a superfluous man. New York, NY: Harper & Brothers.
| Criterion | Learner Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
Chairperson Score (0, 1, 2, or 3) |
Comments or Feedback |
| References
|
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| This section provides a minimum of 50 references with minimum of 85% of the 50 references published within the last 5 years. Additional references do not have to be published within the past 5 years. | |||
| Range of references includes founding theorists, peer-reviewed articles, books, and journals (approximately 90%). | |||
| Reference list is formatted according to current APA formatting. For every reference there is an in-text citation. For every in-text citation there is a reference. | |||
| NOTE: Once the document has been approved by your chairperson and your committee and is ready to submit for AQR review, please remove all of these assessment tables from this document.
Score 0 (not present); 1 (unacceptable; needs substantial edits); 2 (present but needs some editing); 3 (publication ready). |
|||
GCU requires the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) as the style guide for writing and formatting Direct Practice Improvement (DPI) Projects. . A DPI Project has three parts: preliminary pages, main text, and supplementary pages. Some preliminary or supplementary pages may be optional or not appropriate to a specific project. The learner should consult with his or her practice improvement project chairperson and committee regarding inclusion or exclusion of optional pages.
The following preliminary pages precede the main text of the practice improvement project.
Title Page
Copyright Page (optional)
Approval Page
Abstract
Dedication Page (optional)
Acknowledgements (optional)
Table of Contents
List of Tables (if you have tables, a list is required)
List of Figures (if you have figures, a list is required)
The main text is divided into five major chapters. Each chapter can be further subdivided into sections and subsections.
Chapter 1: Introduction to the Project
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Chapter 3: Methodology
Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Results (not included in the proposal)
Chapter 5: Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations (not included in the proposal)
Supplementary pages, which follow the body text, include reference materials and other required or optional addenda.
References
Appendices
Appendix A for the manuscript is the Grand Canyon University IRB Outcome Letter.
Appendix B is the Instruments/tool used
Appendix C is permission to use the instrument/tool
Appendix D is another tool if applicable (Appendix E is permission for second instrument/tool) otherwise you are done.
Keep in mind that most formatting challenges are encountered in the preliminary and supplementary pages. Allocate extra time and attention for these sections to avoid delays in the electronic submission process. In addition, as elementary as it may seem, run a spell check and grammar check of your entire document before submission.
| THIS IS NOT PART OF THE PAPER JUST A REFERENCE FOR THE LEARNER |
Note: Public source G-Power Software available https://www.psychologie.hhu.de/arbeitsgruppen/allgemeine-psychologie-und-arbeitspsychologie/gpower.html
The SPSS database is set up with all variables coded to compare between or within the comparison groups. A comparison may be made within the same individual and it coded 1 for before and 2 after the intervention. Or if measuring between individuals, the data would be coded the same 1 for before and 2 after as noted in the Group Column. Software supplied by Grand Canyon University.
Tables vs. Figures
Table 1
Characteristics of Variables
| Variable | Variable Type | Level of Measurement |
| Group, Intervention or Tool | Independent | Nominal
|
| Rates or events | Dependent | Nominal
|
| Socio Economic Status or Categories in an order | Dependent | Ordinal
|
| Time, Temperature | Dependent | Interval
|
| Age, height, Scores of tests | Dependent | Ratio |
Note. Add notes here = (Provide any reference, 2019).
Table 1
Number of Handoff Per Groups
| Group | # of Handoffs (%) |
| Pre-Intervention Group (Baseline) | 150 (50%) |
| SBAR Group | 150 (50%) |
Note. SBAR handoff was defined as …. (IHI, 2020)
Table 1
Number of Hours Per Week Spent in Various Activities
| Group | Baseline
(n = 30) |
Post Intervention (n = 30) | Total Sample
(n = 60) |
| M (SD) | M (SD) | M (SD) | |
| Schoolwork | 18.23 (7.79) | 16.23 (3.99) | 17.63 (1.2) |
| Physical activities | 19.54 (3.63) | 14.23 (2.84)* | 18.67 (1.0) |
| Socializing | 16.23 (3.99) | 17.63 (1.2) | 18.23 (7.79) |
| Watching television | 14.23 (2.84) | 18.67 (1.0) | 19.54 (3.63) |
| Extracurricular activities | 19.54 (3.63) | 18.23 (7.79) | 19.22 (5.45) |
Note. Schoolwork was defined as time spent doing class work outside of regular class time.
*statistically significant at p <.05
Table 1
Crosstabulation of Gender and Chronic Pain
| Chronic
Pain |
Gender | ||||
| Female | Male | χ2 | Φ | ||
|
Yes |
2
(-2.7)
|
8
(2.7) |
7.20** | ,60 | |
|
No |
8
(2.7)
|
2
(-2.7) |
|||
Note. Adjusted standardized residuals appear in parentheses below group frequencies
**= p < .01.
Table 1
Chronic Paint Score and Exercise time for Males and Females
| Gender | |||||
| Female | Male | T | df | ||
|
Pain Score |
3.33 (1.70) |
3.75 (1.79) |
-2.20* | 175 | |
|
Exercise Time |
4.28 (.7509) |
3.87 (.9280) |
4.2** | 176 | |
Note. Standard Deviations appear in parentheses below means.
* = p < .05, *** = p < .001.
Remember with an ANOVA, you have to report paired comparisons associated with post hoc or planned comparisons) for significant analyses. The results of paired comparisons are indicated by the subscripts on the means within rows. Also, notice in this table that we report the results of four separate analyses. This is the real power of tables: we can convey a large amount of information very concisely.
Table 1
Analysis of Variance for Sleep Times and Experimental Groups
| Experimental Group | |||||
| Aerobic Exercise | Weight Lifting | No Exercise | F | η2 | |
| Total Sleep Time | 8.23a
(.55) |
7.93b
(.90) |
7.73ab
(.55) |
3.98***
|
.18 |
| Total Wake Time | 3.58a
(.70) |
3.62a
(.55) |
3.54a
(.90) |
.03 | .00 |
| Total Light Sleep | 3.19c
(.73) |
2.80a
(.72) |
3.02b
(.49) |
2.95* | .06 |
| Total Deep Sleep | 3.21b
(.19) |
3.10a
(.28) |
3.30a
(.19) |
.20 | .01 |
Standard deviations appear in parentheses bellow means. Means with differing subscripts within rows are significantly different at the p < .05 based on Fisher’s LSD post hoc paired comparisons.
* = p < .05, *** = p < .001.
Notice that two tables are used here. The first table reports the overall results for the 2×3 factorial ANOVA, which includes the Main Effects for the two IV’s and the Interaction Effect for the two IV’s. The second table reports the means and simple effects tests for the significant interaction effect.
Table 1
Experimental Group x Sex Factorial Analysis of Variance for Sleep Scores
| Source | Df | F | η2 | p |
|
Experimental Group |
2 |
7.93 |
.17 |
.001 |
|
Sex
|
1
|
31.41
|
.34
|
.001
|
| Group x Sex (interaction)
|
2
|
7.85
|
.17
|
.002
|
| Error (within groups) | 30 |
Table 1
Analysis of Sleep Scores for Experimental Groups by Gender
| Aerobic Exercise | Weight Lifting | No Exercise | Simple Effects:
F df (2, 30) |
|
|
Males |
10.37a
(2.50) |
10.30a
(2.34) |
10.33a
(1.63) |
.04 |
|
Females |
4.83a
(1.60) |
10.50b
(2.59) |
4.50a
(1.52) |
15.74** |
|
Simple Effects: F df (1, 30) |
23.56**
|
.00
|
23.56** |
Note. Standard deviations appear in parentheses bellow means. Means with differing subscripts within rows are significantly different at the p < .05 based on Fisher’s LSD post hoc paired comparisons.
** = p < .01
Notice that the simple effect comparing the 3 experiment groups only for females, requires follow up tests in order to determine which groups are significantly different. In this case, Fisher’s LSD test was used, and the results are represented with the different subscripts for each mean. In this case, female participants in the Aerobic exercise group did not differ from the no exercise group so they are given the same subscript (a). However, women in the control group and women in the Weight lifting group significantly differed from the Aerobic watching group and so the Weight Lifting group was labeled with a different subscript (b). The male subjects did not differ from one another, so they all share the same subscript (a).
Table 1
Pearson’s Product Moment Correlations for Chronic Pain Score, Exercise Attitude Scores and Physical Activity
| Demographic Influences on Exercise | ||
| Weight | Age | |
| Chronic Pain Score
Pain Level |
.39*** |
-.07 |
|
Pain Intensity |
.15 |
.22* |
|
Physical Exercise
Type of Exercise |
-.26** |
-.19† |
|
Time of Exercise |
-.13
|
-.21*
|
| Intent to Exercise | .02 | -.10 |
Note. N = 96 for all analyses.
† = p < .10, *= p < .05, **= p < .01, ***= p < .001.
Generally, the same features apply to figures as have been previously provided for tables: They should be easy to read and interpret, consistent throughout the document when presenting the same type of figure, kept on one page if possible, and supplement the accompanying text or table.
Figure 1
Graph of Scores Before and After
Note: Reprinted from S. GCU. Or Adapted from or www.website.com. Reprinted with permission.
If the figure is not your own work, note the source or reference where you found the figure. Write, “Reprinted from” or “Adapted from,” followed by the title of the book, article, or website where you found the figure. Include the page number where you found the figure as well if you are citing a figure from a book. If you are citing a figure from a website, you may write, “Reprinted from The Huffington Post.” Or include the author’s first and second initial as well as their surname. Use the author’s first and second initial, if available, rather than the author’s full first name. Note their last name as well.
References:
American Psychological Association [APA]. (2019). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. (7th ed.). Washington, DC; Author
Microsoft Word ®. (2019). Retrieved from https://products.office.com/
Identify the analysis technique.
In the results section (Chapter 4), your goal is to report the results of the data analyses used to answer your project question. To do this, you need to identify your data analysis technique, report your test statistic, and provide some interpretation of the results. Each analysis you run should be related to your clinical question or PICOT. If you analyze data that is exploratory or outside your clinical question, you need to indicate this in the results.
Format test statistics.
Test statistics and p values should be rounded to two decimal places (If you are providing precise p-values for future use in meta-analyses, 3 decimal places is acceptable). All statistical symbols (sample statistics) that are not Greek letters should be italicized (M, SD, t, p, etc.).
Indicate the direction of the significant difference.
When reporting a significant difference between two conditions, indicate the direction of this difference, i.e. which condition was more/less/higher/lower than the other condition(s). Assume that your audience has a professional knowledge of statistics. Do not explain how or why you used a certain test unless it is unusual (i.e., such as a non-parametric test).
How to report p values.
Report the exact p value (this is the preferred option if you want to make your data convenient for individuals conducting a meta-analysis on the topic).
Example: t(33) = 2.10, p = .03.
If your exact p value is less than .001, it is conventional to state merely p < .001. If you report exact p values, state early in the results section the alpha level used as a significance criterion for your tests. For example: “We used an alpha level of .05 for all statistical tests.”
If your results are in the predicted direction but are not significant, you can say your results were marginally significant. Example: Results indicated a marginally significant preference for pie (M = 3.45, SD = 1.11) over cake (M = 3.00, SD = .80), t(5) = 1.25, p = .08.
If your p-value is over .10, you can say your results revealed a non-significant trend in the predicted direction. Example: Results indicated a non-significant trending in the predicted direction indicating a preference for pie (M = 4.25, SD = 2.21) over cake (M = 3.25, SD = 2.60), t(5) = 1.75, p = .26.
Descriptive Statistics
Mean and Standard Deviation are most clearly presented in parentheses:
The sample as a whole was relatively young (M = 19.22, SD = 3.45).
The average age of students was 19.22 years (SD = 3.45).
Percentages are also most clearly displayed in parentheses with no decimal places:
Nearly half (49%) of the sample was married.
Frequencies or rates are reported including the range, mode, or median.
t-tests
There are several different designs that utilize a t-test for the statistical inference testing. The differences between one-sample t-tests, related measures t-tests, and independent samples t tests are clear to the knowledgeable reader so eliminate any elaboration of which type of t-test has been used. Additionally, the descriptive statistics provided will identify which variation was employed. It is important to note that we assume that all p values represent two-tailed tests unless otherwise noted and that independent samples t-tests use the pooled variance approach (based on an equal variances assumption) unless otherwise noted:
There was a significant effect for gender, t(54) = 5.43, p < .001, with men receiving
higher scores than women.
Results indicate a significant preference for pie (M = 3.45, SD = 1.11) over cake (M = 3.00, SD = .80), t(15) = 4.00, p = .001.
The 36 study participants had a mean age of 27.4 (SD = 12.6) were significantly older
than the university norm of 21.2 years, t(35) = 2.95, p = .01.
Students taking statistics courses in psychology at the University of Washington reported studying more hours for tests (M = 121, SD = 14.2) than did UW college students in general, t(33) = 2.10, p = .034.
The 25 participants had an average difference from pre-test to post-test anxiety scores of -4.8 (SD = 5.5), indicating the anxiety treatment resulted in a significant decrease in
anxiety levels, t(24) = -4.36, p = .005 (one-tailed).
The 36 participants in the treatment group (M = 14.8, SD = 2.0) and the 25 participants in the control group (M = 16.6, SD = 2.5), demonstrated a significance difference in
performance (t[59] = -3.12, p = .01); as expected, the visual priming treatment inhibited
performance on the phoneme recognition task.
UW students taking statistics courses in Psychology had higher IQ scores (M = 121, SD = 14.2) than did those taking statistics courses in Statistics (M = 117, SD = 10.3), t(44) =
1.23, p = .09.
Over a two-day period, participants drank significantly fewer drinks in the experimental group (M= 0.667, SD = 1.15) than did those in the wait-list control group (M= 8.00, SD= 2.00), t(4) = -5.51, p=.005.
ANOVA and post hoc tests
ANOVAs are reported like the t test, but there are two degrees-of-freedom numbers to report. First report the between-groups degrees of freedom, then report the within-groups degrees of freedom (separated by a comma). After that report the F statistic (rounded off to two decimal places) and the significance level.
One-way ANOVA:
The 12 participants in the high dosage group had an average reaction time of 12.3
seconds (SD = 4.1); the 9 participants in the moderate dosage group had an average
reaction time of 7.4 seconds (SD = 2.3), and the 8 participants in the control group had a
mean of 6.6 (SD = 3.1). The effect of dosage, therefore, was significant, F(2,26) = 8.76,
p=.012.
An one way analysis of variance showed that the effect of noise was significant, F(3,27) = 5.94, p = .007. Post hoc analyses using the Scheffé post hoc criterion for significance indicated that the average number of errors was significantly lower in the white noise condition (M = 12.4, SD = 2.26) than in the other two noise conditions (traffic and industrial) combined (M = 13.62, SD = 5.56), F(3, 27) = 7.77, p = .042.
Tests of the four a priori hypotheses were conducted using Bonferroni adjusted alpha
levels of .0125 per test (.05/4). Results indicated that the average number of errors was
significantly lower in the silence condition (M = 8.11, SD = 4.32) than were those in both
the white noise condition (M = 12.4, SD = 2.26), F(1, 27) = 8.90, p =.011 and in the
industrial noise condition (M = 15.28, SD = 3.30), F (1, 27) = 10.22, p = .007. The
pairwise comparison of the traffic noise condition with the silence condition was nonsignificant.
The average number of errors in all noise conditions combined (M = 15.2, SD
= 6.32) was significantly higher than those in the silence condition (M = 8.11, SD = 3.30),
F(1, 27) = 8.66, p = .009.
Multiple Factor (Independent Variable) ANOVA
There was a significant main effect for treatment, F(1, 145) = 5.43, p < .01, and a
significant interaction, F(2, 145) = 3.13, p < .05.
The cell sizes, means, and standard deviations for the 3×4 factorial design are presented
in Table 1. The main effect of Dosage was marginally significant (F[2,17] = 3.23, p =
.067), as was the main effect of diagnosis category, F(3,17) = 2.87, p = .097. The
interaction of dosage and diagnosis, however, has significant, F(6,17) = 14.2, p = .0005.
Attitude change scores were subjected to a two-way analysis of variance having two
levels of message discrepancy (small, large) and two levels of source expertise (high,
low). All effects were statistically significant at the .05 significance level. The main
effect of message discrepancy yielded an F ratio of F(1, 24) = 44.4, p < .001, indicating
that the mean change score was significantly greater for large-discrepancy messages (M =
4.78, SD = 1.99) than for small-discrepancy messages (M = 2.17, SD = 1.25). The main
effect of source expertise yielded an F ratio of F(1, 24) = 25.4, p < .01, indicating that the
mean change score was significantly higher in the high-expertise message source (M =
5.49, SD = 2.25) than in the low-expertise message source (M = 0.88, SD = 1.21). The
interaction effect was non-significant, F(1, 24) = 1.22, p > .05.
A two-way analysis of variance yielded a main effect for the diner’s gender, F(1,108) =
3.93, p < .05, such that the average tip was significantly higher for men (M = 15.3%, SD
= 4.44) than for women (M = 12.6%, SD = 6.18). The main effect of touch was nonsignificant, F(1, 108) = 2.24, p > .05. However, the interaction effect was significant,
F(1, 108) = 5.55, p < .05, indicating that the gender effect was greater in the touch
condition than in the non-touch condition.
Chi Square
Chi-Square statistics are reported with degrees of freedom and sample size in parentheses, the Pearson chi-square value (rounded to two decimal places), and the significance level:
The percentage of participants that were married did not differ by gender, X2(1, N = 90) = 0.89, p > .05.
The sample included 30 respondents who had never married, 54 who were married, 26
who reported being separated or divorced, and 16 who were widowed. These frequencies
were significantly different, X2 (3, N = 126) = 10.1, p = .017.
As can be seen by the frequencies cross tabulated in Table xx, there is a significant
relationship between marital status and depression, X2 (3, N = 126) = 24.7, p < .001.
The relation between these variables was significant, X2 (2, N = 170) = 14.14, p < .01.
Catholic teens were less likely to show an interest in attending college than were
Protestant teens.
Preference for the three sodas was not equally distributed in the population, X2 (2, N =
55) = 4.53, p < .05.
Correlations
Correlations are reported with the degrees of freedom (which is N-2) in parentheses and the significance level:
The two variables were strongly correlated, r(55) = .49, p < .01.
Regression analyses
Regression results are often best presented in a table. A
PA doesn’t say much about how to report regression results in the text, but if you would like to report the regression in the text of your Results section, you should at least present the standardized slope (beta) along with the t-test and the corresponding significance level. (Degrees of freedom for the t-test is N-k-1 where k equals the number of predictor variables.) It is also customary to report the percentage of variance explained along with the corresponding F test.
Social support significantly predicted depression scores, b = -.34, t(225) = 6.53, p < .01. Social support also explained a significant proportion of variance in depression scores, R2 = .12, F(1, 225) = 42.64, p < .01.
Tables
Add a table or figure.
Adding a table of figure can be helpful to the reader. See the current APA Publication manual for examples. In reporting the results of statistical tests, report the descriptive statistics, such as means and standard deviations, as well as the test statistic, degrees of freedom, obtained value of the test, and the probability of the result occurring by chance (p value).
American Psychological Association [APA]. (2019). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
NOTE: All notes and comments are keyed to the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
American Psychological Association (APA) style is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences. This resource, revised according to the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, offers examples for the general format of APA
research papers, in-text citations, footnotes, and the reference page. For specifics, consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. For additional information on APA Style, consult the APA website:
http://apastyle.org/learn/index.aspx
On the first line of the page, center the word “Abstract” (boldface font, italics, underlining, or quotation marks).
Beginning with the next line, write the abstract. Abstract text is one paragraph with no indentation and is double-spaced. This page is counted, not numbered, and does not appear in the Table of Contents.
Abstracts do not include references or citations.
(Based on the results, the Five A’s model may result in increased patient motivation to quit smoking as well as a decrease in nicotine dependence. Recommendations THIS part you make specific to your project.
Make sure to add the keywords at the bottom of the abstract to assist future investigators.
Make sure to add the keywords at the bottom of the abstract to assist future investigators.
The Table of Contents reflects the specific levels of organization within the manuscript. All major (chapter) headings must be worded exactly the same and occur in the same order as they do in the GCU manuscript template. Any heading that appears in the Table of Contents must appear in the text, and any heading in the text must appear in the Table of Contents. As noted elsewhere in this comment, as long as you use this automatic TOC, the headings in the TOC will match those in the text since the automatic TOC “reads” the styles of the headings in the text.
Subheadings that differentiate subsections of each chapter, are single-spaced and upper and lowercase.
In the Table of Contents, these
TOC1: Left: 0″, Hanging: 0.5″ Tab stops: 6″
TOC2: Left: -0.25″, First line Indent 0.5: Tab stops: 6″
TOC 3: Left: 0.63”; no first line indent, Tab stops: 6″
The headings and subheadings in the Table of Contents must exactly match the text body, and they will do so automatically when you use this automatic TOC (which “reads” the headings in the text.
The Reference list should appear as a numbered new page at the end of the manuscript. The Reference heading is centered at the top of the page and is bolded.
The Reference list provides necessary information for the reader to locate and retrieve any source cited in the body of the text. Each source mentioned must appear in the Reference list. Likewise, each entry in the Reference list must be cited in the text.
Keep references whole and on one page
This page must be entitled “References.” This title is centered at the top of the page. Do not use bold, underline, or quotation marks for this title. All text should be in 12-point Times New Roman font and double-spaced.
NOTE: References must use a hanging indent of 0.5” and be double-spaced. Examples of common references are provided below. See APA (7th ed.), Chapter 9 for specific reference formatting instructions. For more information on references or APA Style, consult the APA website: at http://apastyle.org
The appendices follow the reference list and typically include materials relevant to the DPI project and referenced in the main text, (e.g. raw data, letters of permission, institutional review authorization, surveys or other data collection materials).
Each appendix must begin with a new page, have its own letter designation A, B, C…etc., and a descriptive title.
The appendix heading is centered, with a 1” top margin and is upper and lower case.
The content or text for each appendix follows right after the title and must fit the practice improvement project margins specifications: 1.5” left, 1” top, right, and bottom.
Text spacing for appendix content depends on the nature of the appendix material. The format of the material should be clean and consistent.
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