Research

Question 1

Control Group

Answer 1

• In an experiment, this is the group of research participants that does not
  receive the new treatment being studied.
• Compared to the experimental/intervention group (the group that receives the new treatment), to see if the new
  treatment works.

Question 2

Experimental/Intervention Group

Answer 2

• In research, a collection of subjects who are matched and compared with a control group in all relevant respects, except that they are also subject to a
  specific variable being tested (that is, they receive the new treatment/intervention).

Question 3

Randomized Controlled Trial

Answer 3

• Experimental design measuring intervention’s effect by randomly assigning participants to an experimental/intervention group or a control group.
• Difficult to do in social work b/c of ethics withholding tx from those who need it during random assignment of participants to control group.
• Random assignment - use of chance procedures to ensure each participant has the same opportunity to be assigned to any given group.
• E.g. new drug to treat depression is developed. Participants randomly
  assigned to control group (receiving a placebo) or tx group (receiving the new drug). Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is given at beginning and end of tx to see whether tx group saw a greater decrease in depressive symptoms than control group.

Question 4

Quasi-Experimental Design

Answer 4

• Design resembling randomized controlled trial, but doesn’t involve random assignment to a control and experimental group
• Allows researcher to control
  assignment to tx and control groups using some criteria other than random
  assignment
• Commonly used in field research where random assignment is difficult or not possible
• You can use the exact same example as the randomized controlled trial with one difference: researcher places participants in tx or control group using some other criteria besides random assignment.

Question 5

Single Subject Design

Answer 5

• Research where subject serves as their own control, rather than using another individual/group.
• E.g. social worker administers BDI to clt(s) before beginning a specific tx to establish a baseline, and then administers BDI after receiving tx to see if tx was effective in decreasing BDI score

Question 6

Retrospective Design

Answer 6

• Participants are asked to retrospect (l‘look back’) and try to remember what they were like at an earlier time point.
• e.g. Researchers ask older teens how they were disciplined as kids

Question 7

Cross-sectional Design

Answer 7

• Researchers collect data at a single point in time from participants of different ages
• e.g. Researchers might hypothesize ppl become more traditional in their
  attitudes as they get older, so they get participants in their 20s, 40s, and 60s to complete a measure of traditionalism and test whether there is a positive correlation between age and traditionalism.

Question 8

Longitudinal Design

Answer 8

• Same people are measured at different ages
• e.g. researchers follow development of babies who experienced dev delays until they’re 10 yo

Question 9

Cross-sequential Design

Answer 9

• Combo of cross-sectional and longitudinal designs.
• At the first point, grps of ppl from several different ages are measured and then followed over time

Question 10

Correlation

Answer 10

• Mutual relationship b/w 2 variables that are related - e.g. a change in one
  variable is associated with a change in the other variable.
• e.g. positive correlation b/w height and weight, e.g. taller ppl tend to be heavier
• Correlation (a pattern b/w 2 variables) does not always mean causation (that one
  variable causes the other).
• e.g. Someone may find kids who get tutoring receive worse grades than kids who do not receive tutoring. There’s a correlation b/w tutoring and lower grades, but tutoring does not cause lower grades (it’s likely tutoring is sought out b/c of low grades)

Question 11

Inter-rater Reliability

Answer 11

• Degree to which diff ppl give similar scores for the same
  observations
• Refers to a measure’s consistency

Question 11

Dependent Variable

Answer 11

• Variable tested and measured in a
  scientific experiment
• Dependent
  on the independent variable
• As the experimenter changes the independent variable, the effect on the dependent variable is observed and recorded.
• e.g. Someone is testing effect of new antidepressant, new med is the independent variable, level of depression is dependent variable.

Question 12

Independent Variable

Answer 12

• When performing an experiment, we look at the independent variable’s effect on dependent variable
• Variable changed (or controlled/manipulated) in a scientific experiment.

Question 13

Mean

Answer 13

• Average value or measure of central tendency
• To find the mean, add up values in data set and then divide by the number of values added

Question 13

Literature Review

Answer 13

Process of searching published work to find out what’s already known about a research topic.

Question 14

Median

Answer 14

• Middle score
• To find median, list values of data set in numerical order and ID which value appears in the middle of the list

Question 15

Mode

Answer 15

• Value that occurs most frequently
• To find mode, identify which value in data set occurs most often

Question 16

Null Hypothesis

Answer 16

A statement that no relationship exists between study variables.

Question 17

Pretest

Answer 17

Questionnaire or other data-gathering instrument administered to a subject just before a period of inquiry that provides a baseline for comparison with the end results

Question 18

Posttest

Answer 18

Questionnaire or other data-gathering instrument administered to a subject at the end of a specific period of inquiry.

Question 19

Pilot Study

Answer 19

• Procedure for testing and validating questionnaire or other instrument by administering it to a small group of respondents from intended test population.
• Helps determine whether test items possess the desired qualities of measurement and the ability to discriminate other problems before the instrument is put to widespread use.

Question 20

Validity

Answer 20

• Degree to which a tool measures what it claims to measure
• e.g. Beck Depression Inventory measures level of depression.
• It has validity if it measures that
• It would not have validity if it measures level of anxiety and not depression.

Question 21

Construct Validity

Answer 21

Degree to which an instrument measures characteristic being
investigated (can be thought of essentially the same as just the term ‘validity’)

Question 22

Internal Validity

Answer 22

Confidence that can be placed in the cause-and-effect relationship
in a study.

Question 23

External Validity

Answer 23

Extent to which an effect in research can be generalized to other
populations, settings, and tx variables

Question 24

Concurrent Validity

Answer 24

• Extent to which results of a particular test, or measurement,
  correspond to those of previously established measurement for same construct
• Ensures the test accurately measures what it is supposed to measure
• One way to do this is to look for other tests that have already been found to be valid
  measures of your construct, administer both tests, and compare the results of the tests to each other.

Question 25

Predictive Validity

Answer 25

• Involves testing a group of subjects for a certain construct, and
  then comparing them with results obtained at some point in the future
• e.g. You want to predict risk factors for High School Dropout. You create a survey for 10th graders and then later look at high school dropout rates of the surveyed students to see if the results predicted dropping out.

Question 26

Reliability

Answer 26

• Overall consistency of a measure
• Higher reliability -
  measure will produce statistically similar results under consistent experimental conditions
• e.g. If two different social workers administer the same interview to a client, do they get the same
  results?

Question 27

Objective Data

Answer 27

• Data you can measure, e.g. age,
  number of times behavior occurred, blood pressure, temperature, etc.
• Should be an unbiased obser/measurement.

Question 28

Subjective Data

Answer 28

• Data given from viewpoint of clt (or
  someone in clt’s life) and not measurable.
• e.g. how a person
  feels or their pain level

Question 29

Qualitative Research

Answer 29

• Systematic investigations that include inductive, in-depth studies of
  individuals, groups, organizations, or communities.
• Focus on ‘why’ and ‘how’ of decision making to better understand human behavior
• L - quaLities

Question 30

Quantitative Research

Answer 30

• Systematic investigations that include descriptive or inferential
  statistical analysis
• N - numbers