Creating a Healthy Workplace for New-Generation Nurses, Essay Example

Reliability and validity of an instrument.

Researchers determine validity of an instrument / tool in a study through testing the instruments to desifer if they accurately measure the concept/s being researched. Instruments that are often used include questionnaires, standardized tests and interviewing schedules. Validity tools evaluate whether the items on a questionnaire, interviewing schedule or standardizes test measures the desired outcome and there is no ambiguity in interpretation. There are three types of validity for which tools are applicable. They are content, criterion and construct validity. Reliability tools are expected to determine whether the instruments used have been sanctioned as worthy of application to the categories of studies for which they hasve been used (Kamalski, D. Hoekstra. & van Zanten, 2010).

 Member of a journal club strengths and weakness of validity and reliability in article

The strength of validity and reliability in this article, ‘Creating a Healthy Workplace for New-Generation Nurses’ can be summarized in the research design. For this type of investigation a correlational design was most appropriate. If the research method and design does not coincide with scientific research protocols reliability and validity issues are inevitable. Also, the sample size was another great strength in the validity and reliability arguments. Smaller samples often pose immense difficulties in establishing criterion and construct validity because researchers cannot generalize to adjacent populations. A major weakness however, can be identified in the data collection procedures. Nurses were recruited from a mailing lists after a document review. The mailing lists acquisition of this sample could pose reliability issues (Lavoie-Tremblay, Wright, Desforges, & Marchionni, 2008).

 Past and present reliability tools

The job content questionnaire was very effective and can be considered valid because it has been previously tested as valid and reliable from other research projects. The efforts rewards questionnaires carry similar validity/reliability strength. However, instruments/tools constructed presently without being scientifically validated prior to the administration are weak tools (Lavoie-Tremblay et.al, 2008).

References

Kamalski, D. Hoekstra. & van Zanten (2010).  Measuring disease-specific health-related quality of life to evaluate treatment outcomes in tinnitus patients: A systematic review. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg August, 143 (2); 181-185

Lavoie-Tremblay, M. Wright, D. Desforges, N., & Marchionni, ´C. (2008). Creating a Healthy Workplace for New-Generation Nurses. Journal of Nursing Scholarship. 40(3); 290 -297.