To be considered true research, a project must:

gather and interpret information in a systematic fashion so as to increase

understanding of some phenomenon.
what illustrates research as it is described in the textbook?
Ian wants to know why the population of songbirds has declined in recent
years in the Sutton Wilderness Area. He carefully collects soil and water
samples systematically surveys the entire area for predators, and then sits
down to make sense of his findings.
Research is considered cyclical because:
Questions lead to data collection which leads to interpretations and then new
problems.
Cameron is conducting a study that addresses the differences in achievement
scores between schools and use block scheduling and schools that use a
traditional scheduling format. He has accessed average achievement scores
for 1200 schools and now is comparing the two groups. In which research
step is Cameron engaged?
Analyze the collected data
what is a statement made by a qualitative researcher
I would like to interview a few of the participants to understand their training
What is a statement that might be stated by a qualitative researcher?
Let's compare unit test scores of those who were placed in cooperative
groups and those who were not.
The philosophical assumption that objective scientific research can uncover
true cause-and-effect relationships in the world is known as:
positivism
Qualitative researchers most commonly (but not exclusively) align with which
of the philosophical approaches to research?
Constructivism
A specific mechanism or strategy the researcher uses to collect, manipulate,
or interpret data is known as a:
Research tool
Research methodology refers to:
the general approach the researcher takes to conducting a research project
The primary purpose of inferential statistics is to:
help the researcher draw conclusions from the data.
Kade has spent the past month carefully observing a group of third graders on
the playground during recess, taking not of how the students interact with one
another. On the basis of these observations, kade is drawing conclusions
about the interaction styles of boys and girls. This is an an example of:
Inductive reasoning
Kimberly knows that teenagers often do not bake good decisions in areas
where they have little knowledge. She also knows that most teens have little
knowledge about human sexuality. therefore, Kimberly believes that teens are
likely to make poor decisions about sexual activity. This is an example of:
Deductive logic
Having completed a series of studies for her dissertation, Marianela sits down
to brainstorm about possible explanations for her key findings. She can see a
variety of ways in which all data work together, and she prepares to write a
final chapter in which she presents those ideas. We would most likely say
Marianela is engaged in the process of:
Theory Building
The primary reason to seek research articles published in academic journals,
rather than those posted by the author on the internet, is that:
They have been carefully selected after an extensive review by experts
Basic research is:
research intended to enhance basic knowledge about the physical, biological,
psychological, or social world or to shed some light on historical, cultural, or
aesthetic phenomena
Applied Research is:
Research that informs human decision making about immediate, practical
problems
What represents a well-written Applied research problem?
How do business teams of six or fewer members compare to teams of more
than six members in terms of productivity?
What represents a well-written Basic research problem?
What proportion of workers hired by selected factories in the state of
Oklahoma between 1995 and 2000 held four-year college degrees?
The chief weakness of this research problem is that:
it does not lead to the creation/discovery of new information
What do underemployed US workers (i.e. those workers who are employed,
but not in positions for which they have specialized training or expertise)
identify as the primary reason for their inability to find suitable employment?
The chief weakness of this research problem is:
studying the question as stated is not feasible
What is the correlation between an index of civic-mindedness and years of
involvement in local organizations and charities among members of city
councils of selected midsized cities in the northeastern United States?
The chief weakness of this research problem is that:
it implies only description of the data, not interpretation
Among social workers in selected U.S. urban areas, are the personality
characteristics of Need for Structure or In-Group Preference related to
prejudicial social judgments about African Americans, Latino Americans, or
Asian Americans?
What is a well-stated subproblem for this research problem?
what is the relationship between an index of Need for Structure and an index
of prejudice targeting attitudes about Asian Americans among the selected
social workers?
What represents a null hypothesis?
There will be no difference in rate of skill improvement between college
gymnasts who practice meditation and those who do not
what represents a research hypothesis
Class A high school basketball teams who employ a sports psychologist will
have a higher proportion of wins over the course of the season than
comparable teams who do not employ a sports psychologist
Lucy examined relationships between middle-school students’ self-esteem
and their performance in Mathematics. Her data analysis indicated that
students with higher self-esteem perform better than those with lower self-
esteem. Her investigation further revealed that students with higher self-
esteem are more willing to invest effort in solving Math problems. In this case,
the amount of effort is
a mediating variable
Research suggests that children who eat hot breakfast at home perform better
at school. Many argue that not only hot breakfast but also parental care of
children before they go to school has an impact on children’s performance. In
this case, parental care is
A moderating variable
Imani analyzed data and found that explicitly teaching reading strategies
improves students’ performance on standardized tests. In this study, explicit
teaching of reading strategies is
An independent variable
Marcos’s study suggested that elementary students who watch TV more than
three hours a day are more likely to be overweight than students who watch
less TV. In this study, students’ weight is
A dependent variable
Anneka ends her research proposal by introducing several variables that she
does NOT plan to study, along with an explanation of why she’s not studying
them. When she presents her proposal to her research committee, her
primary advisor is most likely to say:
it's good that you have identified the delimitations of your study before you
begin
The primary purpose for completing a thorough literature review as part of a
research study is to:
become an expert in your area of interest
Jane wants to search for information about the variety of attention disorders
that are seen in childhood. Which of the following sets of keywords would best
get Jane started on an effective and efficient search?
"attention disorders" and "children"
A well structured literature review
begins with broad/general information, then narrows the focus to those studies
most closely related to the research problem
The review of the literature can be curtailed when:
you are no longer encountering new ideas or information
A well-written literature review:
emphasizes critique and synthesis of the work of others that is related to your
own research problem
Typically, the literature review should:
emphasize how the studies being reviewed are related to the research
problem under consideration
While reading articles published in refereed journals about her research topic,
Georgia repeatedly comes across references to a series of studies by one
particular researcher. She’s unable to find those references in the collections
of her university library. Her best plan of action would be to:
put in a request through the library loan program
Shar has read only about 20 refereed articles that relate to her primary
research topic, but she’s finding that they tend to focus on the same basic
patterns and arguments. Her best plan of action at this point is to:
reconsider her search terms and look more broadly for additional research
aricles
The best way to organize a review of the literature is:
Thematically, with an emphasis on how the literature relates to your question
While reading and taking notes on research in her area of interest, Dana
wrote down quotations from each article, along with the page numbers. As
she begins to synthesize the information and write her literature review, her
best strategy is to:
summarize the main points in her own words and include relevant citations to
the original work
What does not necessarily characterize data?
data reveal the truth
Charlotte, an anthropologist, has been living in an Incan village for three
years. During that time Charlotte has become expert in Incan weaving by
observing and imitating the master weavers in the community. When Charlotte
was observing, she was collecting:
Primary data
Charlotte wrote a book about her experience as an anthropologist living in an
Incan village for three years and becoming an expert weaver. Her book was
widely read by other anthropologists, including Mira, who is an expert in
Navaho weaving. For Mira, Charlotte’s book constitutes:
Secondary data
Dr. Davenport wants to conduct a study of whether high-school students learn
more efficiently while seated at a desk compared to in an easy chair. She
knows there is a large research literature regarding similar influences on
learning, and she wants to see if the findings hold true with a group of high
school history students. Moreover, as a researcher she is uneasy with a lack
of structure. You recommend that Dr. Davenport conduct a ______ study.
quantitative
Dr. Greenhill wants to know how it is that some early adolescents come to
make a connection between their personal lifestyle and environmental
problems, while others don’t. Furthermore, among those who see the
connection, why do some become committed to environmentalism while
others do not? Dr. Greenwald looks forward to probing the thoughts of young
teens on these issues and trying to see the questions and issues through “14-
year-old eyes.” You recommend that Dr. Greenhill conduct a ______ study.
qualitative
Replications in experimental research are generally conducted to facilitate
external validity
Marcy s concerned that her findings may be due to an extraneous
uncontrolled variable and not her treatment. Marcy is most concerned with:
internal validity
When a qualitative researcher asks the participants, “Do the conclusions I’ve
drawn make sense to you” the researcher is evaluating:
the trustworthiness of the study
an ordinal scale of measurement:
communicates greater than and less than relationships
an interval scale of measurement:
incorporates equal units of measurement
The main difference between an interval and a ratio scale is that only one of
them:
includes an absolute zero
Professor Harris is constructing a demographic questionnaire for use in a
research project. One question asks students to report how politically
conservative they are. It includes a 7-point scale where 1 is “not at all
conservative” and 7 is “extremely conservative.” This is an example of a/an:
interval scale
Professor Harris is constructing a demographic questionnaire for use in a
research project. One question asks students to report their highest level of
education by choosing from these options: “some high school,” “completed
high school,” “some college,” or “completed 4-year college degree.” This is an
example of a/an:
ordinal scale
Professor Wellman is constructing a demographic questionnaire for use in a
research project. One question asks students to report whether they are
currently living in an “urban,” “suburban,” or “rural” setting. This is an example
of a/an:
nominal scale
Sean, a high school wrestler, has agreed to participate in a study of
cardiovascular conditioning. He is left somewhat confused when, at the first
research session, he is asked to complete a questionnaire about commonly
purchased grocery items. Sean’s confusion indicates a lack of ______
regarding the task.
face validity
A researcher decides to use a high school sample to test the relationship
between her new measure of empathy and a well-established measure of
interpersonal sensitivity. She finds that the two instruments are highly related,
which supports the ______ of the new instrument.
criterion validity
A researcher designed a new questionnaire to measure political conservatism.
To test out his new instrument, he asks people leaving their polling place on
election day to report their degree of political conservatism on a scale of 1
(low) to 10 (high) and then complete his questionnaire. Results show that
people who identified themselves as political conservatives also had the
highest scores on his questionnaire. This is an indication of the ______ of the
new instrument.
criterion validity
Dick and Jane are studying aggression among preschool children. Separately,
they each watch a videotape of four children interacting in a playroom and
then rate each child on the level of aggression displayed during the play
session. They compare their completed ratings and are pleased to note they
are highly similar. This is an example of ______ reliability.
interrater
Dr. Drive is testing a 10-question measure of achievement motivation. He
notes that if his respondents agree with the first question, they tend to also
agree with the other nine. Likewise, if his respondents disagree with the first
question, they tend of disagree with the other nine. This is an indication of
good ______ reliability.
internal consistency
Professor Pickle is studying civic-mindedness among senior citizens. She
administers a survey of civic mindedness to a senior citizens group in early
April, then again in early May. By comparing the two sets of scores, the
professor can assess the ______ reliability of her measure of civic-
mindedness.
test-retest
What is not a technique for strengthening the internal validity of a study?
make participants fully aware of your expected findings
what is not a technique for strengthening the external validity of a study
assure that you have a representative sample
what is not a technique for strengthening the credibility of a qualitative study?
Exclude participants who have experiences or opinions that are very different
from those of others in the study
The requirement to keep information provided by research participants
confidential applies:
to all persons under almost all conditions
The primary role of the IRB is to:
ensure that research participants are protected from harm and invasion of
privacy
Sara conducted a study in her sixth grade classroom. The study focused on
students’ interests in science classes. Sara shared what individual students
said about their interest in science with the seventh-grade teachers to help
place students in next years’ classes. Was Sara’s sharing this information in
accordance with ethical research practices?
In this case, it was unethical to share students' data since that information was
confidential
According to the textbook, the most effective research proposals:
are detailed and straightforward explanations of the research problem and
methodology
A proposal for a quantitative study typically begins with
a statement of the problem and its setting.
Farhat is interested in the reading practices of Turkish families. He needs to
prepare a research proposal for the Ministry of Education to be able to
conduct the study. Which of the following is NOT likely part of his shared
plan?
An analysis of data he has already collected
Sophie is preparing a qualitative research plan for her study that explores the
stories of young cancer survivors. Of the following, which is Sophie likely to
include in her plan?
A section that demonstrates relevance of the study
Amida recognizes that there are limitations to her proposed research study
that explores students’ opinions about campus mental health resources. As
she writes her plan where will she share these limitations?
The first section where she describes the problem and setting
In regard to the style you will use for headings and subheadings in the
research proposal:
disciplines often dictate the use of specific formal styles, so you must find out
what the expectations are
experienced writers of research proposals typically
plan to make revisions to the first draft of the proposal
When writing the proposal, you should assume that the reader:
knows nothing about the proposed project, so all the details must be
thoroughly explained
When explaining how the data are to be analyzed and interpreted:
it is best to be as detailed as possible so all contingencies related to analysis
and interpretation can be anticipated
What is not an element in the proposal revision process
avoid breaks of 24 hours or more as the material will get too "cold" in your
mind
of the following research topics, which is most likely to be an observational
study?
The types of exercise students engage in after school
Correlational research allows the researcher to answer questions such as:
what is the relationship between Variable A and Variable B
which of the following is an example of a good research question for a
correlational study?
is there a relationship between student achievement and homework
completion?
A researcher wishes to study developmental changes in people’s preference
for action movies. The researcher locates 50 people at each of the following
ages: 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 years. She asks them to rate their
preference for action movies in relation to other sorts of movies. This is an
example of which type of design?
cross-sectional
A researcher wishes to study developmental changes in the music people
prefer to listen to. The researcher locates 50 people who are about 20 years
old. She sends these people a questionnaire every year for the next 10 years
asking about the types of music they prefer to listen to. This is an example of
which type of design?
longitudinal
Which of the following scenarios best illustrates a cohort-sequential design?
Don studies high school seniors’ concerns about world events during their
post-secondary experiences. He surveys the entire senior class state-wide.
He surveys them again every year for eight years.
Among survey methods, _____ generally generate the highest response rate.
face-to-face interviews
Advantages of questionnaires include all of the following except:
because questions are in written form, they are less likely to be
misunderstood by respondents.
Regarding the length of questionnaires to be used in survey research, which
of the following statements is most accurate?
keeping the survey short makes it more likely people will be willing to
complete it.
how unhappy are you with your current salary?
this question violates which rule of good survey writing?
it makes an unwarranted assumption
The typical return rate for a survey mailed to strangers is about:
50%
Angeline is conducting an observational study of aggression on the
playground. She is especially interested in whether boys are reprimanded
more than girls for aggressive actions. The best instrument for her to use to
collect her data would be:
A checklist
Geoffrey is conducting a descriptive study focused on women’s rights. As part
of his project, he reviews articles published in U.S. newspapers between 1850
and 1940. The best instrument for him to use would be:
a rubric
Polly Petunia is Chief Horticulturalist for the Southwest region, encompassing
Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. She wants to survey amateur gardeners in
her region to determine what, if any, water conservation practices they employ
in their home gardening. Polly sends her survey to 150 randomly selected
gardeners in each state. Polly is using:
stratified random sampling
Paul Pollster, a political psychologist, wants to determine whether rates of
voter participation in his home state vary between rural, urban, and suburban
voters. He notes that there are more rural voters than suburban or urban
voters in the state. Paul should use ______ in this study.
proportional stratified sampling
Simon Cinema wants to know what the audience thought of tonight’s
advanced screening of a heralded psychological thriller called “I Can’t Sleep.”
He and his research assistants stand outside the theatre exit and ask every
fifth person leaving the theatre to answer several questions about their
impression of the movie. Simon is using:
systematic sampling
Danny Drive wants to know the relationship between intrinsic motivation and
course grade among math students. He contacts a local professor who
teaches several general education math classes and asks about the
possibility of gathering data in her classes. Danny is using
convenience sampling
Edward Ethics is studying public opinion regarding prayer in public schools.
He plans to gather survey data from a number of churches on Sunday
mornings. He also wants to include a number of people who are not
associated with an organized religion in his sample. Edward is using:
purposive sampling
Graham recruited student volunteers to participate in his dissertation study.
He set up several times for students to come to a specified classroom and
read various types of instructional materials and to be tested. He ran all of his
control conditions first and then for each session he placed all students at the
session in the same treatment condition. This is problematic because those
who volunteered early are likely different than those who volunteered later.
This problem is primarily due to
sampling bias
Jody is interested in studying home schooling because she thinks that
students who are home-schooled can’t develop appropriate social skills. As
part of her study she will be observing home-schooled children in social
settings. Jody’s planned study is particularly susceptible to
researcher bias
Rori is observing elite marching bands as part of her dissertation study. She is
particularly interested in drum major leadership styles and behaviour. She has
found that the drum major at her current research site is very interested in
showing off for her. This is an example of
response bias
in experimental design, the variable that is manipulated is the:
Independent variable
"There will be gender differences in the degree if mood elevation seen in
depressed clients after receiving cognitive-behavioural therapy." In this
hypothesis, gender is the:
independent variable
"There will be differences in degree of mood elevation seen in depressed
clients after receiving either cognitive-behavioural therapy." In this hypothesis,
mood elevation is the:
Dependent variable
“There will be differences in degree of mood elevation seen in depressed
clients after receiving either cognitive-behavioural or psychoanalytic therapy.”
During a test of this hypothesis, it was discovered that some of the
participants lived with family members and others lived alone. This variable,
living situation, is a/an _____.
confounding variable
Dr. Dow Jones wants to know whether a problem-based approach to teaching
economics will result in higher academic performance than his traditional
method. Of the six sections of Economics 101 at his university, Dr. Jones
randomly assigns three sections to the traditional method and three sections
to the problem-based method. At the end of the semester, all students
complete the same final exam. In this design, students studying under the
traditional method constitute the:
Control Group
Dr. Dow Jones wants to know whether a problem-based approach to teaching
economics will result in higher academic performance than his traditional
method. Of the six sections of Economics 101 at his university, Dr. Jones
randomly assigns three sections to the traditional method and three sections
to the problem-based method. At the end of semester all students complete
the same final exam. In this design, students studying under the problem-
based method constitute the:
Treatment Group
In Katia’s remedial mathematics study, she collected pretest data from a
group of participants. She divided the participants into three groups. One
group received no treatment, one group received instruction by a teacher-
delivered intervention, one group received peer tutoring on the same
problems. After the intervention she tested their math skills. With which
validity threat should Katia be most concerned?
Testing
Russell’s study compared GPA of those students who volunteered for
academic study skills training and those who did not elect to take the training.
He found that those who had the training also had higher GPA. With which
validity threat should Russell be most concerned?
Selection
Dr. Dow Jones wants to know whether a problem-based approach to teaching
economics will result in higher academic performance than his traditional
method. Of the six sections of Economics 101 at his university, Dr. Jones
randomly assigns three sections to the traditional method and three sections
to the problem-based method for Unit 1 of the course. Then all sections switch
instructional method for Unit 2. He plans to compare the performance of the
two groups of sections on their Unit 1 and Unit 2 exams. The design of this
study is:
Within subjects (repeated measures)
Penny Poodle wanted to know which dog obedience training program was
more effective: Puppy Pride, the approach she has been using for any years,
or Doggie Do-Right, a new approach. Penny convinced 50 human
companions of untrained dogs to participate in her study. The dogs and their
humans were randomly assigned to complete the Puppy Pride or Doggie Do-
Right course. At the end of the training programs, all of the dogs were scored
on their level of obedience on a standardized dog obedience checklist (scores
could range from 10 to 100). The design of this study is:
posttest-only control-group design
Dr. Robbins wants to know if there are different opinions regarding the value
of public school education between Native Americans who have at least one
relative who attended Indian Boarding School and Native Americans who
have no family experience with Indian Boarding School. Dr. Robbins contacts
35 Native American participants in each group. He wants each group to
include younger as well as older adults, and a mix of male and female
participants. He asks each person to complete a survey about their attitudes
toward public education. The design of this study is:
ex post facto
PJ conducts an experimental study on the effects of soft music during high
stakes science testing. He randomly assigns students at the school. In one
condition he does not provide music for testing while in the other group he
does provide the music. He administers a pretest at the beginning of the year
and a posttest at the end of the year. PJ’s design is best described as a:
pretest-posttest control group design
As a secondary mathematics teacher, Hernandez conducted a study that
explored whether giving children recess prior to testing helped their test
performance. For one of the semesters, he sends half of his classes out for 10
minutes of recess prior to testing for the other half, he provides 10 minutes of
free time after the test. Which of the following best represents the design of
Hernandez’s study?
static-group comparison
Millie is using a behavior checklist strategy as well as a prompted praise
strategy when working with her second grade behaviour disordered student,
Kent. She uses both strategies within the same day going back and forth
randomly between the two approaches, while recording his on-task behaviour.
Which of the following designs is Millie employing?
Alternating-treatments
Which of the following scenarios best exemplifies a multiple-baseline design?
Mr. Matthews, the school psychologist, is called by the third-grade teacher
because one of the students, Seamus, has been referred for a new
behavioural intervention plan, in which the teacher uses nonverbal signals as
a positive consequence when Seamus engages in appropriate behaviour. Mr.
Matthews observes Seamus’s behaviour in the regular classroom and in Art
and Music class. He records off-task behaviour, calling out, and touching
others for eight days.
Kathy trains nurses. She designed a new assertive communication unit to
include in her training. She administers a pretest and then randomly assigns
nurses to her treatment or a control condition. She tests their communication
skills after the treatment. She sees significant differences at immediate testing
but after eight weeks she retests the nurses and finds no differences between
her treatment and control students. Which of the following best represents the
design of Kathy’s study?
pretest-posttest control group
The primary difference between the Solomon four-group design and the two-
factor experimental design is that ONLY the two-factor experimental design:
includes two different treatments
A meta-analysis is used when:
the researcher wishes to analyze the analyses of a number of existing studies.
How are inferential statistics different from descriptive statistics?
Inferential statistics allow one to draw inferences from the sample to a target
population
characteristics of samples are know as:
statistics
Characteristics of populations are known as:
parameters
Marialexa conducts an economic study and asks her participants to provide
information about their family incomes. First, they are asked to check one box
from a list of three, indicating whether they consider themselves low-income,
middle-income, or high-income. She refers to this as the self-identification
variable. Then, they are asked (if they are willing) to provide their annual
income in dollars. She refers to this as the dollar-figure variable. The study is
both confidential and anonymous, and most people answer both questions.
Which of the following statements accurately describes Marialexa’s dependent
variables?`
The self-identification variable is discrete and the dollar-figure variable is
continuous
Marialexa conducts an economic study and asks her participants to provide
information about their family incomes. First, they are asked to check one box
from a list of three, indicating whether they consider themselves low-income,
middle-income, or high-income. She refers to this as the self-identification
variable. Then, they are asked (if they are willing) to provide their annual
income in dollars. She refers to this as the dollar-figure variable. The study is
both confidential and anonymous, and most people answer both questions.
Which of the following statements accurately describes the data Marialexa
collects?
The self-identification data are ordinal data and the dollar-figure data are ratio
data
In a normal distribution, approximately what percentage of scores falls
between one standard deviation below the mean and one standard deviation
above the mean?
68%
A distribution of scores that is positively skewed will have a small number of
scores that
are very high
Here is a set of scores: 5,3,7,3,6,2,5,3. The mean of this set of scores is:
4.25
Here is a set of scores: 5,3,7,3,6,2,5,3. The median of this set of scores is:
4
Here is a set of scores: 5,3,7,3,6,2,5,3. the mode of this set of scores is:
3
The measure(s) of central tendency that is/are appropriate for use with
nominal data is/are:
the mode only
When summarizing ordinal data, the most useful measure of central tendency
is the:
median
When reporting growth data, the most useful measure of central tendency is
the:
geometric mean
When the median is the measure of central tendency, the _____ is the most
appropriate and informative measure of dispersion.
interquartile range
An exam was given to two sections of the same course. In Section 1, the
exam mean was 51 and the standard deviation was 7. In Section 2, the exam
mean was 51 and the standard deviation was 13. Which of the following
conclusions is accurate?
Section 1 scores where less variable than Section 2
The z-score, or standard score, allows the research to determine:
how for a target individual's score is from the group mean
The percentile rank allows the researcher to determine:
what percentage of individuals in the sample scored below the target
individual
Danzell is a purchasing agent for a major grocery store chain. He has noticed
over the years that the higher the outdoor temperature, the more likely people
are to buy fresh fruit. Based on Danzell’s observations, we would say the
correlation between outdoor temperature and buying of fresh fruit is:
positive
Frank Fitness found a correlation coefficient of –.74 between hours of
strenuous exercise each week and a standard measure of body mass. He
interprets this to mean that there is a:
Strong, negative correlation between hours of strenuous exercise and body
mass
Three of the following factors are associated with a relatively small standard
error of the mean. which is not
The variance in the sample is relatively large
Seamus has determined that there is a 95% chance that the number of people
visiting the Blarney Stone in the mouth of June will be between 1,760 and
2,025. That is:
an interval estimate
Statistical hypothesis testing involves testing the:
null hypothesis
On the basis of statistical findings, Ron determines that the differences
between males and females on a test of spatial reasoning are not due merely
to chance. If, in fact, there are no gender differences in the population, Ron
will have made a:
Type 1 error
On the basis of statistical findings, Becky determines that the difference
between males and females on a test of abstract mathematical reasoning is
merely due to chance. If, in fact, there are gender differences in the
population, Becky will have made a:
Type 2 error
Researchers do not want to make a Type II error, because if their study has
an effect, they want to be able to find it. Thus, they make their studies as
powerful as they can. Of the following, the best way to increase the power of a
study is to:
test a large sample
when conducting a meta-analysis, a researcher will typically:
compare the effect sizes for a set of independent studies on a single topic
Qualitative research often involves what’s known as an iterative process for
data collection and analysis. This terminology refers to the fact that, in
qualitative research:
researchers may collect and analyze data, then collect and analyze some
more data
In qualitative research, the fact that the research methodology may be
vaguely described or very general in nature at the outset of the study
indicates:
a normal and acceptable practice
In this type of study design, a body of material is systematically examined for
patterns, themes, or biases.
content analysis
In this type of study design, a particular group of individuals is studied in depth
over a defined period of time.
ethnography
In this type of study design, the researcher studies the deep meaning an
event or situation holds for other people.
phenomenological
In this type of study design, a particular individual, program, or event is
studied in depth over a defined period of time.
Case Study
Carl Compost has been living and working on a communal organic farm for
the past six months. He wants to understand the political, environmental, and
social perspectives shared by the members of the commune. Dr. Compost is
probably employing which of the following qualitative research designs?
ethnographic
Daniel Daring is an emerging playwright whose works have begun to stir great
passions in the major U.S. cities where they are staged. Researcher Eugenia
Edge is “shadowing” Mr. Daring for six months in an attempt to understand the
artistic process. Dr. Edge is probably employing which of the following
qualitative research designs?
Case study
Helen Heartwell flew to New York City a few weeks after the September 11,
2001, bombing of the World Trade Center. She wanted to know how the
victims of the attack were making sense of what had happened to them. Dr.
Heartwell is probably employing which of the following qualitative research
designs?
phenomenological
Richard Relic is carefully examining writings from the time of the U.S. Civil
War to determine how each side characterized the position of their opponent.
Dr. Relic is probably employing which of the following qualitative research
designs?
content analysis
The technique of participant observation is most associated with:
ethnography
Which of the following designs is most useful in situations where current
theory regarding the subject of investigation is inadequate or nonexistent?
Grounded theory
Qualitative researchers often begin by asking themselves, “What needs to be
studied?” and then collect preliminary data that helps to develop a more
focused research question and a plan for later data collection. This type of
design is known as:
emerging design
Qualitative researchers can best address concerns about validity in their study
design and their data by:
comparing different data sources to see if they provide consistent results
When selecting a sample for a qualitative study, researchers should:
select a sample most likely to provide useful information about the topic
Effective qualitative interviews usually require that the researcher:
maintain an informal, friendly atmosphere.
Historical research is chiefly concerned with:
The meaning of past events
Historical research may include:
both qualitative and quantitative methods
To a historical researcher studying the lives of women pioneers in the late
1880s, letters written by Rebecca Adams, a pioneer woman on the Nebraska
plains, to her sister in Philadelphia would be:
primary sources
To a historical researcher studying the lives of women pioneers in the late
1880s, letters written by Deloris Adams of Philadelphia, describing the life of
her sister, Rebecca Adams, a pioneer woman on the Nebraska plains, would
be:
secondary sources
Professor McGrath is studying the history of African Americans in Oklahoma.
Three of the following are primary sources for Professor McGrath. Which one
is not?
Articles from the Taft newspaper published in the late 19th century
In historical research, bias:
can be used as an advantage to the researcher
In regard to bias in historical research, the researcher:
must be vigilant in regard to bias in both primary and secondary data
Perry Prose is in possession of a letter allegedly written by President
Theodore Roosevelt during his time in office. He has taken the letter to a
number of experts, who have examined the paper, ink, handwriting, and
content of the letter in an attempt to establish its authenticity. Dr. Prose is
attempting to establish which type of evidence regarding the validity of the
letter?
external evidence
Fran Freedom is trying to determine what the phrase “with liberty and justice
for all” from the Pledge of Allegiance meant at the time it was penned. She
suspects there were actually some limits on “all.” Dr. Freedom is attempting to
establish which type of evidence regarding the validity of the letter?
internal evidence
In writing a historical research report, it is best to:
point out the weaknesses in the arguments or assertions you are making
In a historical research report, presentation of data and interpretation of data:
may be interwined in a flowing narrative style
Qualitative data analysis is a process of
induction
Esme is interested in the personal experiences of first-year medical students
and plans an ethnographic study, in which she’ll collect observational field
notes, extensive interview data, and diaries from the participants. For her
analysis, she plans to begin by developing a start list. In other words, Esme
will:
make a list of categories and themes derived directly from the research
problem
Kavanir has developed an initial coding scheme for his qualitative data.
Ideally, his next step in his analysis should be to:
apply it to a subset of the data and then re-evaluate the codes
Both Marianne and Bill examined the same set of qualitative data collected
from couples in a study designed to understand relationship stress.
Interestingly, the themes that emerged from the data were not consistent
across the two researchers. Of the following, which is the most likely reason
for the discrepancy?
The coding scheme was not reliable
Morisha is a policy researcher who studies parents’ interest in charter schools.
As part of her work she conducted extended interviews with parents who
wanted to enter their children into charter schools for high school. While
conducting her interviews, she noticed one family whose reasons were so
unlike the others that she wondered whether she should even include the data
in her sample. Your best advice to her would be to:
keep the data, and make sure her analysis plan accounts for a broad range of
responses
The process of qualitative data analysis is sometimes described as a spiral,
which involves four iterative steps that gradually move the process forward.
The final step in the qualitative data analysis spiral is usually:
synthesizing and interpreting the data
In a grounded theory study, the focus of data analysis is to:
identify a new theory arising from the data
A key component of data analysis in a content analysis study is to:
Identify frequencies and other summary statistics for the main coding
categories
By definition, mixed-methods research designs
include both quantitative and qualitative data
Of the following, which best illustrates an example of a mixed-methods study
Vanda conducts observations and supplements her findings with class grades
A study that relies primarily on quantitative data and uses qualitative data to
follow up is considered an example of which approach to mixed methods
design?
Explanatory
Dorothy has been collecting both quantitative and qualitative data in parallel.
She wanted to ensure triangulation with the hope that analyses of both data
sets lead to similar conclusions about the phenomenon under investigation.
Which design has Dorothy employed?
convergent
Shenny has been collecting quantitative and qualitative data within the same
time frame. Each data set aims to address related but different research
questions. Which design has Shenny employed?
embedded
Rodrigo wanted to investigate students’ feeling about reading for pleasure.
First, he interviewed students and then he used insights from the interviews to
construct a survey to collect quantitative data. Which design has Rodrigo
employed?
Exploratory
Sharon wanted to investigate student perceptions of homework. First, she
distributed a survey to students and their parents and collected quantitative
data. Second, she interviewed a few participants to gain insights on their
survey responses. Which design has Sharon employed?
Explanatory
Tacita is interested in how teachers’ classroom management practices
change over time. She conducts observations of 8 teachers’ classrooms over
the course of five years. She interviews the teachers and follows up with
counts of referral data, disciplinary notes in children’s files, and number of
notes home per teacher per year. This study can be described as a:
QUAL-quan study
The QUAN-qual model of mixed methods design is also known as
Explanatory
Which of the following scenarios best illustrates a multiphase iterative design?
A city has a typical voter turnout of 40% and so decides to implement a
program to “get out the vote.” First, they interview 38 voting-age adults about
their voting practice. Then, six weeks before the local election, they begin an
advertising campaign in the local media, community services, and
neighborhoods. After the election, they see that voter turnout remained at
40%. They conduct more interviews to find out why, and ask in particular
about people’s response to the advertising campaign. They then begin
planning a new campaign for the next election.
Mixed-methods research that has more than one phase usually employs
which type of sampling method?
purposive
Mixed-methods researchers should ask themselves, “Are the quantitative and
qualitative data equally relevant to the same or related topics and research
question(s)?” This question is most useful to help the researcher evaluate:
the type of analysis to be used in the study
Before beginning to write a research report of your own research study, you
should first:
confirm the required style or format
Marc is working on his dissertation. He wants the introductory section to be
thorough and easy to understand, so for any terms that might be ambiguous,
he explains how he’s defined the term, why he’s defined it in that particular
way rather than in another way, and an example. Which of the following
pieces of advice is his advisor most likely to give him for revision?
Keep it up; it’s important to be clear and define your terms so that everyone is
on the same page
Kimathi conducted a case study that included a series of interviews. He knows
that he should describe his research methods in sufficient detail that someone
else could replicate his study exactly, so in a section titled “Methodology,” he
includes all of his interview questions, and all accompanying follow-up probes,
in a lengthy table. Which of the following pieces of advice is his advisor most
likely to give him for revision?
include only sample questions in the method section but put the full interview
protocol in an appendix.
Estrella has completed a qualitative study, and although she coded and
organized her data, she did not conduct any statistical analyses. She thus
does not want to present a separate results section in her paper. Which of the
following pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to give her for revision?
However the section is labeled, she should present a summary of the data, in
detail, in the body of the paper.
Tiffani has completed an experiment with a factorial design and begins to
write the section of her report titled “Results.” She starts by saying she
conducted a factorial analysis of variance and then describes, in sequence,
each of the other statistics she ran. Which of the following pieces of advice is
her advisor most likely to give her for revision?
Be sure that the reader can understand how each analysis is related to the
problem or subproblem
Zara finished a survey study and found unexpected results — in some cases,
the analyses showed that variables were correlated, but Zara had no a priori
hypothesis about those variables. She is unsure whether to include these
results at all in the final report. Which of the following pieces of advice is her
advisor most likely to give her for revision?
Present the unexpected results, perhaps after she presents the results that
relate directly to the original questions and hypotheses
Ami conducted a quasi-experimental study for her thesis. In her final report,
she includes one section titled “Results and Conclusions.” In that section, she
presents statistical analyses, the limitations of her study, and plans for future
research. Which of the following pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to
give her for revision?
Include interpretations of the data — how do the data help us answer the
research question?
Yanfeng completes a qualitative action research study as part of his student
teaching experience. His report includes front matter in which he
acknowledges the people who helped with the study and an appendix
showing his interview questions. When discussing his results, he presents
quotations from the participants, who were students in his class. He uses only
their initials, to preserve their anonymity. In his conclusions, he notes the next
steps he plans to take in the classroom, based on his results. Which of the
following pieces of advice is his advisor most likely to give him for revision?
Revise the results section so that the students are not identifiable, but keep
the acknowledgments
Malia did a lot of reading for her dissertation project as she tried to narrow her
topic to something that was researchable. She looked at primary and
secondary sources, journal articles, Internet sites, and even interviewed a few
people who are prominent in the field. She kept careful notes, and when
writing the literature review for her project she discussed only those studies
that were directly relevant to the research question she ultimately focused on.
However, she wants to be sure that her advisors know she completed a
comprehensive search of the literature, so she includes a full bibliography
chapter, listing all the sources she read. Which of the following pieces of
advice is her advisor most likely to give her for revision?
Revise the reference list to include only those sources cited in the paper
As part of her graduate work, Liana conducted an ethnographic study, which
included several participant observers — undergraduate students who
received course credit for their participation across a full semester. Liana is
unsure whether to include the students as co-authors on a conference
proposal she is submitting, in which she summarizes the main findings of the
study. Which of the following pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to give
her?
Include them, because their participant observation required substantial
intellectual contribution to the project