Research Methods in Social Work
Midterm Exam
Course Introduction
This course introduces students to the fundamental concepts, principles, and techniques used in social work research. Emphasizing both quantitative and qualitative approaches, the course covers topics such as research design, data collection methods, sampling techniques, data analysis, and ethical considerations in conducting research with diverse populations. Students will learn to critically evaluate existing research, develop research questions, and design a basic research project relevant to social work practice. By integrating evidence-based practice, the course equips students with the skills needed to contribute to the development of knowledge in the field and to improve the effectiveness of social work interventions.
Recommended Textbook
Empowerment Series Essential Research Methods for Social Work 4th Edition by Allen Rubin
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554 Verified Questions
554 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Why Study Research
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27 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to the scientific method,scientific evidence that has been strongly supported in numerous replications is not open to question.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Our ego involvement can influence us to disregard evidence that contradicts our beliefs.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Almost all research studies on social work practice effectiveness have agreed that it is very effective.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) Explain what is meant by the statement,"Tradition and authority are the two-edged swords in the search for knowledge about the world."
Answer: N/A
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Evidence-Based Practice
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Sample Questions
Q1) Evidence-base practice:
A) Is a list of empirically supported interventions that practitioners should employ regardless of their practice judgment.
B) Is a process for making practice decisions based on integrating the best research evidence with practice expertise and knowledge of client attributes.
C) Is a process for making practice decisions based solely on research evidence.
D) Assures practice effectiveness.
Answer: B
Q2) The top-down and bottom-up approaches to searching for evidence are mutually exclusive.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Evidence about practice effectiveness will
A) always be conclusive.
B) sometimes indicate what actions NOT to take.
C) usually indicate what is effective with every client or situation.
D) will point toward taking an action that the client is certain to want.
Answer: B
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Quantitative, qualitative, and Mixed Methods of Inquiry
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Q1) Which of the following statements is true about the phases of the research process in mixed methods studies?
A) Data collection methods are determined during the problem formulation phase.
B) Data collection methods are determined during the study design phase.
C) The research question is posed during the study design phase.
D) The sequence of the problem formulation phase depends on whether qualitative or quantitative methods are emphasized.
Answer: B
Q2) When we want to verify whether a cause produces an effect in general,we are more likely to use quantitative methods.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Qualitative research methods are compatible with quantitative research methods.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Factors Influencing the Research Process
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Sample Questions
Q1) A research study must choose between the inductive versus the deductive method; it cannot use both methods.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Discuss how two social work practice models might lead to different research studies about school social work with children who are disruptive in the classroom.
Q3) Explain the differences between the interpretivist and critical theory paradigms.
Q4) Explain why attrition can be an important problem in panel studies and how it can distort the results.
Q5) Explanatory studies:
A) can employ qualitative, quantitative, and/or mixed methods.
B) always use qualitative methods.
C) always use quantitative methods.
D) none of these.
Q6) Social work practice models,like theories,can influence the research process.
A)True
B)False
Q7) How are theory and research linked? Give examples.
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Ethical Issues in Social Work Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Are there any situations in which a researcher is justified in deceiving subjects? Explain your answer.
Q2) Briefly summarize both sides of the arguments regarding Epstein's study of a bogus article to test journal bias.
Q3) As soon as you tell subjects that you are doing research,the ethical issue of the researcher's identity is no longer a problem.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Once people are told that their participation in a research study is voluntary,there are no ethical problems.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Ethical considerations are invoked by
A) the kinds of individuals serving as participants.
B) the setting in which the research is to take place.
C) the analysis of the data.
D) the reporting of the data.
E) All of these may invoke ethical considerations.
Q6) Illustrate how ethics and politics can affect social work research.
7
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Chapter 6: Culturally Competent Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements is true about measurement equivalence?
A) Linguistic equivalence ensures conceptual equivalence.
B) Linguistic equivalence is necessary for conceptual equivalence.
C) Conceptual equivalence ensures metric equivalence.
D) Metric equivalence is necessary for conceptual equivalence.
Q2) The best time to read about the culture of a population you seek to research is after you have formulated your research question.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Recruitment of minority and oppressed populations in research studies can be enhanced by:
A) providing transportation to the research site.
B) conducting research activities in participants' homes.
C) providing childcare for young children
D) all of these.
Q4) Explain the difference between linguistic,conceptual and metric equivalence.
Q5) Provide an example where degree of acculturation should be included as one of the variables in a study of a minority culture.
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Page 8
Chapter 7: Problem Formulation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Develop a properly worded hypothesis that would be relevant to evaluating the effectiveness of some aspect of social work practice.Identify a moderating variable and a mediating variable pertinent to that hypothesis and explain why it would be important to control for them in testing the hypothesis
Q2) If we find that rates of behavioral disorder are lower among children who are more active in sports,then we have found what type of relationship?
A) positive.
B) negative.
C) curvilinear.
D) causal.
Q3) Which of the following IS NOT an operational definition of marital satisfaction?
A) a score on a scale measuring marital satisfaction.
B) whether or not identified by a therapist as having marital problems.
C) amount of marital unhappiness.
D) number of derogatory statements made by spouses to each other.
Q4) Give an example of how gender could be a variable in one study and a constant in another.
Q5) Discuss how the quantitative and qualitative perspectives on operational definitions differ.
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Chapter 8: Measurement in Quantitative and Qualitative Inquiry
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Sample Questions
Q1) Each alternative form of measurement (written self-reports,interviews,direct behavioral observation and examining available records)is vulnerable to measurement error.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Reliability and validity are handled precisely in the same ways in qualitative inquiry as they are in quantitative inquiry.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The tendency of people to answer questions through a filter that will convey a favorable impression is called
A) the acquiescent response set.
B) social desirability bias.
C) cultural bias.
D) random error.
Q4) The use of several different research methods to test the same finding is called triangulation.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Quantitative and Qualitative Measurement Instruments
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Sample Questions
Q1) The following answer categories about gender are exhaustive and mutually exclusive: Male ________ Female ________
A)True
B)False
Q2) The length of a question has no bearing on how effectively the respondent will answer.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Respondents would not be competent to answer a question if they:
A) did not remember the relevant information.
B) did not know about the relevant information in the first place.
C) have psychological or biological impairments
D) all of these.
Q4) In constructing a questionnaire it is better to squeeze questions and response categories close together and have a shorter,cluttered questionnaire than it is to have a longer,uncluttered questionnaire.
A)True
B)False
Q5) How does qualitative interviewing differ from quantitative interviewing?
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Chapter 10: Surveys
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Sample Questions
Q1) When asking questionnaire items,the interviewer should
A) ask every question even if the respondent has apparently answered it already.
B) skip questions that the respondent cannot answer and return to them at the end of the interview.
C) react to a question after the respondent has answered to show interest
D) give help on difficult questions.
E) summarize the respondent's answers so that they are more meaningful answers.
Q2) Give a comparative analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of survey research.
Q3) Identify five recommendations for conducting online surveys.
Q4) Probes are used more frequently in open-ended questions than in closed-ended ones.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The spread of telephone answering machines has improved the quality of data collected by telephone surveys.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Describe five different approaches to needs assessment and their advantages and disadvantages.
Q7) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of online surveys.
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Chapter 11: Sampling: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches
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Sample Questions
Q1) Quantitative studies and qualitative studies are equally likely to employ probability sampling procedures.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Probability samples are advantageous to the researcher because
A) the method by which they are selected limits conscious and unconscious sampling bias, and the accuracy or representativeness of the sample can be estimated.
B) there is no sampling error whatsoever.
C) they always are perfectly and precisely representative of the population from which they are drawn.
D) all of these.
Q3) Cluster sampling is a useful sampling procedure for large populations that are geographically scattered.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What is the basic logic of probability sampling? How do such concepts as homogeneity,heterogeneity,sampling bias,representativeness,and probability of selection fit into this logic?
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Experiments and Quasi-Experiments
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Sample Questions
Q1) Case-control designs have more controls for threats to validity than do most other designs for evaluating programs or practice.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The design diagrammed in question 8
A) treats 0 as the new teaching technique.
B) treats 0 as the old teaching technique.
C) treats X as the scores on the research methods exam.
D) none of these.
Q3) Time series designs with many measurement points control for statistical regression.
A)True
B)False
Q4) An instrumentation effect occurs when
A) the instrument employed for the pretest has an effect that shows up on the posttest.
B) the measurement instrument is changed from the pretest to the posttest.
C) there is a change on the dependent variable from the pretest score to the posttest score.
D) all of these.
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Chapter 13: Single-Case Evaluation Designs
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Sample Questions
Q1) The length of the baseline in single-case designs should be
A) as long as is practically and ethically possible.
B) longer with a low frequency behavior than with a high frequency behavior.
C) extended until a stable trend appears.
D) all of these.
Q2) The ability to construct a retrospective baseline is one of the advantages of using available records.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Suppose you instruct a couple to have a typical conversation while you observe them in your office.This would be an example of
A) unobtrusive observation.
B) research reactivity.
C) obtrusive observation.
D) interval recording.
Q4) Self-monitoring is an example of unobtrusive observation.
A)True
B)False
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Page 15
Chapter 14: Program Evaluation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements is NOT true about the utilization of program evaluation results?
A) They are less likely to be used if they contradict deeply held beliefs.
B) If the results are clear and have obvious policy implications, they will always be used.
C) They are less likely to be used when they threaten vested interests.
D) None of these; they are all true.
Q2) What steps should program evaluators take in order to foster the utilization of their studies?
Q3) Agency administrators and practitioners are likely to encourage maximum scientific rigor in evaluations of program outcome,irrespective of the funding implications.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which of the following designs can be used in program evaluation?
A) Pre-experimental designs.
B) Group experiments.
C) Surveys.
D) Qualitative designs
E) All of these.
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Page 16
Chapter 15: Additional Methods in Qualitative Inquiry
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Q1) Due to their similarity,it is relatively easy,and not paradoxical,to blend the emic and etic perspectives in qualitative observation.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Explain why blending the emic and etic perspectives is a challenging paradox.
Q3) Describe how grounded theory can be used in conjunction with ethnography.
Q4) The complete participant role prevents researchers from having an effect on what they are observing.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Among the advantages of qualitative research is that it
A) yields precise descriptive statements about a large population. B) involves the uniform application of precise operational definitions. C) allows for the modification of research design, D) produces definitive conclusions. E) is an extremely reliable technique.
Q6) Prolonged engagement is used to reduce the impact of reactivity and respondent bias.
A)True
B)False
Page 17
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Chapter 16: Analyzing Available Records: Quantitative and Qualitative Methods
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Q1) The cost savings of secondary analysis enable researchers to study larger and representative samples.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following statements is/are true about historical/comparative analysis?
A) It is comparative in that it seeks to discover common patterns that recur in different times and places.
B) Primary sources for raw data might include old letters, diaries, or lectures.
C) Flaws might exist in both primary as well as secondary sources.
D) Even official government records might be biased.
E) All of these.
Q3) A researcher using official government documents need not be concerned about the reliability of those records.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Describe the dangers to keep in mind when using primary sources in historical research.Discuss how you would attempt to protect against these dangers.
Q5) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of secondary analysis.
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Chapter 17: Quantitative Data Analysis
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Sample Questions
Q1) The mean is almost always sufficient in portraying the typical case in a distribution.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In an evaluation of an intervention that seeks to increase self-esteem scores,if the mean of the experimental group is 60,the mean of the control group is 50,and the standard deviation of the control group is 5,the Cohen's d effect size is:
A) 5
B) 2
C) 10
D) 0.10
E) 60
Q3) At what level of measurement is the variable number of future incidents of child neglect?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Ratio
D) Interval
Q4) Define and explain how to calculate odds ratios and risk ratios.
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Chapter 18: Qualitative Data Analysis
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Q1) Theory plays an important role in seeking to discover patterns in qualitative analysis.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Professor Lip was interested in why grandparents went to court to obtain custody of their grandchildren.One of the grandparents that Lip talked with commented on the issue of "parental neglect" of the grandchild.Once the issue of neglect had been identified,Lip began to notice that other grandparents also used the concept of "parental neglect" to explain why they had a legal relationship with their grandchild.In the Loflands' terms,Professor Lip was interested in examining which of the following ways of looking for patterns?
A) Frequencies
B) Magnitudes
C) Causes
D) Consequences
E) Processes
Q3) Describe the open coding process.
Q4) Describe how memoing,is used in qualitative analysis
Q5) Describe how concept mapping is used in qualitative analysis.
Q6) Describe how coding is used in qualitative analysis.
Page 20
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