Nursing scientists around the world are leading the globalization of health care. Rigorous research methods are increasingly providing the evidence-based knowledge that has proven so critical to enhancing the quality of clinical nursing care. Different levels of research methods are used to answer different levels of study questions (Wood & Kerr, 2011). The research designs applied in this issue of The Journal of Nursing Research include both qualitative and quantitative approaches.

The qualitative approach aims to describe observed phenomenon such as experiences and perceptions. Qualitative nursing researchers analyze the perspectives of each subject in order to generate a rich description of the phenomenon under study. In this issue, our authors have applied qualitative research methods to explore the lived experiences of patients with chronic illness (Camargo Plazas & Cameron; Etemadifar, Bahrami, Shahriari, & Farsani; Masoudi, Abedi, Abedi, & Mohammadianinejad), family caregivers (Lin, Lin,& Lin; Hekmatpou, & Ebrahimi-Fakhar), and nursing students (Shahsavari, Parsa-Yekta, Houser, & Ghiyasvandian). Using rigorous techniques to articulate the perspectives of their subjects, these studies successfully explore and describe the essence of the human experience.

This issue also includes 3 correlation studies and 1 instrument validation. Correlation design methods answer the questions of relationships among study variables. Park, Jeoung, Lee, and Sok studied job satisfaction among Korean nurses in relation to their communication competence and self-efficacy. Identifying the relationships among the variables help nursing administrators develop more effective clinical training programs to improve job satisfaction. Psychiatric patients are a vulnerable population with various care needs. The problem of choking among these patients is one of the important clinical problems faced by psychiatric nurses. Chen, Chen, Chan, Lan, and Loh's study enhances our understanding of the factors related to choking among psychiatric patients. Tseng et al. explored the issue of gender differences in Internet usage among adolescents. Ma et al. described the efficacy of a screening instrument designed to identify schizotypal personality individuals in undergraduate student populations.

Different research methods and designs are uniquely able to answer different levels of research questions. Nursing is a profession that cares about the human health experience. Descriptive and explorative approaches articulate human diversity, lived experiences, and understanding from diverse cultural settings. Furthermore, nursing scientists are interested not only in patients who suffer from disease but also in family caregivers and nursing students. This issue includes studies from 4 different countries, including Canada, Iran, Korea, and Taiwan. Reading studies from different countries is critical to learning about and appreciating cultural diversity and then incorporating that diversity into standard nursing practice.

The Editor declares no conflicts of interest.

doi:10.1097/jnr.0000000000000102

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