Chapter 11: Selecting a Quantitative Research Design

Chapter 11: Selecting a Quantitative Research Design

Complete Chapter Questions With Answers

Sample Questions Are Posted Below

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. How does a comparative descriptive design differ from a typical descriptive design?

ANS:  D

The commonly used descriptive study design examines characteristics of a single sample. It identifies a phenomenon of interest and the variables within the phenomenon, develops conceptual and operational definitions of the variables, and describes the variables. The comparative descriptive design examines and describes differences in variables in two or more groups that occur naturally in the setting. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistical analyses may be used to examine differences between or among groups.

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2. Why is the threat of subject attrition more problematic in longitudinal designs than in other types of descriptive research?

ANS:  C

Longitudinal designs examine changes in the same subjects over time. They are expensive and require a long period of researcher and subject commitment. Measurement must be carefully planned and implemented, because the measures will be used repeatedly over time. There is often a bias in selection of subjects because of the requirement for a long-term commitment. In addition, loss of subjects (attrition—subject quits participating in the study) can be high and can decrease the validity of findings.

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3. What do cross-sectional designs, trend designs, and event-partitioning designs have in common?

ANS:  B

Cross-sectional designs examine groups of subjects in various stages of development, trends, patterns, and changes simultaneously with the intent to describe changes in the phenomenon across stages. The assumption is that the stages are part of a process that will progress over time. Selecting subjects at various points in the process provides important information about the totality of the process, even though the same subjects are not monitored through the entire process. Trend designs examine changes in the general population in relation to a particular phenomenon. The researchers select different samples of subjects from the same population at preset intervals of time, and at each selected time, they collect data from that particular sample. A merger of the cross-sectional or longitudinal and trend designs, the event-partitioning design, is used in some cases to increase sample size and to avoid the effects of history on the validity of findings. Cook and Campbell referred to these as cohort designs with treatment partitioning. True longitudinal designs examine changes in the same subjects over time. They are expensive and require a long period of researcher and subject commitment. Measurement must be carefully planned and implemented because the measures will be used repeatedly over time.

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4. The difference between a randomized block design and the more modern variant of including the extraneous variable in a multivariate analysis is which of the following?

ANS:  A

The randomized block design uses the two-group pretest-posttest or the two-group posttest pattern with the addition of a blocking variable. The blocking variable, if uncontrolled, is expected to confound the findings of the study. To prevent confounding of the findings, the subjects are rank ordered in relation to the blocking variable. This procedure ensures that the experimental group and the comparison group are equal in relation to the potentially confounding variable. The effect of blocking can also be accomplished statistically (through the use of analysis of covariance) without categorizing the confounding variable into discrete components.

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Analysis                REF:   Page 246