For this assignment, write the Sample Section of your EBP Project Proposal in a Word document. 

Here is a

Week 8 Sample Section Example

(Word) of what the sample section can look like.

Sample Section Guidelines

This section covers your planned recruitment and ethical considerations for your future participants. It should take up about two to three pages, or approximately 350 to 500 words. The purpose is to tell the reader what your recruitment plan is for the study. You should have subheadings throughout this section of the paper.

In this section, write about the following:

1. Sample: Cover the following points in no more than two paragraphs each:

   How subjects will be recruited
   What the inclusion criteria will be (for more expansion, you may add the exclusion criteria to show what was consciously eliminated)
   The type of sample (random, purposive, convenience, etc.)
   The proposed sample size and rationale for this choice
   The selection method (random table of numbers, flip a coin, etc.— this depends on the type of study)
   Although this subsection should cover all these items, it may be written in a narrative style.

2. Setting: Keeping in mind that this is a proposed setting, and it should not be recognizable for confidentiality and privacy reasons. It is a broad view of the setting. For example:
   The proposed setting for this study is a large teaching hospital in the northeast. The actual place where the study would be carried out is in the three medical–surgical units in this hospital. Each unit has a bed capacity of 25–30 beds with occupancy rates of 92% to 95%. The study will take place in a private conference room.
   Or, if a mailed questionnaire or survey is to be used:
   The proposed setting for data collection will be by mailing the questionnaire to the homes of the subjects. The researcher would be mailing the questionnaires from home with a return-addressed, stamped envelope.
3. Informed Consent and Ethical Considerations: Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval will be obtained. The researcher will submit an application and proposal to the Regis College IRB first. After approval from Regis College, the institution where the study will take place usually requires IRB approval as well. The request or application may be one of three types:

   Exempt from review: This is for studies with no intervention or may be just for a medical record review.
   Expedited review: This is for minimal risk to subjects—physical or psychological.
   Complete institutional review: This is for studies that may pose a risk to subjects.

Please address means of protecting human subjects, such as the use of pseudonyms for qualitative studies and the use of numbers to identify subjects in quantitative studies. Data storage must be addressed. Make certain that identifying data (informed consent document) is maintained in a locked file separate from de-identified data (demographics, surveys, transcripts) that also will be maintained in a locked file in the researcher’s locked office.

  
Week 8 Sample Section Example

Written by Jennifer Oddy, Entitled: Distress And Coping of Mothers of Children With Muscular Dystrophy 

Sampling Method, Sample, and Setting 

Sampling method. The participants will be recruited by criterion purposive sampling by their doctors/nurses at the Muscular Dystrophy Association clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital. 

Sample. Inclusion criteria are the following: (1) You are 21 years of age or greater; (2) are the mother of a child with muscular dystrophy; (3) your child is aged between 4 and 17 and was 10 years or younger at their first physical assessment by a primary care provider; (4) you provide roughly 75% or more of the home care for the child. 

People will not be eligible for this study if they: (1) have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder (bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or have a physical addiction to drugs or alcohol); (2) if the child is currently residing in a long-term care facility. 

The sample size will ideally be about 10 participants. Phenomenological studies tend to rely on very small samples, since there is one guiding principle for selecting the sample: all participants must have experienced the phenomenon and must be able to articulate what it is like to have lived the experience (Polit & Beck, 2012). Data will be collected until saturation is accomplished. 

Setting. The proposed setting for this study is at the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital located at 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA. There are two directors at the clinic, an orthopedic, and a pediatric neurologist. The team members include a social worker, physical therapist, and a genetic counselor. The number of patients at the clinic cannot be disclosed, however, Boston Children’s Hospital is considered an elite clinic and is included in the MDA network that supports clinical trials and research. The hospital offers the highest level of diagnostic and treatment services, with neurologists and other specialists being very experienced in treating children with muscular dystrophy.

Informed consent and ethical considerations 

Before enrolling participants in this study, an informed consent must be signed and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB, Appendix A). This will be obtained from the Muscular Dystrophy Association clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital, as well as from Regis College. An application and proposal will be sent to the IRB, requesting approval for this study. Since there is minimal risk to subjects, an expedited review will be requested (Polit & Beck, 2012). There is a risk that the participant may have feelings of discomfort while discussing the experiences of caring for a child with muscular dystrophy. This will be minimized by the researcher with empathy and compassion. If the participant would like counseling, a call will be made to their primary care provider. 

There are no foreseen ethical issues involved in this research study. The interviews will be tape recorded, transcribed, and held in locked files in an office. The results of the interviews will remain confidential, only being available to the researcher, in order to protect the participants. All participants involved in the study will receive full clarification of the purpose of the study, the research process, and research results in order to ensure that participants can make an informed consent to participate in the study.