Breast Cancer

A COMPARATIVE CRITIQUE OF TWO ARTICLES DEALING WITH BREAST CANCER

This research critiques comparatively two journal articles dealing with the topic of breast cancer. Overviews of each article are presented prior to discussions of (1) the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the two articles, (2) the differences and similarities that characterize the two articles, and (3) threats to the validity of the two articles.

Six factors are addressed in the overview of each article. These factors are (1) the purpose of the study, (2) research questions and/or hypotheses, (3) the study sample, (4) the research methodology, (5) the research design, and (6) the study findings.

This article was "Deciding on Breast Cancer Treatment: A Description of Decision Behavior," by Penny F. Pierce (1993, pp. 2227). There were two purposes to the study reported in this article. First, the study sought to "describe the naturally occurring and unaided decision making of women facing treatment for breast cancer" (Pierce, 1993, p. 22). Second, the study sought to "provide empirical grounding for developing a conceptual framework for stressful health care decision making" (Pierce, 1993, p. 22).

There was no formally stated research question presented in this article. Based upon the stated purposes of the study, one may infer that the research questions investigated through the

conduct of the study were as follows: (1)

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o relationship to the selection by that woman of a type of treatment for breast cancermodified radical mastectomy, mastectomy with delayed breast reconstruction, mastectomy with immediate breast reconstruction, and conservative surgery plus radiotherapy. The sample for the study reported in this article consisted of 257 subjects. The subjects were selected from among women patients at four university teaching hospitals, all of which "offered the four forms of treatment for breast cancer" considered in this study (Mock, 1993, p. 154). All of the women selected for the sample had completed their treatment for breast cancer a minimum of two months and a maximum of two years prior to participation in the study. All of the 450 women who qualified for sample selection were contacted and asked to complete a data collection questionnaire. The 257 women who completed and returned questionnaires then constituted the research sample for the study. As a methodological approach, women were excluded from the study if their treatment for breast cancer involved Halstead radical mastectomy, if their breast cancer had recurred, if they were characterized by major cognitive impairment, or if they were afflicted with other diseases affecting

Category: Medical - B