Description
GRM597 Final Exam
A standardized test __________.
is usually commercially produced and requires a common set of administration and scoring procedures
compares an individual’s test performance to the test performance of others
relies only on multiple-choice questions
is designed and administered by a researcher for a specific research study
What is one criticism of the AB single-subject design?
too short
may be unethical to not apply a facilitative treatment
takes too much time and energy
does not rely on graphical depiction
If you square a correlation coefficient and subtract this number from 1.00, what is the result?
the coefficient of alienation
the coefficient of determination
the amount of variance NOT explained by the variance in each variable
both a and c
Which section of the proposal contains information on the instrumentation used?
introduction
method
implications and limitations
literature review
_________ describes a measure used to compare two different tests with the same group of participants to see how closely correlated the two sets of scores are with each other.
Inter-rater reliability
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Test-retest reliability
Parallel-forms reliability
Internal consistency
What is another term for basic research?
real research
pure research
applied research
baseline research
A well-written hypothesis:
creates a unified theme
reflects a theory or body of literature upon which it is based
searches through secondary sources
uses participants in the study who have been used in similar studies
Baylor is concerned that the items on his test really do adequately represent the universe of items from which he chose. Dr. Baylor’s concern is one of ____________.
content validity
predictive validity
concurrent validity
construct validity
How might case studies be superior to other methods of research?
They capitalize on random selection of subjects.
They provide good opportunity for generalization.
They use powerful statistical procedures.
They allow for very detailed examinations of data.
What is the standard metric used in most meta-analytic studies called?
standard deviation
effect size
sampling mean
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standard error
Which of the following is NOT a type of survey research?
interview
observation
focus groups or panels
questionnaires
Which of the following threats to external validity happens when subjects receive unintended treatments?
reactive arrangements
multiple treatment interference
experimenter effects
pretest sensitization
One of the keys to successful operation of the central limit theorem is that the sample size must be
___________.
less than 20
greater than 30
greater than 40
greater than 50
Which of the following would be considered a continuous variable?
the number answered correctly on a history test
grade level in school
gender
length
What is one suggested limitation of the single subject design?
significant expense
internal validity
external validity
none of the above
The minimum or maximum value that one would expect the test statistic to yield if the null
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hypothesis is true is an example of which of the following?
critical value
F value
F value
sampling mean
Which coefficient reflects the occurrence of perfect reliability?
+ 1.00
+ .50
+.100
+ 2.00
What is the most common use of the Internet?
direct research
V
advertisements through home pages
Which section of a manuscript discusses the reliability of any tests that were used?
introduction
methods
results
discussion
Jacob is interested to see if there is a relationship between student absentee rate and national test scores. Which would be the appropriate research method to use?
historical
correlational
descriptive
longitudinal
What is the shortened title which appears at the top of each proposal page called?
an abstract
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a running head
an introduction
a reference
If it is not possible to randomize or administer a pretest, what is the best choice of design?
Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA)
static group design
nonequivalent control group design
Solomon four-group design
Which of the following is concerned with monitoring estimates of present performance and predictions of future performance?
content validity
criterion validity
construct validity
internal validity
Which correlation coefficient indicates the strongest relationship?
00
+0.50
-0.70
+0.60
Longitudinal studies examine changes that occur with age; what do cross-sectional studies examine?
immediate treatment effects across groups
long-term treatment effects
age changes
age differences
What can you conclude if the obtained value of a test statistic exceeds the critical value?
The null hypothesis cannot be rejected.
You made an error when calculating the test statistic.
The null hypothesis can be rejected.
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Your obtained value is not statistically significant.
Which design is represented below?
Group 1 Treatment Posttest Group 2 No Treatment Posttest
nonequivalent control group design
static group comparison
Solomon two group design
factorial design
Which section of a manuscript discusses the general types of data analyses that were planned and used in the study?
introduction
abstract
results
method
If you read that a study’s finding was significant at the p < .05 level, you could conclude that there is a less than 5% probability that _____________.
the results will translate to real world situations
most researchers in that area would consider the finding to have clinical meaning
the researchers used unreliable measures
the results were due to chance
The experimental design that uses one group, a treatment, and a posttest is called ___________.
one-shot case study design
pretest posttest control group design
Solomon four-group design
one-group pretest posttest design
Which parts of a manuscript have limitations of words as suggested by the text?
title and abstract
title only
abstract only
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no limits were suggested by the text
In order to determine the critical value, which two pieces of information are needed?
mean and sample size
degrees of freedom and level of significance
mean and standard deviation
degrees of freedom and variance
Which measure of variability describes the average deviation of each score from the mean?
range
standard deviation
mode
mean
A research hypothesis ____________.
represents an equality
is represented by Roman symbols
is tested indirectly
is implicit
If the measures associated with a test are said to be consistent, you might conclude the measure is
__________.
standard
valid
reliable
concurrent
What margin spacing should be used in a proposal?
.5 inches
1 inch
1.5 inches
2 inches
What is one step a researcher can take to ensure that ethical principles are maintained?
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a computer simulation in which data are constructed and subjected to the effects of various treatments
When the treatment is deemed harmful, try to locate a population that has already been exposed to the treatment.
If the treatment involves risk, be absolutely sure that the risks are clear to the participants and other parties.
all of the above
What does the ethical principle of “sharing benefits” mean?
all participants in the same study should receive an equal share of the benefits or subject payments
all those who belong to the population being studied will share equally from the benefits the study produces
the results of studies must be shared with the public so society may benefit from the increased knowledge
all groups involved in a study should eventually be given an opportunity to receive any treatments that were found to be effective in the study
Which section of a manuscript is usually NOT labeled?
discussion
methods
results
introduction
Which of the following statements about qualitative research would be considered false?
It allows the researcher to answer different types of questions than quantitative research does.
It is much less complex than quantitative research because numbers are not extensively involved.
It is often descriptive in nature.
Many different types of sources can be utilized in qualitative research.
What is the best way to begin an interview?
Be direct.
Use a tape-recorder.
Warm-up with some general conversation.
Make the interviewee feel like an important part of the project.
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What is the second step in conducting historical research?
evaluating authenticity and accuracy of evidence
formulating a hypothesis
defining a topic or problem
integrating data
What type of test defines a specific level of performance (or mastery) of some content domain?
standardized test
researcher-made test
norm-referenced test
criterion-referenced test
Which source should NOT be cited in a formal literature review?
Newsweek
Review of Educational Research
Handbook of Child Psychology
Journal of Educational Finance
In true experimental designs, what does research attempt to isolate and control?
factors not tested that could be responsible for any effects except the ones being tested
statistics that are used to interpret the results
laboratory conditions to maximize the validity of the experiment
answers of the people in the study
How can descriptive statistics be defined?
describing elements of a distribution
relating the data to a larger population
developing a research question
identical to inferential statistics
The best dependent variable is defined by which of the following characteristics?
independent of any other variable in the same study
sensitive to changes in the treatment
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can be manipulated by the researcher
interacts with the independent variable
What is another way the mode can be described?
divides the sample in half
averages the test scores
occurs most frequently
tells how much variability there is in the test scores
What is another name for research that occurs “post hoc”?
experimental
correlational
quasi-experimental
historical
What is the major limitation of the quasi-experimental design?
its complexity
its reliance on continuous independent variables
thepreassignment to groups
overreliance on randomization
The significance level reported in a research study can be explained by which of the following?
importance of the results to the benefit of society
statistical methods to determine the results of the study
risk associated with not being 100% confident the difference is due to the treatment
importance of the results to the benefit of an individual
What is the most popular search engine?
Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC)
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses
Bibliographic Index Plus
What does generalizability refers to?
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results that may be applied to different populations in different settings
results that apply only to the sample studied
convenience sampling
using a table of random numbers
The level of significance is similar to which of the following?
a Type I error
a Type II error
a bell curve
the null hypothesis
Which of the following methods provides information about past trends?
Historical
correlational
experimental
descriptive
Which of the following is NOT a component of a multiple-choice question?
the stem
the root
distracters
alternatives
What is the third step of developing an interview?
selecting a sample
developing the questions
training the interviewers
stating the purpose of the interview
What does the central limit theorem enable researchers to do?
compare means from two independent samples
generalize the results from a sample to a population without knowing the exact nature of the population’s distribution
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compute the significance of a relationship between two variables
reduce the possibility that chance accounts for variability in the variable of interest
What is one disadvantage of the Solomon four-group design?
It lacks a control group.
You have to pretest every group.
It is prone to sampling error.
It is time-consuming.
A table of random numbers ____________.
is used in nonprobability sampling methods
is a list of ordered numbers from which the researcher closes his eyes and randomly points until he obtains the desired number for his sample
works well with convenience sampling
cannot be used to create a stratified sample
In a set of scores with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, what raw score is represented by a z score of 2.00?
115
130
100
70
Which of the following is NOT characteristic of a case study?
It allows close examination of greatly detailed data.
It provides a rich account of what is being studied.
It is a quick method of obtaining information.
Several different types of techniques can be used to obtain data.
A measure of how stable a test is over time is an example of which of the following?
inter-rater reliability
test-retest reliability
parallel forms reliability
internal consistency
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Index of +1.00 means that the item ____________.
fails to discriminate
discriminates perfectly
is too easy
is too hard
Which of the following is an example of a closed-ended interview question?
Why did you vote for Gerald Ford?
Did you vote for Gerald Ford?
What were the reasons for your decision?
What were the strengths of Gerald Ford’s presidency?
How can Type II errors be reduced?
decreasing sample size
homogeneous population
increasing sample size
heterogeneous population
Which of the following difficulty levels indicates the item that was the most difficult?
40
30
05
50
What is one of the limitations of the case-study method?
cause-and-effect links cannot be established
provides more breadth than depth
only one technique is used to gather data
focus is placed upon several individuals at a time
Hannah assigns children to different teaching method groups and tests their math performance after six weeks. This is an example of what type of research?
descriptive
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historical
experimental
uncontrolled
What is a likely negative consequence of NOT titling your manuscript in a way that clearly reflects its content?
Your manuscript may be rejected.
It may be indexed incorrectly and others searching for a particular subject may miss it.
You may send it to the wrong type of journal.
There are no likely negative consequences.
What measure must be established prior to the treatment variable to measure its effectiveness?
baseline
measure of internal validity
measure of external validity
pretest data range
What is the best definition of an institutional review board?
a group of people who make decisions regarding an institution’s human resources
a group of people found in most public institutions and private agencies who render a judgment as to whether experiments carried out in their facilities are free from risk
a group of people who review the literature produced by researchers in their institution in order to keep an accounting of it
a group of people representing many different institutions who meet to review the current literature in their respective fields
Which one of the following is NOT an important criterion for increasing reliability?
eliminate unclear test items
standardize the environmental conditions in which the test is given
moderate the ease and difficulty of the test
use subjective scoring procedures
Which is a subsection found in the method section?
introduction
running head
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results
data analysis
What is the least observed ethical principle in conducting research?
sharing benefits
debriefing participants
sharing results
maintaining privacy
What type of threat to internal validity is associated with practice effects?
maturation
regression
testing
instrumentation
Which measure of central tendency provides the most information?
median
mean
midpoint
mode
What measure would be used to compute the average gender of subjects?
mean
mode
median
standard deviation
What is the proper order of the following designs if they are to be listed from the one with the least amount of control over variables to the most?
pretest posttest control group, Solomon four-group, quasi-experimental, one-group pretest posttest
one-group pretest posttest, quasi-experimental, pretest posttest control group, Solomon four-group
one-group pretest posttest, pretest posttest control group, Solomon four-group, quasi-experimental
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quasi-experimental, one-group pretest posttest, pretest posttest control group, Solomon four-group
Professor Russel wants to examine the effectiveness of his new reading instruction method for third graders. He locates two third grade classes in the same school. He assesses all students’ current reading ability at the start of the school year. He then has one classroom utilize his new instruction method while the other classroom uses the traditional method. At the end of the school year, Professor Russell assesses reading ability once again and compares group differences. The design of this study exemplifies which of the following?
nonequivalent control group design
static group comparison
Solomon two group design
factorial design
In which of the following instances are tests used as dependent variables?
to assist in selection to a graduate program
to help in placing a child into an appropriate program based on reading level
to screen for a possible learning disability
to determine the effectiveness of a specific type of instruction
When a normal distribution is represented by a histogram, where would most scores fall?
in the extremes of the distribution
in the middle of the distribution
outside of the distribution
on the high end of the distribution
Which of the following has the largest potential to decrease the accuracy of an inference made to a population based on a sample?
variance
a heterogeneous sample
a homogeneous sample
sampling error
Which of the following questions would NOT be considered to be an external criticism?
“Was this document written when claimed?”
“Was this document found where one might expect it?”
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“Do the numbers listed in this document seem plausible based on other sources?”
“Is this document truly written by the person it appears to be written by?”
Many researchers devise “sham” treatments for their control groups to undergo, meaning that the control group interacts with researchers in some way that is not thought to impact the dependent variable, or the outcome. This is done to weaken the argument that the ‘treatment group improvement may have occurred in part simply due to the attention this group received from the researchers. These researchers are attempting to control for which of the following?
multiple treatment interference
the Hawthorne effect
selection
experimenter effects
What levels of measurement define most variables in behavioral and social science research?
interval and ratio
nominal and ordinal
nominal and ratio
nominal and interval
The critical value decreases when _____________.
the sample size increases
the sample size decreases
the sample is heterogeneous
the sample is homogeneous
Which interview question is open-ended?
Do you smoke?
Are you married?
How old are you?
How do you feel about tests?
Which of the following best describes independent variables?
not manipulated by the experimenter
manipulated to assess the effect of the treatment
unrelated to the treatment
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not necessary
When we calculate reliability, we know the observed score. What are the two unknown components of the reliability equation?
method and error scores
means and standard deviations
test-retest and inter-rater scores
true and error scores
Which is the most comprehensive guide to general literature?
The New York Times Index
The Reader’s Guide, Full Text Mega Edition
Statistical Abstract of the United States
Review of Educational Research
Which of the following statements regarding correlational research is false?
Correlational research describes the linear relationship between two or more variables.
Correlational research is a very effective means of establishing casual relationships.
Correlational research is a type of descriptive research.
Correlational research can help to “paint a broad picture” of the current state of some phenomenon.
If, while using the nonequivalent control group design, the researcher discovers that groups differ on the pretest measure, one technique which can be used to statistically equalize the groups on the pretest is ____________.
factor analysis
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
parallel forms pretesting
Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA)
What is another term for accuracy?
authenticity
secondary
internal criticism
validity
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Inter-rater reliability measures consistency ___________.
over time
from form to form
across different tests
from rater to rater
There will be no relationship between children’s time in day care and later academic achievement. This is an example of which of the following?
a research hypothesis
a factorial design
a correlational hypothesis
a null hypothesis
When is a stratified sample an appropriate sampling technique?
specific characteristics of the population are of no concern
individuals in a population are not equal
each member must have an equal chance of being selected
you have a small population
The term nonequivalent in “nonequivalent control group design” refers to the nonequivalence of
____________.
sample size
pretesting procedures
groups before the experiment begins
groups after the experiment has ended
What is one of the advantages of using online search services?
you are not likely to miss very much
this is an outdated method
it is stated in a declarative form
you can enter the data for any one reference using a standard form
If Dr. Robinson rejects the null hypothesis after observing a test statistic which exceeds the critical value at the .05 level, there is __________.
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a 95% chance that the null hypothesis is actually true
a 5% chance that the null hypothesis is actually true
a 5% chance that the null hypothesis is actually false
no chance that the null hypothesis is actually true