Systematic Review Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Systematic Review - Research Paper Example The article acknowledges that nurses are often so busy and sometimes may lack the skills and tools necessary to make research findings that are clinically relevant and methodologically sound. This reality notwithstanding, the article states that the key to achieving this crucial goal in the nursing practice is through systematic review of literature. It goes further to provide examples of professional groups that have done reviews which have been very critical in attaining evidence-based practice. A good example is review done by the Cochrane Collaboration in evaluating the effects of medical therapeutics. The article explains that nursing practitioners should be motivated to use as well as produce systematic reviews in order to achieve evidence-based practice (Rew, 2011). The attributes of systematic reviews in the nursing practice have been described in the article. Based on the definition of Meadows-Oliver (2009), the article describes systematic review as a synthesis of literatur e aimed at answering a research question which has a clear target and can be replicated. Identifying clearly targeted and specific research questions helps the reviewer to critically analyze and search for published sources that respond to research questions. Systematic review also involves delineation of each step of review process in order to enable other reviewers to verify and replicate the findings. In describing the attributes of systematic review, the article has differentiated it from integrative review by stating that the latter’s approach is the only one that allows for the diverse methodologies combination. However, the process delineated from for systematic review is the same as the process for integrative review, and many of the former have included publications with diverse methodologies (Whittemore & Knafl, 2008). The article has extensively described the rationale for conducting systematic reviews. It states that even though most nurses in the clinical practic e do not get enough time to engage in original research, they ought to comb the existing relevant literature in order to find evidence regarding the kind of practice that can best work for a specific patient care situation. This method has proved to be appropriate in identifying evidence. However, its critics argue that it is often limited in scope, tends to reflect the bias that is inherent in journals that the nurses have employed or nurse’s bias, and it also lacks a clear focus (Coffman, et al, 2009). The article observes that systematic review corrects these limitations and gives nurses more confidence regarding the evidence that they have obtained from the process (Rew, 2011). A systematic review of available research literature gives the reader an efficient synthesis of research findings concerning a particular topic under study. The article further describes the systematic literature review process; it is worth noting that this process is the same to that of the descri ptive research design. The process begins with formulation of the problem that is aimed at describing, synthesizing, and summarizing published findings regarding a particular problem or phenomenon in practice, and presents these findings in ways that answer specific research

Factors that Alter the Perceived Quality of Products Essay

Factors that Alter the Perceived Quality of Products - Essay Example Not only are consumers bombarded with overwhelming decision-making scenarios on a constant basis, numerous other considerations come into play before they determine which product they want to buy including the amount of time they have to shop, the time they have available between other activities, and their other daily stresses and concerns. Add the constant deluge of sales pitches, different combinations of benefits, complicated terms of service, fluctuating prices, and highly persuasive, psychologically driven promotional messages and consumers' perception of product quality is highly compromised. A great deal of research has gone into determining just how consumers deal with it all in order to come to any form of buying decision. These studies have discovered that a great deal of consumer decisions are based on a weighted measure between perceived quality, current need, and other emotional factors (Morris & Morris, 1990). While it is not possible for marketers to control consumers ' current needs, there are several ways in which understanding those other emotional factors can help marketers improve perceived quality of products. Perceived quality of a product is very important in consumer buying decisions and will have an effect on how much can be charged for the product as well as where the product should be placed, how it should be packaged, and what types of consumers will be likely to purchase it. When consumers perceive a brand to have a high quality, the brand is able to engage in reverse discounting - reducing the price of an already high-priced product to a point that is still well within the profit margin. Understanding of how much a product is worth is determined to a great degree by the eye of the consumer. This perception can be introduced and maintained by the marketer through the application of a high price tag and sometimes restricted market access. This marketing practice establishes the product as being rare and of high quality, encouraging c onsumers to pay more in order to improve their personal status within a similarly educated society (Passewitz, 2005). Continued feelings of perceived quality can be enhanced without prohibitively pricing the product out of the market by introducing value bundling. By bundling complimentary products together and offering them at a 'discounted' rate, consumers are encouraged to consider the probable cost of the individual pieces and perceive a good deal (Evoy, 1999). However, this method of manipulating perception of quality has its own bundle of concerns. Different approaches taken in research on this topic include examinations of price, the decision-making process, motivation, and application of the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). Price Studies into how price can be used to influence consumers' perception of product quality have identified two major strategies (Morris & Morris, 1990). Consumers see the low prices of bargain brands and assume that the strategy is to sell in bulk. The assumption is the products are of inferior quality - serviceable but not necessarily built to last. 'Quality' is thus defined as durability and not mass produced as opposed to 'value' which is defined as how many (in quantity or benefits) can one get for how few pounds. When the goal is instead to emphasize the high quality of the product, the competition is focused on being the highest priced on the market (Morris & Morris, 1990). To justify the additional expense, marketers bring attention to the higher than average quality of materials used and other attention to detail. In this way, high end marketers build off of the preconceived ideas of quality established by low end marketers (that 'quality' is