Chapter 1: Evidence-Based Practice

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following statements is true about best practices?

A. They are behaviors based on the clinician’s experience.

B. They are most appropriate for use within a particular practice context.

C. They describe what the client thinks is best.

D. They involve the practice of doing the most good in the world.

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Search for Best Practices

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. What is the first step for identifying best practices?

A. seek a variety of opinions from coworkers and supervisors

B. understand the strengths and weaknesses of different knowledge acquisition methods

C. determine which method has typically worked for you in the past

D. conduct research to learn about the history of these practices

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Search for Best Practices

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Personal experience as a social worker can contribute to the development of ______.

A. best practices

B. happier clients

C. theoretical debates

D. practice wisdom

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. What is observational selection bias?

A. the study of observations

B. bias when making selections of which clients to work with

C. the effect of suddenly noticing things we did not notice before

D. bias against selecting which theories to use in practice

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. What is confirmation bias?

A. the bias against certain theories

B. a tendency to avoid confirming a diagnosis

C. the tendency to selectively avoid things which we agree with or that support our opinions

D. the tendency to selectively attend to things which we agree with or that support our opinions

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. What emotion does cognitive dissonance cause?

A. discomfort

B. happiness

C. hunger

D. rage

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. ______ is the discomfort one experiences when acting in a way that is incongruent with one’s beliefs, norms, thoughts, or values.

A. Cognitive bias

B. Observational dissonance

C. Dissonance bias

D. Cognitive dissonance

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Listening to only the radio stations that supports one’s own beliefs is an example of ______.

A. biased media

B. confirmation bias

C. efficiency

D. theoretical debate

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Which of the following is an example of observational selection bias?

A. watching football on Saturday

B. preferring orange juice to apple juice

C. liking the color red more than green

D. seeing babies everywhere while you are trying to get pregnant

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Seeking out the guidance of someone with more experience considers ______.

A. bias

B. authority

C. tradition

D. opinion

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. A benefit of tradition is not having to ______.

A. reinvent the wheel

B. think independently

C. consider alternatives

D. be mindful of updated research

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. What is a professional benefit of media for clinicians?

A. access to current best practices explained in videos

B. not having to think critically

C. greater access to clients

D. a reduced amount of outdated information

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Popular Media

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. Only having friends who say the same things you say about politics and beliefs is an example of ______.

A. strong friendships

B. echo chamber effect

C. professional guidance

D. best practices

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Popular Media

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. What is the greatest risk in using social media for clinical guidance?

A. It takes a long time.

B. It requires sharing client information.

C. It does not protect client’s privacy.

D. It only works where there is Internet access.

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Popular Media

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. What is an example of confirmation bias?

A. choosing a meal at a restaurant

B. only watching the news network that supports your beliefs

C. sleeping in on Sunday

D. preferring strawberry to cherry candies

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. What phrase might a colleague say if they want you to follow the company’s tradition?

A. this is how we have always done it

B. I wonder what you think

C. we should ask an expert

D. maybe we should crowd source this on social media

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. If you just bought a blue car, what might observational selection bias cause you to begin to notice?

A. the new car smell inside your car

B. the speed limit on the streets near your job

C. how many blue cars are in your neighborhood

D. how much more you like this car than your old car

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. When seeking authority to make a clinical decision, who should you talk with?

A. your clients

B. a leading expert

C. someone you supervise

D. no one, this is your decision to make

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Popular Media

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. How might the echo chamber effect negatively impact your clinical work?

A. It can create inherent bias.

B. It may give you insights you do not like.

C. Clients may have strong opinions.

D. It can take up much of your free time.

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Popular Media

Difficulty Level: Hard

20. What is the first stage of the scientific method?

A. theory formulation

B. observation

C. data collection

D. data analysis

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Easy

21. What does question identification accomplish?

A. determining what is going to be studied

B. identifying who will be researching the topic

C. questioning the capabilities of the researchers

D. identifying where the research will occur

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Easy

22. Which of the following statements is true about a literature review?

A. It is a test review sheet.

B. It is a document submitted for publication review.

C. It is a gathering of existing research on the topic.

D. It is a list of potential topics to research.

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices and evidence-based practice as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. A theory is used to explain why a ______.

A. researcher is good at their job

B. clinician is able to diagnose their client

C. person should take medication as prescribed by their doctor

D. phenomenon among variables exists

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. What does a theory articulate?

A. an opinion

B. a hypothesis

C. facts

D. research

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. A hypothesis must be ______.

A. testable

B. correct

C. at least three sentences

D. likely to occur

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Easy

26. Where might a researcher find empirical research questions?

A. personal preferences

B. the experiences of others

C. previous research

D. someone else’s opinion

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Easy

27. Why is research design important?

A. It designs the way the research paper will look.

B. It lays out the procedures to gather and analysis data.

C. It lists which researchers are qualified.

D. It offers design elements for presenting the results.

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Medium

28. Why is evidence-based practice important in clinical work?

A. It provides a framework for identifying best practices.

B. It teaches clinicians how to research.

C. It lets social workers use their opinions to guide their work.

D. It recommends using personal experience to help clients.

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Medium

29. Where can social workers obtain evidence-based information?

A. social media

B. online blogs

C. peer-reviewed journals

D. personal interviews of other social workers

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Medium

30. What might be included in an evidence search?

A. online discussion board posts

B. peer reviewed journals

C. personal opinions

D. practice knowledge

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Medium

31. Which of the following is a question that considers critical appraisal?

A. How many participants were studied?

B. Do I like this researcher?

C. Is it free to access this journal article?

D. Do the results disagree with my opinions?

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Medium

32. In which of the following topics might the client’s values need to be considered?

A. Smoking causes cancer.

B. Children need nutrients to grow taller.

C. Church is bad for children.

D. Blue is a prettier color than green.

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Medium

33. How does continuous evaluation benefit social work organizations?

A. It costs them more money.

B. Employees are consistently happier.

C. It ensures they are using best practices.

D. This cannot be determined in a general way.

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Hard

True/False

1. Confirmation bias focuses on our tendency to selectively attend to things which we agree with or that support our opinions.

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Observational selection bias is the effect of suddenly noticing things we did not notice before.

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. When using authority, you are considering how an organization has done things in the past.

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Evidence-based practice provides a framework for social workers to identify best practices in the areas of assessment, evaluation, and intervention selection.

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Great social work organizational leaders must be engaged in a continuous process of growth and improvement.

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Medium

Short Answer

1. Give an example of a time when you experienced cognitive dissonance.

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Describe each of the features of practice wisdom and explain the differences between them.

Learning Objective: 1.1: Differentiate between the various ways of knowing.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Personal Experience

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. Describe two areas of focus necessary for critical appraisal of a research study.

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Name four places an evidence search may occur.

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. How might ongoing research positively impact the field of social work?

Learning Objective: 1.2: Differentiate between evidence-based practices (EBPs) and evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making framework.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Scientific Method

Difficulty Level: Hard