Test Bank Chapter 14 Nonexperimental Quantitative Research - Educational Research 6e Answer Key + Test Bank by Robert Burke Johnson. DOCX document preview.
Chapter 14: Nonexperimental Quantitative Research
Learning Objectives
- State the definition of nonexperimental quantitative research.
- List categorical and quantitative independent variables that cannot be manipulated by a researcher.
- Evaluate evidence for cause and effect using the three required conditions for cause-and-effect relationships.
- Explain the “third-variable problem.”
- List and briefly describe the three major techniques of control that are used in nonexperimental research.
- Compare and contrast cross-sectional research, longitudinal research, and retrospective research.
- Compare and contrast the two types of longitudinal research.
- Identify descriptive research studies, predictive research studies, and explanatory research studies when examining published research.
- Explain the difference between a direct effect and an indirect effect in causal modeling.
- Draw the typology of nonexperimental quantitative research formed by crossing the time dimension with the research objective dimension.
Multiple Choice
1. The post hoc fallacy is:
a. Because B preceded A, A caused B
b. Because A preceded B, A caused B
c. A and B must be related in order to state that A caused B
d. You cannot do post hoc analysis for all conditions
Learning Objective: 3
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Steps in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
2. By definition, nonexperimental research is different from experimental research in that:
a. No dependent variables are measured in nonexperimental research studies
b. No hypotheses are tested in nonexperimental research studies
c. Nonexperimental research studies do not have independent variables
d. Independent variables are not manipulated in nonexperimental research
Learning Objective: 1
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Chapter introduction
Difficulty Level: Medium
3. The first “simple case” of nonexperimental research involves:
a. One quantitative independent variable and one quantitative dependent variable
b. One manipulated independent variable and one quantitative dependent variable
c. One non-manipulated categorical independent variable and one quantitative dependent variable
d. One non-manipulated quantitative independent variable and one categorical dependent variable
Learning Objective: 1
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Simple Cases of Nonexperimental Quantitative Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. The second “simple case” of nonexperimental research involves:
a. One non-manipulated quantitative independent variable and one quantitative dependent variable
b. One manipulated independent variable and one quantitative dependent variable
c. One non-manipulated categorical independent variable and one quantitative dependent variable
d. One non-manipulated quantitative independent variable and one categorical dependent variable
Learning Objective: 1
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Simple Cases of Nonexperimental Quantitative Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
5. When changes in X tend to produce changes in Y, this is called:
a. Perfect causality
b. A post hoc fallacy
c. A spurious relationship
d. Probabilistic causation
Learning Objective: 3
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Three Required Conditions for Cause-and-Effect Relationships
Difficulty Level: Medium
6. The “third variable problem” refers to:
a. The difficulty created by manipulating three variables
b. The difficulty created when doing nonexperimental studies with three variables
c. The possibility that an extraneous variable accounts for the relationship between two variables
d. The possibility that three variables might cause a change in the dependent variable
Learning Objective: 4
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Three Required Conditions for Cause-and-Effect Relationships
Difficulty Level: Easy
7. One way to lessen the third variable problem is to:
a. Use a control technique to deal with the identified third variable(s)
b. Do quasi-experimental research
c. Only do studies with two variables
d. Use categorical independent variables only
Learning Objective: 4
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Three Required Conditions for Cause-and-Effect Relationships
Difficulty Level: Medium
8. In Hector’s study he discovered that the relationship between two of his variables was due to another variable he did not measure. Hector’s study had:
a. A significant relationship
b. A causative relationship
c. A direct causation
d. A spurious relationship
Learning Objective: 4
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Three Required Conditions for Cause-and-Effect Relationships
Difficulty Level: Medium
9. When a relationship between two variables is partly due to a third variable, this is labeled a:
a. A spurious relationship
b. A direct relationship
c. A partially spurious relationship
d. A causal relationship
Learning Objective: 4
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Three Required Conditions for Cause-and-Effect Relationships
Difficulty Level: Easy
10. The number of police officers and the number of crimes are positively related. This relationship is:
a. A causal relationship
b. A direct relationship
c. A probabilistic causal relation
d. A spurious relationship
Learning Objective: 4
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Three Required Conditions for Cause-and-Effect Relationships
Difficulty Level: Medium
11. A research study found that parental household income is related to children’s school achievement. Which of the following would suggest that the relationship is completely spurious?
a. There is no relationship once you statistically control for parent education
b. There is a relationship even after statistically controlling parent education
c. There is a relationship, even when parent education is held constant
d. There is a smaller relationship once parent education is taken into account
Learning Objective: 4
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Three Required Conditions for Cause-and-Effect Relationships
Difficulty Level: Hard
12. A research study found that household income is related to children’s school achievement. Which of the following would suggest a partially spurious relationship?
a. There is no relationship once you statistically control for parent education
b. Parent income and school achievement are unrelated to parent education, but related to each other
c. There is a relationship, even when parent education is held constant
d. There is a smaller relationship once parent education is taken into account
Learning Objective: 4
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Three Required Conditions for Cause-and-Effect Relationships
Difficulty Level: Hard
13. A researcher studies the relationship between early reading and later school achievement. She decides that a potentially important extraneous variable is IQ. In developing her groups for her study, she pairs each child who was an early reader with a child of the same IQ level who was not an early reader. The control technique she used was:
a. Holding the extraneous variable constant
b. Statistical control
c. Matching
d. Random assignment
Learning Objective: 5
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Matching
Difficulty Level: Medium
14. A researcher investigates the relationship between teaching style and student achievement in elementary school teachers. Since she is concerned that gender might be a confounding factor in her study, she includes only female teachers. The control technique she used was:
a. Holding the extraneous variable constant
b. Statistical control
c. Matching
d. Random assignment
Learning Objective: 5
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Holding the Extraneous Variable Constant
Difficulty Level: Medium
15. Analysis of covariance is one type of:
a. Matching
b. Random assignment
c. Statistical control
d. The third variable problem
Learning Objective: 5
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Statistical Control
Difficulty Level: Medium
16. Partial correlation analysis involves:
a. Examining the relationship between two or more variables controlling for additional variables statistically
b. Including only one group in a correlational analysis
c. Matching participants on potential confounding variables
d. Limiting the sample to individuals at a constant level of an extraneous variable
Learning Objective: 5
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Statistical Control
Difficulty Level: Medium
17. The basic form of Analysis of Covariance is used to examine:
a. The relationship between two categorical variables without control
b. The relationship between one categorical independent variable and one quantitative dependent variable, controlling for one or more extraneous variables
c. The relationship between two quantitative variables
d. How the variances for two groups differ
Learning Objective: 5
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Statistical Control
Difficulty Level: Medium
18. Using matching as a control strategy:
a. Is typically easy because correct matches are readily available
b. Does not require that the researcher matches on all the needed variables
c. Limits generalization because the sample was chosen for matching not generalization
d. Increases the generalization of the study in which it was used
Learning Objective: 5
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Matching
Difficulty Level: Medium
19. When data are collected at one point in time from different types of people, this is called a:
a. Longitudinal study
b. Prospective study
c. Panel study
d. Cross-sectional study
Learning Objective: 6
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Cross-Sectional Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
20. A problem with cross-sectional data is that:
a. The data cannot be collected on more than one variable
b. Independent variables cannot be differentiated from dependent variables because there is no theory
c. It is harder to establish cause and effect, because the data are not collected over time
d. There is differential attrition
Learning Objective: 6
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Cross-Sectional Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
21. A researcher does a cross-sectional study and she compares the recycling behavior in younger and older individuals. She finds that older people are more likely to recycle than younger people. She concludes that with age, people become more likely to recycle. A problem with her conclusion is that:
a. There was an attrition error
b. According to her results, age is unrelated to recycling behavior
c. Her older participants were from a different cohort or different generation than her younger participants and this might be the reason a difference was observed rather than the process of aging
d. There is no problem with her conclusion
Learning Objective: 6
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Cross-Sectional Research
Difficulty Level: Hard
22. A researcher took independent samples from a population every year over a period of five years. He asked the participants in the samples the same questions every year. This study was:
a. A panel study
b. A cross-sectional study
c. A trend study
d. An experimental study
Learning Objective: 7
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Longitudinal Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
23. A researcher established a sample of participants who were all born in 2000. She asks them questions every five years. This is an example of:
a. A panel study
b. A cross-sectional study
c. A trend study
d. A posttest only experimental study
Learning Objective: 7
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Longitudinal Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
24. A synonym for panel study is:
a. Cross-sectional study
b. Trend study
c. Retrospective study
d. Prospective study
Learning Objective: 7
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Longitudinal Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
25. One potential problem with prospective studies is:
a. Differential attrition
b. They deal with different independent samples at each point in time
c. Causal relations are difficult to show because it is hard to establish which factor occurs first
d. People have a difficult time remembering their previous experiences
Learning Objective: 7
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Longitudinal Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
26. Prospective studies:
a. Are more expensive than cross-sectional studies to carry out
b. Deal with different independent samples at each point in time
c. Have difficulty showing causal relations because it is hard to establish which factor occurs first
d. Participants have a difficult time remembering their previous experiences
Learning Objective: 7
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Longitudinal Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
27. Retrospective studies have problems with:
a. Differential attrition
b. Sealing with different independent samples at each point in time
c. Being expensive to carry out
d. Verifying the accuracy of accounts of past behavior
Learning Objective: 7
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Longitudinal Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
28. The goal of a research study is to provide an accurate picture of the status or characteristics of a situation or phenomenon. This study is best described as:
a. Descriptive
b. Predictive
c. Explanatory
d. Confirmatory
Learning Objective: 8
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Descriptive Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
29. The directors of a graduate program in educational research wish to see what types of jobs their graduates take after they finish their program. They randomly sample students from the program and have them fill out questionnaires with items asking about the types of jobs they have had. They also are asked to list the roles they play in their current positions. This project is best described as having what kind of objective:
a. Descriptive
b. Predictive
c. Explanatory
d. Confirmatory
Learning Objective: 8
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Descriptive Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
30. A researcher is interested in researching what kinds of factors are important for someone to succeed in air traffic control training. Before the training program, she gives the students a battery of tests including personality measures. She then looks at which of these is related to successful completion of the program. The main purpose of this research was:
a. Descriptive
b. Predictive
c. Explanatory
d. Longitudinal
Learning Objective: 8
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Predictive Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
31. George is attempting to design a research study in which he uses grades in school and teachers’ ratings to differentiate who will go to college and who will not. His research purpose is primarily:
a. Descriptive
b. Predictive
c. Explanatory
d. Confirmatory
Learning Objective: 8
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Predictive Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
32. A researcher is interested in developing a model of school achievement that includes home and school factors. She hypothesizes that some factors will have direct effects on achievement, whereas others will have indirect effects through other intervening variables. The main purpose of this research is:
a. Descriptive
b. Predictive
c. Explanatory
d. Exploratory
Learning Objective: 8
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Explanatory Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
33. When research is done to test hypotheses and theories about how and why phenomena operate as they do, then the primary purpose of such research is:
a. Descriptive
b. Predictive
c. Explanatory
d. Exploratory
Learning Objective: 8
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Explanatory Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
34. Causal modeling refers to:
a. Causal comparative research
b. Experimental research that involves social learning theory
c. A form of explanatory research in which the researcher hypothesizes a causal model and then tests it empirically
d. A form of descriptive research in which the researcher has no hypotheses or model
Learning Objective: 8
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Explanatory Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
35. A path coefficient refers to:
a. A quantitative index providing information about a direct effect
b. A quantitative index providing information about indirect effects
c. A quantitative index providing information about total effects
d. An index of the overall fit of a model that is not specific to any particular variable
Learning Objective: 8
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Explanatory Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
36. A researcher is interested in developing a model to predict first grade reading achievement. She includes in her model the following four factors: (a) the child’s level of language development, (b) the highest level of education of a parent in the child’s household, (c) the amount of time that the parent reads with the child, and (d) the quality of teaching that the child has received. Which of the following variables only has an indirect effect on reading achievement?
a. Parent education
b. Time joint reading
c. Quality of teaching
d. Language development
Learning Objective: 9
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Explanatory Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Hard
37. Which of the following variables has both a direct and indirect effect on reading achievement?
a. Parent education
b. Time joint reading
c. Quality of teaching
d. Language development
Learning Objective: 9
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Explanatory Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Hard
38. Which of the following variables has only a direct effect on reading achievement?
a. Parent education
b. Time joint reading
c. Quality of teaching
d. All variables have a direct and indirect effect.
Learning Objective: 9
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Explanatory Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Hard
39. Heidi conducted research on success in mathematics. She found that perseverance, motivation, and number sense had a direct effect on mathematics success. Student attitudes about math had an indirect effect. An indirect effect refers to:
a. The effects of a variable directly on another
b. The effect of the variable at the origin of an arrow on the variable at the receiving end of the arrow
c. The effect of a variable that occurs through an intervening variable
d. The path coefficient indexing the direct effect
Learning Objective: 9
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Explanatory Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
40. An intervening variable is:
a. The dependent variable in a simple causal model
b. A variable that occurs between two others in a causal chain
c. An experimental variable in a causal model
d. Spurious variable
Learning Objective: 9
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Explanatory Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
41. Which of the following statements about nonexperimental research is true?
a. Nonexperimental research includes manipulation of the independent variable
b. Nonexperimental research is often conducted in laboratory settings
c. The researcher studies how variables are related in nonexperimental research
d. Nonexperimental research always contains multiple independent and dependent variables
Learning Objective: 8
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Throughout the entire chapter
Difficulty Level: Hard
42. If a researcher is interested in cause-and-effect relationships, which design should she use?
a. The first simple case of nonexperimental research
b. The second simple case of nonexperimental research
c. Either the first or second case of nonexperimental research would be sufficient for this study
d. Neither the first nor second case of nonexperimental research can provide evidence of causality
Learning Objective: 3
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Simple Cases of Nonexperimental Quantitative Research
Difficulty Level: Hard
43. Which of the three required conditions for cause and effect is relatively easy to establish in nonexperimental research?
a. Condition 1 (relationship)
b. Condition 2 (proper time order)
c. Condition 3 (lack of alternative explanation)
d. All three conditions are quite easy to establish
Learning Objective: 3
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Applying the Three Required Conditions for Causality in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Hard
44. Nonexperimental research cannot involve which of the following?
a. Manipulation of an independent variable
b. Comparison groups
c. Explanations of the relationship between variables
d. Descriptions of the relationships between variables
Learning Objective: 1
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Throughout the chapter
Difficulty Level: Hard
45. If a researcher finds an indirect effect, he should also be able to identify:
a. An intervening variable
b. A moderator variable
c. An interaction variable
d. An extraneous variable
Learning Objective: 9
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Explanatory Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
46. In which form of research are the data collected at a single time point?
a. Panel studies
b. Trend studies
c. Longitudinal studies
d. Cross-sectional studies
Learning Objective: 6
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Cross-Sectional Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
47. The correlation between teachers’ salaries and the price of liquor is:
a. Causal
b. Spurious
c. Predictive
d. none of the above
Learning Objective: 3
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Applying the Three Required Conditions in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
48. There is a relationship between the amount of fire damage (dependent variable) and the number of trucks responding to the fire (independent variables). It is a positive relationship. If one controls for the size of fire, however, this original relationship will decrease or disappear. This is an example of using which procedure:
a. Holding an extraneous variable constant
b. Causal modeling
c. Statistical control
d. Matching
Learning Objective: 5
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Statistical Control
Difficulty Level: Hard
49. The Pearson Product Moment correlation coefficient is a measure of what:
a. Linear relationship
b. Curvilinear relationship
c. Linear and curvilinear relationships
d. Quadratic relationship
Learning Objective:
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Simple Cases of Nonexperimental Quantitative Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
50. All of the following statements are true of nonexperimental research projects except one. Which one is not true?
a. Evidence for causality is more tentative
b. Evidence for causality is less important
c. One must control for confounding variables if one is to obtain some evidence for causality
d. Evidence for causality is less conclusive
Learning Objective: 3
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Applying the Three Required Conditions for Causation in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
51. A post hoc fallacy means a researcher has made what type of error?
a. An error in the design of the pretest and posttest phase of the research
b. An error based on the belief that posttest scores can be understood without ANCOVA results
c. The belief that what came first necessarily caused whatever came after
d. An error of researcher ethics where the researcher has to inform participants of a change in the study
Learning Objective: 3
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Steps in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
52. At the conclusion of a study a researcher was able to claim that a finding was statistically significant. What did this mean for anyone who read their report?
a. The research finding was probably not attributable to chance alone and thus reflected a real relationship
b. The relationship in question is definitely a causal relationship
c. There was no effect as a result of the independent variable
d. The research finding is as likely to be caused by the independent variable as not caused by the independent variable but should be reported so that others will know this
Learning Objective: 3
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Simple Cases of Nonexperimental Quantitative Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
53. A researcher has identified multiple rival explanations as part of her research project. She is:
a. Planning for extra hypotheses
b. Method of multiple working hypotheses
c. Research hypotheses for extra variables
d. Multiple causation for research
Learning Objective: 5
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Three Required Conditions for Cause-and-Effect Relationships
Difficulty Level: Easy
54. A researcher surveyed all of the young people in a juvenile detention center and found that almost all of them had eaten white bread and drank Kool-Aid as young children. He concluded that these two items are causes of some of the teenagers’ current problems. This is an example of what kind of reasoning?
a. Multiple hypotheses
b. Probabilistic causes
c. Curvilinear relationship
d. Post hoc fallacy
Learning Objective: 3
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Steps in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
55. Tina is conducting a nonexperimental research study. She is following a group of students born in 2005 through school and collecting data on their academic achievement each year. She will report on the patterns she sees in the data. Tina’s study can be described as a:
a. Cross-sectional, descriptive study
b. Cross-sectional, predictive study
c. Longitudinal, explanatory study
d. Longitudinal, descriptive study.
Learning Objective: 10
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Classifying Nonexperimental Research by Time and Research Objective
Difficulty Level: Medium
56. Educational researchers are interested in determining:
a. The impact of chance alone
b. Probabilistic causes
c. Post hoc fallacies
d. Spurious correlations
Learning Objective: 3
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Three Required Conditions for Cause-and-Effect Relationships
Difficulty Level: Easy
57. In nonexperimental research, the most common way to control for extraneous variables is through the use of:
a. Matching
b. Holding extraneous variables constant
c. Statistical control
d. Using longitudinal designs.
Learning Objective: 5
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Statistical Control
Difficulty Level: Easy
58. Margaret worked on a research study where she asked children in different classrooms in the third, fourth, and fifth grades at her school to read a passage aloud during the spring time. She recorded the number of words they read per minute and graphed the data. This is an example of what type of research?
a. Cross-sectional, descriptive
b. Longitudinal, descriptive
c. Retrospective, explanatory
d. Cross-sectional, predictive
Learning Objective: 10
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Classifying Nonexperimental Research by Time and Research Objective
Difficulty Level: Medium
59. Dr. Pugh is conducting a research study on student’s mathematical abilities. Participants are tested once a year and they are asked to solve the same math problems every year. This is an example of a:
a. Panel study
b. Cross-sectional study
c. Prospective study
d. Trend study
Learning Objective: 7
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Longitudinal Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
60. What type of research are trend, panel, and prospective studies?
a. Cross-sectional
b. Retrospective
c. Longitudinal
d. Path
Learning Objective: 7
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Longitudinal Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
61. Differential attrition is a problem in which type of research study?
a. Panel studies.
b. Cross-sectional studies
c. Trend studies
d. Retrospective studies
Learning Objective: 6
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Longitudinal Research, Cross-Sectional Research, Retrospective Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
62. Marilyn developed a sample of individuals who had completed graduate school. She then had them complete questionnaires pertaining to elementary school, middle school, high school, and college. Marilyn’s design is:
a. Cross-sectional.
b. Prospective.
c. Longitudinal.
d. Retrospective.
Learning Objective: 6
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Longitudinal Research, Cross-Sectional Research, Retrospective Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
63. Which of the following is an example of categorical independent variable that cannot be manipulated?
a. Student’s special education status
b. High school GPA
c. Score on a personality test
d. Peer rankings of friendships
Learning Objective: 2
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Independent Variables in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Hard
64. In nonexperimental research, which type of an independent variable IQ is?
a. Categorical
b. Quantitative
c. Achievement
d. Outcome
Learning Objective: 2
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Independent Variables in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
65. Wiley’s study described the achievement test scores and reading grades of a cross-sectional sample of elementary school students. He took the students’ scores on an achievement test and divided the students into three groups based on their scores: high, medium, and low. He then described the reading scores of the students in the three groups. Why did he do this?
a. To turn his study into an experiment by having a categorical independent variable
b. Because every research study has to have a categorical variable
c. To create a categorical variable from a quantitative variable
d. To create a quantitative variable from a categorical variable
Learning Objective: 2
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Independent Variables in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Hard
True-False
1. Establishing the third required condition for cause and effect (lack of alternative explanation) can also be viewed as eliminating the presence of “the third variable problem.”
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 3
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Three Required Conditions for Cause-and-Effect Relationships
Difficulty Level: Medium
2. A typology of nonexperimental research was created by crossing the time dimension (retrospective, cross-sectional, and longitudinal) and the research objective dimension (descriptive, predictive, and explanatory). This typology includes nine specific types of research.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 10
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Classifying Nonexperimental Research by Time and Research Objective
Difficulty Level: Easy
3. Analysis of covariance is a “special case” of the general linear model.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 5
Cognitive Domain: Statistical Control
Answer Location: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. A spurious correlation is a noncausal correlation.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 3
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Applying the Three Required Conditions for Causation in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
5. In order to have an indirect relationship, there must be at least one intervening (i.e., mediating) variable.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 9
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Explanatory Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
6. Matching and statistical control are important techniques of control that can and should be used in nonexperimental quantitative research.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 5
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Matching, Statistical Control
Difficulty Level: Easy
7. The purpose of identifying multiple rival explanations is to force the researcher to consider and examine multiple possible answers before reaching a conclusion.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 3
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Three Required Conditions for Cause-and-Effect Relationships
Difficulty Level: Easy
8. In a longitudinal study, data are collected at one point in time on several variables.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 7
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Longitudinal Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
9. In a cross-sectional study, data are collected at multiple time points and comparisons are made across time.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 7
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Cross-Sectional Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
10. In nonexperimental research, there is no random assignment nor manipulation of an independent variable.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 1
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Chapter Introduction, Applying the Three Conditions for Causation in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
11. High school GPA is an example of a categorical variable.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 2
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Independent Variables in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
12. In a retrospective study, data are collected that represent present and past status on variables. Generally speaking, the idea is to find out what past conditions helped produce a present condition.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 6
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Retrospective Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
13. When increased amounts, or greater strength, of the treatment result in increased amounts of response on the dependent variable, we say that we have a strong or clear “dose-response relationship.”
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 6
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Longitudinal Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
14. When the comparison groups have become nonequivalent because of participants dropping rather than because of a treatment condition, we call it differential attrition.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 6
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Longitudinal Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
15. Compared to experimental research, evidence for cause and effect is weaker in nonexperimental research.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 3
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Applying the Three Required Conditions for Causation in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
16. An example of a cross-sectional exploratory study would be using causal modeling to test the hypothesis that boys do better in math using a sample of students in grades 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 10
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Explanatory Research, Cross-sectional Research
Difficulty Level: Hard
17. A research team developed a study to help their university predict who was likely to complete a graduate degree after being accepted into the program. This would be an example of a descriptive study.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 8
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Predictive Research, Descriptive Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
18. A school system conducted a study to see how students valued their education by asking graduates to rate their experiences in each grade. This would be an example of a retrospective study.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 8
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Retrospective Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
19. Dr. Henry plans a study to determine how and why the use of laptop computers might help students perform better in school. This would be an example of explanatory research.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 8
Cognitive Domain: Explanatory Research
Answer Location: Explanatory Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
20. If a researcher finds evidence of an intervening variable, she has found evidence of a direct effect involving that variable.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 9
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Explanatory Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
21. When an extraneous variable influences the relationship between the independent and dependent variable, there is a third-variable problem.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 4
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Three Required Conditions for Cause-and Effect Relationships
Difficulty Level: Easy
22. Panel research is a type of cross-sectional research.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 6
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Longitudinal Research, Cross-Sectional Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
23. Nonexperimental research follows the same steps as experimental research.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 1
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Steps in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB Standard:
24. William took a personality test and received an Introversion score of 78. This Introversion score is a categorical variable.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 2
Cognitive Domain: application
Answer Location: Independent Variables in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
25. A panel study is one in which independent samples of participants answer the same questions at one point in time about something that had happened in their past.
a. True
b. False
Learning Objective: 7
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Longitudinal Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
Essay
1. Compare and contrast quantitative and categorical independent variables. Give at least one example of each one.
Learning Objective: 2
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Independent Variables in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
2. What is meant by the “third variable problem”? Why is it important?
Learning Objective: 4
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Three Required Conditions for Cause-and-Effects Relationships
Difficulty Level: Medium
3. Define cross-sectional, longitudinal, and retrospective research. Give at least one example of each type of research
Learning Objective: 6
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Time Dimension in Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
4. Explain the difference between an indirect and direct effect in causal modeling.
Learning Objective: 9
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Explanatory Nonexperimental Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
5. Name the nonexperimental research designs that emerge from crossing the time and research objective dimensions. Give an example of three of these designs.
Learning Objective: 10
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Classifying Nonexperimental Research by Time and Research Objective.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Document Information
Connected Book
Educational Research 6e Answer Key + Test Bank
By Robert Burke Johnson
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Chapter 15 Narrative Inquiry and Case Study Research
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