Abstract
The ability to critically evaluate the merits of a quantitative design research article is a necessary skill for practitioners and researchers of all disciplines, including nursing, in order to judge the integrity and usefulness of the evidence and conclusions made in an article.
The development and application of critical thinking skills is paramount when reading and evaluating research articles, rather than to take the research as fact. The following paper is a critique of a quantitative research study article conducted by Ferber, S.G and Makhoul, I.R. published in the Journal of Pediatrics in 2004, and titled “The Effect of Skin-to-Skin Contact (Kangaroo Care) Shortly After Birth on the Neurobehavioral Responses of the Term Newborn: A Randomized, Controlled Trial”.
Key words: quantitative research, critique, methodology, statistics
Quantitative Research Critique Paper
Kangaroo care (KC) was first introduced in Bogota, Columbia in 1978 as a way of compensation for the overcrowding of incubators in hospitals caring for preterm infants (Bergh, 2011). Premature and sick babies were cuddled up on their mother’s chests and covered to keep them warm. Studies have shown that babies who are “kangarooed” often have higher levels of oxygen saturation, more stable temperature, are more settled, gain weight faster and go home sooner. However, surprisingly it has not been studied or used in the postnatal and transitional care of the use of KC with term infants. A randomized controlled trial conducted by Ferber and Makhoul (2004), investigated specifically at kangaroo care for term infants, which included 47 healthy mother-infant pairs. The study found that the benefits of kangaroo care using immediately postnatal period “reduces the stress associated with birth and to pave the pathway for the increasingly independent self-regulation of the newborn in face of the inevitable extrauterine bombardment with environmental stimulus”…