Research-Based Studies - Essay Example

Apart from reported lower birth rates in the test group, no other significant differences were found between the two groups, and it was concluded that there are no significant differences in the likelihood of having a cesarean delivery between the women that had induced labor and those which awaited spontaneous labor, which is contradictory to previous studies that reported a 2.5-fold increase in the likelihood of a cesarean delivery among women with induced labor (Nielsen, et al., 2005). A flowchart showing how the researchers possibly designed the study is shown in figure 1.

The results of the study and the evidences were consistent with the conclusion that having induced labor does not increase the likelihood of having a cesarean delivery as compared to awaiting spontaneous labor. The results were processed using statistical analyses, and even if the rates of cesarean delivery for the test group was 8/116 and the control group 8/110 seem variable the differences were statistically non-significant according to tests (Nielsen, et al., 2005). The cesarean delivery rate for nulliparous patients in the test group (6/45) was also non-significantly different from the control (6/58).

The results corroborate the conclusions of the researchers with regards to the use of induced labor in pregnancy, implying that whether or not a woman chooses to undergo induced labor or not, her chances of delivering cesarean delivery is just the same as with any other woman. Ethical Issues The study could have encountered several possible ethical issues, especially since the test subjects were people. For one, the autonomy of the test subjects might have been challenged so as to keep the homogeneity of the sampled population, and they might have to undergo certain restrictions in order to do that (Jones, 2003).

To fill in the number of people needed for the study to be initiated all women that were possibly included in the assignment criteria, their informed consent have to be obtained first. If the subjects were to be forced to participate without their knowledge and consent, not only would their autonomy be challenged but their patient rights would also be violated (Jones, 2003). Thus before the women were observed in the study, aside from informing them of the purpose, they were also given an option of participating, along with the causes and consequences so as for them to weigh in on whether to become part of the study or not.

In relation to this, confidentiality is also an important ethical issue, and this was done possibly through random assignment of codes instead of referring to each participant with their names, to keep patient information private. Research Type The study of whether or not the induction of labor increases the likelihood of cesarean delivery among expectant mothers was conducted through an experimental research method. Based on the definition, the research studied causal relationships as well as theories, and these were tested and validated or contradicted based on the collected results (Brink & Wood, 1998).

As indicated in the paper, most of the test subjects that were included in the study were selected based on certain criteria such as cephalic presentation, singleton gestation, maternal age greater than 17 years, as well as being a candidate for vaginal