The nurse has defined the hypothesis as, There will be no ...

[vHAUNG6011]

The nurse has defined the hypothesis as, There will be no difference in the number of adverse events among patients discharged two days after an abdominal hysterectomy compared with patients discharged 4 days after an abdominal hysterectomy.
 
  This statement is an example of what?
  a. Directional hypothesis
  b. Nondirectional hypothesis
  c. Research hypothesis
  d. Null hypothesis

Question 2

Which hypothesis is nondirectional?
 
  a. Hospitals with an infection-control nurse will have fewer instances of sepsis among inpatients than hospitals without an infection-control nurse.
  b. There will be a greater weight loss among dieting patients who receive a weekly supportive telephone call from a dietitian than among dieting patients who do not receive a weekly supportive phone call.
  c. There will be a difference in stage of disease for prostate cancer among men who had an abnormal prostate-specific antigen screening compared with men who had an abnormal digital rectal examination screening.
  d. Children who receive weekly counseling for 1 year after the death of a parent will perform better in school than children who do not receive weekly counseling after the death of a parent.

[akpaschal]

Answer to Question 1

ANS: D

Feedback
A Because no direction is indicated, this is not a directional hypothesis.
B A nondirectional hypothesis indicates the existence of a relationship between variables but does not indicate the direction. This hypothesis indicates no relationship between variables.
C A research (or scientific) hypothesis is a statement of the expected relationship of the variables. This hypothesis indicates no relationship between variables.
D This is a null (or statistical) hypothesis, stating that there is no relationship between the independent (postoperative days) and dependent (adverse events) variables. If in the statistical analysis a significant relationship is found, the null hypothesis would be rejected.

Answer to Question 2

ANS: C

Feedback
A This hypothesis gives the expected direction (i.e., fewer).
B This hypothesis gives the expected direction (i.e., greater).
C This hypothesis has no expected direction. It suggests a difference but does not indicate the direction of the difference.
D This hypothesis gives the expected direction (i.e., better).