Doing a Research Project in Nursing and Midwifery : A Basic Guide to Research Using the Literature Review Methodology

Due to ethical issues surrounding data collection in the field of healthcare, students areno longer able to undertake their own empirical research. This book is written for nursing and midwifery students completing a research project based on reviewing published literature and using secondary data. It de-mystifies the concept of literature review methodology and supports students writing up their dissertation, thesis or work-based learning project.

The book provides step-by-step guidance on:

- Identifying a research problem

- Qualitative and quantitative research design

- Literature searching

- Ethical considerations

- Analysis of secondary data

- Writing your dissertation

Through its discussion of non-empirical methods, the book also prepares students for future empirical research by providing examples of best practice in healthcare research. The book is essential reading for undergraduates and postgraduates who want to succeed in their nursing or midwifery research project.

Carroll Siu is a retired Senior Lecturer, who has taught in schools of nursing both in the West Midlands and the South East of England. She trained as a general nurse and a midwife and has varied general nursing experience. Just prior to her retirement, she returned to practice in a neuro-science centre as a lecturer-practitioner. This has further strengthened her belief that evidence-based practice in healthcare cannot be enforced without teaching professionals the skills to link research theory to practice. Her interest in teaching research and leading research modules over a period of 20 years, have stemmed from her own masters level studies, which have been in research methodologies. The challenge of ensuring methodological rigour whilst supervising undergraduate and postgraduate students with their literature review research projects convinced her of the need for this book. Her strong belief in a high standard of nurse education has led to her recent quality assurance role with the Nursing and Midwifery Council as an accredited reviewer of nursing programmes. This role is for six months of the year and the rest of her time is spent writing and enjoying her garden.

Dr Huguette Comerasamy is a Principal Lecturer at the University of Brighton. Her speciality is midwifery and she teaches research across undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the faculty of health and social science. She has particular interests in the philosophical basis of research, literature based research methodology and developing students as researchers. She believes that developing students as researchers ought to begin at an early stage in the curriculum. To this end she has used the dissertation as a tool to engage undergraduate students with research. This has enabled students to develop research knowledge and skills that can serve as a platform for higher order thinking about undertaking research in the future. She is the module leader for the dissertation module which is based on literature review methodology and she has taught research methodology for the past decade or so. She has also taught and conducted research seminars at the School of Nursing in Mauritius, University of Iceland, University West Indies (St Augustine campus) and latterly University of Alberta, Canada. She is a member scholar of the International Institute of Qualitative Research, University of Alberta Canada. Currently she supervises students′ research projects at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and is an examiner of doctoral thesis both in the UK and abroad. Huguette is also a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (UK).