Social Work Research II
Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Social Work Research II builds upon foundational research skills by emphasizing advanced methodologies and analytical techniques relevant to social work practice. The course focuses on quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research designs, ethical considerations, data collection, and analysis procedures. Students will critically evaluate empirical studies, develop intervention or program evaluation plans, and utilize statistical tools to interpret data. Through practical assignments, learners enhance their ability to conduct independent research and apply evidence-based findings to real-world social work issues, preparing them for informed practice and contribution to the fields knowledge base.
Recommended Textbook
Empowerment Series Research Methods for Social Work 9th Edition by Allen Rubin
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Chapter 1: Why Study Research
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Q1) Researchers employing the scientific method should be open to the pursuit of evidence that disconfirms their conclusions.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) In social work, science could best be described as A) technology
B) a method of inquiry.
C) statistics.
D) all of the above.
Answer: B
Q3) According to the scientific method, all knowledge should be A) provisional.
B) subject to refutation.
C) based on evidence supported by objective observations.
D) All of the above
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: Evidence-Based Practice
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Q1) "Accurate empathy" is one of the key influences on treatment outcomes.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Any study that employs a randomized clinical trial is a strong source of evidence, regardless of how it measures outcome.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) If an intervention has been supported by the best evidence, then it is safe to assume that it will be effective with a particular client.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) The evidence supporting the influence of common factors on treatment outcome implies that the choice of intervention does not matter at all.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 3: Factors Influencing the Research Process
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Q1) Which of the following are variables?
A) female, Jewish, high school graduate.
B) plumber, professor, dentist.
C) occupation, political party preference, birth date.
D) 21, violent, poor.
E) none of the above.
Answer: C
Q2) Which of the following illustrates the use of the inductive method?
A) hypothesis, observations, accept or reject hypothesis.
B) observations, pattern finding, and generalizations.
C) theory, hypothesis, observations, generalizations.
D) theory, observations, and generalizations.
E) generalizations, theory, and observations.
Answer: B
Q3) An ideology is:
A) a paradigm that is open to questioning
B) a theory of ideas.
C) a closed system of beliefs and values.
D) None of the above.
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: Comparing Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed
Methods of Inquiry
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Q1) Mixed-methods research has fallen out of favor in recent years.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Compared to quantitative studies, qualitative studies are more likely to:
A) be inductive.
B) have a larger sample size.
C) use less time consuming data collection methods.
D) Ask close-ended questions.
E) All of the above.
Q3) Research procedures are more likely to be specified in advance in qualitative studies than in quantitative studies.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Interpretivist paradigms are more likely to be used in qualitative studies than in quantitative studies.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Explain how one would decide whether to emphasize qualitative or quantitative research methods - or both - in a particular study.
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Chapter 5: The Ethics and Politics of Social Work Research
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Q1) Ethical issues are distinguished from political issues in research in that
A) ethics deals more with the substance of research.
B) politics deals more with the methods of research.
C) formal codes of accepted political conduct are not comparable to the codes of ethical conduct.
D) ethics deals more with the use of research.
Q2) Identify five commonly recommended guidelines for attempting to avoid bias and insensitivity regarding gender or culture in a study.
Q3) Concealing the nature of the study from those being observed violates the norm of voluntary participation.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which of the following questions should be answered in an informed consent form?
A) Do you have to participate?
B) How will your privacy and the confidentiality of your research records be protected?
C) Will the researchers benefit from your participation in this study?
D) All of the above.
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Chapter 6: Culturally Competent Research
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Q1) Studies that do NOT include adequate representation from specific minority and oppressed populations in their samples are NOT generalizable to those populations.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Culturally competent research involves
A) being well read in the culture of concern before beginning any investigation in it.
B) being ethnocentric.
C) making broad generalizations about the culture as a whole.
D) all of the above.
Q3) No ethnic minority group is homogeneous.
A)True
B)False
Q4) If research participants from two different cultures have the same average score on a scale measuring caregiver burden, that means that the two groups of participants subjectively perceive the same degree of caregiver burden.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Explain the difference between linguistic, conceptual and metric equivalence.
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Chapter 7: Problem Formulation
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Q1) A good research topic should:
A) Pass the "so what?" test.
B) Be specific.
C) Capable of being answered by observable evidence.
D) All of these are correct.
E) None of these is correct.
Q2) Feasibility should NOT be a consideration when formulating an idealistic, far-reaching study.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Dr. Jordan chronicles people's attitudes toward an upcoming poverty program. Jordan is doing explanatory research.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Explanatory studies are designed to find answers to which of the following questions?
A) Are people's attitudes toward public welfare changing?
B) Why are people's attitudes toward public welfare changing?
C) Who watches soap operas?
D) Is a measurement scale valid?
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Chapter 8: Conceptualization in Quantitative and Qualitative Inquiry
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Q1) The following is an example of a good hypothesis: "Social work practitioners who work in mental health agencies do not care adequately for the chronically mentally ill."
A)True
B)False
Q2) The specification of concepts in a scientific inquiry depends on
A) nominal, operational, and real definitions.
B) real definitions.
C) nominal and operational definitions.
D) nominal and real definitions.
E) operational and real definitions.
Q3) Examining police records of the number of arrests for domestic violence is an example of the use of self-report as a source of data for an operational definition.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Illustrate how a child's level of behavioral problems could be operationally defined in three different ways using three different sources of data.
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Chapter 9: Measurement
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Q1) Face validity is a form of empirical validity.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Unobtrusive observation can be used for the purpose of minimizing social desirability bias.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Most social scientists would not accept the conceptualization of IQ as foot size because such a measurement would lack
A) precision.
B) reliability.
C) accuracy.
D) validity.
Q4) Asking a group of experts whether the items on a scale appear to measure what they intend to measure is a good way to assess the scale's A) predictive validity.
B) concurrent validity.
C) construct validity. D) content validity.
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Chapter 10: Constructing Measurement Instruments
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Q1) 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
Q2) The following answer categories about ethnicity are exhaustive: Caucasian ________ African American ________ Hispanic ________
A)True
B)False
Q3) The questionnaire item "Which is not a serious problem in the U.S. today, anomie or the socialization of the young?" violates which of the following guidelines?
A) Avoid double-barreled questions.
B) Avoid short items.
C) Avoid leading the respondent.
D) Avoid meaningful questions.
E) Avoid negative items.
Q4) Identify acceptable options for handling missing data in an index or scale.
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Chapter 11: Causal Inference and Experimental Designs
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Q1) A friend of yours, a senior, took the Graduate Record Exam in September and scored in the 99th percentile. In February your friend took the same exam over again. This time your friend scored in the 84th percentile. As a research methodology student, you told your friend that his/her lowered score was probably due to:
A) testing.
B) history.
C) statistical regression.
D) demoralization.
E) compensation rivalry.
Q2) The one-group pretest-posttest design controls for passage of time.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The effectiveness of randomization in experimentation is affected by the number of participants involved.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The problem of external validity refers to the generalizability of results.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 12: Quasi-Experimental Designs
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Q1) Nonequivalent comparison groups designs can be strengthened by:
A) using multiple pretests or switching replications.
B) using smaller sample sizes.
C) using no pretests
D) using replication without switching.
Q2) Administering multiple pretests in a non-equivalent comparison group design:
A) enables us to detect whether participants are already engaged in a change process before treatment begins.
B) increases the likelihood that improvement from pretest to posttest is a function of statistical regression.
C) makes it more difficult to detect trends in the data..
D) decreases the internal validity of the design.
Q3) Which of the following is/are NOT a characteristic of a cross-sectional study?
A) It is conducted at only one point in time.
B) It can be exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory.
C) It concentrates on the changes that take place within a specific sample over a period of time.
D) It provides a means for studying a large variation in the population at the same point in time.
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Chapter 13: Single-Case Evaluation Designs
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Q1) In a single-case design with a student at high risk for dropping out of school, a good measurement plan to assess whether our intervention is effective would be to monitor whether or not he/she drops out of school.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A practitioner tests whether a new technique will be effective in reducing the number of time-outs required in play therapy sessions for children with conduct disorders. In each of the two sessions before implementing the new technique, five time-outs occurred. In each of the two sessions after implementing the new technique, no time-outs occurred. The practitioner should conclude:
A) The technique was clearly effective.
B) The data source was retrospective available records.
C) There was an insufficient number of data points in the study to warrant causal inferences.
D) The data source was self-report.
E) None of the above.
Q3) Identify three qualitative methods that can be incorporated in single-case evaluation, and discuss the function of each method.
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Chapter 14: Program Evaluation
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Q1) One criticism of goal attainment evaluations deals with the often fuzzy link between program mission statements and operational indicators of program outcome.
A)True
B)False
Q2) If a rigorous experimental assessment of program outcome finds that a program is not effective in attaining its goals, then there is no need to evaluate the program's implementation.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A major disadvantage of the community forum approach to needs assessment is the representativeness of the opinions expressed.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Describe the impact managed care has had on program evaluation.
Q5) Agency staff members who initially approve of a program evaluation design may nevertheless fail to comply closely with its research protocol throughout the study.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: Sampling
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Q1) Selecting a sample that the researcher believes will yield the most comprehensive understanding of a subject based on the researcher's knowledge of the population is employing purposive or judgmental sampling.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Sampling error is reduced through an increase in the sample size.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Compare probability designs with nonprobability designs. Identify the kinds of sampling designs available within each of these major categories. Explain a situation in which it would be more appropriate to use probability sampling and one in which nonprobability sampling would be preferred.
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?
Q5) In qualitative research, the informants selected should usually be somewhat typical of the groups being studied.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 16: Survey Research
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Q1) The spread of telephone answering machines and cell phones has improved the representativeness of data collected by telephone surveys.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following statements is true about online surveys?
A) A main disadvantage pertains to the likelihood of underrepresentation of the poor and the elderly.
B) They are more costly and time consuming for the researcher than mailed surveys.
C) They should never be mixed with postal surveys.
D) Avoid setting a deadline for participation.
Q3) The primary function of the probe is to
A) loosen up the respondent.
B) get the correct answer from the respondent.
C) get the respondent to answer a question more fully.
D) indicate an understanding and interest in the respondent.
Q4) Surveys are excellent devices to measure social action.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of online surveys.
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Chapter 17: Analyzing Existing Data: Quantitative and Qualitative Methods
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Q1) An advantage of secondary analysis is that even with huge data novice researchers can conduct the data analysis swiftly.
A)True
B)False
Q2) When analyzing official government documents you should be concerned about the reliability of those documents.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Historical and comparative researchers can use both qualitative and quantitative analytic techniques.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which of the following statements is true about analyzing historical data?
A) The original hypothesis can be revised continually throughout the analytic process.
B) Only qualitative methods can be used.
C) Quantitative methods are used more often than qualitative methods.
D) Their interpretation cannot be influenced by any particular theoretical paradigm.
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Chapter 18: Qualitative Research: General Principles
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Q1) Using contemporary positivist standards, describe three key threats to the trustworthiness of qualitative research and six strategies commonly used to minimize the distorting influence of those threats.
Q2) When qualitative studies involve observing people in their natural environment, ethical issues are less likely to be a concern than in other types of research.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Case studies use qualitative sources of evidence, only, never quantitative sources.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A study that begins with observations and then looks for patterns, themes, or common categories is using what method?
A) Being a complete participant
B) Participatory action research.
C) Grounded theory.
D) Client logs.
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Chapter 19: Qualitative Research: Specific Methods
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Q1) Select a research topic. Describe how a complete participant, a participant-as-observer, an observer-as-participant, and a complete observer might study that subject.
Q2) A risk with the complete participant role risks is that the researchers might have an effect on what they are observing.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Field notes should record only what you "know happened," NOT what you "think" has happened.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In qualitative research the unstructured interview is used to A) minimize interviewer bias.
B) gain an in-depth understanding of respondents' views, attitudes, values, and beliefs.
C) obtain easily tabulated data.
D) obtain responses to closed-ended questions.
E) control for factors that may affect the respondents' answers.
Q5) How does qualitative interviewing differ from quantitative survey interviewing?
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Chapter 20: Qualitative Data Analysis
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Q1) Variable-oriented research is similar to the nomothetic model of explanation.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Data collection, analysis, and theory are more intimately intertwined in qualitative analysis than in quantitative analysis.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Identify at last one way that computer programs analyze qualitative data.
Q4) Define what is meant by qualitative analysis and what is meant by quantitative analysis. What are the differences between the two forms of analysis? Are there similarities between the two? If so, describe some of the similarities. If no, why not?
Q5) Semiotics is a social science because
A) meanings are inherent in signs.
B) meanings reside in people's minds.
C) a particular sign may have a particular meaning to a particular person.
D) we have agreements about the meanings associated with particular signs.
Q6) Describe how coding, memoing, and concept mapping are used in qualitative analysis.
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Chapter 21: Descriptive Data Analysis
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Q1) The most frequent attribute, in either grouped or ungrouped data, is the A) mean.
B) median.
C) mode.
D) range.
E) marginal.
Q2) Given the following values, the median is 4, 8, 5, 11, 13, 7, 9, 10, 3
A) 8
B) 13
C) 7.8
D) 5
Q3) Why do percentages allow us to compare two or more frequency distributions? Give examples.
Q4) Provide an example of how descriptive statistics can be used in qualitative research.
Q5) The range is smaller than the interquartile range.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What is the purpose of data cleaning? How is it done?
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Chapter 22: Inferential Data Analysis
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Q1) The more statistically significant a finding, the less likely it isto be explained away by extraneous variables or design flaws.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following hypotheses assumes that there is no relationship between two variables?
A) Research
B) Null
C) Alternate
D) Secondary
E) Substantive
Q3) Two-tailed tests of significance should be used whenever there isa non-directional hypothesis.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Statistical power analysis deals with the probability of avoiding Type I errors.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Explain what is meant by "chance as a rival hypothesis.
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Chapter 23: Writing Research Proposals and Reports
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Q1) It is NOT plagiarism to present another's ideas as your own, provided that you use totally different words to express those ideas.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Describe how qualitative research reports often differ from quantitative ones.
Q3) Reports of qualitative research studies tend to be shorter than reports of quantitative studies.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The measurement section of a research proposal should A) report specific reliability and validity data about scales to be used.
B) address the sensitivity of scales to be used.
C) incorporate triangulation.
D) do all of these.
Q5) Readers of a research report need to be provided with sufficient detail to enable them to know precisely what was done so they can replicate the study.
A)True B)False
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