Deck 2: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Research

Question 1

A researcher carries out a study examining the effects of a new reading program on reading achievement as measured by a standardized test. He chooses two first-grade classes to carry out the study. After the study is done, he finds that group who received the new reading program performed better than the control group. He also discovers, however, that the group he chose to receive the new program had better prior reading performance. An extraneous variable in this study is:

A) Prior reading performance
B) The type of reading program
C) Reading achievement standardized test scores
D) Grade level

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Describe the characteristics of mixed research.

Answer 2

not answered

Question 3

A researcher carries out a study examining the effects of a new science program on scores on a standardized science test. He chooses two seventh-grade classes to carry out the study. After the study is done, he finds that group who received the new program performed better than the control group. He also discovers, however, that the group he chose to receive the new program had better prior science achievement. In this study, the prior science achievement is:

A) An extraneous variable
B) The independent variable
C) The dependent variable
D) A moderator variable

Answer 3

B

Question 4

A researcher is interested in the effects of a YouTube video on student learning of a topic in statistics (e.g., how to calculate a correlation coefficient). He randomly assigns 50 students to one of two conditions. In one condition, the students read a traditional text. In the second condition, students view a YouTube video. He measures their performance on a post-test. In this scenario, type of instruction (text versus video) serves as the:

A) Independent variable
B) Dependent variable
C) Moderating variable
D) Mediating variable

Question 5

An extraneous variable is:

A) A variable that moderates a relationship
B) A dependent variable
C) A variable that intervenes between one variable and another
D) A variable that potentially competes with the independent variable in explaining the results

Question 6

A researcher does a study looking at an intervention designed to increase interest in Science among Girls. She assigns 30 girls to the intervention and 30 girls to a no intervention group. In this study, she studies only girls. Girls in this study represent:

A) the independent variable
B) the dependent variable
C) a constant
D) a categorical variable

Question 7

Explain when each of the three major research paradigms (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed) would be appropriate to use.

Question 8

Explain the concept of a correlation coefficient.

Question 9

A researcher is interested in the effects of teaching students problem-solving strategies on their abilities to solve complex mathematics problems. She randomly assigns students to either learn the strategies, or participate in a control group. She then compares their performance on a complex problem-solving task. The student performance scores on the complex problem task are the:

A) Independent variable
B) Dependent variable
C) Moderating variable
D) Mediating variable

Question 10

Describe the characteristics of quantitative research.

Question 11

List and explain the differences among the different types of qualitative research introduced in this chapter.

Question 12

Researchers who want to design research studies that can support cause and effect conclusions most clearly are likely to carry out?

A) Nonexperimental research
B) Experimental research
C) Correlational research
D) Ethnography research

Question 13

Describe the characteristics of qualitative research.

Question 14

The variable that is presumed to be influenced by one or more independent variables is called a(n):

A) Categorical variable
B) Dependent variable
C) Independent variable
D) Intervening variable

Question 15

A researcher carries out a study examining the effects of a new science program on scores on a standardized science test. He chooses two seventh-grade classes to carry out the study. After the study is done, he finds that group who received the new program performed better than the control group. He also discovers, however, that the group he chose to receive the new program had better prior science achievement. In this study, the dependent variable in this study is:

A) Prior science achievement
B) The type of science program
C) Standardized science test scores
D) Seventh Grade

Question 16

List and explain the different types of variables used in quantitative research.

Question 17

Explain the difference between experimental and nonexperimental quantitative research.

Question 18

The variable that is presumed to cause changes in another variable is called a(n):

A) Categorical variable
B) Dependent variable
C) Independent variable
D) Intervening variable

Question 19

A mediating variable is:

A) An intervening variable
B) A variable the moderates a relationship
C) Extraneous variable
D) Interaction variable

Question 20

A variable that varies in type or kind is called a(n):

A) Categorical variable
B) Dependent variable
C) Independent variable
D) Intervening variable

Question 21

What is the definition of extraneous variable?

A) A variable that competes with the independent variable in explaining the outcome of a study:
B) A variable that varies in degree or amount
C) A variable that varies in type of kind
D) A variable that is manipulated by the researcher

Question 22

What kind of research is the deductive or confirmatory scientific method most closely associated with?

A) Quantitative
B) Qualitative
C) Correlational
D) Mixed

Question 23

A mixed method study is one that uses:

A) Two types of quantitative methods
B) Two levels of measurement: nominal and interval
C) Two types of variables: independent and dependent
D) Both qualitative and quantitative methods

Question 24

What kind of research is characterized by pluralism?

A) Quantitative
B) Qualitative
C) Correlational
D) Mixed

Question 25

The following scatter plot indicates:

A) No relationship
B) A positive relationship
C) A negative relationship
D) A nonlinear relationship

Question 26

A synonym for dependent variable is:

A) Manipulated variable
B) Extraneous variable
C) Outcome variable
D) Confounding variable

Question 27

Which type of research is more likely to be exploratory?

A) Quantitative
B) Qualitative
C) Mixed
D) None of the above

Question 28

What kind of research is the inductive or exploratory scientific method most closely associated with?

A) Quantitative
B) Qualitative
C) Correlational
D) Mixed

Question 29

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

Question 30

What kind of research would is most closely associated with "studying the culture of an educational context?"

A) Quantitative
B) Qualitative
C) Correlational
D) Mixed

Question 31

A research studies how teachers interact when they eat lunch together. She records the conversation and looks for themes, patterns, and meanings in the recorded conversation. What kind of research is the researcher carrying out?

A) Quantitative
B) Qualitative
C) Correlational
D) Mixed

Question 32

A researcher does a study of a curriculum on mass transit. She assigns a group of students from a rural school to receive the curriculum. She assigns a school in a major urban area to the comparison condition. She measures the results of a posttest on the curriculum. She finds that the groups score the same on the posttest. What can you conclude from this study?

A) We can say for sure that the curriculum does not improve knowledge of mass transit
B) There are no extraneous variables in this study
C) We can say for sure that the curriculum improves knowledge of mass transits
D) Rural versus Urban location is an extraneous variable that makes it hard to draw a conclusion

Question 33

What kind of research is the statement "behavior is law-like" most closely associated with?

A) Quantitative
B) Qualitative
C) Correlational
D) Mixed

Question 34

What kind of research is "exploratory objective" most closely associated with?

A) Quantitative
B) Qualitative
C) Correlational
D) Mixed

Question 35

A researcher calculates four correlation coefficients. Which of these represents the largest correlation?

A) .50
B) .10
C) .30
D) -.60

Question 36

A synonym for independent variable is:

A) Manipulated variable
B) Extraneous variable
C) Outcome variable
D) Confounding variable

Question 37

In what kind of research does the researcher collect in-depth interview and participant observation data?

A) Quantitative
B) Qualitative
C) Correlational
D) Mixed

Question 38

In what kind of research involves collecting multiple types of data?

A) Quantitative
B) Qualitative
C) Correlational
D) Mixed

Question 39

What kind of research is "the use of a narrow-angle lens focus" most closely associated with?

A) Quantitative
B) Qualitative
C) Correlational
D) Mixed

Question 40

The following scatter plot indicates:

A) No relationship
B) A positive relationship
C) A negative relationship
D) A nonlinear relationship

Question 41

Why is it important to control extraneous variables (to the best extent possible)?

A) An uncontrolled extraneous variable (variable "X") can cause doubt as to whether changes in one variable (variable "A") cause changes in another variable (variable "B")
B) An uncontrolled extraneous variable (variable "X") can act as an alternative explanation for the claim that changes in one variable (variable "A") cause changes in another variable (variable "B")
C) Uncontrolled extraneous variables rarely have an impact on empirical research and therefore it is not important to carefully control them most of the time
D) Both a and b are correct

Question 42

The proposition that one cannot mix quantitative and qualitative research is known as which of the following?

A) Incompatibility Thesis
B) Pragmatism
C) Determinism
D) Linguistic-relativity hypothesis

Question 43

The idea that people see and understand the world through the lens of their local language is called which of the following?

A) Verstehen
B) Singular Perspective theory
C) Relative Culture theory
D) Linguistic-relativity hypothesis

Question 44

Ethnography is a _____ research method.

A) quantitative
B) qualitative
C) mixed
D) multivariate

Question 45

Which type of research relies more on non-numerical data (e.g., words and images)?

A) Quantitative
B) Qualitative
C) Correlational
D) Mixed

Question 46

_______ research occurs when the researcher manipulates the independent variable.

A) Nonexperimental research
B) Experimental research
C) Grounded theory research
D) Historical research

Question 47

Which correlation is the strongest?

A) +.10
B) -.95
C) +.90
D) -.23

Question 48

Which of the following examples illustrates experimental research?

A) A researcher studies the profiles of National Merit Scholars to determine what factors are associated with their success
B) A researcher does a study where he manipulates the types of memory strategies students are taught and then measures their recall
C) A researcher does a study where he examines the correlation between mathematics anxiety and time to solve a mathematics story problem set
D) A researcher does a study where she carries out a survey that quantifies student beliefs about mathematics and follows that study up with a series of qualitative interviews with students

Question 49

Which type of research relies more on numerical data?

A) Quantitative
B) Qualitative
C) Phenomenology
D) Grounded theory

Question 50

Which correlation is the strongest?

A) +.10
B) -.95
C) +.90
D) -1.00

Question 51

Experimental research is a _____ research method.

A) quantitative
B) qualitative
C) mixed
D) ethnographic

Question 52

Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam would be three possible responses for a variable measuring religion identification. What kind of variable would this be?

A) Quantitative variable
B) Mixed variable
C) Categorical variable
D) Constant variable

Question 53

The correlation between education and income is:

A) Positive
B) Negative
C) Perfect
D) They are not correlated

Question 54

A variable that delineates how a relationship of interest changes under different conditions or circumstances is which of the following?

A) Independent Variable
B) Dependent Variable
C) Mediating Variable
D) Moderating Variable

Question 55

A researcher examines the impact of exposure to engineering design problems on interest in becoming an engineer. Interest in becoming an engineer is what kind of variable?

A) Independent Variable
B) Dependent Variable
C) Mediating Variable
D) Moderating variable

Question 56

The philosophical position that "what works is what is important or valid" is known as which of the following?

A) Determinism
B) Verstehen
C) Pragmatism
D) Workability thesis

Question 57

The correlation between the nutrition during pregnancy and newborn birthweight is:

A) Positive
B) Negative
C) Perfect
D) They are not correlated

Question 58

Which of the following is a variable that comes in between two other variables and helps show the process by which one variable affects another variable?

A) Independent Variable
B) Dependent Variable
C) Mediating Variable
D) Moderating Variable

Question 59

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

A) Annual income
B) Grade point average
C) Height
D) Gender

Question 60

The correlation between test scores and grades is:

A) Positive
B) Negative
C) Perfect
D) They are not correlated

Question 61

Qualitative research is especially interested in the idea of verstehen.

Question 62

Grounded theory research focuses on further testing of a theory after the researcher has completed preliminary experiments.

Question 63

A correlation coefficient indicates:

A) only quantitative information about a relationship between variables
B) only qualitative information about a relationship between variables
C) the relationship between the independent and dependent variables
D) the strength and direction of the relationship between variables

Question 64

When possible, some experts believe that it is best to mix quantitative and qualitative methods in a single research study.

Question 65

An intervention studied in an experiment is called a:

A) manipulation
B) correlate
C) constant
D) dependent variable

Question 66

The method of empathetic understanding of others' viewpoints, meanings, intention, and cultural beliefs is known as:

A) Ethnography
B) Correlational analysis
C) Verstehen
D) Causal comparative

Question 67

The form of qualitative research that focuses on understanding people's experiences through the use of stories is:

A) Narrative inquiry
B) Case study research
C) Phenomenology
D) Historical research

Question 68

Mixed research concerns itself with assessing subjective, intersubjective, and objective information.

Question 69

By combining two or more research methods in a mixed methods research study, you increase the strength of your study because you make it less likely you will miss something or make a mistake.

Question 70

Why would we mix quantitative and qualitative approaches in mixed research?

A) To obtain a design with complementary strengths
B) To test moderating variables
C) To include extraneous variables
D) To test mediating variables

Question 71

The views about research that are held by a group of researchers and included assumptions, concepts, values, and practices are known as research paradigm.

Question 72

A form of qualitative research that focuses on understanding and describing the culture of a group of people is known as ___.

A) Historical research
B) Grounded Theory
C) Case Study research
D) Ethnography

Question 73

Which of the following is an example of nonexperimental research?

A) A researcher manipulates how students are taught statistic and then looks at the performance differences on a posttest
B) A researcher manipulates how students are taught to solve word problems and compares math performance on a test
C) A researcher looks at the correlation between reading speed and reading comprehension
D) A researcher assigns students with ADHD to one of two drug treatment groups and examines the impact of the drug conditions on ADHD symptoms

Question 74

An example of a mixed methods research study would be:

A) Researchers conducting in-depth interviews with a limited number of participants, then creating a structured questionnaire based on those interviews, and then having a larger sample of research participants fill out the questionnaire
B) Researchers giving a group of participants a quantitative questionnaire to fill out; analyzing the answers; then conducting a follow-up quantitative survey of a larger group
C) Researchers conducting an in-depth case study of homeless people who live near a park in a large city
D) Researchers developing a casual-comparative research method to explain why a group of students have begun bullying other students in their dorms

Question 75

The main reason to control for extraneous variables is that they clutter a research study with too many variables to effectively work with.

Question 76

A group of researchers conducted a study of college freshmen to try to understand what their experience of their first year in college was like. This would be an example of which type of research?

A) Ethnography
B) Culture
C) Phenomenology
D) Correlation

Question 77

Which of the following examples illustrates probabilistic cause?

A) Students who do not study tend to perform poorly in school
B) Walker backed his car into Henry's Car and the impact damaged the radiator
C) John did not show up for the final exam and thereby received a zero
D) Every time Sarah spoke out in class she was sent to timeout

Question 78

A form of qualitative research that focuses on generating a theory is known as ___.

A) Historical research
B) Grounded Theory
C) Case Study
D) Ethnography

Question 79

In a holistic description, the researcher simply describes the individuals as they go about their activities.

Question 80

An effective way to control for extraneous variables is to:

A) measure confounding variables
B) measure the extraneous variables
C) random assignment of participants to groups
D) Ignore extraneous variables