Appendix E Test Items

1. Darla wants to test for differences between two sets of variables on religious fundamentalism (an interval variable). Her first variable is biological sex (male and female), and her second variable is religious affiliation (Catholic, Protestant, not religious, and other). What would be the most appropriate statistical test to conduct?

a. one t test and one one-way ANOVA

b. five paired t tests

c. one repeated measures ANOVA

d. one factorial ANOVA

2. When Darla runs a 2 × 4 factorial ANOVA, she wants to look for differences between each of the nominal independent variable’s categories separately. What is Darla looking for?

a. factors

b. relationships

c. interaction effects

d. main effects

3. Lamar is researching the potential for significant differences in communication apprehension based on biological sex (male/female) while controlling for an individual’s willingness to communicate. Which test would be the most appropriate statistical test for Lamar to conduct?

a. one t test, and one one-way ANOVA

b. five paired t tests

c. one repeated measures ANOVA

d. one ANCOVA

4. Robert conducted a test on organizational friendships. He wants to find the relationship between organizational friendship (friendship prevalence and friendship opportunity) and organizational culture (task and relational). In essence, he has four interval scales he is examining: two for organizational friendship and two for organizational culture. Since he is attempting to examine four variables, which test would be the most parsimonious?

a. one canonical correlation

b. two multiple linear regressions

c. two canonical correlations

d. six bivariate correlations

5. Which statistical test allows a researcher to examine differences using one or more nominal independent variables with one or more dependent variables?

a. one-way ANOVA

b. MANOVA

c. repeated measures ANOVA

d. factorial ANOVA

6. Milika is conducting a research study to determine whether or not a student’s communication apprehension will decrease over the course of a term in a public speaking class. Milika chooses

to test the students’ communication apprehension at the beginning of the term, toward the middle of the term, and again at the end of the term. Which test would be the most appropriate statistical test for Milika to conduct?

a. one-way ANOVA

b. MANOVA

c. repeated measures ANOVA

d. factorial ANOVA

7. Anna has collected data for her dissertation on the following variables: communication apprehension, ethnocentrism, humor assessment, and attitude about college. Anna is interested in determining the causal effects among the variables. Which test would be the most appropriate statistical test for Anna to conduct?

a. path analysis

b. MANOVA

c. repeated measures ANOVA

d. factorial ANOVA

8. Which law of science states that scientists should look for the simplest assumption in the formulation of a theory and the simplest test to interpret data?

a. central limits theorem

b. law of numerical probability

c. law of parsimony

d. law of structural regressions

9. Using path analysis, which variable is explained by one or more of the other variables in the model?

a. an exogenous variable

b. an endogenous variable

c. a parsimonious variable

d. a canonical variable

10. If you have two sets of multiple variables between which you want to find a relationship, which is the most parsimonious test to conduct?

a. a series of linear regressions

b. a series of Pearson product-moment correlations

c. a series of multiple linear regressions

d. a canonical correlation

11. In statistics, what is the simplest assumption in the formulation of a theory and the simplest test to interpret data?

a. law of parsimony

b. Type I error

c. theory of inference

d. law of interpretation

12. Which advanced difference test makes sense in the following scenario?

Jolene is conducting a study to see if individual levels of ethnocentrism decrease as a result of taking a course in intercultural communication. Her goal is to assess ethnocentrism levels every week over the course of a 16-week semester.

a. repeated measures ANOVA

b. multivariate analysis of variance

c. analysis of covariance

d. factorial ANOVA

13. Which advanced difference test makes sense in the following scenario?

Bobby is conducting a study to see if females and males differ in their level of organizational satisfaction. He’s worried that one’s age may be a factor as well, so he wants to take age out of the picture.

a. analysis of covariance

b. repeated measures ANOVA

c. multivariate analysis of variance

d. factorial ANOVA

14. Which advanced relationship test makes sense in the following scenario?

Tika is creating a new measure to examine patient communication satisfaction with a physician. She wants to make sure her new measure is a single construct with no subscales.

a. factor analysis

b. path analysis

c. structural equation model

d. canonical correlation

15. Which advanced relationship test makes sense in the following scenario?

Penelope is conducting a study examining the relationship between two series of related concepts. On the one hand, she has employee motivation and job satisfaction; on the other hand, she has the two forms of organizational dissent (articulated and latent).

a. canonical correlation

b. factor analysis

c. structural equation model

d. path analysis

16. It is not parsimonious to run a single one-way ANOVA when you could run three Student’s t tests.

a. True

b. False

17. An interaction effect examines the differences in the combination of the two factors.

a. True

b. False

18. A one-way ANOVA is considered a multivariate test.

a. True

b. False

19. Path analysis is concerned with observed and latent variables.

a. True

b. False

20. Factor analysis is a technique needed in research measures creation.

a. True

b. False

Essays:

21. Explain factor analysis in research.

22. Explain when a researcher would use a repeated measures ANOVA.

23. Explain the general rationale behind structural equation modeling.

Matching:

24. Match each of the following terms with the correct statement.

a. Factorial ANOVA = Statistical test in which a researcher has multiple nominal independent variables and one interval/ration dependent variable.

b. Law of Parsimony = Scientists should look for the simplest assumption in the formulation of a theory and the simplest test to interpret data.

c. Multivariate Test = Statistical test with two or more related dependent variables.

d. Covariate = A possible predictive or explanatory variable that is observed rather than manipulated but that can have an effect on the dependent variable.

e. Univariate Test = Statistical test with one dependent variable.