Chapter 17: Measurement Methods Used in Developing Evidence-Based Practice

Chapter 17: Measurement Methods Used in Developing Evidence-Based Practice

 

Complete Chapter Questions With Answers

 

Sample Questions Are Posted Below

 

MULTIPLE CHOICE

 

1. In a study of teasing among third-graders, after an intervention on peer interactions, behavioral observers collect the data, rating six behaviors on a 0- to 4-point scale. The observers are not trained by the same person, and there is no measure of interrater reliability. What is likely to happen?

a.	The variable of teasing will not be measured accurately.
b.	Peer interactions will not be able to be rated.
c.	The data will have to be scored independently by the researcher.
d.	Comparison with norms is unlikely.

 

 

ANS:  A

Every variable must be measured in the same way, every time, or the results of the measurement will not be accurate. Measuring physiological variables using observation requires a quality tool for data collection and consistent use of this tool by data collectors. Thus, if the observations in a study are being conducted using multiple data collectors, it is essential that the consistency or interrater reliability of the data collectors be determined.

 

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Application           REF:   Page 413

 

2. A researcher plans to conduct interviews with the first four participants in a qualitative study, and then the researcher plans to have an assistant conduct several interviews for the remainder of the interviews. The first thing the researcher does with the research participants is to perform a pilot interview on one participant and to have the assistant conduct a pilot interview on a different participant, and then they compare notes, discussing the process. Why is this a good idea?

a.	This establishes interrater reliability.
b.	Their styles may differ, and this way they can imitate one another’s styles.
c.	Pretesting of the interview protocol is essential.
d.	They can begin the process of data analysis at once.

 

 

ANS:  C

Interviews involve verbal communication between the researcher and the study participant, during which the researcher acquires information. Interviewers must be trained in the skills of interviewing, and the interview protocol must be pretested.

 

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Application           REF:   Page 422

 

3. A researcher is interested in discovering whether the topics of written family complaints are shared by the majority of patients’ families in a major university hospital, or whether merely a minority of the patients’ families are disgruntled. The researcher goes throughout the hospital each day and hands family members a printed form and pencil and asks them to answer the ten questions, all of which have three to five responses, in return for a “$3 off” coupon to be used in the hospital cafeteria. What is this printed form called?

a.	A questionnaire
b.	A Likert scale
c.	A semantic differential scale
d.	An interview

 

 

ANS:  A

Questionnaires are printed self-report forms designed to elicit information that can be obtained from a subject’s written responses. Likert scales determine opinion or attitude and contain a number of declarative statements with a scale after each statement. Semantic differential scales consist of two opposite adjectives with a seven-point scale between them. The subject is to select one point on the scale that best describes his or her view of the concept being examined. Interviews involve verbal communication during which the subject provides information to the researcher.

 

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Application           REF:   Page 422

 

4. An outpatient being treated in the infusion center for thalassemia is asked to fill out a form about satisfaction with the center, while he waits for his appointment. The form consists of five questions, each a statement, with six possibilities after it: Strongly Agree, Agree, Slightly Agree, Slightly Disagree, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree. This is an example of which of the following?

a.	A semantic differential scale
b.	A Likert scale
c.	A questionnaire
d.	A paper interview

 

 

ANS:  B

A Likert scale determines the opinion or attitude of a subject and contains a number of declarative statements with a scale after each statement. The Likert scale is the most commonly used of the scaling techniques in nursing and health care studies. Response choices in a Likert scale most commonly address agreement, evaluation, or frequency. Agreement options may include statements such as strongly agree, agree, uncertain, disagree, and strongly disagree.

 

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Application           REF:   Page 430

 

5. A researcher constructs a semantic differential scale that will measure a topic about which people express extreme responses. He pilots it and, at the same time, asks a psychometrician to give his opinion on the scale. The psychometrician suggests that the researcher edit the scale, so that it has some questions for which a 1 or 2 would be a positive finding, and some questions for which a 1 or 2 would be a negative finding. The researcher edits the scale and finds that subjects’ responses are not quite as extreme as they were originally. What should the researcher’s response be?

a.	Resentment. The new scale is giving weaker results, and its analysis will not be able to show statistical significance unless the projected sample size is increased.
b.	Bewilderment. The scale is exactly the same; the items were merely rearranged. There is nothing that explains this change.
c.	Gratitude. The new scale measures the concept better because the subjects are thinking about the individual items instead of marking extremes automatically.
d.	Annoyance. The researcher has probably inadvertently reworded some of his original items, accounting for the less extreme values.

 

 

ANS:  C

A semantic differential scale consists of two opposite adjectives with a seven-point scale between them. The subject is to select one point on the scale that best describes his or her view of the concept being examined. The scale is designed to measure the connotative meaning of the concept to the subject. Although the adjectives may not seem to be particularly related to the concept being examined, the technique can be used to distinguish varying degrees of positive and negative attitudes toward a concept. In a semantic differential scale, values from 1 to 7 are assigned to each of the spaces, with 1 being the most negative response and 7 the most positive. Placement of negative responses to the left or right of the scale should be randomly varied to avoid global responses (in which the subject places checks in the same column of each scale).

 

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Analysis                REF:   Page 431