Research Article - 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

Question 1. Did the researcher define the target population for the study?

Question 2. Are the sampling inclusion criteria, sampling exclusion criteria, or both clearly identified and appropriate for the study?

Question 3. 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?

Question 4. Is the sampling method probability or nonprobability? Identify the specific sampling method used in the study to obtain the sample.

Question 5. Is the sampling method adequate to achieve a representative sample? Is the sample representative of the accessible and target populations?

Describing the Sample

Question 6. What variables were used to describe the sample?

Question 7. What statistical procedures were used to describe the sample?

Question 8. Was the sample representative of the study target population?

Question 9. If the sample is divided into groups for data analyses, was the equivalence of the groups discussed?

Level of Significance

Question 10. Were there significant differences found? If yes, what was the p-value?

Question 11. What was the risk of a Type I error in the study? (3 points)Type I and Type II Errors

Question 12. What element(s) of the study could have resulted in the risk of a Type I error?

Question 13. What element(s) of the study could have resulted in the risk of a Type II error?

Power Level

Question 14. Were the effect size and the power level identified in the study?

Question 15. Was a power analysis conducted to determine sample size? Was the sample size adequate for the study conducted?

Findings and Significance of Findings

Question 16. What are the study findings? Did the study include significant and nonsignificant findings?

Question 17. Were the findings appropriate based on the statistical results?

Question 18. Were the study findings linked to previous research findings?

Question 19. Were the findings clinically important?