A marine biologist is examining the effects of oil pollution on a population of seagulls (Larus canus). He is particularly inter
ested in determining whether oil pollution reduces the number of eggs that may be hatched in each seagull nest. During one breeding season, he has counted the number of eggs present in 16 seagull nests and recorded the distance from each nest to a nearby oil refinery. Which step would BEST enhance the data from this study and allow the researcher to reach more confident conclusions?
Pharmacists may be more familiar and comfortable with the concept of quantitative rather than qualitative research. Quantitative research can be defined as “the means for testing objective theories by examining the relationship among variables which in turn can be measured so that numbered data can be analyzed using statistical procedures”.1 Pharmacists may have used such methods to carry out audits or surveys within their own practice settings; if so, they may have had a sense of “something missing” from their data
