How to Identify & Define an Aggregate in Nursing

Identifying an aggregate in nursing is a way of applying nursing and medical concepts to research into a large population who share common characteristics. The study of aggregates is often part of higher-level nursing courses in public health or community health nursing. Aggregates can be looked at as a group of people who live in the same area, are similar in age or have a common medical condition. Any other trait shared by a large number of individuals can qualify to allow them to be considered as an aggregate in nursing research. Identifying and defining an aggregate is a multistep process.

Instructions

• 1

  Choose the type of situation that will define the members of the aggregate, such as a specific geographic area, e.g., a town, city, state or nation. Establishing these boundaries will help limit or expand the size of the aggregate. Often, limiting the size is important in order to adequately perform a rigorous study of the group.

• 2

  Target the types of individuals that you will need for your study. They could be all the women in the given area, smokers or a more challenging cohort, such as all homeless men. You may choose to look at only those below or above a certain age or within a particular age range.

• 3

  Decide what conditions must exist to be included in the population. In this step, you are deciding whether you are including only pregnant women, people with some type of cancer or those with another type of health problem. Your focus may even be a cohort of people with a certain body type, height, weight or personality.

• 4

  Find those who meet your aggregate-population criteria by implementing a survey method. This can be a door-to-door effort, a mailing, a phone bank or online questionnaire. In health research, working through hospitals and health care providers can be a good way to identify individuals for the aggregate. Less specific population definitions will make the identification process easier. For example, if it is everyone living inside the limits of a small town, you have already defined the entire population without having to do significant additional research to locate appropriate individuals.