Deck 22: Evaluating a Research Report

Question 1

A recent publication in the Journal of Interesting Research stated that based upon their experimental findings, children should only go to school 5 hours a day.
While there were tables and inferential statistics presented that illustrated a
Comparison between 5 hour a day children and 7 hour a day children, there was
No discussion of how the study was conducted. This omission illustrates a flaw
In the

A) review of related literature.
B) interpretation of the findings.
C) design and procedure.
D) conclusions and recommendations.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which is NOT a concern for inclusion in an abstract?

A) Are the procedures described?
B) Is the problem restated?
C) Is the design used identified?
D) Are they hypothesis clearly stated?

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The section where the application of the qualitative method chosen is described in the report is the

A) introduction.
B) design and procedure.
C) conclusion and implications.
D) results.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Marv needs to add a section indicating his 'full cycle' in the field to his research report. What type of research did Marv likely conduct?

A) Narrative
B) Ethnographic
C) Experimental
D) Correlational

Question 5

Hilary needs to include in her study a statement about response rate. What type of research did Hilary likely conduct?

A) Questionnaire
B) Ethnography
C) Experimental
D) Correlational

Question 6

Janet is interested in response to intervention in a sixth-grade child with autism. She employs a case study methodology. Of the following, which is something that is critical for her to include in her research report?

A) Tables of the quantitative research results.
B) A rationale for selecting this case for study.
C) A description of how Janet is passionate about the study.
D) The psychometric properties of the instruments used.

Question 7

Dave is reviewing a manuscript submitted for publication. The paper describes a study that assessed the attitudes of pre-service teachers about their student
Teaching experience. Which of the following questions is most important for Dave to
Ask himself regarding the study?

A) Was an appropriate experimental design selected?
B) Were control procedures applied to equate groups on extraneous variables?
C) Was the questionnaire pilot-tested?
D) Were efforts made to overcome observer bias and observer effect?

Question 8

Milton recently reported on a survey study that he conducted with High School students. In his work, he was particularly interested in how many high carbohydrate items athletes consume during a day while they are training. In his report he does not convey why the number of high carbohydrate items is of relevance to the related literature on student athletes. This omission is a flaw primarily in which of the following components of a research report.

A) Method
B) Results
C) Discussion
D) Introduction

Question 9

Cindy conducted a path analysis for her thesis. She is most concerned about addressing which of the following questions in her report?

A) Is a rationale given for selection of predictor variables?
B) Are the qualifications and special training of the interviewers described?
C) Was the level of inter-observer reliability obtained from at least two independent raters?
D) Were groups randomly formed and the use of existing groups avoided?

Question 10

Of the following, which question is relevant when critiquing a narrative study?

A) Are the characteristics that differentiate the groups clearly defined or described?
B) Are sources of invalidity associated with the design identified and discussed?
C) Are generalizations consistent with the results?
D) Is there a rationale for the choice of individual to study the chose phenomenon?

Question 11

Of the following questions one might ask when critiquing a research study, which is a concern for the instruments section?

A) Is the relevancy of the references explained?
B) Are the size and characteristics of the sample described?
C) Are generalizations consistent with the result?
D) Are subtest reliabilities provided?

Question 12

The portion of a research report where the educational significance of the problem is presented is the

A) introduction.
B) review of related literature.
C) hypotheses.
D) method.

Question 13

Brandon is confused. He just read a study where the research questions examined gender differences and the analysis used was Spearman's rho. It
Appears that there is a flaw in which section of the research report?

A) results
B) discussion
C) method
D) introduction

Question 14

In reading a recent article, you note that there is no research topic of study presented. This is a flaw in the _____________ of the report.

A) introduction
B) method
C) results
D) discussion

Question 15

Recently, Sam was reading a study that addressed the benefits of the structure strategy in text comprehension. The study was well designed but Sam was
Surprised that Meyer's relevant 1998 article was not mentioned in the study. Sam
Has indicated a flaw in the _______ of the article.

A) problem statement
B) review of related literature
C) hypotheses statements
D) design and procedure

Question 16

The section of a report where the generalizations are critiqued is the

A) results
B) discussion.
C) method.
D) introduction.

Question 17

At a recent conference, Frank questioned the authors of a research report who had used a test designed for middle school learners with a second-grade sample.
Frank has addressed a concern in which aspect of the study?

A) instruments
B) participants
C) results
D) introduction

Question 18

When reading a recent journal article Juan was confused. It seems the author used the term self-determination in a way that was not consistent with Juan's
Previous understanding of self-determination but Juan was not quite sure because
The author did not operationalize his variables. The author should have included
Operational definitions of his variables in the ____________ of his article.

A) introduction
B) method
C) results
D) discussion

Question 19

Judy forgot to mention that the survey she used in her dissertation employed a seven-point Likert Scale. This omission is a weakness in which section of her
Report?

A) Participants
B) Design and procedures
C) Instruments
D) Results

Question 20

Ya-ling was reading a research report on the challenges learners' face when reading diagrams in science textbooks. She was really interested in the research but questioned the instructional materials that the participants were given. It appears that they may have been much too hard for the participants to read. Since the author did not adequately describe the materials, Ya-ling has identified a potential flaw in the __________ of this research report.

A) introduction
B) references
C) method
D) results

Question 21

Marjorie conducted a study of students' views of race relations in America. She did not, however, share the characteristics of her participants. Marjorie has demonstrated

A) a threat to internal validity.
B) a threat to external validity.
C) a threat to statistical conclusion validity.
D) a threat to reliability.

Question 22

Susan examined differences in students' sustained independent reading time between classrooms with and without a paraprofessional in the room and is
Writing her report. She is likely concerned with which of the following questions
Related to her causal-comparative study?

A) Is a rationale given for selection of predictor variables?
B) Were the sources of data related to the problem mostly primary?
C) Was the resulting prediction equation validated with another group?
D) Is the independent variable clearly defined or described?

Question 23

Jill reported in her research that there were significant differences between males and females on several items of a personality inventory. She conducted many t
Tests on a relatively small sample, without correcting for error rate problems. This
Best illustrates a flaw in Jill's

A) instruments.
B) design and procedures.
C) results.
D) conclusions and recommendations.

Question 24

Dennis read a study that examined whether teacher-provided verbal signals helped students retain information from lectures. Dennis noticed that the researchers had
Made sure that an equal number of both high and low ability learners were in
Each condition. This is a strength in this ______________ researcher report.

A) observational
B) correlational
C) survey
D) causal-comparative

Question 25

Of the following, which is a concern for correlational studies in particular?

A) Is the method used to record responses described?
B) Is the rationale for variable selection described?
C) Is a rationale for the design selection given?
D) Is the method for group formation described?

Question 26

Quidera conducted a study in her classroom. She has been frustrated by the lack of time management skills of her graduating seniors. She implemented a required assignment notebook and planner program for two months and observed the effects on students' homework completion. Quidera's study can best be described as

A) action research.
B) narrative research.
C) experimental research.
D) ethnographical research.

Question 27

Chyleen owns a child care center for young children. She conducted a study of parents' perceptions of the need for structure in early learning environments. She was careful to report how her findings would benefit her practice as an early childhood learning professional. Chyleen's research would best be described as

A) ethnographic.
B) experimental.
C) action research.
D) correlational.

Question 28

Vince recently critiqued a study that asked nonnative speaking parents about their educational aspirations for their children. The study did not ascertain,
However, that the target population, the parents, could read the questionnaire, which was
Written in English. This illustrates a flaw in the ____________ section of the
Research report.

A) design
B) hypothesis
C) instruments
D) participants

Question 29

Tobin conducted a study in which he randomly assigned participants to two treatment conditions to test if there were differences by treatment on the number of classroom referrals. He then interviewed selected students regarding their experiences with the two treatments. In the results section of his study it is unclear at times from which data he has drawn his conclusions. This flaw is most directly related to reporting of ____________ research study.

A) experimental
B) mixed methods
C) narrative
D) correlational

Question 30

Ntozake conducted a study in which she observed bullying in a middle school physical education environment. She conducted the study over a three-week time period. This may not have been long enough to combat observer effects. This illustrates which of the following concerns with conclusions from Ntozake's study?

A) An instrumentation threat
B) An internal validity threat
C) A history threat
D) An external validity threat

Question 31

When reviewing a research report that examined on-task behavior of ADHD children in various settings, Sue was confused because the data did not support
The recommendations for practice provided by the researchers. This
Overgeneralization is a flaw in the ______________ in the report.

A) statement of hypothesis
B) discussion
C) design and procedures
D) review of related literature

Question 32

Mo conducted an interview study and is writing up her report. Which of the following is of importance to Mo in her research report?

A) Is the criterion variable well defined?
B) Was an appropriate experimental design selected?
C) Is the method used to record responses described?
D) Were possible reactive arrangements controlled for?

Question 33

The question of whether data are time constrained is most relevant to which of the following types of research?

A) Experimental
B) Causal-comparative
C) Mixed methods
D) Single-subject

Question 34

Willa conducted a study on the effects of violent television viewing on choice of playground activity. Her data indicated no support for her research hypothesis
That those children that watched violent television played more aggressively on
The playground. Interestingly, however, although not related to her hypothesis,
She found that children who watched violent television played on the playground
For a shorter amount of time when compared to children who did not watch
Violent television. How should Willa address this finding?

A) Change her hypothesis statements to include a hypothesis about duration of playground activity.
B) Add the analysis to the results section and discuss the finding in the conclusions and recommendations section.
C) Rewrite the research problem to include duration of play as a variable of interest in the study.
D) Address the finding in the discussion section and suggest future work that addresses duration of play as a variable.

Question 35

Kristin is writing up her research and has provided rationale for why she elected to use a within-subjects design. Most of the previous research had used a between-subjects design. What type of research did Kristin likely conduct?

A) Experimental
B) Correlational
C) Narrative
D) Mixed methods

Question 36

Amber recently read a research report that described a study that investigated the benefits of a mnemonic strategy for special education learners. She would like to replicate the study but there was little information about the mnemonic strategy
Included. This lack of information illustrates a concern with the ____________
Section of the report?

A) introduction
B) discussion
C) results
D) method

Question 37

Tom conducted a study that examined gender differences in ability to learn physics concepts from computer games. In his study he found men learned better
From games than the women. He had not, however, controlled for amount of game
Playing or interest in physics. These lack of controls are a flaw in Tom's

A) survey study.
B) causal-comparative study.
C) correlational study.
D) experimental study.

Question 38

Yuki read a study that compared pre- and post-test performance between two different in-service training methods for teaching emergency first aid to teachers.
She really found the study interesting but there was no description of how the
Two treatment groups were formed. This is a flaw in this _______________
Research report.

A) survey
B) observational
C) experimental
D) correlational

Question 39

Donna, a reading specialist, compared reading motivation between two fifth grade classes. For one class she provided a free selection of books of their choice. For the other class she pre-selected the books for the students. Her hypothesis was that students given more choice in the library would have higher motivation to read. Her hypothesis was supported. Lisa, when reading her report, wondered if there were pre-existing differences between the classes that were not
Considered or if there were extraneous variables not addressed. These oversights in Donna's work are primarily a problem with her

A) participants.
B) hypothesis.
C) design and procedure.
D) Instruments.

Question 40

When Michele reached the method section of the study she reviewed for a class assignment, she found that the researchers had clearly described the questionnaire
And the pilot procedures used to test the items. This is a strength of this
__________ research report.

A) observational
B) correlational
C) survey
D) causal-comparative

Question 41

A guiding hypothesis is likely to be found in which of the following type of research study?

A) Qualitative
B) Causal-comparative
C) Correlational
D) Experimental

Question 42

LuAnn, a child development researcher, recently conducted a study in a hospital nursery to examine the feeding habits of newborn babies. She did not tell parents her identity or the purpose of her work when she asked them questions. This concern with LuAnn's study is most directly related to a concern with

A) external validity.
B) internal validity.
C) reliability.
D) ethics.

Question 43

Yaseen's research has addressed middle school students' body image. He is sure to include information about how he selected the scale that he used. One of the drawbacks of his study is that the scale had previously only been used with older populations. Yaseen should include this information in which of the following sections of his research report?

A) Literature review
B) Instruments
C) Results
D) Participants

Question 44

Ar-Mu'min has conducted a study that examines teachers' understandings of child development. He is certain to present how he gained entry into the research site and how he coded his data. Which of the following is the most likely type of research that Ar-Mu'min has conducted?

A) Ethnographic
B) Experimental
C) Correlational
D) Causal-comparative

Question 45

Eliza takes care to illustrate in her research report how long she was in the field and how she has minimized observer effects. In her efforts to address these concerns, Eliza is most directly addressing

A) threats to internal validity.
B) threats to external validity.
C) ethics concerns
D) reliability

Question 46

Maria has turned in her honor's thesis that considers the prevalence of ability grouping in local intermediate grades. One of her readers questions the prompts that might have been provided to the participants and how the participants' responses were coded. Given this information, what type of study did Maria conduct for her thesis?

A) Causal-Comparative
B) Ethnographic
C) Mixed methods
D) Experimental

Question 47

Jackie wants to examine teachers' efficacy for her dissertation project. She has consulted with her committee and they have suggested that Jackie must make it clear how her qualitative and quantitative data relate. Which of the following types of research study does Jackie propose?

A) Ethnographic
B) Mixed methods
C) Experimental
D) Correlational

Question 48

Eliza takes care to illustrate in her research report how long she was in the field and how she has minimized observer effects. Which of the following types of research did Eliza most likely conduct?

A) Experimental
B) Action
C) Correlational
D) Ethnography

Question 49

Ron is reviewing a qualitative study. Which of the following should be of concern to his review?

A) Is the inductive logic applied to the data to produce results stated in detail?
B) Is the rationale for variable selection described?
C) Were any control procedures used to equate the groups on extraneous variables?
D) Are sources of invalidity associated with the design identified and discussed?