Lecture 8: Quantitative Methods, Measurements and Sampling 1

Question 1

what is a clinical trial?

Answer 1

trying to find if a new medicine or exercise or implant etc will work
- true experiments

Question 2

what is the best and worst type of studies?

Answer 2

worst- descriptive studies
best- clinical trials

Question 3

what are the hierarchy of studies in order from least knowledge to disease to most?

Answer 3

descriptive studies –> case control studies –> cohort studies –> clinical trials

Question 4

what is a cohort study?

Answer 4

looking at different types of groups (control vs experimental)

Question 5

what is a case control studies?

Answer 5

• 15 men vs 15 women
• everyone has someone that matches them
• non-randomized

Question 6

what is a descriptive study?

Answer 6

• answers the “what” question
• one in which information is collected without changing the environment

Question 7

what is the purpose statement of a quantitative study design?

Answer 7

the purpose statement is the foundation for the design of your study

Question 8

what can quantitative study designs be used to address?

Answer 8

descriptive, predictive and explanatory research problems

Question 9

you have two groups of track girls, 14 yo and 21 yo. you are testing their speed. which is dependent variable and which is independent variable?

Answer 9

dependent: speed
independent: their age

Question 10

what are the FIVE main research elements that researchers consider to distinguish their study design?

Answer 10

1. are the people in the study assigned to groups?
2. how many measurements are being used?
3. what types of measures or observations are being used?
4. is there an interest in generalizing the findings to other populations or settings?
5. can you conclude that the findings are based on the manipulation of the independent variable?

Question 11

what are the 4 main elements of experimental design?

Answer 11

1. design participant selection and asssignment
2. select the IV and DV
3. identify the appropriate statistical methods
4. plan the experimental procedures

Question 12

what is a repeated measures?

Answer 12

we measure people before and after the testing intervention
- person acts as their own control
- easier to detect a difference
- helps to control for error

Question 13

what does noise mean?

Answer 13

error

Question 14

what are the types of experimental designs?

Answer 14

1. pre-post (well-designed)
2. hybrid (well-designed)
3. pre-experimental (weak)
4. quasi-experimental (weak)
5. complex designs
   - factorial designs
   - interactions

Question 15

what are the IV and DV for well-designed experiments?

Answer 15

• one IV at two levels (baseline vs 30 min)
• one DV (HR, BP)
• two groups of participants (control and treatment)

Question 16

what may be the most powerful means of generating new knowledge?

Answer 16

true experimental design

Question 17

typically, a true experiment is conducted in a laboratory within a controlled experiment, why?

Answer 17

helps to ensure the study’s “internal validitiy”

Question 18

what does true experimental design include?

Answer 18

• experimental group
• control group