TOPIC 1: THE AIMS OF RESEARCH

EASY QUESTIONS

1. Mrs. Smith is writing her daily observations of a student and writes, without interpretation, that
the student is not completing the class work and is constantly speaking out of turn. Which of the
following objectives does she appear to be using?

a. prediction

b. description

c. explanation

d. exploration

2. Which of the following is a form of research typically conducted by teachers, counsellors, and
other professionals to answer questions they have and to specifically help them solve local
problems?

a. action research

b. basic research

c. predictive research

d. orientation research

3. How much confidence should you place in a single research study?

a. you should completely trust a single research study.

b. you should trust research findings after different researchers have found the same findings

c. neither a nor b

d. both a and b

4. The development of a solid foundation of reliable knowledge typically is built from which type of
research?

a. basic research

b. action research

c. evaluation research

d. orientation research

5. Which form of reasoning is the process of drawing a specific conclusion from a set of premises?

a. rationalism

b. deductive reasoning

c. inductive reasoning

d. probabilistic
6. The idea that when selecting between two different theories with equal explanatory value, one
should select the theory that is the most simple, concise, and succinct is known

as ____________.

a. criterion of falsifiability

b. critical theory

c. guide of simplicity

d. rule of parsimony

7. Research that is done to examine the findings of someone else using the "same variables but
different people" is which of the following?

a. exploration

b. hypothesis

c. replication

d. empiricism

8. ________________ is the idea that knowledge comes from experience.

a. rationalism

b. deductive reasoning

c. logic

d. empiricism

9. According to your text, what are the five key objectives of science?

a. prediction, summary, conclusion, explanation, description

b. influence, prediction, questions, exploration, answers

c. exploration, description, explanation, prediction, influence

d. questions, answers, prediction, explanation, summary

10. A researcher designs an experiment to test how variables interact to influence how well children
learn spelling words. In this case, the main purpose of the study was:

a. Explanation

b. Description

c. Influence

d. Prediction

11. There is a set of churches in the U.S. where part of the service involves snake handling. The
researcher wants to find out why the people attending these churches do this and how they feel and
think about it. In this case, the primary purpose of the study is:

a. Exploration
b. Description

c. Influence

d. Prediction

12. Which of the following is not a characteristic of a good theory or explanation?

a. It is parsimonious

b. It is testable

c. It is general enough to apply to more than one place, situation, or person

d. don’t test

13. Which of the following is not a basic assumption of science?

a. Science cannot provide answers to all questions

b. It is possible to distinguish between more and less plausible claims

c. Researchers should follow certain agreed upon norms and practices

d. Science is best at solving value conflicts, such as whether abortion is immoral

14. What general type of research is focused on collecting information to help a researcher advance
an ideological or political position?

a. Evaluation research

b. Basic research

c. Action research

d. Orientation research

15. Which “scientific method” follows these steps: 1) observation/data, 2) patterns, 3) theory?

a. Inductive

b. Deductive

c. Inductive

d. Top down

16. Rene Descartes is associated with which of the following approached to knowledge

generation?

a. Empiricism

b. Rationalism

c. Expert opinion

d. None of the above

17. Which scientific method is a top-down or confirmatory approach?

a. Deductive method

b. Inductive method

c. Hypothesis method

d. Pattern method

18. Which scientific method is a bottom-up or generative approach to research?

a. Deductive method

b. Inductive method

c. Hypothesis method

d. Pattern method

19. Which scientific method focuses on testing hypotheses developed from theories?

a. Deductive method

b. Inductive method

c. Hypothesis method

d. Pattern method

20. Which scientific method often focuses on generating new hypotheses and theories?

a. Deductive method

b. Inductive method

c. Hypothesis method

d. Pattern method

21. Which of the following statements is not true of a theory?

a. it most simply means “explanation”

b. it answers the “how” and “why” questions

c. it can be a well-developed explanatory system

d. research methodology is about old information only

1. Which research paradigm is based on the pragmatic view of reality?

a. quantitative research

b. qualitative research

c. mixed research

d. none of the above

2. Which research paradigm is least concerned about generalizing its findings?

a. quantitative research
b. qualitative research

c. mixed research

d. none of the above

3. Which of the following best describes quantitative research?

a. the collection of non-numerical data

b. an attempt to confirm the researcher’s hypotheses

c. research that is exploratory

d. research that attempts to generate a new theory

4. A condition or characteristic that can take on different values or categories is called______.

a. a constant

b. a variable

c. a cause-and-effect relationship

d. a descriptive relationship

5. A variable that is presumed to cause a change in another variable is called a(n):

a. categorical variable

b. dependent variable

c. independent variable

d. intervening variable

6. All of the following are common characteristics of experimental research except:

a. it relies primarily on the collection of numerical data

b. it can produce important knowledge about cause and effect

c. it uses the deductive scientific method

d. it rarely is conducted in a controlled setting or environment

7. Qualitative research is often exploratory and has all of the following characteristics except:

a. it is typically used when a great deal is already known about the topic of interest

b. it relies on the collection of non-numerical data such as words and pictures

c. it is used to generate hypotheses and develop theory about phenomena in the world

d. it uses the inductive scientific method

8. Which type of research provides the strongest evidence about the existence of cause and-effect
relationships?
a. nonexperimental Research

b. experimental Research

9. What is the key defining characteristic of experimental research?

a. extraneous variables are never present

b. a positive correlation usually exists

c. a negative correlation usually exists

d. manipulation of the independent variable

10. In _____, random assignment to groups is never possible and the researcher cannot manipulate
the independent variable.

a. basic research

b. quantitative research

c. experimental research

d. causal-comparative and correlational research

11. What is the defining characteristic of experimental research?

a. resistance to manipulation

b. manipulation of the independent variable

c. the use of open-ended questions

d. focuses only on local problems

12. A positive correlation is present when _______.

a. two variables move in opposite directions.

b. two variables move in the same direction.

c. one variable goes up and one goes down

d. several variables never change.

13. Research in which the researcher uses the qualitative paradigm for one phase and the
quantitative paradigm for another phase is known as ______.

a. action research

b. basic research

c. quantitative research

d. mixed method research

14. Research in which the researcher uses both qualitative and quantitative research within a stage
or across two of the stages in the research process is known as ______.

a. action research
b. basic research

c. quantitative research

d. mixed model research

15. Research that is done to understand an event from the past is known as _____?

a. experimental research

b. historical research

c. replication

d. archival research

16. ______ research occurs when the researcher manipulates the independent variable.

a. causal-comparative research

b. experimental research

c. ethnography

d. correlational research

17.. Which of the following includes examples of quantitative variables?

a. age, temperature, income, height and grade point average, anxiety level, reading performance

b. age and anxiety level

c. gender, religion, ethnic group

d. height and grade point average

18.. What is the opposite of a variable?

a. a constant

b. an extraneous variable

c. a dependent variable

d. a data set

19. Which of the following is the type of nonexperimental research in which the primary
independent variable of interest is categorical?

a. causal-comparative research

b. experimental research

c. qualitative research

d. mixed research

20. Which of the following can best be described as a categorical variable?

a. age
b. annual income

c. grade point average

d. religion

21. In research, something that does not "vary" is called a ___________.

a. variable

b. method

c. constant

d. control group

22. When interpreting a correlation coefficient expressing the relationship between two variables, it
is very important to avoid _______.

a. checking the strength of relationship

b. jumping to the conclusion of causality

c. checking the direction of the relationship

d. expressing a relationship with a correlation coefficient

23. A researcher studies achievement by children in poorly funded elementary schools. She develops
a model that posits parent involvement as an important variable. She believes that parent
involvement has an impact on children by increasing their motivation to do school work. Thus, in her
model, greater parent involvement leads to higher student motivation, which in turn creates higher
student achievement. Student motivation is what kind of variable in this study?

a. Manipulated variable

b. Extraneous variable

c. Confounding variable

d. Mediating or intervening variable

24. The strongest evidence for causality comes from which of the following research methods?

a. Experimental

b. Causal-comparative

c. Correlational

d. Ethnography

25. Which correlation is the strongest?

a. +.10

b. -.95

c. +.90

d. -1.00
26. The correlation between intelligence test scores and grades is:

a. Positive

b. Negative

c. Perfect

d. They are not correlated

INTERMEDIATE QUESTIONS

1. A good qualitative problem statement:

a. Defines the independent and dependent variables

b. Conveys a sense of emerging design

c. Specifies a research hypothesis to be tested

d. Specifies the relationship between variables that the researcher expects to find

2. The “tool” function of theory is to:

a. Summarize existing knowledge

b. Summarize existing hypotheses

c. Suggest new relationships and make new predictions

d. Suggest new theories

3. The statement of purpose in a research study should:

a. Identify the design of the study

b. Identify the intent or objective of the study

c. Specify the type of people to be used in the study

d. Describe the study

4. Why is the statement “What are the effects of extracurricular activities on cognitive development
of school age children” not a good statement of a quantitative research question?

a. Because there is no connection between extracurricular activities and cognitive development

b. Because there are not enough school age children engaged in extracurricular activities to conduct
the study

c. Because the study would be too difficult to do given all the different extracurricular activities

d. Because the statement was not specific enough to provide an understanding of the variables being
investigated

5. A qualitative research question:

a. Asks a question about some process, or phenomenon to be explored and Is generally an open-
ended question and nothing in our studies
b. family matters

c. methodology

d. technical issues

6. According to the text, which of the following orders is the recommended in the flowchart of the
development of a research idea?

a. Research topic, research problem, research purpose, research question, and hypothesis

b. Research topic, research purpose, research problem, research question, and hypothesis

c. Research topic, research problem, research purpose, research question, and hypothesis

d. Research topic, hypothesis, research problem, research question, research purpose

8. One step that is not included in planning a research study is:

a. Identifying a researchable problem

b. A review of current research

c. Statement of the research question

d. Conducting a meta-analysis of the research

9. Sources of researchable problems cannot include:

a. Researchers’ own experiences as educators

b. Practical issues that require solutions

c. Theory and past research

d. visiting relatives for information

10. A key characteristic of past research that guides researchers in new research questions is that:

a. Extensive research conclusively and definitively answers research questions

b. Studies typically generate more research questions than they answer

11. Which of the following is not a function of theory?

a. Integrating and summarizing current knowledge

b. Making predictions

c. Explaining phenomena

d. reading about nothing

12. A review of the literature prior to formulating research questions doesn’t allows the researcher
to do which of the following?

a. To become familiar with prior research on the phenomenon of interest

b. To identify potential methodological problems in the research area

c. To develop a list of pertinent problems relative to the phenomenon of interest

d. to look for the founder member of research

14. What kind of ideas can’t be empirically researched?

a. Effectiveness of different methods of instruction

b. Description of educational practices

c. Issues of values and morality such as the correctness of having prayer in schools

d. Factors helpful in predicting future drug use

15. Which of the following is not a database containing information to be used during the literature
review?

a. ERIC

b. PsychINFO

c. SocioFILE

d. business assets

16. Computer database searches can be done on the below, except:

a. With a computer with CD-ROM drive

b. At the library

c. Online

d. bus stop

17. The feasibility of a research study shouldn’t be considered in light of:

a. Cost and time required to conduct the study

b. Skills required of the researcher

c. Potential ethical concerns

d. gender only

18. A formal statement of the research question or “purpose of research study” generally

______.

a. Is made prior to the literature review

b. Is made after the literature review and will help guide the research process

c. making more research

d. doing less research

19. Is the following qualitative research purpose statement “well stated” or “poorly stated”?

“The focus of the present study was to explore distressing and nurturing encounters of patients with
caregivers and to ascertain the meanings that are engendered by such encounters. The study was
conducted on one of the surgical units and the obstetrical/gynaecological unit of a 374-bed
community hospital.”

a. It is a well stated

b. It is poorly stated

20. Which of the following quantitative research questions is superior?

a. “What is the effect of participation in various extracurricular activities on academic performance?”

b. “What effect does playing high school football have on students’ overall grade point average
during the football season?”

21. A statement of the quantitative research question shouldn’t:

a. Extend the statement of purpose by specifying exactly the question(s) the researcher will address

b. Help the research in selecting appropriate participants, research methods, measures, and
materials

c. Specify the variables of interest

d. talk about gossips

22. The research participants are described in detail in which section of the research plan?

a. Introduction

b. Method

c. Data analysis

d. Discussion

23. Research hypotheses are ______.

a. Formulated prior to a review of the literature and Statements of predicted relationships between
variables

b. nothing in research like that

c. Stated such that they can be confirmed or refuted

d. it is the search of those information of previous materials lost

24. Hypotheses in qualitative research studies usually _____.

a. Are very specific and stated prior to beginning the study

b. Are often generated as the data are collected, interpreted, and analysed

c. Are never used

d. Are always stated after the research study has been completed

25. A research plan is not _____.

a. Should be detailed
b. Should be given to others for review and comments

c. Sets out the rationale for a research study

d. research for evolution

26. The Method section of the research plan does not typically specifies

a. The research participants

b. The results of prior studies that address the phenomena of interest

c. The apparatus, instruments, and materials for the research study

d. The planned research procedures

27. The Introduction section of the research plan

a. Gives an overview of prior relevant studies

b. Contains a statement of the purpose of the study

c. Concludes with a statement of the research questions and, for quantitative research, it includes
the research hypothesis

d. All of the above

28. According to your text, which of the following is not a source of research ideas?

a. Everyday life

b. Practical issues

c. Past research

d. TCP/IP

2. Which of the following is necessary in obtaining informed consent?

a. A description of the statistical analyses that will be carried out

b. A description of the purpose of the research

c. A description of the reliability and validity of test instruments

d. A list of publications that the researcher has had in the last ten years

3. Which of the following need(s) not to be obtained when doing research with children?

a. Informed consent from the parent or guardian and Assent from the child if he or she is capable

b. calling the child’ parents

c. Informed consent from the child

d. meeting the child at school and ask the child to fill the consent form

4. Which of the following is true about the use of deception in research?

a. It should never be used

b. It can be used anytime

c. If there is deception in a study, the participants may need to be debriefed and the use of deception
must be outweighed by other benefits of the study

d. it can be used any day

5. Which of the following generally cannot be done in qualitative studies conducted in the field?

a. Getting informed consent

b. Keeping participants from physical harm

c. Maintaining consent forms

d. Having full anonymity rather than just confidentiality

6. What is the primary approach that is used by the IRB to assess the ethical acceptability of a
research study?

a. Utilitarianism

b. Deontology

c. Ethical scepticism

d. Comparativeism

7. Which of the following approaches says that ethical issues should be judged on the basis of some
universal code?

a. Deontological

b. Ethical scepticism

c. Utilitarianism

8 Which of the following is not an ethical guideline for conducting research with humans?

a. Getting informed consent of the participant

b. Telling participants they must continue until the study has been completed

c. Keeping participants’ identity anonymous

d. Telling participants they are free to withdraw at any time

9. Which of the three ethics approaches says research ethics should be a matter of the individual's
conscience?

a. Deontological approach

b. Ethical scepticism

c. Utilitarianism

d. Ontological scepticism

10. ________ means that the participant's identity, although known to the researcher, is not revealed
to anyone outside of the researcher and his or her staff.
a. Anonymity

b. Confidentiality

11. Which of the following is not true?

a. Misrepresenting and creating fraudulent data is dishonest

b. Misrepresenting data is very easy to detect

c. Misrepresenting data can be difficult to detect

d. Breaking confidentiality is not a problem

12. Ideally, the research participant's identity is not known to the researcher. This is called:

a. Anonymity

b. Confidentiality

c. Deception

d. Desensitizing

13. Which of the following approaches taken by people to resolve ethical issues is the primary
approach used by the federal government and most professional organizations?

a. Deontological approach

b. Ethical scepticism

c. Utilitarianism

d. None of the above

14. What is it called when the participants are not revealed to anyone but researcher and staff?

a. Confidentiality

b. Anonymity

c. Ethics

d. Discretion

15. Research participants must give what before they can participate in a study?

a. Guidelines

b. A commitment

c. Informed consent

d. Private information

16. There are three basic approaches that people tend to adopt when considering ethical issues in
research. Which one of the following is not one of the approaches?

a. Ethical scepticism

b. Deontology
c. Ontology

d. Utilitarianism

17. Identify the term that refers to a post study interview in which all aspects of the study are
revealed, reasons for the use of deception are given, and the participants’ questions are answered?

a. Desensitizing

b. Debriefing

c. Dehoaxing

d. Deploying

18. A set of principles to guide and assist researchers in deciding which goals are most important and
in reconciling conflicting values when conducting research is called ____.

a. Research ethics

b. Deontological approach

c. Utilitarianism

d. None of the above

19. IRB is an acronym for which of the following?

a. Internal Review Board

b. Institutional Rating Board

c. Institutional Review Board

d. Internal Request Board

20. When it is necessary to engage in a good amount of deception to conduct a scientifically valid
study, what procedure(s) should a researcher consider following?

a. Debriefing

b. Dehoaxing

c. Desensitizing

d. All of the above should be considered

21. The act of publishing the same data and results in more than one journal or publication refers to
which of the following professional issues:

a. Partial publication

b. Duplicate publication

c. Deception

d. Full publication

22. Concerning "authorship" in educational research, intellectual ownership is predominantly a

function of:
a. Effort expended

b. Creative contribution

c. Professional position

d. Level of higher education

23. Which term refers to publishing several articles from the data collected in one large study?

a. Duplicate publication

b. Partial publication

c. Triplicate publication

d. None of these

24. Which of the following is a right of each participant according to the AERA?

a. Deception

b. Utilitarianism

c. Freedom to withdraw

d. Participants have no rights

CHALLENGING QUESTIONS

1. Which of the following is not an assumption underlying testing and measurement?

a. Various approaches to measuring aspects of the same thing can be useful

b. Error is rarely present in the measurement process

c. Present-day behavior predicts future behavior

d. Testing and assessment benefit society

2. Systematic error is associated with:

a. Reliability

b. Validity

c. reliability

d. sociability

3. Which of the following is a type of criterion–related validity evidence?

a. Concurrent evidence and Predictive evidence

b. internal deliverance

c. Internal consistency

d. external deliverance

4. If a test measures a single construct then:

a. The items should correlate with the total score

b. The items should not correlate with the total score

c. The test should not correlate with other measures of the same construct

d. There must be a reliable alternative form.

5. Professor X develops a test of emotional intelligence. Which of the following represent convergent
and discriminant evidence?

a. The test correlates highly with another test of emotional intelligence and is uncorrelated with self-
efficacy

b. The test correlates with highly with another test of emotional intelligence and is highly correlated
with self-efficacy

c. The test does not correlate with another test of emotional intelligence, but does correlate with
self-efficacy

d. The test does not correlate with other tests of emotional intelligence nor with self-efficacy

7. Which scale is the simplest form of measurement?

a. Nominal

b. Ordinal

c. Interval

d. Ratio

8. ______ tests focus on information acquired through the informal learning that goes on in life.

a. Personality

b. Achievement

c. Aptitude

d. Intelligence

9. Let’s say that a test accurately indicates participants’ scores on a future criterion (e.g., the

PSAT is used to indicate high-school GPA scores). This test would clearly have which of the following?

a. Face validity

b. Concurrent validity

c. Predictive validity

d. Content validity

10. If a baseball coach calculates batting averages, what scale would be used?

a. Interval scale

b. Ratio scale
c. Nominal scale

d. Ordinal scale

11. According to the text, most of the outcome/dependent variable characteristics and attributes
measured in educational research probably exist at the ______________ level of measurement.

a. Nominal

b. Ordinal

c. Interval

d. Ratio

12. Which of the following is most clearly an example of a psychological trait?

a. Anxiety enduring for months or years

b. Anxiety over just seeing a spider

c. Shyness when meeting a stranger for the first time

d. Depression caused by the loss of a ball game

13. All of the following are examples of Intelligence Tests except _________:

a. Wechsler Scales

b. Stanford-Binet

c. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

d. Slosson

14. Reliability is most simply known as which of the following?

a. Consistency or stability

b. Appropriateness of interpretations on the basis of test scores

c. Ways in which people are the same

d. A rank order of participants on some characteristic

15. An ordinal scale is:

a. The simplest form of measurement

b. A rank-order scale of measurement

c. A scale with equal intervals between adjacent numbers

d. A scale with an absolute zero point

e. A categorical scale

16. Which of the following is not a type of reliability?

a. Test-retest
b. Split-half

c. Content

d. Internal consistency

17. Which of the following statements accurately describes test-retest reliability?

a. Measure of consistency of test scores over time

b. Measure of consistency of scores obtained from two equivalent halves of the same test

c. Measure of consistency with which a test measures a single construct or concept

d. Measure of degree of agreement between two or more scorers, judges, or raters

18. Which of the following types of reliability refers to the consistency of test scores over time?

a. Equivalent forms reliability

b. Split-half reliability

c. Test-retest reliability

d. Inter-scorer reliability

19. Identify the following term that most closely refers to a judgement of the extent to which scores
from a test can be used to infer, or predict, the examinees' performance in some activity:

a. Content reliability

b. Face validity

c. Criterion-related validity

d. Inference validity

20. Which of the following is the correct order of Stevens’ four levels of measurement?

a. Ordinal, nominal, ratio, interval

b. Nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio

c. Interval, nominal, ordinal, ratio

d. Ratio, interval, nominal, ordinal

21. Which is the process of gathering evidence supporting inferences based test scores?

a. Validation

b. Validity

c. Reliability

d. Prediction

22. When evaluating tests and assessments, “reliability” refers to asking ourselves which of the
following questions?

a. Does it measure what it is supposed to measure?

b. Are there ways to avoid subjective judgments when measuring something?

c. Does it give consistent results?

d. Does it measure multiple constructs?

23. Validity of a test designed to measure a construct such as self-esteem is best described by which
of the following?

a. Scores from the test correlate highly with most intelligence tests

b. Scores from the test correlate highly with most tests of different constructs

c. Scores from the test are not correlated with anything

d. Scores from the test have a relatively strong and positive correlation with other tests of the same
construct (i.e., with other measures of self-esteem) but much lower correlations with tests of
different constructs

24. Which type of reliability refers to the consistency of a group of individuals' scores on two
equivalent forms of a test designed to measure the same characteristic?

a. Split-half

b. Test-retest

c. Split-forms

d. Equivalent forms

26. _________ refers to how well the particular sample of behaviours used to measure a
characteristic reflects the entire domain of behaviours that constitutes that characteristic.

a. Construct validity evidence

b. Criterion-related validity evidence

c. Content validity evidence

d. Face validity evidence

1. According to your text, how many points should a rating scale have?

a. Five

b. Four

c. Ten

d. Somewhere from 4 to 11 points

2. What is the problem(s) with this set of response categories to the question “What is your current
age?”

1-5

5-10
10-20

20-30

30-40

a. The categories are not mutually exclusive and the categories are not exhaustive

b. nothing is a problem

c. can’t see anything bad

d. There is no problem with the above set of response categories

4. According to the text, questionnaires cannot address events and characteristics taking place
when?

a. In the past (retrospective questions)

b. In the present (current time questions)

c. In the future (prospective questions)

d. every day in the house

5. Which of the following are not principles of questionnaire construction?

a. Consider using multiple methods when measuring abstract constructs

b. Use multiple items to measure abstract constructs

c. Avoid double-barrelled questions

d. use double- barrelled questions

6. Which of these is not a method of data collection.

a. Questionnaires

b. Interviews

c. Experiments

d. Observations

7. Secondary/existing data may not include which of the following?

a. Official documents

b. Personal documents

c. Archived research data

d. un authenticated data

8. An item that directs participants to different follow-up questions depending on their response is
called a ____________.

a. Response set

b. Probe
c. Semantic differential

d. Contingency question

9. Which of the following terms best describes data that were originally collected at an earlier time
by a different person for a different purpose?

a. Primary data

b. Secondary data

c. Experimental data

d. Field notes

10. Researchers use both open-ended and closed-ended questions to collect data. Which of the
following statements is true?

a. Open-ended questions directly provide quantitative data based on the researcher’s predetermined
response categories

b. Closed-ended questions provide quantitative data in the participant’s own words

c. Open-ended questions provide qualitative data in the participant’s own words

d. Closed-ended questions directly provide qualitative data in the participants’ own words

11. Open-ended questions provide primarily ______ data.

a. Confirmatory data

b. Qualitative data

c. Predictive data

d. None of the above

12. Which of the following is true concerning observation?

a. It takes less time than self-report approaches

b. It costs less money than self-report approaches

c. It is often not possible to determine exactly why the people behave as they do

d. no cost is related to this issue

13. Qualitative observation is usually done for exploratory purposes; it is also called

___________ Observation.

a. Structured

b. Naturalistic

c. Complete

d. Probed
14. As discussed in chapter 6, when constructing a questionnaire it is important to do each of the
following except ______.

a. Use "leading" or "loaded" questions

b. Use natural language

c. Understand your research participants

d. Pilot your test questionnaire

15. Another name for a Likert Scale is a (n):

a. Interview protocol

b. Event sampling

c. Summated rating scale

d. Ranking

16. Which of the following is not one of the six major methods of data collection that are used by
educational researchers?

a. Observation

b. Interviews

c. Questionnaires

d. Checklists

17. The type of interview in which the specific topics are decided in advance but the sequence and
wording can be modified during the interview is called:

a. The interview guide approach

b. The informal conversational interview

c. A closed quantitative interview

d. The standardized open-ended interview

19. A question during an interview such as “Why do you feel that way?” is known as a:

a. Probe

b. Filter question

c. Response

d. Pilot

20. A census taker often collects data through which of the following?

a. Standardized tests

b. Interviews
c. Secondary data

d. Observations

21. The researcher has secretly placed him or herself (as a member) in the group that is being
studied. This researcher may be which of the following?

a. A complete participant

b. An observer-as-participant

c. A participant-as-observer

d. None of the above

22. Which of the following is not a major method of data collection?

a. Questionnaires

b. Focus groups

c. Correlational method

d. Secondary data

23. Which type of interview allows the questions to emerge from the immediate context or course of
things?

a. Interview guide approach

b. Informal conversational interview

c. Closed quantitative interview

d. Standardized open-ended interview

24. When conducting an interview, asking "Anything else?, What do you mean?, Why do you feel
that way?," etc, are all forms of:

a. Contingency questions

b. Probes

c. Protocols

d. Response categories

25. When constructing a questionnaire, there are 15 principles to which you should adhere.

Which of the following is not one of those principles?

a. Do not use "leading" or "loaded" questions

b. Avoid double-barrelled questions

c. Avoid double negatives

d. Avoid using multiple items to measure a single construct

TOPIC 2: RESEARCH TOPIC AND PROBLEM

EASY QUESTIONS

A statement about a population developed for the purpose of testing is called:

(a) Hypothesis

(b) Hypothesis testing

(c) Level of significance

(d) Test-statistic

Any hypothesis which is tested for the purpose of rejection under the assumption that it is true is

called:

(a) Null hypothesis

(b) Alternative hypothesis

(c) Statistical hypothesis

(d) Composite hypothesis

A statement about the value of a population parameter is called:

(a) Null hypothesis

(b) Alternative hypothesis

(c) Simple hypothesis

(d) Composite hypothesis

Any statement whose validity is tested on the basis of a sample is called:

(a) Null hypothesis

(b) Alternative hypothesis

(c) Statistical hypothesis

(b) Simple hypothesis

A quantitative statement about a population is called:

(a) Research hypothesis

(b) Composite hypothesis

(c) Simple hypothesis

(d) Statistical hypothesis

A statement that is accepted if the sample data provide sufficient evidence that the null hypothesis is
false is

called:
(a) Simple hypothesis

(b) Composite hypothesis

(c) Statistical hypothesis

(d) Alternative hypothesis

The alternative hypothesis is also called:

(a) Null hypothesis

(b) Statistical hypothesis

(c) Research hypothesis

(d) Simple hypothesis

A hypothesis that specifies all the values of parameter is called:

(a) Simple hypothesis

(b) Composite hypothesis

(c) Statistical hypothesis

(d) None of the above

INTERMEDIATE QUESTIONS

What is a good research? The following are correct except

a. Purpose clearly defined

b. research process defined
c. research design thoroughly planned
d. finding presented ambiguously

The appropriate analytical technic is determined by:

a. the research design and nature of the data collected

b. can be done without research design
c. nature of the hypothesis
d. doesn’t matter of the data collected

CHALLENGING QUESTIONS

1. When a extraneous variable systematically varies with the independent variable and influences

the dependent variable, it is called:

a. Another dependent variable

b. A confounding variable

c. A moderating variable

d. An unreliable variable

2. Which of the following statements is true?

a. A statistical relationship is sufficient evidence to infer causality

b. Temporal order of the cause and effect is not important in inferring causality

c. A statistical relation of X and Y is insufficient evidence for inferring causality

d. Temporal order of cause and effect variables and statistical relation are all that are

needed to infer causality

3. A school district examines a program that uses mentors to help very poor readers improve

their reading performance. The children in the program are at the 4th percentile at pretest. At

posttest they are around the 20th percentile. While it is possible that the program made the

difference, another reason for the change in scores could be:

a. History

b. Regression artefact

c. Multiple-treatment interference

d. Differential selection

4. A group of researchers do a study where children from particular classrooms are assigned to

treatment or control conditions. After the study, the researcher finds out that the students in the

control group are higher achievers than those in the experimental group. He found no treatment

effect. The failure to find an effect may be due to:

a. A treatment effect

b. A testing effect

c. A differential selection effect

d. A maturation effect

5. A researcher examines a program looking at the effects of mentoring on poor readers' reading
achievement. He looks at two different schools. One serves as the control and the other the
experimental group. Both schools had reading achievement that was around the 50th percentile.

During the time that the mentoring program is in place in the experimental group, a state-wide
reading initiative is started in randomly selected schools. The experimental, but not the control
school is involved in the initiative. At the end of the year, the experimental group does better than
the control. From the information presented above, a likely threat to the internal validity of the study
is:

a. Selection by mortality interaction

b. Mortality

c. Selection-history effect
d. Selection-maturation effect

6. Which type of validity refers to the degree to which you can infer that the relationship between

two variables is causal?

a. Internal validity

b. Population validity

c. Ecological validity

d. Statistical conclusion validity

7. Which type of validity refers to the ability to infer that the independent and dependent

variables are related ant that the measured strength of the relationship is accurate?

a. Internal validity

b. Population validity

c. Ecological validity

d. Statistical conclusion validity

8. An extraneous variable that systematically varies with the independent variable and also

influences the dependent variable is known as a _______________.

a Confounding variable

b. Third variable

c. Second variable

d. Both a and b are correct

9. The use of multiple observers to allow cross-checking of observations to make sure that the

investigators agree with what took place is known as _______.

a. Interpretive validity

b. Researcher bias

c. Multiple operationalism

d. Investigator triangulation

10. _____________ is the lowest inference descriptor of all because it uses the participant’s own

words.

a. Participant feedback

b. A verbatim

c. Data triangulation

d. Investigator triangulation
11. ___________ refers to physical or mental changes that may occur within individuals over

time, such as aging, learning, boredom, hunger, and fatigue.

a. Instrumentation

b. History

c. Maturation

d. Testing

12. What type of validity refers to the extent to which the results of a study can be generalized

across time?

a. Ecological validity

b. External validity

c. Internal validity

d. Temporal validity

13. Which of the following best describes interpretive validity?

a. Factual accuracy of an account as reported by the researcher

b. Accurately portraying the meanings given by the participants to what is being studied

c. Degree to which a theoretical explanation fits the data

d. Ability to generalize the study results across settings

14. Which of the following terms is a strategy where the researcher actively engages in critical

self-reflection about his or her potential biases and predispositions.

a. Experimenter effect

b. Reactivity

c. Investigator triangulation

d. Reflexivity

15. Which of the following is not considered one of the criteria for inferring causality?

a. Evidence that the independent and dependent variables are related

b. Evidence that the relationship between the variables being investigated is not due to a

confounding extraneous variable

c. Evidence that changes in variable A occur before changes in variable B

d. The temporal ordering of the variables being investigated does not matter because a

relationship is all that is really needed

16. The use of multiple data sources to help understand a phenomenon is one strategy that is used
to promote qualitative research validity. Which of the following terms describes this strategy?

a. Data matching

b. Pattern matching

c. Data triangulation

d. Data feedback

17. What may happen when different comparison groups experience a different history event?

a. History effect

b. Selection-history effect

c. Selection effect

d. Group effect

18. What is another term that refers to a confounding extraneous variable?

a. Last variable

b. First variable

c. Third variable

d. Fourth variable

19. Which of the following refers to any systematic change that occurs over time in the way in

which the dependent variable is assessed?

a. Instrumentation

b. Maturation

c. Testing

d. Selection

20. Which of the following terms describes the ability to generalize from the sample of

individuals on which a study was conducted to the larger target population of individuals and

across different subpopulations within the larger target population?

a. External validity

b. Population validity

c. Ecological validity

d. Temporal validity

21. Which of the following is not a strategy used to promote qualitative research validity?

a. Peer review

b. Theory triangulation
c. Extended fieldwork

d. Random assignment

22. The use of several measures of a construct is called:

a. Multiple operationalism

b. Multiple construct measurement

c. Operationalism

d. Methods triangulation

23. A physical or mental change that occurs in participants over time that affects their

performance on the dependent variable is called ________.

a. Instrumentation

b. Maturation

c. Regression

d. None of above

24. Attrition generally occurs in research where ____.

a. You do demographic research

b. The study fails

c. Some participants do not complete the study

d. The study is very brief

26. Internal validity refers to which of the following?

a. The ability to infer that a casual relationship exists between 2 variables

b. The extent to which study results can be generalized to and across populations of persons,

settings, and times

c. The use of effective measurement instruments in the study

d. The ability to generalize the study results to individuals not included in the study

27. Which strategy used to promote qualitative research validity uses multiple research methods

to study a phenomenon?

a. Data triangulation

b. Methods triangulation

c. Theory triangulation

d. Member checking

28. Which type of validity refers to the factual accuracy of an account as reported by the
researcher?

a. Ecological validity

b. Temporal validity

c. Descriptive validity

d. None of the above

29. Which of the following in not one of the key threats to internal validity?

a. Maturation

b. Instrumentation

c. Temporal change

d. History

30. This type of validity refers to the ability to generalize the results of a study across settings.

a. Temporal validity

b. Internal validity

c. Ecological validity

d. External validity

31. Which is not a direct threat to the internal validity of a research design?

a. History

b. Testing

c. Sampling error

d. Differential selection

32. Alteration in performance due to being aware that one is participating in a study is known as

______.

a. Operationalism

b. Reactivity

c. Temporal validity

d. Mortality

33. The idea that the more times a research finding is shown with different sets of people, the

more confidence we can place in the finding and in generalizing beyond the original participants

is known as ___________.

a. Naturalistic generalization

b. Methods generalization
c. Data triangulation

d. Replication logic

TOPIC 3: LITERAURE REVIEW

EASY QUESTIONS

Which of the following do we recommend as ways to build your general knowledge of a topic area?

a. Read a good recent textbook chapter.

b. Look for the most recent ‘in press’ publication before reading any other material.
c. Find and use a reader on the topic in question.
d. Answers A and C

Which of the following are relevant databases for most psychology dissertation topics?

a. PsycINFO
b. Web Of Science
c. ACEA
d. Answers A and B

Which of the following is the sequence in which you should use a database?

a. Limit dates of papers; print out full text papers; read abstracts; enter search terms
b. Print out papers; read abstracts; limit dates; think of search terms
c. Think of search terms; enter terms into database; limit dates of papers; read
abstracts; print out full text papers
d. None of the above

Which of the following are top tips we offer to help you improve your use of the literature?

a. Keep a research notebook

b. Sort your references in a spreadsheet
c. Apply Fisher’s notation to the arguments you encounter
d. All of the above

Which of these describes our advice on using internet search engines?

a. Engines such as Yahoo and Google are much more efficient and effective than
databases such as PsycINFO
b. Web addresses ending in .ac.uk, or .edu are generally bona fide academic sources
c. Wiki entries are more up to date and accurate than journal articles
d. None of the above

Which of the following are ways in which we suggest you might maximize your marks?

a. Using the internet to find key researchers

b. Review notes you made on editorial and overview papers and chapters.
c. Be as critically evaluative of your own study as you were of other people’s
d. All of the above

Which of the following steps are likely to help you avoid accidental plagiarism?

a. Cut and paste accurately from published works.

 b. Make superficial changes to the words used in published papers
c. Make short bullet point notes in your own words
d. Answers A and B

To be original a study must be:

a. Radically different from previous research

b. Conducted with a sample that has never been studied before
c. Addressing a gap in the existing research literature
d. All of the above

What do you need to be able to provide in order for your research to pass the ‘so what?’ test?

a. Reasons why the research is important

b. Implications of answering the research question
c. Proof that no-one has ever conducted a similar study
d. Answers A and B

--------------- tend to be generally expressed; a -----------is a specific prediction about what we will find.

a. Hypotheses; research question

b. Research questions; hypothesis
c. Null hypotheses; research question
d. None of the above

Which of these are reasons why it is so important to get your research question right?

a. The RQ articulates the gap that you have found in the literature
b. The RQ will guide the design of the study
c. The RQ will inform the content of your discussion section
d. All of the above

How do we suggest you deal with competing/alternative theoretical frameworks?

a. Choose the one that has been used most often in published papers
b. Ensure that you only refer to papers from your chosen theoretical framework
c. Evaluate the quality of evidence for each
d. Choose only frameworks that have been developed in the past ten years

----- are typically peer reviewed, which means that the published work is guaranteed to be flawless;
----- are usually subjected to less stringent evaluation.

a. Journal articles; book chapters

b. Book chapters; journal articles
c. Conference papers; journal articles
d. None of the above

Which of the following would you do if you applied Fisher’s notation technique to a chapter or
paper?

a. Underline any conclusions

b. Put curly brackets around any citations to published work
c. Skim read the text
d. Answers A and C
Which of the following do we suggest may be misplaced criticisms of published work?

a. Criticizing work without considering the date when it was published.

b. Criticizing work on the basis that the sample was not truly random
c. Criticizing studies for their small sample size without considering the difficulty of
accessing the population.
d. All of the above

INTERMEDIATE QUESTIONS

1. Which of the following is characteristic of qualitative research?

a. Generalization to the population

b. Random sampling

c. Unique case orientation

d. Standardized tests and measures

2. Phenomenology has its disciplinary origins in:

a. Philosophy

b. Anthropology

c. Sociology

d. Many disciplines

3. The primary data analysis approach in ethnography is:

a. Open, axial, and selective coding

b. Holistic description and search for cultural themes

c. Cross-case analysis

d. Identifying essences of a phenomenon

4. The term used to describe suspending preconceptions and learned feelings about a phenomenon
is called:

a. Axial coding

b. Design flexibility

c. Bracketing

d. Ethnography

5. A researcher studies how students who flunk out of high school experienced high school. She
found that it was common for such students to report that they felt like they had little control of their
destiny. Her report that this lack of control was an invariant part of the students’ experiences
suggests that lack of control is _______ of the “flunking out” experience.

a. A narrative

b. A grounded theory
c. An essence

d. A probabilistic cause

6. The specific cultural conventions or statements that people who share a culture hold to be true or
false are called ______.

a. Shared attitudes

b. Shared beliefs

c. Shared values

d. Norms

7. The written and unwritten rules that specify appropriate group behaviour are called _____.

a. Shared attitudes

b. Shared beliefs

c. Shared values

d. Norms

8. Which of the following is not an advantage of studying multiple cases?

a. Multiple cases can be compared for similarities and differences

b. Multiple cases can more effectively test a theory than a single case

c. Generalizations about population are usually better when based on multiple cases.

d. Cost is lower and depth of analysis is easier when you study multiple cases in a single research
study

9. _____ are the standards of a culture about what is good or bad or desirable or undesirable.

a. Shared attitudes

b. Shared beliefs

c. Shared values

d. Norms

10. _________ is the study of human consciousness and individuals’ experience of some
phenomenon.

a. Phenomenology

b. Ethnography

c. Grounded theory

d. Case study research

11. Which of the following is not a characteristic of qualitative research?

a. Design flexibility
b. Inductive analysis

c. Context sensitivity

d. availability of research materials in the schools

12. ________ is a general methodology for developing theory that is based on data systematically
gathered and analysed.

a. Theory confirmation

b. Grounded theory

c. Theory deduction

d. All of the above

13. The final stage in grounded theory data analysis is called ___________.

a. Axial coding

b. Theoretical saturation

c. Constant comparative method

d. Selective coding

14. Which major characteristic of qualitative research refers to studying real world situations as they
unfold naturally?

a. Holistic perspective

b. Naturalistic inquiry

c. Dynamic systems

d. Inductive analysis

15. In which qualitative research approach is the primary goal to gain access to individuals’ inner
worlds of experience?

a. Phenomenology

b. Ethnography

c. Grounded theory

d. Case study

16. The type of qualitative research that describes the culture of a group of people is called ____.

a. Phenomenology

b. Grounded theory

c. Ethnography

d. Case study
18. In which of the following case study designs does the researcher focus her primary interest on
understanding something more general than the particular case?

a. Intrinsic case study

b. Instrumental case study and Collective case study

c. methodology

d. methods

19. Which of the following phrases best describes "ethnocentrism"?

a. Special words or terms used by the people in a group

b. An external, social scientific view of reality

c. The study of the cultural past of a group of people

d. Judging people from a different culture according to the standards of your own culture

20. Which of the following is usually not a characteristic of qualitative research?

a. Design flexibility

b. Dynamic systems

c. Naturalistic inquiry

d. Deductive design

21. Which of the following involves the studying of multiple cases in one research study?

a. Intrinsic case study

b. Single case study

c. Instrumental case study

d. Collective case study

22. Which of the following does not apply to qualitative research?

a. Data are often words and pictures

b. Uses the inductive scientific method

c. Ends with a statistical report

d. Involves direct and personal contact with participants

24. What term refers to the insider's perspective?

A. Ethnocentrism

B. Emic perspective

C. Etic perspective

D. Holism
25. In data analysis of the grounded theory approach, the step which focuses on the main idea,
developing the story line, and finalizing the theory is called ________.

a. Open coding

b. Axial coding

c. Selective coding

d. Theoretical saturation

26. Which of the following is not one of the 4 major approaches to qualitative research.

a. Ethnography

b. Phenomenology

c. Case study

d. Nonexperimental

27. In "phenomenology," a well written report will be highly descriptive of the participants’
experiences and will often elicit in the reader a feeling that they feel as though they are experiencing
the phenomenon themselves. This experience is called _____.

a. A phenomenal experience

b. A vicarious experience

c. A significant experience

d. A dream

28. You want to study a Native American group in New Mexico for a six month period to learn all you
can about them so you can write a book about that particular tribe. You want the book to be
accurate and authentic as well as informative and inspiring. What type of research will you likely be
conducting when you get to New Mexico?

a. Ethnography

b. Phenomenology

c. Grounded theory

d. Collective case study

30. _________ is used to describe cultural scenes or the cultural characteristics of a group of people.

a. Phenomenology

b. Ethnography

c. Grounded theory

d. Instrumental case study

32. When a researcher identifies so completely with the group being studied that he or she can no
longer remain objective you have what is called _________.
a. Culture shock

b. Going native

c. Regression

d. Cultural relativism

CHALLENGING QUESTIONS

1. The number of police officers and the number of crimes are positively related. This relationship is:

a. A causal relationship

b. A direct relationship

c. A probabilistic causal relation

d. A spurious relationship

2. A research studies the relation between early reading and later school achievement. She decides
that a potentially extraneous variable in the relationship is IQ. In developing her groups for her study,
she pairs each child who was an early reader with a child of the same IQ level who was not an early
reader. The control technique she used was:

a. Holding the extraneous variable constant

b. Statistical control

c. Matching

d. Random assignment

3. Partial correlation analysis involves:

a. Examining the relationship between two or more variables controlling for additional variables
statistically

b. Including only one group in a correlational analysis

c. Matching participants on potential confounding variables

d. Limiting the sample to individuals at a constant level of an extraneous variable

4. The directors of a graduate program in educational research wish to see what types of jobs their
graduates take after they finish their program. They randomly sample students from the program
and have them fill out questionnaires with items asking about the types of jobs they have had. They
also are asked to describe the roles they play in their current positions. This project is best described
as having what kind of objective:

a. Descriptive

b. Predictive

c. Explanatory

Dictionary
5. When research is done to test hypotheses and theories about how and why phenomena operate

as they do, then the primary purpose of such research is:

a. Descriptive

b. Predictive

c. Explanatory

6. The variable the researcher matches to eliminate it as an alternative explanation is called a(n)

_________ variable.

a. Matching

b. Independent

c. Dependent

d. Partial

9. Which of the following is considered a special case of the general linear model?

a. A variable

b. Partial correlation and Analysis of covariance

c. variance

d. dependability

10. When a researcher starts with the dependent variable and moves backwards, it is called

________.

a. Predictive research

b. Retrospective research

c. Exploratory research

d. Descriptive research

14. Which one of the following is not a step in nonexperimental research?

a. Determine research problem and hypotheses

b. Analyse data

c. Interpret results

d. All are steps

15. If a research finding is statistically significant, then ____.

a. The observed result is probably not due to chance

b. The observed result cannot possibly be due to chance

c. The observed result is probably a chance result

d. The null hypothesis of “no relationship” is probably true

16. Which of the following is/are not necessary condition(s) for causation?

a. The relationship condition

b. The temporal antecedence condition

c. The lack of alternative explanation condition

d. research methods

17. Which of the following independent variables cannot be manipulated in a research study?

a. Gender

b. Ethnicity

c. Intelligence and other traits

d. None of the above can be manipulated in a research study

18. __________ is a form of explanatory research in which the researcher develops a theoretical

model and empirically tests the model to determine how well the model fits the data.

a. Causal modelling

b. Predictive research

c. Descriptive research

d. Exploratory research

19. Nonexperimental research in which the primary independent variable of interest is

categorical is sometimes called_____________.

a. Causal-comparative research

b. Correlational research

20. Which approach is the strongest for establishing that a relationship is causal?

a. Causal-comparative

b. Correlational

c. Experimental

d. Historical

21. Which approach is the strongest for establishing that a relationship is causal?

a. Causal-comparative

b. Correlational

c. One CANNOT say without additional information (i.e., it could be either depending on how well
the researcher established the three necessary conditions for cause and effect)
d. non correlation to the data

22. _______ is the most commonly used technique for controlling for extraneous variables in

nonexperimental research.

a. Matching

b. Holding extraneous variables constant

c. Statistical control

d. Static control

23. It is best to use the method of working multiple hypotheses when _____.

a. You are finished with your research

b. You are planning your research study

c. You are hoping to publish your already obtained research results

d. None of the above

25. If a correlation coefficient is .96, we would probably be able to say that the relationship is

____.

a. Weak

b. Strong

c. Statistically significant

d. b is true and c is probably true

26. What happens in a completely spurious relationship once the researcher controls for a

confounding third-variable?

a. The relationship between the original variables will get stronger

b. The relationship between the original variables will remain unchanged

c. The correlation coefficient will get closer to 1.0

d. The relationship between the original variables will get weaker or, if the original relationship is
fully spurious, it will disappear (i.e., the original relationship will become zero as measured by a
correlation coefficient)

27. Which of the three necessary conditions for cause and effect is almost always problematic in
nonexperimental research?

a. Condition 1: Variable A and Variable B must be related (the relationship condition).

b. Condition 2: Proper time order must be established (the temporal antecedence condition).

c. Condition 3: The relationship between variable A and Variable B must not be due to some
confounding extraneous variable"
d. Nonexperimental research is always weak on all three of the conditions

28. Which of the following is NOT a form of longitudinal research?

a. Trend study

b. Panel study

c. Cross-sectional study

30. This type of longitudinal research studies the same individuals over an extended period of time.

a. Trend study

b. Panel study

c. Both a and b

d. Neither a nor b

31. This type of research tests hypotheses and theories in order to explain how and why a

phenomenon operates as it does.

a. Descriptive research

b. Predictive research

c. Explanatory research

d. None of the above

32. The Pearson product moment correlation measures the degree of _________ relationship

present between two variables.

a. Curvilinear

b. Nonlinear

c. Linear and quadratic

d. Linear