Online article link:

A randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of a single session of nurse administered massage for short term relief of chronic non-malignant pain | BMC Nursing | Full Text (biomedcentral.com)

Guide Questions

Adequacy of sample in quantitative studies	Yes	No	Comments
Did the researcher define the target population for the study?
Are the sampling inclusion criteria, sampling exclusion criteria, or both clearly identified and appropriate for the study?
Is the sample size identified? Is a power analysis reported? Was sample size appropriate as indicated by the power analysis? If groups were included in the study, is the sample size for each group discussed?
Is the sampling method probability or nonprobability? Identify the specific sampling method used in the study to obtain the sample.
Is the sampling method adequate to achieve a representative sample? Is the sample representative of the accessible and target populations?
Describing the Sample
What variables were used to describe the sample?
What statistical procedures were used to describe the sample?
Was the sample representative of the study target population?
If the sample is divided into groups for data analyses, was the equivalence of the groups discussed?
Level of Significance
Were there significant differences found? If yes, what was the p value?
What was the risk of a Type I error in the study?
Type I and Type II Errors
What element(s) of the study could have resulted in the risk of a Type I error?
What element(s) of the study could have resulted in the risk of a Type II error?
Power Level
Were the effect size and the power level identified in the study?
Was a power analysis conducted to determine sample size? Was the sample size adequate for the study conducted?
Findings and Significance of Findings
What are the study findings? Did the study include significant and nonsignificant findings?
Were the findings appropriate based on the statistical results?
Were the study findings linked to previous research findings?
Were the findings clinically important?