603 Final (quiz questions only)
Assume that you have developed a study technique that you believe will result in students scoring higher on research methods exams. You test your study technique with the design diagrammed below. Using the diagrammed design, what predictions will you make? R = random assignment 0 = observation X = stimulus R 01 X 02 R 03 04
02 should be greater than 01 and 04
A sampling interval of 5 was used to select a sample from a population of 1,000. How many elements are to be in the sample?
200
Attrition effects are automatically controlled when participants are assigned randomly to experimental and control groups.
FALSE
Case-control designs have more controls for threats to validity than do most other designs for evaluating programs or practice.
FALSE
Probability sampling ensures that there will be no sampling error whatsoever.
FALSE
Quantitative studies and qualitative studies are equally likely to employ probability sampling procedures.
FALSE
Quantitative studies should never use availability sampling because it is too risky to ever yield useful results.
FALSE
Random assignment to experimental and control groups controls for research reactivity.
FALSE
Selecting a sample that the researcher believes will yield the most comprehensive understanding of a subject based on an intuitive "feel" for the subject is employing quota sampling.
FALSE
The classic experiment with random assignment of participants controls for measurement bias.
FALSE
The one-group pretest-posttest design controls for passage of time.
FALSE
The terms population and sampling frame are synonymous.
FALSE
Whenever two variables are correlated, we may assume that one is the cause of the other.
FALSE
Which of the following statements is true about focus groups?
The group dynamics may bring out information that may not have emerged in individual interviews..
In comparison to surveys, qualitative research is
more subjective and less generalizable.
You want to draw a representative sample of social workers employed in domestic violence programs. You have a list of all such programs, but not of their staff members. Your survey will involve face-to-face interviews, and your travel budget is limited to visiting 10 cities. What kind of sampling design would you use?
multistage cluster sampling.
Suppose our research methods cause the client to improve. This would be termed
reactivity.
Every kth element in a list is chosen for inclusion in the sample in
systematic sampling
An example of the participant-as-observer includes
telling a motorcycle gang that you are a researcher and would like to ride with them for a year to understand their interaction patterns.
The problem of an interaction between the testing and the experimental stimulus is handled by
the Solomon four-group design.
Which of the following statements is true about the emic and etic perspectives in qualitative research?
Although the two perspectives seem contradictory, the participant observer should try to blend them
Which of the following is POOR advice about recording observations in the field?
Always constantly take notes while you are observing.
An informant is one of your colleagues who attempts to gain membership into the group being studied.
False
Field notes should record what you "know happened," NOT what you "think" has happened.
False
If a self-report scale has high reliability and validity in group research, we can assume it will have equally high reliability and validity in single-case experiments.
False
If the target problem improves at any point during the intervention phase, it is safe to infer that the intervention is effective.
False
In a single-case design with a student at high risk for dropping out of school, a good measurement plan to assess whether our intervention is effective would be to monitor whether or not he/she drops out of school.
False
In single-case experiments, direct observation is always better than using self-report scales or available records.
False
Qualitative researchers should NEVER participate as an actor in the events under study.
False
Qualitative researchers should wait to record observations until enough time has passed to put the events in a proper perspective.
False
Self-monitoring is an example of unobtrusive observation.
False
The complete participant role prevents researchers from having an effect on what they are observing.
False
The qualitative researcher in the role of participant-as-observer participates fully with the group under study but does not disclose his or her role as researcher.
False
Suppose you wish to measure progress in increasing the amount of time a child in institutional care spends studying as an indicator of the effectiveness of your groupwork intervention. Which of the following approaches most likely would be least vulnerable to reactivity problems?
Have cottage parents run spot checks in the cottage at different intervals.
Suppose you obtained the following results in an ABAB design assessing the effectiveness of family therapy in reducing a child's temper tantrums. Which interpretation(s) is(are) plausible? Number of tantrums per day: A: 4 5 4 5 4 4 B: 1 1 1 0 0 0 A2: 0 0 0 0 0 0 B2: 0 0 0 0 0 0
History could have caused the change or the intervention may have been effective, but with irreversible effects.
Suppose you obtained the following results in a multiple baseline design assessing the impact of family therapy on tantrums, chores, and truancy in treating one child and his parents. Which interpretation(s) is(are) plausible? Number of tantrums: Al: 4 4 4 B1: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Number of chores performed: A2: 0 0 0 3 3 B2: 3 3 3 3 3 3 Number of days truant: A3: 4 4 4 0 0 0 0 B3: 0 0 0 0
History could have caused the change or the intervention may have been effective, with generalizable effects.
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a cross-sectional study?
It concentrates on the changes that take place within a specific sample over a period of time.
Which of the following statements is true about participatory action research?
It is distinguished by its social action aims. The researcher serves as a resource to those being studied. It often involves poor people
Which of the following statements is true about availability sampling in quantitative studies?
It is very risky but can yield useful results in some instances
What would you infer from the following graph of the number of temper tantrums in an AB design? Baseline: 15 15 14 14 13 13 12 12 11 11 Intervention: 10 10 9 9 8 8 7 7 6
Maturation appears to be the most plausible explanation.
Which of the following is a social constructivist standard for appraising the trustworthiness of qualitative research?
Member checking
The classic experiment with random assignment of participants controls for:
NONE OF THESE
The design diagrammed in the last question
NONE OF THESE
A practitioner tests whether a new technique will be effective in reducing the number of time-outs required in play therapy sessions for children with conduct disorders. In each of the two sessions before implementing the new technique, five time-outs occurred. In each of the two sessions after implementing the new technique, no time-outs occurred. The practitioner should conclude:
None of these.
Which of the following is an example of unobtrusive observation?
None of these.
Which of the following approaches would be least obtrusive in regard to measuring the impact of the above groupwork intervention on school performance?
Obtain grade, attendance, and conduct data from school records.
Which of the following contemporary positivist strategies is recommended for enhancing the rigor of qualitative studies?
Prolonged engagement Triangulation. Negative case analysis. Leaving a paper trail for auditing
Suppose an ABCD design obtains the following results regarding level of social adjustment with a chronically mentally ill client discharged to live with his family. A (Baseline): 10 10 10 10 10 B (Social skills training): 10 10 10 10 10 C (Occupational Rehabilitation): 10 10 10 10 10 D (Family education): 15 20 25 30 35 What is the most appropriate inference for future interventions with similar clients?
Replicate the study to assess possible order effects
Which of the following statements is true about case-control designs?
Retrospective data are collected about past differences that might explain differences in outcome.
Cluster sampling is a useful sampling procedure for large populations that are geographically scattered.
TRUE
In qualitative inquiry, purposive sampling can be used to select deviant cases as well as representative cases.
TRUE
Quasi-experiments using nonequivalent comparison groups without random assignment can be credible, assuming that the comparability of the experimental and comparison groups is plausible—especially if the researcher provides substantial evidence of that comparability.
TRUE
Sampling error can be reduced through an increase in the sample size of probability samples.
TRUE
Snowball sampling is used when the members of a population are difficult to locate.
TRUE
Studies that assign subjects to intervention groups on the basis of their extreme scores are vulnerable to regression toward the mean.
TRUE
The effectiveness of randomization in experimentation is affected by the number of participants involved.
TRUE
The problem of external validity refers to the generalizability of results.
TRUE
Time series designs with many measurement points control for maturation.
TRUE
Time series designs with many measurement points control for statistical regression.
TRUE
Using probability sampling, each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected for the sample.
TRUE
Without using appropriate experimental and control groups, extraneous events in subjects' lives can make history a threat to internal validity, even if those events are of no historical importance to people in general.
TRUE
Which of the following statements is/are true about qualitative sampling methods?
They might involve purposively selecting deviant cases
Although AB designs offer the least control for history, they are often worth doing.
True
Ideally, baselines should be extended until a stable trend in the data is evident.
True
Multiple measurement points during baseline control for statistical regression.
True
Prolonged engagement is used to reduce the impact of reactivity and respondent bias.
True
Sometimes it is appropriate to conduct single-case experiments with unstable baselines.
True
The ability to construct a retrospective baseline is one of the advantages of using available records.
True
Target problems can be quantified in terms of their
frequency duration magnitude
Suppose a new social casework program is offered to students with high levels of truancy. If those students placed in the program by their families have significantly less truancy after participating than the students who did not participate in the program, then we can conclude that
a selection bias might explain away the difference
Quasi-experimental designs are often used instead of experimental designs because
agency constraints often make experiments infeasible.
Which of the following procedures for dealing with an unstable baseline might be appropriate in some situations?
all of these. Introduce intervention anyway, recognizing that a stable baseline is not feasible. Delay intervention until the baseline becomes stable.
Among the advantages of qualitative research is that it
allows for the modification of research design,
Drawing a purposive judgmental sample
allows researchers to use their prior knowledge about the topic.
Suppose a case management program is established to reduce rehospitalization rates in a hospital and that those rates drop dramatically once the new program is established. We can conclude that
another event occurring during the time of the study might explain away the change.
Pre-experimental designs
are the weakest experimental designs.
The length of the baseline in single-case designs should be
as long as is practically and ethically possible. longer with a low frequency behavior than with a high frequency behavior. extended until a stable trend appears.
You want to examine the relationship between family size and family cohesion. You use as your sample all the students in this research methods class. What kind of sampling design are you using?
availability sampling
The Solomon four-group design
combines the classical experimental design with the posttest-only control group design.
To obtain samples of the same size from strata of varying sizes, it would be necessary to use
disproportionate stratified sampling.
The unit about which information is collected and which provides the basis of analysis is called the
element
In single-case experiments, maximizing the number of measurement points helps by
enhancing the identification of precipitating conditions during assessment. enabling us to change the intervention plan at the point at which we see that no progress is occurring. increasing our ability to pinpoint unlikely coincidences and therefore infer what is causing changes in the dependent variable.
Professor Smith was interested in reporting the reality of the experiences of teenage runaways living on the streets in their own terms. Smith is probably most interested in:
ethnography.
A study that begins with observations and then looks for patterns, themes, or common categories is using what method?
grounded theory.
A school social worker administered a self-esteem test to a group of 9th graders in September. During the school year the students received intensive social work intervention designed to improve their self-esteem. In May the self-esteem test was given again and the self-esteem scores improved. A major problem in this research is that the researcher failed to control for
history. maturation. testing. selection biases.
Suppose you instruct a couple to have a typical conversation while you observe them in your office. This would be an example of
obtrusive observation.
For a causal relationship to exist there must be evidence
of a relationship between variables. that one variable precedes the other in time. that a third variable did not cause the changes observed in the first two variables
Which of the following is LEAST suited to providing clear evidence about a causal relationship between the independent and dependent variables?
one-shot case study
An advantage of qualitative research is that
phenomena can be studied in a natural setting.
In deciding what to measure in a single-case experiment, it is usually best to
pick something implied by how the clinical goal was operationally defined. measure more than one thing. choose a behavior that is more frequent over one that occurs very rarely.
Qualitative research is especially effective for
providing a comprehensive perspective to the researcher.
The qualitative researcher
seldom approaches the task with precisely defined hypotheses to be tested. attempts to make sense out of an ongoing process that cannot always be predicted in advance. alternates between induction and deduction. makes initial observations, develops tentative conclusions that suggest further observation, and revises the conclusions.
When selecting a comparison group in a quasi-experimental design, one should
select a group as similar as possible to the experimental group.
If a qualitative researcher wanted to learn a community organization's pattern of recruitment over time, the researcher might begin by interviewing a fairly recent recruit and asking who introduced that person to the organization. Then the researcher might interview the person named and ask who introduced that person to the community organization. This would be an example of
snowball sampling
A friend of yours, a senior, took the Graduate Record Exam in September and scored in the 99th percentile. In February your friend took the same exam over again. This time your friend scored in the 84th percentile. As a research methodology student, you told your friend that his/her lowered score was probably due to
statistical regression
You are doing research on hospital personnel—orderlies, technicians, nurses, and doctors. You want to be sure you draw a sample that has cases in each of the personnel categories. You want to use probability sampling. An appropriate strategy would be
stratified sampling.
An instrumentation effect occurs when
the measurement instrument is changed from the pretest to the posttest
Probability samples are advantageous to the researcher because
the method by which they are selected limits conscious and unconscious sampling bias, and the accuracy or representativeness of the sample can be estimated.
The 55-mph speed limit was introduced in the U.S. in 1973. Shortly thereafter the number of auto accidents declined. We can conclude that
the reduced speed limit may have caused the decline in the number of auto accidents
If we can establish that variable X comes before variable Q in time, then we can say
variable Q is not a cause of variable X.