Selecting and using research instruments

Many factors must be considered in planning and implementing research. Scientific reasons for decisions are important, but so are practical considerations. The suggestions made throughout this column are based on experience and may seem to some to be simply "common sense." However, the importance of these practical, common sense considerations cannot be minimized. These practical suggestions are intended to bring into focus the fact that the research process is not that different from other decision-making processes: In research as in life, there are multiple ways to get from point A to point B, and none of them is inherently right or wrong. The choices the researcher makes in designing and implementing a study must be clearly described and must be based on the research goals, the theoretical framework used, and the resources available. Potential nurse researchers should not be intimidated by the task at hand. Rather, they should be comforted by the fact that the same processes they use in making decisions about clinical practice can be employed in designing and implementing research studies.