ABSTRACT
AIM: To compare the methodologic quality and study/report characteristics between quantitative clinical nursing and nursing education research articles. BACKGROUND: The methodologic quality of quantitative nursing education research needs to advance to a higher level. Clinical research can provide guidance for nursing education to reach this level. METHOD: One hundred quantitative clinical research articles from-high impact journals published in 2007 and 37 education research articles from high impact journals published in 2006 to 2007 were chosen for analysis. RESULTS: Clinical articles had significantly higher quality scores than education articles in three domains: number of institutions studied, type of data, and outcomes. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate three ways in which nursing education researchers can strengthen the methodologic quality of their quantitative research. With this approach, greater funding may be secured for advancing the science of nursing education.
