Deck 8: Nonrandomized Research and Causal Reasoning

Question 1

Which design examines several age groups during one slice of a time period?

A) longitudinal
B) cross-lagged
C) cross-sectional
D) cohort

Answer 1

C

Question 2

A group of individuals who are born and grow up in the same period and thus have generally similar life experiences are referred to by researchers as a

A) family.
B) collective.
C) cohort.
D) nonequivalent group.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

In a cross-lagged panel design, which correlation indicates the reliability of the same variables over time?

A) test-retest
B) synchronous
C) cross-lagged
D) causality

Answer 3

A

Question 4

In a cross-lagged panel design, which correlation can be used to compare the reliability of the association between two variables measured at the same time?

A) causal correlation
B) cross-lagged correlation
C) synchronous correlation
D) test-retest correlation

Question 5

Ralph wants to examine group-related changes as well as age-related changes as a function of time. Which quasi-experimental design would be most appropriate for him to use?

A) nonequivalent-groups design
B) time-series design
C) longitudinal design using cohorts
D) single-case experimental design

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of single-case experimental designs?

A) the use of a within-subjects design
B) studying one or only a few sampling units
C) the manipulation of the independent variable
D) the random assignment of sampling units to treatment conditions

Question 7

An educator wants to evaluate the efficacy of a new teaching technique. He uses his class as the experimental treatment group and a colleague's class as the control group. Which type of experimental design is the educator most likely employing?

A) correlational research design
B) nonequivalent-groups design
C) cross-lagged panel design
D) interrupted time-series design

Question 8

Another name for a longitudinal study is a(n)

A) panel study.
B) nonequivalent groups design.
C) interrupted time-series.
D) preexperimental design.

Question 9

In a cross-lagged panel design, which correlation is used to infer a causal relationship?

A) synchronous correlation
B) causal correlation
C) test-retest correlation
D) cross-lagged correlation

Question 10

To determine whether a new anti-drug campaign has had an impact on students' usage of drugs, an educator compares students' drug usage during the five weeks before and the five weeks after the anti-drug campaign. Which quasi-experimental design characterizes the educator's investigation?

A) single-case experimental design
B) cross-lagged panel design
C) time-series design
D) nonequivalent-groups design

Question 11

In situations where one must work with intact groups but where there are also ethical implications concerning depriving both groups of the benefits of the experimental treatment, one uses a randomized design with a __________ control group.

A) zero
B) preexperimental
C) wait-list
D) placebo

Question 12

Which type of study examines changes in a person or group of people over an extended period of time?

A) cohort
B) preexperimental
C) longitudinal
D) historical control

Question 13

June wants to know if one's interest in sports declines as one gets older. She compares several age groups with respect to how much they like to watch sports on television. Which design best describes June's study?

A) cross-sectional
B) nonequivalent-groups
C) cohort
D) longitudinal

Question 14

To evaluate the efficacy of a new intervention procedure, a clinician observes a patient's behavior before and after the intervention. The clinician then repeats the procedure, again observing the patient's behavior before and after the introduction of the treatment. Which single-case experimental design best describes the clinician's investigation?

A) A-B-A-B design
B) A-B-BC-B design
C) A-B-C-A design
D) A-B-AB-A design

Question 15

A professor is interested in whether one's confidence influences one's self-esteem or whether it is one's self-esteem that influences one's self-confidence. He measures his students' levels of self-esteem and confidence and learns that they are positively correlated. One year later the professor reassesses the students' self-esteem and confidence levels. He finds that there is a stronger correlation between one's confidence at time one and one's self-esteem one year later than the correlation between one's self-esteem at time one and one's confidence level one year later. Which type of quasi-experimental design is the professor employing?

A) a single-case experimental design
B) a time-series design
C) a cross-lagged panel design
D) nonequivalent groups design

Question 16

Fred systematically observes how changes in lighting affect his rat's lever-pressing behavior. Which research design best characterizes Fred's investigation?

A) cross-lagged panel design
B) single-case experimental design
C) nonequivalent groups design
D) correlational design

Question 17

In a study of the death rates of smokers and nonsmokers in three countries, it is found that the nonsmokers have higher death rates than the smokers. What technique could be used to address difficulties with the sampling units that produced this unusual result?

A) There is no technique available to address it
B) subclassification on propensity scores
C) time series design
D) lagged correlations

Question 18

The observations of an individual's behavior before the experimental treatment in a single-case experimental design is referred to as a(n)

A) pretest.
B) behavioral baseline.
C) experimental treatment.
D) cohort.

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT a design that involves comparisons of outcome measures obtained at different time intervals before and after the introduction of the treatment?

A) nonequivalent-groups design
B) single-case experimental designs
C) cross-lagged panel designs
D) time-series designs