Brown: Ch 3

Question 1

What is research design?

Answer 1

the specific plan for how a study is organized

Question 2

Types of research include…

Answer 2

Experimental
Nonexperimental
Quantitative
Qualitative
Cross-sectional
Longitudinal
Basic
Applied

Question 3

What is experimental research?

Answer 3

Examines cause-and-effect relationships
Answers whether an intervention resulted in a positive outcome for the client
Controlling for alternate explanations shows that differences between the intervention and control group are caused by the intervention.
Also known as efficacy studies or intervention studies

Question 4

What are types of experimental research?

Answer 4

True experiment (RCT)
Quasi experiment (nonrandomized control trial)
Pre-experimental research (pretest-posttest without a control)

Question 5

What is a true experiment?

Answer 5

RCT
Two groups are manipulated, and participants are randomly assigned to a group

Question 6

What is a quasi experiment?

Answer 6

Nonrandomized controlled trial
Participants are not randomly assigned

Question 7

What is pre-experimental research?

Answer 7

Pretest-posttest without a control
One group, nothing is manipulated, and there is no random assignment

Question 8

What is nonexperimental research?

Answer 8

Cannot determine causal relationships but can answer descriptive, relationship, and qualitative questions
Observational studies of naturally occurring circumstances
Correlational studies determine whether a relationship exists between two constructs and assesses the strength of that relationship.
- Third variable problem presents a potential alternative in these studies, in which the two constructs may be related, but a third variable could account for that relationship or influence the relationship.

Question 9

Why do experimental studies do a better job of answering questions of causation?

Answer 9

Experiments provide a more rigorous form of evidence than observational, non-experimental studies. They are used for drawing causal inferences because alternative explanations can be ruled out

Question 10

Quantitative research tests hypotheses. What are the different types of hypothesis?

Answer 10

Null: no difference/relationship
Research: prediction made by researcher about outcome of study
Directional: researcher has an assumption or belief in particular outcome
Nondirectional: exploratory; no prior notion about study results; may assume a difference or relationship exists

Question 11

Why is a directional hypothesis desirable?

Answer 11

Provides more support for your finding
Avoids looking for something interesting to report – also known as fishing or shotgun approach

Question 12

What is qualitative research?

Answer 12

Provides a personal and in-depth perspective of the person or situation being studied
Uses inductive reasoning (moves from the specific to the general)
Encompasses ethnography, grounded theory, phenomenology, and participatory action research (facilitates the research process and includes the people that you’re serving)

Question 13

What are the differences between qualitative and quantitative research?

Answer 13

Qualitative:
- builds theory and/or explores phenomenon’ focus is on discovery
- insider, subjective
- inductive
- interviews and observations of a few individuals in their natural environments
- ID of themes using text or pictures
- trustworthiness

Quantitative:
- tests theory and/or hypotheses; focus is confirmation
- outsider, objective
- deductive
- use of quantifiable, typically standardized measures with many participants
- descriptive and inferential statistics
- reliability and validity

Question 14

What is cross-sectional research?

Answer 14

Data are collected at a single point in time.
Uses nonexperimental methods and are observational in nature (researcher does not manipulate a situation)
Used by descriptive and correlational studies

Question 15

What is longitudinal research?

Answer 15

Data is collected over at least two time points and typically covers an extended period of time (several years or decades).
Examines the effect of time (such as development, aging, or recovery) on some phenomenon (such as cognition, independent living, or language)

Question 16

What are the advantages and disadvantages of cross-sectional vs. longitudinal research studies?

Answer 16

Cross-sectional studies often compare different groups of individuals at the same point in time, whereas longitudinal studies compare the same people over several time points.
Cross-sectional are efficient because all of the data are collected at once. Longitudinal research studies are more time consuming, and researchers may lose participants.
Longitudinal findings generally have greater credibility.

A longitudinal study is better at providing evidence as to how people change over time, whereas a cross-sectional study identifies differences in people at one point in time.

Question 17

What is basic research?

Answer 17

Basic research investigates fundamental questions that are directed at better understanding individual concepts.
- May lead to unintended discoveries
- Researcher typically has a real-world application in mind

Question 18

What is applied research?

Answer 18

research has direct application to health-care practices (e.g., efficacy of a fall prevention program)

Question 19

What is translational research?

Answer 19

Basic + applied research = translational research, when findings from the laboratory are used to generate clinical research

Question 20

Give an example of translational research?

Answer 20

stroke intervention

Question 21

What is a type I error?

Answer 21

Type I error occurs when the hypothesis is accepted, yet is actually false.

Question 22

What is a type II error?

Answer 22

Type II error occurs when the hypothesis is rejected, yet is true.

Question 23

What is a variable?

Answer 23

Variables are characteristics of people, activities, situations, or environments that are identified and/or measured in a study and have more than one value:

Question 24

What are categorical variables?

Answer 24

Categorical variables may be assigned a number and compared (e.g., control and intervention groups, race, and geographical region).

Question 25

What is a continuous variable?

Answer 25

Continuous variables are numbers that have meaning in relation to one another (e.g., higher number means more of something).

Question 26

What is an independent variable?

Answer 26

Independent variables are manipulated or compared in a study.
- When more than one is included, the study has a factorial design, meaning the interaction or impact of both independent variables can be examined simultaneously.

Question 27

What is a dependent variable?

Answer 27

Dependent variables are observed and, in the case of an experimental study, are intended to measure the result of the manipulation.

Question 28

What is a control variable?

Answer 28

Control variables remain constant.
- They could potentially affect the outcome of a study, but they are controlled by the design of the study or the statistical procedures used.

Question 29

What is an extraneous variable?

Answer 29

Extraneous variables are tracked and then later examined to determine their influence.