Research Methods and Statistics Practice Flashcards

General practice flashcards capturing key concepts from the entire lecture transcript including research methods, statistics, and qualitative analysis.

Statistics is the numerical study of __________.

variability

In statistical modeling, the __________ hypothesis states that there is no effect.

null

The process of using sample data to infer something about a population is called __________ statistics.

inferential

A statistically significant result is defined as a p-value less than __________.

$$0.05$$

The probability value that helps quantify the unlikelihood of the null hypothesis is called the __________ value.

p

The five steps of the scientific method are: formulate hypothesis, design an experience, collect data, analyse data, and __________.

interpret results

In a literature search, using __________ around a phrase indicates you want an exact phrasing.

quotation marks

The wildcard symbol '#' is used to account for alternate __________ spellings.

American British

The symbol '*' added to the end of words in a literature search is used for __________.

truncation

Reviewing literature involves critical analysis, summary, __________, and assessment.

synthesis

Final paragraphs in a literature review should link past research to the current study and clearly state the aims and __________.

hypothesis

To maintain objectivity in scientific writing, researchers should avoid __________ pronouns.

personal

According to Sackett, Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is the conscientious, explicit, and __________ use of best evidence.

judicious

In the PICOT framework for asking clinical questions, the 'C' stands for __________.

comparison

The highest level of quantitative research evidence according to the NHMRC hierarchy is Level I, which is a __________ of level II studies.

systematic review

The lowest level of quantitative evidence is Level IV, which is a __________ without a control group.

case study

__________ bias occurs if participants have not been selected randomly or allocated randomly to groups.

Selection

__________ bias occurs when participants or researchers are not sufficiently blinded to project aims.

Performance

__________ bias occurs when authors report only favourable outcomes rather than all outcomes.

Reporting

The qualitative criteria of __________ asks if the study is conducted in a way that could be repeated with consistent findings.

dependability

The qualitative criteria of __________ involves checking if the findings are shaped more by participants than the researcher.

confirmability

Measurements that involve categories but have no mathematical meaning are at the __________ level.

nominal

A Likert scale is an example of __________ data.

ordinal

__________ data is quantitative data where the difference between two points is measured but zero has no meaning.

Interval

In a statistical model, the variable you expect to influence the outcome is the __________ variable.

independent

A __________ design is a single-factor design with the same number of people in each group.

balanced

The __________ design is used when a complete design is not possible, requiring four subjects, conditions, and lists arranged in a square.

Latin square

A __________ effect occurs if a test is too easy and subjects all score near $100\%$.

ceiling

A __________ effect occurs if a test is too difficult and subjects score near $0\%$.

floor

__________ effects occur when the test order affects the outcome, such as the easiest list always being given first.

Order

To increase reliability and decrease measurement error, a study should conduct inter and __________ rater reliability.

intra

Test-retest variability is a form of inherent __________ variability that cannot be controlled.

random

The statistical power of a study is calculated as __________ minus beta.

$$1$$

Type I error is a false positive, while __________ error is a false negative.

Type II

The probability of making a Type I error is represented by the __________ value.

alpha

The probability of making a Type II error is represented by the __________ value.

beta

The characteristic of a dataset that describes how rounded-off or discrete the values are is known as __________.

granularity

A frequency distribution that shows more higher scores than lower scores is said to have a __________ skew.

negative

A frequency distribution with a long tail on the right side has a __________ skew.

positive

In a normal distribution, the mean, median, and __________ are all the same value.

mode

The average of a distribution is represented by the Greek symbol __________.

$$\mu$$

The distance between the middle number of the first and second half of a dataset is the __________.

IQR

The 68-95-99.7 rule states that approximately $95\%$ of data falls within __________ standard deviations of the mean.

$$2$$

In a normal distribution, approximately __________ percent of data falls within 1 standard deviation.

$$68$$

Removing an outlier typically impacts the mean but does not impact the __________.

median

A distribution with two distinct clusters of data shown in a histogram is called a __________ distribution.

bimodal

__________ data points are always considered to have granularity.

Discrete

__________ sampling involves selecting subjects from a list where every nth person is chosen.

Systematic

__________ sampling uses mutually exclusive subgroups like age and gender to ensure representation.

Stratified

Choosing subjects like all students from specific schools is known as __________ sampling.

cluster

The __________ Theorem states that if you take enough sample means, the sampling distribution will be normal regardless of the population shape.

Central Limit

The standard deviation of a sampling distribution is known as the __________.

standard error

The formula for standard error is standard deviation divided by the __________ of n.

square root

A $95\%$ confidence interval is calculated as the sample mean plus or minus __________ multiplied by the standard error.

$$1.96$$

Increasing the confidence level of an interval will lead to less __________ because the interval becomes wider.

precision

The degrees of freedom for the mean are calculated as __________.

$$n - 1$$

The __________ distribution is used when the sample remains small, has high uncertainty, or the population SD is unknown.

t

A __________ score tells you exactly where a score lies on a normal distribution in standard deviation units.

z

In correlation, the mathematical relationship is between two interval or __________ variables.

ratio

Degrees of freedom for a simple correlation are calculated as __________.

$$N - 2$$

A __________ linear correlation occurs when a high score in one variable corresponds to a low score in the other.

negative

The __________ coefficient, or r-value, quantifies the strength and direction of a correlation.

Pearson

An r-value of __________ signifies a perfect negative correlation.

$$-1$$

An r-value between _________ and 1.0 is considered a strong correlation.

$$0.8$$

A strong correlation can be non-significant if the __________ is too small.

sample size

The actual straight line that best fits the data in a scatterplot is called __________ regression.

linear

In the regression equation $y = a + bx$, 'b' represents the __________.

slope

The assumption that there is equal variance on y for all values of x is called __________.

homoscedasticity

The regression coefficient tells you how much the dependent variable changes for every __________ increase in the independent variable.

1-unit

__________ represents the goodness of the line of best fit and how much variance is accounted for by the model.

R squared

Predicting values outside the range of measured data using a regression equation is called __________.

extrapolation

A __________ interval estimates the spread for individual observations and is always wider than a confidence interval.

prediction

A __________ t-test compares the mean of a group before and after a treatment.

paired

A __________ t-test compares an experimental group mean against a known value.

1 sample

A __________ test is used when the alternative hypothesis predicts a specific direction of effect.

one-tailed

ANOVA stands for __________.

Analysis of Variance

ANOVA is a form of the __________ model, where outcome = model + error.

general linear

The __________ is the ratio of between-group variance to within-group variance.

F-ratio

If between-group variance is roughly equal to within-group variance, the F-statistic will be close to __________.

$$1$$

A __________ ANOVA involves only one independent variable of interest.

one-way

In a repeated ANOVA, the researcher uses subjects as a __________ factor.

random

The __________ HSD test is a post-hoc comparison used to determine which specific pairs of group means are significantly different.

Tukey

In a two-way ANOVA, an __________ exists when the effect of one factor depends on the level of the other factor.

interaction

On an interaction plot, lines that are __________ indicate that no interaction exists.

parallel

The method of qualitative inquiry that reconstructs a sequence of events for a lived experience is __________.

narrative

The study of a specific population or cultural group is known as __________.

ethnography

__________ theory involves the development of a concept that is directly grounded in collected data.

Grounded

In qualitative research, __________ are tags or labels assigned to units of meaning like sentences or paragraphs.

codes

Common recurring patterns across a qualitative dataset are known as __________.

themes

The qualitative method of __________ uses multiple sets of data for different perspectives to ensure credibility.

triangulation

__________ checking involves presenting preliminary data back to participants to ensure it matches their experience.

Member

An __________ trail provides a record of how a project was administered and how decisions were made.

audit

The concept of __________ refers to the researcher identifying their own role and potential biases in the research.

reflexivity

__________ descriptions provide depth and context to help others determine if qualitative findings are transferable.

Thick

Qualitative sampling that continues until no new themes emerge is reaching __________.

data saturation

A __________ approach to qualitative analysis involves fitting data into an existing framework like WHO-ICF.

deductive

The __________ test is the non-parametric twin of the one-way ANOVA.

Kruskal-Wallis

The non-parametric version of the 2-sample t-test is the __________ test.

Mann-Whitney

The __________ rank correlation coefficient is used for correlating ordinal data.

Spearman

A __________ test is used to compare the frequency distribution of categorical data against a known population distribution.

Chi-square