[VickyRN]

Am taking an online Masters nursing research class Am confused about a few things and am hoping one of you wonderful research nurses might be able to help.

My question -

What is the difference between a research problem, problem statement, research question, purpose statement, and hypothesis?

I am having a very hard time distinguishing between these and finding consistent definitions. Our textbook doesn't offer much by way of explanation and other sources vary so much they contradict each other.

Thanks for any light you can shed on this subject for me

[traumaRUs]

Use a search engine or your school's library. I'm doing the University of Phoenix online MSN and the school libary is the best place to go. Good luck...judi

[WashYaHands]

The research problem is the situation in need of a solution or improvement. It may state a descrepancy between the way things are and the way things ought to be. The problem identifies an area of concern.

The problem statement is basically nailing down the problem and presenting it in sentence form.

The purpose statement is generated from the problem and identifies the specific goal or aim of the study. The goal might be to identify, describe, explain, or predict a solution to a situation.

The research questions are concise, clear statements of the purpose of the study. It is also generated from the problem.

The hypothesis is a formal statement of the expected relationship between 2 or more variables in a specified population.

The research question and hypothesis are formulated to bridge the gap between the more abstractly stated research problem and purpose.

I'm not sure if this helps much, but I hope it does.

[VickyRN]

Thank you very much! It certainly does help