Nonexperimental Quantitative Research

1. The number of police officers and the number of crimes are positively related.  This relationship is:

a.  A causal relationship

b.   A direct relationship

c.   A probabilistic causal relation

d.   A spurious relationship

2. A research studies the relation between early reading and later school achievement. She decides that a potentially extraneous variable in the relationship is IQ. In developing her groups for her study, she pairs each child who was an early reader with a child of the same IQ level who was not an early reader. The control technique she used was:

a.       Holding the extraneous variable constant

b.      Statistical control

c.  Matching

d.  Random assignment

3. Partial correlation analysis involves:

 a.  Examining the relationship between two or more variables controlling for additional

            variables statistically

 b.  Including only one group in a correlational analysis 

 c.  Matching participants on potential confounding variables

d.   Limiting the sample to individuals at a constant level of an extraneous variable

4. The directors of a graduate program in educational research wish to see what types of jobs their graduates take after they finish their program. They randomly sample students from the program and have them fill out questionnaires with items asking about the types of jobs they have had. They also are asked to describe the roles they play in their current positions. This project is best described as having what kind of objective:

a.        Descriptive

b.       Predictive

c.        Explanatory

5. When research is done to test hypotheses and theories about how and why phenomena operate as they do, then the primary purpose of such research is:

a.   Descriptive

b.   Predictive

c.   Explanatory

6. The variable the researcher matches to eliminate it as an alternative explanation is called a(n) _________ variable.

a. Matching

b. Independent

c. Dependent

d. Partial

7. Which of the following is not a longitudinal design?

a. Panel

b. Cross-sectional

c. Trend

d. Both a and c are longitudinal designs

8. The positive correlation between teachers’ salaries and the price of liquor is _________.

a. Spurious

b. Due to a third-variable

c. Nonspurious

d. Both a and b

9. Which of the following is considered a special case of the general linear model?

a.  A variable

b. Partial correlation

c. Analysis of covariance

d. Both b and c

10. When a researcher starts with the dependent variable and moves backwards, it is called ________.

a.  Predictive research

b.  Retrospective research

c.  Exploratory research

d.  Descriptive research

11. The method of working multiple hypotheses refers to a technique for identifying rival explanations.

a. True

b. False

12. GLM refers to which of the following?

a.   General Logit Model

b.   General Limited Model

c.   General Lab Model

d.   General Linear Model

13. The post hoc fallacy is ____.

a.       Making the argument that because A preceded B, A must have caused B

b.      Making the argument that because A preceded B, A and B must be correlated

c.       Making the argument that because A preceded B, they cannot be correlated

d.      None of the above

14. Which one of the following is not a step in nonexperimental research?

a.       Determine research problem and hypotheses

b.      Analyze data

c.       Interpret results

d.      All are steps

15. If a research finding is statistically significant, then ____.

a. The observed result is probably not due to chance

b. The observed result cannot possibly be due to chance

c. The observed result is probably a chance result

d. The null hypothesis of “no relationship” is probably true

16. Which of the following is/are necessary condition(s) for causation?

a. The relationship condition

b. The temporal antecedence condition

c. The lack of alternative explanation condition

d. All of the above

17. Which of the following independent variables cannot be manipulated in a research study?

a.  Gender

b.  Ethnicity

c.  Intelligence and other traits

d.  None of ht above can be manipulated in a research study

18. __________  is a form of explanatory research in which the researcher develops a theoretical model and empirically tests the model to determine how well the model fits the data.

a.  Causal modeling

b.  Predictive research

c.  Descriptive research

d.  Exploratory research

19. Nonexperimental research in which the primary independent variable of interest is categorical is sometimes called_____________.

a. Causal-comparative research

b. Correlational research

20. Which approach is the strongest for establishing that a relationship is causal?

a. Causal-comparative

b. Correlational

c. Experimental

d. Historical

21. Which approach is the strongest for establishing that a relationship is causal?

a. Causal-comparative

b. Correlational

c. One CANNOT say without additional information (i.e., it could be either depending

on how well the researcher established the three necessary conditions for cause

and effect)

22. _______ is the most commonly used technique for controlling for extraneous variables in nonexperimental research.

a. Matching

b. Holding extraneous variables constant

c. Statistical control

d. Static control

23. It is best to use the method of working multiple hypotheses when _____.
a. You are finished with your research
b. You are planning your research study
c. You are hoping to publish your already obtained research results
d. None of the above

24. Matching can be done when your independent variable is categorical or quantitative.
a. True
b. False

25. If a correlation coefficient is .96, we would probably be able to say that the relationship is ____.

a. Weak

b. Strong

c. Statistically significant

d. b is true and c is probably true

26. What happens in a completely spurious relationship once the researcher controls for a confounding third-variable?

a  The relationship between the original variables will get stronger

b. The relationship between the original variables will remain unchanged

c. The correlation coefficient will get closer to 1.0

d. The relationship between the original variables will get weaker or, if the original relationship

is fully spurious, it will disappear (i.e., the original relationship will become zero as

measured by a correlation coefficient)

27. Which of the three necessary conditions for cause and effect is almost always problematic in nonexperimental research?

a.  Condition 1:  Variable A and Variable B must be related (the relationship condition).

b.  Condition 2:  Proper time order must be established (the temporal antecedence condition).

c.  Condition 3:  The relationship between variable A and Variable B must not be due to some

 confounding extraneous variable"

d. Nonexperimental research is always weak on all three of the conditions

28. Which of the following is NOT a form of longitudinal research?

a.  Trend study

b.  Panel study

c.  Cross-sectional study

29. Observing a relationship between two variables is NOT sufficient grounds for concluding that the relationship is a causal relationship.

a. True

b. False

30. This type of longitudinal research studies the same individuals over an extended period of time.

a. Trend study

b. Panel study

c. Both a and b

d. Neither a nor b

31. This type of research tests hypotheses and theories in order to explain how and why a phenomenon operates as it does.

a. Descriptive research

b. Predictive research

c. Explanatory research

d. None of the above

32. The Pearson product moment correlation measures the degree of  _________ relationship present between two variables.

a. Curvilinear

b. Nonlinear

c. Linear and quadratic

d. Linear

Answers:

1. d

2. c

3. a

4. a

5. c

6. a

7. d

8. d

9. d

10. b

11. a

12. d

13. a

14. d

15. a

16. d

17. d

18. a

19. a

20. c

21. c

22. c

23. b

24. a

25. d

26. d

27. c

28. c

29. a

30. b

31. c

32. d