Deck 1: Why Study Research

Question 1

If a research study gets published practitioners can be guided by just reading its conclusions; there is no need to read the technical aspects of the study's research methods.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Our attempts to learn about the world we live in come from

A) direct experience.
B) tradition.
C) direct, personal inquiry.
D) authority.
E) All of these.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Scientific evidence should be based on

A) observations gathered in ways that seek to reduce the influence of researcher biases.
B) systematic and comprehensive observations.
C) a large and diverse sample of observations.
D) All of these.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Almost all research studies on social work practice effectiveness have agreed that it is very effective.

Question 5

Which of the following statements is (are)true regarding practice effectiveness?

A) It is safe to assume that well-trained social workers will be effective regardless of which interventions they employ.
B) Social work practice consists largely of interventions and procedures that have not yet received adequate testing.
C) Knowledge of research methods and knowledge of practice are separate and unrelated.
D) All of these.
E) None of these.

Question 6

Which of the following statements is (are)true about the scientific method?

A) Some things are NOT open to question.
B) Good studies need NOT be replicated.
C) All knowledge is considered provisional.
D) All of these.
E) None of these.

Question 7

According to the scientific method,all knowledge should be

A) provisional.
B) subject to refutation.
C) based on evidence supported by objective observations.
D) All of these

Question 8

When social work practitioners utilize research discriminatingly,they help uphold and advance the values and mission of their profession.

Question 9

Which of the following statements is (are)true regarding entering your first job as a professional social worker?

A) You should disregard agency traditions.
B) You should disregard advice based on authority, even if the authority figure has a high level of training, credentials and experience.
C) You should keep in mind that knowledge based on tradition and authority could be wrong, and seek evidence that might support or challenge that knowledge.
D) All of these.
E) None of these.

Question 10

Legitimate ex post facto hypothesizing requires additional research.

Question 11

Which of the following statements is/are true about the need to critique research quality?

A) Practitioners can rely on researchers to produce good studies, and therefore only have to know the results of those studies.
B) If a research study gets published practitioners can be assured that it is of high quality.
C) Social work practitioners need to understand research methods so they can discriminate strong from weak studies.
D) All of these.

Question 12

A social worker invents a new therapy that brings her fame,fortune,and a large following of professional disciples.Two studies evaluate her new therapy.One is scientifically weak in its design,and concludes that her therapy is extremely effective.The other is scientifically very strong in its design,but concludes that her therapy is not effective at all.She writes a letter to the journal publishing both studies.In her letter she severely criticizes the design of the strong study (and therefore also criticizes the credibility of its findings),and she praises the design and findings of the weak study.

A) overgeneralization.
B) ego-involvement in understanding.
C) premature closure of inquiry.
D) made-up information.
E) mystification.

Question 13

Science offers total protection against the errors that nonscientists commit in casual,day-to-day inquiry.

Question 14

Which of the following statements is true about research findings on the effectiveness of social work services?

A) They have often found the services to be ineffective.
B) No interventions have been identified as effective.
C) We can assume that if social workers are well trained, then they will be effective
D) Social work practice consists primarily of interventions that have been well tested.

Question 15

A family preservation program director helps design a study that evaluates the effectiveness of her program to keep children living with their abusive parents by providing the families with daily home visits by social workers.She expects the evaluation to show a dramatic reduction in reported child abuse incidents.Instead,the results show an increase in reported child abuse incidents.The director then concludes that the program was undoubtedly effective,reasoning that there really could not possibly have been an increase in actual abuse due to her program,just an increase in reportage of abuse due to closer monitoring in the daily home visits.The director is committing the error of

A) illogical reasoning.
B) ex post facto hypothesizing.
C) premature closure of inquiry.
D) selective observation.
E) mystification.

Question 16

Refusing to examine research on the services we deliver has no bearing on how professionally ethical we are.

Question 17

Assume that Professor Rodgers had studied only people aged 65 or older and found that they experienced increasing levels of happiness in the last 20 years.Suppose he had concluded that people under 65 years of age also experienced increasing levels of happiness during the same time period.He would have committed

A) the error of overgeneralization.
B) the error of selective observation.
C) the error of illogical reasoning.
D) the enrror of inaccurate observation.
E) no error.

Question 18

Which of the following statements is true about research utilization and social work practice:

A) Whether or not social work practitioners bother to keep abreast of research findings on which interventions are the most effective for their clients has no bearing on how professionally ethical those social workers are.
B) Whether or not social work practitioners bother to keep abreast of research findings on which interventions are the most effective for their clients has no bearing on how compassionate those social workers are.
C) Whether or not social work practitioners bother to keep abreast of research findings on which interventions are the most effective for their clients has no bearing on social work values.
D) All of these.
E) None of these.

Question 19

According to the scientific method,scientific evidence that has been strongly supported in numerous replications is not open to question.

Question 20

Safeguards against selective observation in science include

A) use of a research design.
B) colleagues.
C) committing oneself ahead of time to make a specified number of observations.
D) all of these.
E) none of these.

Question 21

Our ego involvement can influence us to disregard evidence that contradicts our beliefs.

Question 22

When most well educated people agree that something makes common sense,we can safely assume that to be true without applying the scientific method.

Question 23

Describe how scientific inquiry differs from nonscientific inquiry.

Question 24

Tradition and authority can be useful sources of knowledge,but relying on them exclusively can be risky.

Question 25

Explain what is meant by ego involvement in understanding.

Question 26

Explain why it is important for social work practitioners to utilize research on social work practice.

Question 27

Explain what is meant by the statement,"Tradition and authority are the two-edged swords in the search for knowledge about the world."