Missing Data

If left unattended, missingness can undermine the conclusions nurse researchers draw in their studies. Unfortunately, a cursory review of quantitative and mixed methods works recently published in the Journal of Nursing Education suggests missing data is left relatively unattended within our community. This column has recommended our researcher mitigate the emergence of missing data as much as possible, describe any missingness thoroughly, and adopt modern missing data techniques that help mitigate threats to validity introduced by missing data. Reviewers and editors are also encouraged to request from authors clear descriptions of the missingness in their studies as well as how they responded to any missingness.