DURING THE PAST SEVERAL years, increasing emphasis has been placed on the need for nurses to examine nursing practice critically and scientifically. The conscientious and alert nurse is often concerned about the effect of a particular nursing practice, the relative effectiveness of different approaches, and numerous other questions which can be best answered by using the methodology of research. However, in attempting to answer such questions, she is handicapped not only by everyday duties which limit the research activities of most practitioners, but also frequently by insufficient training in research methodology. The usual result is that she attempts no research. Because of the lack of scientific investigation, conclusions-and often erroneous onesabout the effectiveness of various procedures are based on casual observations. On the other hand, the nurse may spend countless hours conducting wrongly designed research and, in spite of her diligence and good intentions, achieve little. Research ideas are usually derived from theory, practical problems and curiosity, or questions arising from one's own research or the research of others. Almost any nurse could raise dozens of questions pertaining to her own practical work. For example,