Quantitative Research Methods
Test Preparation
Course Introduction
Quantitative Research Methods provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the principles and practices underlying the collection, analysis, and interpretation of numerical data in social science research. The course covers research design, sampling techniques, measurement, and the use of statistical tools to analyze data. Emphasis is placed on developing the ability to critically assess quantitative research studies, utilize appropriate data collection methods, and apply statistical techniques to test hypotheses and draw valid conclusions. Through hands-on projects and real-world datasets, students gain practical experience in using software tools and interpreting quantitative findings to inform evidence-based decision-making.
Recommended Textbook
Exploring Research 8th Edition by Neil J. Salkind
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15 Chapters
564 Verified Questions
564 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: The Role and Importance of Research
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40 Verified Questions
40 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Matthew thinks that there is a relationship between parenting style and self-esteem in children. Which research method should he use?
A) correlational
B) quasi-experimental
C) descriptive
D) historical
Answer: A
Q2) Correlational research provides information about which of the following?
A) the relationship between two or more things
B) historical trends
C) cause-and-effect relationships
D) general human behaviors in the context in which they occur
Answer: A
Q3) Which of the following best describes a hypothesis?
A) statement that you set out to prove
B) tested by collecting only the data that support it
C) proposed before a good research question can be developed
D) posits a clear relationship between different factors
Answer: D
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Page 3
Chapter 2: The Research Process: Coming to Terms
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Sample Questions
Q1) Given no other information, chance is always the most likely explanation for differences between two groups.
A) True
B) False
Answer: A
Q2) In a study of the effect of pleasure reading on vocabulary level, the vocabulary level is considered what type of variable?
A) independent variable
B) dependent variable
C) control variable
D) extraneous variable
Answer: B
Q3) Which of the following best describes independent variables?
A) not manipulated by the experimenter
B) manipulated to assess the effect of the treatment
C) unrelated to the treatment
D) not necessary
Answer: B
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4
Chapter 3: A: Selecting a Problem and Reviewing the Research
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39 Verified Questions
39 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What use do secondary sources provide?
A) finding a scholarly summary of research
B) finding further sources of research
C) sometimes cited in your literature review
D) all of the above
Answer: D
Q2) Which of the following is a fatal error in research problem selection?
A) refining your idea upon review of the literature
B) sticking with the first idea that comes to mind
C) selecting a problem you are genuinely interested in
D) doing something meaningful
Answer: B
Q3) What is the best way to find a particular home page?
A) use a search engine
B) randomly open home pages until you find the right one
C) telephone the organization that operates the home page
D) guess at the possible URL address
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: B: Ethics: the Basic Principles
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Sample Questions
Q1) Because the usefulness of the information is so great, it is considered ethical to secretly record conversations between therapists and their clients.
A) True
B) False
Q2) The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is often used as an example of:
A) a groundbreaking study using Facebook
B) a study that did not take into account ethical considerations
C) a study guided by the ethical guidelines of the American Medical Association AMA)
D) a study that breached confidentiality of participants
Q3) Which of the following is NOT considered a basic principle of ethical behavior in research?
A) protection from harm
B) refraining from coercion
C) informed consent
D) a well-stated hypothesis
Q4) Summarize the potential consequences for researchers who do not follow ethical guidelines.
Q5) Discuss two of the general issues in ethical research behavior.
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Chapter 4: Sampling and Generalizability
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements is true of systematic sampling?
A) more precise than simple random sampling
B) a little more difficult and involved than simple random sampling
C) not all members of the population have an equal chance to be selected
D) ensures that the profile of the sample matches the profile of the population
Q2) What is the most unbiased tool that can be used in random selection?
A) random sampling
B) table of random numbers
C) quota sampling
D) direct sampling
Q3) What is a disadvantage of quota sampling?
A) It is time-consuming and tedious.
B) There are no disadvantages.
C) The degree of generalizability is questionable.
D) It is expensive.
Q4) Why is the statement "the larger the sample, the better" NOT always accurate?
Q5) Explain how to use a table of random numbers.
Q6) What is the difference between probability and nonprobability sampling?
Q7) Why is generalizability the key to a successful study?
Page 7
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Chapter 5: Measurement, Reliability, and Validity
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Sample Questions
Q1) _________________ describes a measure used to compare two different tests with the same group of participants to see how closely correlated the two sets of scores are with each other.
A) inter-rater reliability
B) test-retest reliability
C) parallel-forms reliability
D) internal consistency
Q2) Dr. Baylor is concerned that the items on his test really do adequately represent the universe of items from which he chose. Dr. Baylor's concern is one of
A) content validity
B) predictive validity
C) concurrent validity
D) construct validity
Q3) Which is considered the most precise level of measurement?
A) ordinal
B) nominal
C) ratio
D) interval
Q4) What is the difference between continuous and discrete variables?
Page 8
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Chapter 6: Methods of Measuring Behavior
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which level of measurement is very similar to Thurstone-like scales?
A) ordinal
B) nominal
C) interval
D) ratio
Q2) With no information, what is the chance that a person can guess correctly on a four-option multiple-choice question?
A) 100%
B) 75%
C) 50%
D) 25%
Q3) A good cover letter for a survey questionnaire has all but one of the following characteristics listed below. Which is NOT a characteristic of a good cover letter?
A) The initial questions are relatively simple, nonthreatening and easy-to-answer.
B) It is written on official letterhead
C) It promises confidentiality.
D) It clearly states the purpose of the questionnaire and the importance of the study.
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Chapter 7: Data Collection and Descriptive Statistics
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is another way to describe a mean?
A) deviation
B) variability
C) average score
D) test statistic
Q2) When you have ordinal data such as class rank), which is the best measure of central tendency to use?
A) range
B) mode
C) median
D) mean
Q3) In a set of scores with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, what raw score is represented by a z-score of 2.00?
A) 115
B) 130
C) 100
D) 70
Q4) What is a measure of central tendency?
Q5) Why is the sum of the deviation about the mean always 0?
Q6) Why should we use standard scores instead of raw scores?
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Chapter 8: Introducing Inferential Statistics
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Sample Questions
Q1) The minimum or maximum value that one would expect the test statistic to yield if the null hypothesis is true is an example of which of the following?
A) critical value
B) F value
C) t-test score
D) sampling mean
Q2) What can you conclude if the obtained value of a test statistic exceeds the critical value?
A) The null hypothesis cannot be rejected.
B) You made an error when calculating the test statistic.
C) The null hypothesis can be rejected.
D) Your obtained value is not statistically significant.
Q3) To compare findings from many different studies that use the same dependent variable, what technique is used?
A) MANOVA
B) factor analysis
C) t-test
D) meta-analysis
Q4) Explain what t<sub>120 </sub>= 2.00, p < .05 means.
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Chapter 9: Nonexperimental Research: Descriptive and Correlational Methods
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Sample Questions
Q1) What type of research tool can be either informal or highly structured?
A) interview
B) survey
C) descriptive
D) historical
Q2) Of the following pieces of information, which is NOT needed to compute a correlation coefficient?
A) sample size
B) a pair of scores for two variables) for each subject
C) the level of significance
D) the product of each X score times its corresponding Y score
Q3) If you square a correlation coefficient and subtract this number from 1.00, what is the result?
A) the coefficient of alienation
B) the coefficient of determination
C) the amount of variance NOT explained by the variance in each variable
D) both a and c
Q4) What is the difference between a closed-ended and open-ended question?
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Q5) What is the difference between the coefficient of determination and the coefficient of alienation?
Chapter 10: Nonexperimental Research: Qualitative Methods
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38 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the first step in conducting historical research?
A) evaluating authenticity and accuracy of evidence
B) formulating a hypothesis
C) defining a topic or problem
D) integrating data
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a disadvantage of the case study method?
A) It only reflects one reality, and that one may reflect researcher bias
B) Generalizability of the findings is limited.
C) It cannot establish cause-and-effect links.
D) It provides a rich account of what is occurring.
Q3) Which of the following is an example of a secondary source?
A) a photograph
B) a newspaper story describing an event
C) a contract
D) tools
Q4) Why is it important to understand the history of a phenomenon?
Q5) Name two types of questions used in interviews and give examples of both.
Q6) What are some of the limitations of historical research?
Q8) What are the differences between primary and secondary sources? Page 13
Q7) Describe the difference between direct and participant observation.
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Page 14
Chapter 11: Pre- and True Experimental Research Methods
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Sample Questions
Q1) Choose one threat to external validity, define and describe it, then discuss what a researcher can do to avoid or minimize it.
Q2) What is the Hawthorne effect?
Q3) Which is a way to control extraneous variables?
A) matching
B) history
C) instrumentation
D) reactive arrangements
Q4) Which of the following is NOT one of the general categories of experimental design?
A) pseudo-experimental
B) pre-experimental
C) true experimental
D) quasi-experimental
Q5) In an experimental research study, which group does NOT receive treatment?
A) control group
B) experimental group
C) research group
D) participants groups
Q6) Explain the effects of regression and how it affects internal validity.
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Chapter 12: Quasi-Experimental Research: a Close Cousin to Experimental Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) If, while using the nonequivalent control group design, the researcher discovers that groups differ on the pretest measure, one technique which can be used to statistically equalize the groups on the pretest is ____________________.
A) factor analysis
B) Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
C) parallel forms pretesting
D) Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA)
Q2) Which study design uses more than one test period prior to initiating any treatment and uses a comparison between one subject who receives a treatment and one who does not?
A) single subject design
B) nonequivalent control group design
C) multiple baseline design
D) cross-sectional design
Q3) Discuss differences between longitudinal and cross sectional methods.
Q4) Give an example of static group comparison in an experiment.
Q5) What is the difference between true and quasi-experimental research?
Q6) How do quasi-experimental methods help with ethical research?
Q7) When are follow-up studies useful?
Page 16
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Chapter 13: Writing a Research Proposal
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which section of a proposal discusses the research objectives?
A) introduction
B) method
C) literature review
D) implications and limitations
Q2) In a research proposal, which section comes first?
A) introduction
B) literature review
C) implications and limitations
D) method
Q3) Which section of a proposal describes the subjects used in a study in the greatest detail?
A) introduction
B) method
C) literature review
D) implications and limitations
Q4) What is an effective way of judging how much time your proposal will take?
Q5) What should you consider when selecting a sample for your research study?
Q6) Name some things you should remember when selecting your dependent variable.
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Q7) What should you look for when evaluating the hypothesis of a research paper?
Chapter 14: Writing a Research Manuscript
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Sample Questions
Q1) List the parts of a prepared manuscript, in order.
Q2) Which section of the manuscript contains information on the instrumentation used?
A) introduction
B) method
C) results
D) discussion
Q3) What is a likely negative consequence of NOT titling your manuscript in a way that clearly reflects its content?
A) Your manuscript may be rejected.
B) It may be indexed incorrectly and others searching for a particular subject may miss it.
C) You may send it to the wrong type of journal.
D) There are no likely negative consequences.
Q4) Which is a subsection found in the method section?
A) introduction
B) running head
C) results
D) data analysis
Q5) What information is included in an abstract?
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