Research Methods in Communication Final Exam

Course Introduction

Research Methods in Communication explores the systematic processes and techniques used to investigate communication phenomena. This course introduces students to both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, including surveys, experiments, content analysis, interviews, and focus groups. Emphasizing the importance of rigorous research design and ethical considerations, students learn how to formulate research questions, collect and analyze data, and interpret findings within the context of communication theories. The course equips students with practical skills for scholarly inquiry and critical evaluation of research in fields such as media studies, interpersonal communication, and organizational communication.

Recommended Textbook

Exploring Research 8th Edition by Neil J. Salkind

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Chapter 1: The Role and Importance of Research

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Q1) Qualitative research can be defined by which of the following?

A) directly tests the quality of a cause and effect relationship

B) examines human behavior in the contexts in which they occur

C) typically leads to high-quality numeric data

D) one of the oldest formalized types of research used in the social and behavioral sciences

Answer: B

Q2) What is another term for basic research?

A) real research

B) pure research

C) applied research

D) baseline research

Answer: B

Q3) What is one characteristic of poor research?

A) based on the work of other researchers

B) incremental

C) a political activity

D) leads to additional questions

Answer: C

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Chapter 2: The Research Process: Coming to Terms

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Q1) 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

Q2) The null hypothesis represents which of the following statements?

A) no relationship between the variables under study

B) a positive relationship between the independent and dependent variables

C) a negative relationship between the independent and dependent variables

D) a difference between the variables under study

Answer: A

Q3) A control variable can best be defined by which of the following statements?

A) influences the independent variable

B) has no observable effect

C) cannot be removed or controlled

D) influences the dependent variable

Answer: D

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Chapter 3: A: Selecting a Problem and Reviewing the Research

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Q1) A research abstract contains which of the following?

A) a one-paragraph summary of a journal article

B) a list of sources from an online index

C) a complicated idea

D) a type of painting

Answer: A

Q2) Which is the most comprehensive guide to general literature?

A) The New York Times Index

B) The Reader's Guide, Full Text Mega Edition

C) Statistical Abstract of the United States

D) Review of Educational Research

Answer: B

Q3) Peer review means that of a journal submission usually requires a minimum of how many reviewers?

A) 1

B) 3

C) 6

D) 9

Answer: B

Page 5

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Chapter 3: B: Ethics: the Basic Principles

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Q1) You can quote and analyze online information without asking for permission as long as the information is officially and publicly archived, not password protected and nothing on the site prohibits the use of this information.

A) True

B) False

Q2) 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

Q3) What is the role of professional organizations in promoting ethical standards in human research studies?

Q4) Summarize the potential consequences for researchers who do not follow ethical guidelines.

Q5) Distinguish between anonymity and confidentiality. Which is required for research to be considered ethical?

Q6) Discuss the primary shortcomings of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and what ethical guidelines are in place now to prevent such ethical lapses in the future. Is it enough?

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Chapter 4: Sampling and Generalizability

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Q1) Which of the following selection processes is the most random?

A) using a class of introductory psychology students

B) picking every third person

C) using a table of random numbers to select from the list of possible participants

D) throwing darts at the names of subjects on a dartboard

Q2) Which of the following explains the use of probability sampling?

A) the likelihood of any one member of a population being selected is known

B) the likelihood any one member of a population being selected is unknown

C) randomly selecting any one member from the population is effective

D) randomly selecting any one member from the population is underestimated

Q3) 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

Q4) Why is generalizability the key to a successful study?

Q5) Why is the statement "the larger the sample, the better" NOT always accurate?

Q6) Explain how to use a table of random numbers.

Q7) What is the difference between probability and nonprobability sampling?

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Chapter 5: Measurement, Reliability, and Validity

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Q1) Which of the following variables is an example of the nominal level of measurement?

A) rank in graduating class

B) gender

C) age of students

D) amount of money earned

Q2) If the reason for the difference between the true and observed score is a characteristic of the person taking the test, the resulting decrease in reliability will be attributed to ____________.

A) method error

B) trait error

C) random error

D) nonsystematic error

Q3) Which level of measurement conveys the most information?

A) nominal

B) ordinal

C) interval

D) ratio

Q4) What is the difference between continuous and discrete variables?

Q5) Name four ways to increase reliability.

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Chapter 6: Methods of Measuring Behavior

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Q1) All the behavior of a subject is recorded in _____________________.

A) duration recording

B) interval recording

C) frequency recording

D) continuous recording

Q2) Describe the basic procedure involved in setting up to conduct an item analysis.

Q3) What type of test is used to assess an individual's feelings about a particular topic?

A) aptitude test

B) preference test

C) selection test

D) attitude test

Q4) In which of the following instances are tests used as dependent variables?

A) to assist in selection to a graduate program

B) to help in placing a child into an appropriate program based on reading level

C) to screen for a possible learning disability

D) to determine the effectiveness of a specific type of instruction

Q5) What are some advantages and disadvantages to using multiple choice questions?

Q6) What makes a good questionnaire?

Q7) Why is it important to be unobtrusive when observing behavior?

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Chapter 7: Data Collection and Descriptive Statistics

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Q1) Which measure would be used to describe the average class ranking of algebra students?

A) mean

B) mode

C) median

D) standard deviation

Q2) What is another way the mode can be described?

A) divides the sample in half

B) averages the test scores

C) occurs most frequently

D) tells how much variability there is in the test scores

Q3) What is another phrase used to describe a bell-shaped curve?

A) average curve

B) regular-shaped curve

C) normal curve

D) elliptical curve

Q4) Why should we use standard scores instead of raw scores?

Q5) Why isn't the range the best measure of variability?

Q6) Give an example of when you would use the median as the measure of central tendency.

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Chapter 8: Introducing Inferential Statistics

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Q1) What does the central limit theorem enable researchers to do?

A) compare means from two independent samples

B) generalize the results from a sample to a population without knowing the exact nature of the population's distribution

C) compute the significance of a relationship between two variables

D) reduce the possibility that chance accounts for variability in the variable of interest

Q2) When investigating a relationship between two variables, what is the most acceptable initial explanation of the relationship?

A) the treatment

B) chance

C) researcher bias

D) defined factors

Q3) What is the statistical test for examining the significant difference between two means from two unrelated groups?

A) t-test for dependent means

B) MANOVA

C) t-test for independent means

D) factor analysis

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Chapter 9: Nonexperimental Research: Descriptive and

Correlational Methods

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Q1) What is the second step in developing an interview?

A) state the purpose of the interview

B) select an appropriate sample

C) develop questions

D) train the interviewers

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) How do you know by looking at the correlation coefficient if there is a strong correlation between one variable and another?

Q4) What are unstructured questions also known as?

A) closed-ended questions

B) difficult questions

C) interview questions

D) open-ended questions

Page 12

Q5) What are some advantages of survey research?

Q6) What is the difference between a closed-ended and open-ended question?

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Chapter 10: Nonexperimental Research: Qualitative Methods

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Sample Questions

Q1) Which of the following is NOT a qualitative computer research tool?

A) N6

B) SPSS

C) NVivo

D) HyperSEARCH

Q2) You have a diary thought to be written by a confederate soldier during the Civil War. A handwriting expert believes the writing matches other samples that have already been traced to this man. A carbon-dating expert can verify the age of the document. The diary gives an account of a battle, but you have other documents that contradict some of the events as written. Based on this information, what should you question about the diary?

A) authenticity

B) accuracy

C) validity

D) ability to pass a test of external criticism

Q3) How would you describe an ethnography?

A) intense look at an individual

B) explores a culture

C) looks at history

D) looks at relationships between two things

Page 14

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Chapter 11: Pre- and True Experimental Research Methods

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Q1) Which of the following threats to external validity happens when subjects discover the experiment's purpose?

A) reactive arrangements

B) multiple treatment interference

C) experimenter effects

D) pretest sensitization

Q2) What term is synonymous with internal validity?

A) generalizability

B) accuracy

C) reliability

D) control

Q3) Choose one threat to external validity, define and describe it, then discuss what a researcher can do to avoid or minimize it.

Q4) What characteristics of pre-experimental designs make it difficult to establish cause-and-effect relationships?

Q5) How can you increase internal and external validity?

Q6) What are three methods you can use to control extraneous variables?

Q7) What is the Hawthorne effect?

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Q8) What are the steps involved in using the pretest posttest control group design?

Chapter 12: Quasi-Experimental Research: a Close Cousin to Experimental Research

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Q1) Which of the following statements is false regarding quasi-experimental methodology?

A) The hypothesized cause of differences between groups has already occurred.

B) It is more powerful than experimental research.

C) Group assignment has already taken place.

D) It does not attempt to establish a cause-and-effect relationship.

Q2) What is one criticism of the AB single-subject design?

A) too short

B) may be unethical to not apply a facilitative treatment

C) takes too much time and energy

D) does not rely on graphical depiction

Q3) How can age and the time the measurement took place be confounding?

Q4) In quasi-experimental research, when will the cause of differences between groups occur?

A) during the experiment

B) after the experiment

C) it has already occurred

D) it will never occur

Q6) When are follow-up studies useful? Page 16

Q5) Give an example of static group comparison in an experiment.

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Chapter 13: Writing a Research Proposal

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Sample Questions

Q1) Which section of a proposal discusses the possible future uses for the research?

A) introduction

B) method

C) literature review

D) implications and limitations

Q2) Which is NOT a common criticism of research articles?

A) data collection not carefully controlled

B) weaknesses in design of research

C) hypothesis was not interesting

D) limitations of the study were not stated

Q3) When reviewing a test, which of the following is NOT one of the major criteria to consider?

A) basic information

B) design and appearance

C) reliability

D) popularity

Q4) Name some things you should remember when selecting your dependent variable.

Q5) What should you consider when selecting a sample for your research study?

Q6) What should you look for when evaluating the hypothesis of a research paper?

Q7) What should you consider when reviewing a test?

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Chapter 14: Writing a Research Manuscript

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Q1) The first line of a paragraph should be indented ___________________.

A) only for the first paragraph

B) 2 spaces

C) 5 spaces

D) for only the first paragraph on each page

Q2) Which section of a manuscript is usually NOT labeled?

A) discussion

B) methods

C) results

D) introduction

Q3) In what order are multiple authors listed on a manuscript?

A) alphabetically

B) order of contribution

C) alphabetically by institution

D) ranked by number of publications

Q4) In a manuscript, the hypothesis __________________.

A) is not always stated

B) is stated in the method section

C) may be found in the introduction

D) both a and c

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