Hypertension will be assessed through measurement with a blood pressure cuff by doctor's office personnel trained to do so. Stress will be measured through a scale developed by the researcher. There are a number of scales found, but many of them focused on life changes or acute stress. None were found that focused on chronic stress. The scale will be devised so that Likert-type answers can be added together to develop a "stress number." This number will be used to assign a numerical value to the person's stress level.
Qualitative Research: This will be strictly a quantitative study.
Reliability and validity: Measurement of hypertension is a standard medical procedure and the methods of assessment are considered to be clinically valid. Construct validity will be assessed by an examination of the operationalization of the study. It is believed that this study measures the intended components of the hypothesis in a direct manner. Reliability will be assessed using internal consistency for all items on the scale. Cronbach's Alpha will be used to assess reliability of the scale.
III. Design and Procedures section
Design: The study design uses a separate measure, as appropriate for each of the dependent variables. The design is considered to be an excellent representation of the intended hypotheses.
Internal validity: One of the key threats to internal validity of the study is the existence of confounding variables in the patients that have not yet been discovered. For instance, a patient may have undiagnosed Cushing's disease, which could influence their hypertension scores and their stress scores. It is difficult to determine if conditions exist that are not known to the researcher or physician.
Description of procedures: Once a sufficient study population has been located,...
They will be responsible for administration and collection of data according to a standard set of basic instructions. This study does not entail knowledge of procedures that are not already part of their daily routine. At a given time, all data will be submitted to the researcher for analysis.
IV. Funding and Data Sources
The only data source used for this study will be the research measurement techniques employed as part of the study design. Funding for the study will come from a targeted grant application campaign. Sources for a number of grant programs can be found at http://www.rushu.rush.edu/medcol/teaching/funding.htm
References
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