Chapter 4: Problem Formulation

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. A research problem is what the researcher wants to ______.

A. know

B. study

C. argue

D. debate

Learning Objective: 4.1: Develop a good research question.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Problem Formulation Defined

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. In practice professions, such as social work, the research problems are often conceptualized as practice problems that could be ______ in some way.

A. improved

B. altered

C. stopped

D. studied

Learning Objective: 4.1: Develop a good research question.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Problem Formulation Defined

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. A ______ question is used to address a research problem.

A. theory

B. study

C. research

D. problem

Learning Objective: 4.1: Develop a good research question.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Problem Formulation Defined

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. What does a researcher seek to better understand?

A. a success story

B. a problem

C. methods

D. choices

Learning Objective: 4.1: Develop a good research question.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Problem Formulation Defined

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Every researcher starts their study by conducting a ______.

A. study

B. focus group

C. literature review

D. conversation with supervisors

Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain the purpose of a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Importance of Conducting a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. A literature review determines gaps in ______ about the topic.

A. caring

B. knowledge

C. understanding

D. focus

Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain the purpose of a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Importance of Conducting a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. A literature review determines how other researchers have defined and ______ key concepts in the research question.

A. proven

B. argued

C. supported

D. measured

Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain the purpose of a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Importance of Conducting a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Existing ______ on a topic can be determined through a literature review.

A. fundraisers

B. experts

C. students

D. teachers

Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain the purpose of a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Importance of Conducting a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Why do we conduct literature reviews?

A. to avoid thinking too far outside the box with research

B. It allows researchers to know if they are wrong.

C. to prevent accidentally duplicating research

D. to create questions based on others’ ideas

Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain the purpose of a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Importance of Conducting a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. What might it mean if a topic is not well-researched?

A. The topic is pointless.

B. No one cares about the topic.

C. It may be a new topic to explore.

D. All research has been done on that topic.

Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain the purpose of a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Importance of Conducting a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. If the literature is well-developed with many articles published, what might you examine?

A. who cares about this problem

B. existing assumptions about the problem

C. whether the research matters

D. whether there is a problem at all

Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain the purpose of a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Importance of Conducting a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. Why should social work practice problems be client focused?

A. The field needs to turn clients into researchers.

B. Solving problems grows a social worker’s private practice.

C. The field’s focus is on clients.

D. Clients determine what research gets funded.

Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain the purpose of a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Importance of Conducting a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. When considering COPES, why is prevention an important area?

A. to avoid harmful situations

B. to stop worthless research from taking place

C. to encourage clients to avoid getting attached to clinicians

D. to deter funding sources from wasting their money on bad research

Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain the purpose of a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Importance of Conducting a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. Which of the following is most likely be a part of a risk assessment questionnaire?

A. recent drug use

B. age

C. salary

D. hobbies

Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain the purpose of a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Importance of Conducting a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. What problem might occur if a literature review is poorly executed?

A. redoing someone else’s identical research

B. not knowing the results before beginning the research

C. not finding research assistants

D. being unclear about who will benefit from the research

Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain the purpose of a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Importance of Conducting a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. Which of the following topics should a social work researcher give priority to?

A. how sugar impacts diabetes

B. clinical benefits of CBT

C. whether biking or walking is better for leg muscle definition

D. which dog food is best for long lives

Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain the purpose of a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Importance of Conducting a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. Why must research be empirically based?

A. to include the researcher’s opinion

B. It provides international values.

C. to legitimize the information

D. This mandates what a researcher reads.

Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain the purpose of a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Importance of Conducting a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. Which of the following should a researcher work to understand?

A. participants favorite color

B. how racism impacts Asian participants

C. whether participants like birds

D. what participants prefer to eat for lunch

Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain the purpose of a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Importance of Conducting a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Hard

20. What might hinder a researcher’s ability to complete the research appropriately?

A. interest in the topic

B. other similar research

C. personal opinion

D. education credentials

Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain the purpose of a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Importance of Conducting a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Hard

21. A ______will give you a good overview of the theories used to explain the topic and the methods previously used to study the topic.

A. degree

B. literature review

C. research study

D. focus group

Learning Objective: 4.3: Conduct a literature search.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: How to Conduct a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Easy

22. A systematic ______ synthesizes existing literature in a way that allows reasonably clear conclusions to be reached about what is known about a topic.

A. revision

B. research

C. review

Learning Objective: 4.3: Conduct a literature search.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: How to Conduct a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. The most common way of searching for literature on one’s topic is using ______.

A. electronic databases

B. focus groups

C. existing textbooks

D. word of mouth

Learning Objective: 4.3: Conduct a literature search.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sources of Information for a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. Selecting ______ can significantly affect how effective your search is in identifying studies which are relevant to your topic.

A. a focus area

B. websites

C. key words

D. a set of values

Learning Objective: 4.3: Conduct a literature search.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sources of Information for a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. When conducting a literature review, the text recommends looking for what type of articles?

A. peer reviewed

B. articles in English

C. frequently cited

D. free

Learning Objective: 4.3: Conduct a literature search.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sources of Information for a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Easy

26. Which of the following criteria might cause you to exclude an article from your research?

A. It is free to see the full article.

B. It is dated 1924.

C. It is a 30-page article.

D. It is dated 2018.

Learning Objective: 4.3: Conduct a literature search.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sources of Information for a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

27. Which of the following criteria may cause you to question the results of a study you are reviewing?

A. There are 1,000 participants.

B. There are four participants.

C. All participants speak only English.

D. Every participant is of the same age.

Learning Objective: 4.3: Conduct a literature search.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sources of Information for a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

28. Introducing the problem should be done in the ______ paragraph of the literature review.

A. last

B. second

C. first

D. third

Learning Objective: 4.4: Write up a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Writing Up the Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Easy

29. In a literature review, it is crucial to describe why this problem needs to be ______.

A. researched

B. known

C. changed

D. funded

Learning Objective: 4.4: Write up a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Writing Up the Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Easy

30. Researchers develop research questions that focus on the ______ of the diverse groups.

A. strengths

B. benefits

C. best

D. problems

Learning Objective: 4.5: Identify the ethical issues associated with designing a research study.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethics and the Study Design

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. A systematic review is a specific methodology that locates existing studies; selects and evaluates contributions, analyses, and synthesizes data; and reports the evidence.

Learning Objective: 4.3: Conduct a literature search.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: How to Conduct a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. A focus group is the most well-respected method to get a good overview of the current topic of knowledge.

Learning Objective: 4.3: Conduct a literature search.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: How to Conduct a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. A literature review is the best first step to ascertaining the ways in which your research ideas may be turned into a research question.

Learning Objective: 4.3: Conduct a literature search.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: How to Conduct a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. A literature review should show how the current study will advance knowledge in the area

Learning Objective: 4.4: Write up a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Writing Up the Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. An ethical research question does not violate any of the NASW Code of Ethics related to research and evaluation.

Learning Objective: 4.5: Identify the ethical issues associated with designing a research study.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethics and the Study Design

Difficulty Level: Easy

Short Answer

1. Where might you begin to prepare to complete a literature review?

Learning Objective: 4.3: Conduct a literature search.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: How to Conduct a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Why is a systematic review more useful than a general review of a topic?

Learning Objective: 4.3: Conduct a literature search.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: How to Conduct a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. How can a researcher narrow down search results in a database?

Learning Objective: 4.3: Conduct a literature search.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: How to Conduct a Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. What are the parts of a literature review write-up?

Learning Objective: 4.4: Write up a literature review.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Writing Up the Literature Review

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. What are some areas of a transgender person’s life that a researcher may develop research questions about?

Learning Objective: 4.5: Identify the ethical issues associated with designing a research study.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Ethics and the Study Design

Difficulty Level: Medium