A nurse researcher develops the research question: Do menopausal women who received daily doses of an herbal hormone treatment report fewer hot flashes than those who did not? What type of research question format is this considered to be?

The research question focuses on comparing two distinct groups: menopausal women who received an herbal hormone treatment and those who did not, specifically in relation to the frequency of hot flashes experienced by each group. This format is considered comparative research because it seeks to identify the differences in outcomes (the number of reported hot flashes) between the two groups based on their exposure to a specific intervention (the herbal hormone treatment).

In comparative research, the primary goal is to analyze how differing conditions affect certain variables, allowing the researcher to draw conclusions about the effectiveness or impact of one condition over another. In this case, the study is designed to assess the effectiveness of the herbal treatment in reducing hot flashes among menopausal women, which perfectly aligns with the characteristics of comparative research.

Descriptive research would focus on detailing characteristics or patterns without making comparisons between groups, while correlational research would investigate the relationship between variables without implying a cause-and-effect relationship. Experimental research typically involves manipulation of an independent variable and random assignment to conditions, which is not evident in the phrasing of the research question presented.