Exam 2: Identifying a Research Question and Study Purposes

Qualitative research approaches generally use questions as opposed to hypotheses.

The research topic is usually identified using which of the following?

A hypothesis can be derived from theory, literature, or speculation.

Unmeasured variables that are not controlled for are called extraneous variables.

A moderator variable can also be called an effect moderator and can be manipulated.

You are asked to develop a quantitative research purpose statement. List five strategies that help in developing an effective purpose statement. (i.e., what information should you be including in a quantitative research purpose statement?)

What is a mediator variable?

In a quantitative research purpose statement it is not necessary to identify the targeted participants for the study.

Which type of reasoning approach relies on observations to make predictions about general principles?

Describe two methods to help you organize literature.

You are asked to complete a literature review. Discuss how you would gain sources for the literature review and discuss the three main parts to a literature review.

ERIC, PsychInfo, and Web of Science are which of the following?

Key variables are the main focus in a ___ study, while central phenomenon are the main interest in a __ study.

Define a descriptive problem and give an example of a descriptive research question.

A literature review summarizes current literature based on studies that are relevant and similar. To summarize these papers, your literature review should do which of the following?

Reading and understanding research literature takes time and can be stressful. Discuss five suggestions that Thomas, Nelson, and Silverman (2011) provide for reading the literature.

Predictive research problems allow researchers to make claims about cause and effect relationships.

In terms of organizing literature, which tool gives a visual representation of the identified studies?

Writing a mixed methods purpose statement involves following the guidelines for qualitative and quantitative purpose statements.

The use of theory in developing a research problem differ depending on whether quantitative or qualitative approaches are used. Describe the difference between the uses of theory in these two research approaches.