Quantitative Designs & Phenomena Heppner Ch.13 Exam Prep

CHAPTER 13: Quantitative Descriptive Designs: Describing, Explaining, and Predicting Phenomenon

True/False Questions

1. Descriptive studies can suggest possible causal connections among variables that can be examined in experimental designs.

2. Cross-sectional survey studies are like filming a video that documents how changes occur over time.

3. When a pilot test is administered in a survey research, the respondents should be interviewed to make sure that the questions asked were meaningful, clear, and appropriate for the purpose of the survey.

4. A 30% return rate of a sample is enough to generalize the results of a survey from a mailed or online questionnaire.

5. The need to collect new set of data can be minimized by making maximum possible utilization of existing data from large national data sets.

6. Multiple regression is a statistical method to study the manner in which multiple predictor variables influence each other.

7. A mediator variable affects the direction and strength of the relationship between a predictor variable and a criterion variable.

8. Person-centered approaches to research design explain aggregated patterns between variables.

9. One of the most critical decisions in cluster analysis is to select appropriate instruments because the instruments are the tools for measuring the similarity between objects.

10. In person-centered research designs, when the indicators used to make the classification are categorical, latent class analysis is used to identify natural groupings or subtypes of people.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following is true of descriptive studies?

1. Manipulation of the independent variable is the core element of true descriptive studies.
2. The utility of descriptive studies is directly dependent on the quality of the instruments or assessments used to describe a phenomenon.
3. In these studies, a researcher neither actively forms groups or conditions through random or nonrandom assignment, nor actively manipulates an independent variable.
4. Descriptive studies can confirm causal connections among the variables in consideration.

2. Which of the following is true of survey research designs?

1. Survey research designs use taxonomic system to identify groups of individuals who share common attributes among a heterogeneous population.
2. Survey research designs typically use self-reports to identify facts, opinions, attitudes, and behavior.
3. Survey research designs maintain uniformity irrespective of the group under study.
4. Survey research designs use mobile positioning techniques to examine the relationships between two or more variables.

3. Which of the following is recommended for a researcher while developing survey inventories?

1. A researcher should carefully consider the psychometric properties of existing inventories before developing new survey inventories.
2. A researcher should administer the survey in a single language in order to minimize the risk of misinterpretation by multilingual groups.
3. A researcher should invest minimum amount of time due to the relative ease of this activity.
4. A researcher should not waste valuable time in conducting pilot tests for a survey meant for understudied population.

4. Cathy conducted a survey on the relationship between substance abuse and average annual income of an individual. She divided the annual incomes into three ranges, labelled them as low income, middle income, and high income, and found the groups to be present in the target population in the ratio of 4:5:1. Cathy needed a sample of 100 participants. She selected 40, 50, and 10 people from each income group in a manner such that each individual in a subgroup had equal chance of getting selected into the respective subsample. Which of the following sampling techniques has Cathy used in this scenario?

1. Stratified random sampling
2. Convenience sampling
3. Cluster sampling
4. Quota sampling

5. Which of the following is recommended for a researcher when analyzing the data obtained from a survey?

1. The researcher should check how closely the sample resembles the general population along a number of important dimensions.
2. Data in online surveys with participation rate lower than 30% should only be considered.
3. New sets of data need to be collected instead of using existing national data sets for research studies.
4. The researcher should filter out data from samples comparing respondents and nonrespondents.

6. Identify a development in the use of correlation designs proposed by Cole, Lazarick, and Howard (1987).

1. Examination of the relationship between manifest variables by using confirmatory factor analysis
2. Confirmation of causal relationships between latent variables using correlation analyses
3. Use of manifest variables in the analysis of correlational designs
4. Use of latent variables in more sophisticated correlation designs that provide true estimates of constructs

7. _____ is used when a researcher wants to determine the amount of variability of each predictor variable that uniquely contributes to the prediction of the criterion variable.

1. Hierarchical regression
2. Path analysis
3. Simultaneous regression
4. Structured equation modeling

8. Which of the following is true of the mediators in multiple regression analysis?

1. A mediator changes the relationship between a predictor and a criterion variable.
2. A mediator establishes “how” or “why” one variable predicts or causes a criterion variable.
3. A mediator can be either categorical or continuous.
4. A mediator addresses “when” or “for whom” a variable most strongly predicts or causes an outcome variable.

9. Which of the following statistical methods reduces data by identifying and then classifying similar entities into subgroups?

1. Multiple regression
2. Survey research
3. Simple correlation
4. Cluster analysis

10. In a study, all the participants were grouped according to the extent of their uncertainty avoidance. The groups were labelled risk averse, moderates, and adventurous in the decreasing order of uncertainty avoidance. One participant was found to have 20, 10, and 70 percent probabilities of belonging to risk averse, moderates, and adventurous groups respectively. Which of the following types of analyses was most likely to be carried out in this scenario?

1. Cluster analysis
2. Latent class analysis
3. Multiple regression analysis
4. Latent profile analysis