Chapter 8: Comparison Values, Contrast Sizes, and Standards

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. A study compared the mean homeowner insurance claims recorded for those with credit scores above 700 to those with scores within other four credit score ranges defined by the study. What is the term given to the range of scores above 700?

A. numeric value

B. threshold

C. reference category

D. cutoff point

Learning Objective: 8-1: Understand the role of comparison values, contrast sizes, and standards for making sense of numbers.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Reference Groups and Comparison Values

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. What does the term “risk factor” refer to, in the context of research? Select the best answer.

A. a trait that could increase chance of an adverse health condition

B. a multiple factor applied to a variable for denoting risk classes

C. a process to quantify risk of a disease or human condition

D. a factor for quantifying financial risk of a categorical variable

Learning Objective: 8-1: Understand the role of comparison values, contrast sizes, and standards for making sense of numbers.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Criteria for Identifying Comparison Values

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. What does the term “temporal comparison” mean?

A. a comparison with a temporary reference group

B. a comparison of outcome values across time

C. compare classes of a nominal variable

D. compare values of an independent variable

Learning Objective: 8-1: Understand the role of comparison values, contrast sizes, and standards for making sense of numbers.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Temporal Comparisons

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. 98.6°Fwas, until recently, taken as the normal temperature of a human body. What is this temperature termed as, in research?

A. average

B. benchmark

C. threshold

D. standard

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Standards

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. What does the term “cutoff' refer to?

A. a base value for a concept

B. value that is lowest value in a range

C. value that marks a change of status

D. a modal value in a range

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Thresholds and Cutoffs

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. The financial budget of a government stated the intention of improving GDP growth from 1.2% in the year 2020 to 7% in 2025. What is the 1.2% value termed as?

A. benchmark

B. baseline rate

C. objective rate

D. minimum value

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Benchmarks, Targets, and Objectives

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Which of the following statements best defines a target?

A. a value that is aimed for at a future time point

B. a standard that is established as a value

C. a value that creates a change in classification

D. a maximum possible value for a concept

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Benchmarks, Targets, and Objectives

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Historically, the fourth quarter sales of a retail chain contributed 40% of annual sales. What term could be used to describe this phenomenon?

A. historical records

B. cyclical pattern

C. benchmark

D. standard value

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Cyclical Patterns

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. What is the meaning of the phrase “seasonal adjustment?”

A. a spike in value of a variable every season

B. a constant subtracted from a numeric value

C. a correction to a value to remove seasonal patterns

D. an adjustment to correct a wrong value of a variable

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Cyclical Patterns

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. A researcher analyzing the efficacy of waste management systems in Ukraine, referenced a study published by the United Nations on historical waste management practices by former Soviet Union countries. What is this reference to the UN study termed as?

A. external standard

B. target reference

C. benchmark values

D. study citation

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Criteria for Choosing External Comparison Values or Standards

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. How would you define the term “contrast size” used in research terminology?

A. percent change from one group to another

B. difference in value of a dependent variable for two time points

C. difference between an independent and dependent numeric variable

D. units of change in an independent variable used for comparison

Learning Objective: 8-4: Identify a suitable contrast size for a quantitative variable.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Contrast Sizes for Quantitative Variables

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. The values of a numeric independent variable that influences a dependent variable falls within a range of 0.2 and 0.5, with the 50th percentile falling within 0.25. Analyzing the effect of a 1-unit change in the independent variable to the dependent variable would lead to which type of problem?

A. mis-classification problem

B. Goldilocks problem

C. Occam's razor problem

D. threshold problem

Learning Objective: 8-4: Identify a suitable contrast size for a quantitative variable.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The “Goldilocks” Problem

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. Which are the two primary criteria for choosing a contrast size in a research study?

A. empirical and ordinal

B. nominal and numeric range

C. theoretical and empirical

D. interval and ratio

Learning Objective: 8-4: Identify a suitable contrast size for a quantitative variable.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Criteria for Identifying Contrast Sizes

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. The number of days required to complete a free online course in American History by registered students is analyzed by the university offering the course. The top 25th percentile of the number of days is compared to the bottom 25th percentile. What type of contrast would you term this comparison?

A. empirical

B. theoretical

C. ordinal

D. nominal

Learning Objective: 8-4: Identify a suitable contrast size for a quantitative variable.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Criteria for Identifying Contrast Sizes

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. Which of the following is often undertaken by researchers when a 1-unit change is too big or too small of a contrast for a numeric independent variable?

A. remove the independent variable

B. re-scale the independent variable

C. take the log of outcome variable

D. inflate the dependent variable

Learning Objective: 8-4: Identify a suitable contrast size for a quantitative variable.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Rescaling Continuous Variables to Adjust Contrast Size

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. When conducting a comparison of an outcome to several independent variables, which of the following is considered good practice?

A. change two W's at a time for interaction

B. change all independent variables by one unit

C. vary one independent variable at a time

D. vary the outcome variable by one unit

Learning Objective: 8-5: List criteria to ensure that values from different contexts and units can be compared.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Context

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. In studies that compare monetary values across time periods, for example, years, what type of conversion of the values need to be done?

A. current to constant units

B. internal rate of return

C. constant to current units

D. present value to constant units

Learning Objective: 8-5: List criteria to ensure that values from different contexts and units can be compared.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Comparison Across Time

Difficulty Level: Easy

18. A study was undertaken to compare house prices of Hong Kong to those in Houston. Other than converting currency rates to a common unit, what else needs to be considered to make a valid comparison?

A. population of each city

B. net present value of houses

C. range of house prices

D. cost of living index

Learning Objective: 8-5: List criteria to ensure that values from different contexts and units can be compared.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Comparison Across Location

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. What does the term purchasing power parity (PPP) mean?

A. median income of a location or region for a time period

B. inflation rate of a country or region for a time point

C. equivalence of currency required to buy a common set of goods

D. conversion multiplier required to purchase a currency

Learning Objective: 8-5: List criteria to ensure that values from different contexts and units can be compared.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Comparison Across Units, Place, and Time

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. The value of $100 in the year 1980 is valued at $339.81 in the year 2021, after accounting for inflation rates in the United States. What term is used to refer to the amount of US$339.81?

A. current dollars

B. constant dollars

C. nominal dollars

D. base dollar unit

Learning Objective: 8-5: List criteria to ensure that values from different contexts and units can be compared.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Comparison Across Units, Place, and Time

Difficulty Level: Easy

21. A comparison of values of a variable across time periods, must choose which primary common factor for the comparison to be valid?

A. ending period

B. range of time

C. number of periods

D. base period

Learning Objective: 8-5: List criteria to ensure that values from different contexts and units can be compared.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Comparability of Standards

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. Each of the following statements give the factors that affect a comparison of values of a variable. Which statement is correct?

A. topic, unit, data source, context

B. context, purchase power, inflation

C. exchange rate, base period, location

D. time period, cost of living, location, unit

Learning Objective: 8-5: List criteria to ensure that values from different contexts and units can be compared.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Comparability of Standards

Difficulty Level: Medium

23. A researcher studying the rate of poverty in Southeast Asian countries, defines a threshold value of household income to identify poverty, based on the data. She uses this threshold on the data collected for further analysis and conclusions. Which factor did the researcher not consider in her study?

A. a base period

B. external standards

C. currency rates

D. internal standards

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Criteria for Choosing External Comparison Values or Standards

Difficulty Level: Medium

24. Which of the following statements is true with regard to characteristics of standards? Choose the best answer.

A. measurement units, location, time period

B. historical records of international body

C. patterns, records, cycles, benchmarks

D. target values, cyclical patterns, units, time

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Highlights

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. What is the primary purpose of most research studies?

A. how two dependent variables change in relation to each other

B. how an outcome variable varies with change in an independent variable

C. validating a null hypothesis defined by the researcher

D. variation in two or more independent variables for different topics

Learning Objective: 8-1: Understand the role of comparison values, contrast sizes, and standards for making sense of numbers.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Reference Groups and Comparison Values

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. A reference value is the value of an independent variable against which other values of that variable is to be compared.

Learning Objective: 8-1: Understand the role of comparison values, contrast sizes, and standards for making sense of numbers.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Reference Groups and Comparison Values

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. For an interval variable, the class or group of the comparison value is known as the comparison group.

Learning Objective: 8-1: Understand the role of comparison values, contrast sizes, and standards for making sense of numbers.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Reference Groups and Comparison Values

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. An independent variable containing census blocks of customers’ residences has the highest frequency of customers (30%) residing in a particular census block. This census block could be considered as a reference category for comparison between census blocks.

Learning Objective: 8-2: Choose a sensible comparison group for a categorical variable.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Criteria for Identifying Comparison Values

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. In case of a dichotomous categorical variable, such as presence or absence of a risk factor among people analyzed in a study, the presence of the risk factor could be taken as the comparison category.

Learning Objective: 8-2: Choose a sensible comparison group for a categorical variable.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Comparisons Across Groups

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. A comparison of values for two time points or periods is called a temporal comparison.

Learning Objective: 8-2: Choose a sensible comparison group for a categorical variable.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Temporal Comparisons

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Standard patterns of a topic or phenomena are usually calculated from sample data for a particular time point.

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Standards

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. A retail bank requires a minimum of $1,000 to be maintained in their premier savings account. The value of $1,000 could be termed as a threshold.

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Thresholds and Cutoffs

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. The normal rate of a resting heart lies between 60 and 100 beats per minute. A heart rate of 100 beats per minute could be taken as a benchmark for a normal heart rate.

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Benchmarks, Targets, and Objectives

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. A contrast size is the difference in units between an independent quantitative variable and the associated outcome variable.

Learning Objective: 8-4: Identify a suitable contrast size for a quantitative variable.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Contrast Sizes for Quantitative Variables

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Values of a continuous independent variable must be in the same units and may or may not be at the same level of aggregation, in order to do a comparison of its values.

Learning Objective: 8-5: List criteria to ensure that values from different contexts and units can be compared.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Measurement

Difficulty Level: Medium

Short Answer

1. Explain, using an example, the difference between a reference value and a reference category.

Learning Objective: 8-1: Understand the role of comparison values, contrast sizes, and standards for making sense of numbers.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Reference Groups and Comparison Values

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. List the main criteria in selecting a comparison group. Provide an example to illustrate one of these criteria.

Learning Objective: 8-2: Choose a sensible comparison group for a categorical variable.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Comparisons Across Groups

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. The specifications to identify a defective part in the production of a particular machine part was revised on February 2, 2016. A study on quality standards of this machine part was undertaken in 2020, with data collected from 2012 to 2020. What could be said about the type of study in this case? What recommendations would you give in conducting the study?

Learning Objective: 8-2: Choose a sensible comparison group for a categorical variable.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Temporal Comparisons

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. Describe the difference between a standard and a threshold used in research studies. Provide an example to illustrate this difference.

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Standards, Thresholds, and Target Values

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. In your own words, describe what is a benchmark and how it is used in a research study.

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Benchmarks, Targets, and Objectives

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. A fast-food chain historically has spikes in the number of hires during the months of March, June, and November. How would you describe this phenomenon? How would you compare the current year's hiring compared to historical data of the chain?

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Cyclical Patterns

Difficulty Level: Hard

7. Using an example, discuss internal and external standards in the context of a research study.

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Criteria for Choosing External Comparison Values or Standards

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. A research study analyzes the number of insurance claims made by policyholders of age 25 years to those policyholders of age 45 years. What can you say about the contrast size of this study?

Learning Objective: 8-4: Identify a suitable contrast size for a quantitative variable.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Contrast Sizes for Quantitative Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Describe the Goldilocks problem with the help of an example.

Learning Objective: 8-4: Identify a suitable contrast size for a quantitative variable.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The “Goldilocks” Problem

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. List the criteria for comparing values of an independent variable. Provide an example to explain one of the criteria.

Learning Objective: 8-5: List criteria to ensure that values from different contexts and units can be compared.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Considerations for Comparability

Difficulty Level: Medium

Essay

1. Describe, in general, how you would approach the process of identifying a comparison group or value for a categorical variable versus a continuous variable. Are there any differences in the process between the two types of variables?

Learning Objective: 8-2: Choose a sensible comparison group for a categorical variable.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Reference Groups and Comparison Values

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. Design a research study on employee churn or attrition in a telecommunications company. Choose three independent variables that would have an association with the outcome of churn. Make sure that at least one of these variables is a quantitative variable. Discuss the process you would follow to define standards and benchmarks for the independent variables you chose. Illustrate with an example.

Learning Objective: 8-3: Identify different types of standards, thresholds, patterns, and benchmarks.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Standards, Thresholds, and Target Values

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. For the study you designed in Question 2, discuss the process of identifying suitable contrast sizes for each of your quantitative independent variables.

Learning Objective: 8-4: Identify a suitable contrast size for a quantitative variable.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Contrast Sizes for Quantitative Variables

Difficulty Level: Medium