Research Methods

Question 1

operationalization

Answer 1

process of determining how things will be measured and what the resulting data will represent

Question 2

synonyms for independent variable

Answer 2

factor, explanatory, predictor and variable

Question 3

nominal variable

Answer 3

names but no certain order

Question 4

ordinal variable

Answer 4

organizes data into ordered categories but does not convey any differences between the categories

Question 5

simple random sampling

Answer 5

random sampling

Question 6

cluster random sampling

Answer 6

select clusters of participants randomly

Question 7

stratified sampling

Answer 7

sort population in subpopulations and start random sampling from those subpopulations

Question 8

snowball sampling

Answer 8

currently enrolled research participants help find future subjects for a study

Question 9

block design

Answer 9

group into categories and then randomize but make sure there are equal proportions of each category

Question 10

matched pair design

Answer 10

participants who have the same characteristics get grouped into pairs. then each person in the pair gets randomly assigned to the treatment or control.

Question 11

double-blind experiment

Answer 11

neither the participant nor the researcher knows which group the participant is in. a third party only knows this information

Question 12

cross-sectional studies

Answer 12

studies a sample at a point in time

Question 13

longitudinal studies

Answer 13

studies a sample over a period of time

Question 14

quasi experimental studies

Answer 14

are usually longitudinal studies where interventions are purposefully applied

Question 15

case-control studies

Answer 15

two groups are involved - one group has a specific outcome and the other one does not. Another variable values are then compared between the two groups

Question 16

what are the four properties of a normal distribution

Answer 16

• bell curve
• symmetrical
• area under the curve is 1
• the mean is at the center of the distribution

Question 17

how do you calculate the range

Answer 17

subtract the smaller value from the larger value

Question 18

precision

Answer 18

a measure of how close the individual measurements of a value agree with another

Question 19

accuracy

Answer 19

the measure of how closely an individual measurement of a value agrees with the actual true value

Question 20

internal validity

Answer 20

the extent to which the observed results represent the truth in which the population studied

Question 21

external validity

Answer 21

the ability of a research design to provide results that can be generalized to other situations