Appendix E3 Guidelines for Critically Appraising Interpretations/Discussions in Quantitative Research Reports
Interpretation of the Findings
- Were all the important results discussed?
- Did the researchers discuss any study limitations and their possible effects on the credibility of the findings? In discussing limitations, were key threats to the study’s validity and possible biases reviewed? Did the interpretations take limitations into account?
- What types of evidence were offered in support of the interpretation, and was that evidence persuasive? Were results interpreted in light of findings from other studies?
- Did the researchers make any unjustifiable causal inferences? Were alternative explanations for the findings considered? Were the rationales for rejecting these alternatives convincing?
- Did the interpretation take into account the precision of the results and/or the magnitude of effects?
- Did the researchers draw any unwarranted conclusions about the generalizability of the results?
Implications of the Findings and Recommendations
- Did the researchers discuss the study’s implications for clinical practice or future nursing research? Did they make specific recommendations?
- If yes, are the stated implications appropriate, given the study’s limitations and the magnitude of the effects as well as evidence from other studies? Are there important implications that the report neglected to include?
Clinical Significance
- Did the researchers mention or assess clinical significance? Did they make a distinction between statistical and clinical significance?
- If clinical significance was examined, was it assessed in terms of group-level information (e.g., effect sizes) or individual-level results? How was clinical significance operationalized?
