🎓 Applied Multiple-Choice Questions – Research in SLP

1.

A researcher reads multiple studies on speech therapy for children with apraxia and statistically combines their results to find an overall effect. What level of evidence is this?
A. Single-subject design
B. Randomized controlled trial
C. Meta-analysis
D. Expert opinion

c

2.

Which phase of clinical research tests a treatment’s success in real-world conditions, like schools or hospitals?
A. Phase 1
B. Phase 2
C. Phase 3
D. Phase 4

d

3.

A student wants to study whether bilingual children produce fewer speech errors after targeted therapy. Which part of PICO represents “targeted therapy”?
A. Population
B. Intervention
C. Comparison
D. Outcome

b

4.

You predict that children who use visual cues in speech therapy will improve more than those who don’t. What type of hypothesis is this?
A. Null
B. Directional
C. Non-directional
D. Quasi

b

5.

In a study testing two different articulation therapies, the clinician keeps the same therapy room, materials, and session time for both groups. What is being controlled here?
A. Constant variables
B. Dependent variables
C. Extraneous variables
D. Independent variables

a

6.

A researcher wants to compare average intelligibility scores between two therapy approaches. Which test should they use?
A. ANOVA
B. Correlation
C. T-test
D. Chi-square

c

7.

If a study’s results only apply to the specific clinic and group tested, what type of validity is low?
A. Statistical validity
B. Internal validity
C. External validity
D. Construct validity

c

8.

A study’s design ensures that only the independent variable explains changes in the dependent variable. This reflects:
A. Internal validity
B. External validity
C. Statistical power
D. Reliability

a

9.

Which situation best represents a threat from maturation?
A. A child improves in speech because they grow older during the study
B. A clinician switches scoring tools mid-study
C. A participant drops out of the program
D. A fire alarm interrupts a session

a

10.

A speech test gives the same score when repeated by the same examiner at two different times. This shows good:
A. Validity
B. Reliability
C. Sensitivity
D. Generalizability

b

11.

Which of the following represents a ratio-level variable?
A. Severity rating on a 5-point scale
B. Type of speech disorder
C. Reaction time in seconds
D. Temperature in Celsius

c

12.

An SLP study uses a questionnaire that looks meaningful to clients and clearly measures what it’s supposed to. This shows:
A. Content validity
B. Construct validity
C. Face validity
D. Criterion validity

c

13.

If study results can apply to other clinics, clients, and settings, this reflects high:
A. Construct validity
B. External validity
C. Statistical significance
D. Internal reliability

b

14.

A researcher finds that therapy time and progress are positively related (r = +0.82). What does this mean?
A. More therapy = less progress
B. No relationship
C. More therapy = more progress
D. Progress depends only on chance

c

15.

What does r² = 0.49 mean?
A. 49% of the variance in one variable can be explained by the other
B. The study has a 49% chance of error
C. The effect size is 49
D. The correlation is 0.49

a

16.

Which test would help predict a client’s speech intelligibility score based on their number of therapy sessions?
A. Regression
B. ANOVA
C. T-test
D. Correlation

a

17.

An SLP wants to know not only if therapy works, but how strongly it works. Which statistic should they check?
A. p-value
B. Cohen’s d
C. Pearson’s r
D. Alpha level

b

18.

Which of these increases power in a study?
A. Smaller sample size
B. Larger sample size
C. Lower effect size
D. Higher alpha level

b

19.

Which is an example of a nuisance variable?
A. Using different therapy materials across sessions
B. Measuring speech accuracy
C. Using the same examiner each time
D. Randomly assigning participants

a

20.

A researcher compares results between the same group of children before and after treatment. What kind of design is this?
A. Between-subjects
B. Within-subjects
C. Mixed design
D. Quasi-experimental

b

21.

A study with tight control of variables but limited real-world generalization has high and low .
A. External validity; internal validity
B. Internal validity; external validity
C. Reliability; validity
D. Construct validity; reliability

b

22.

Which type of research question asks, “Does treatment A improve speech accuracy more than treatment B?”
A. Descriptive
B. Treatment comparison
C. Severity-based
D. Characteristic

b

23.

In an article’s discussion section, which of the following should not be included?
A. Comparison to previous research
B. Description of study methods
C. Limitations of the study
D. Implications for clinical practice

b

24.

Why are limitations important to include in research?
A. They explain what could have affected the results
B. They make the study look stronger
C. They increase validity
D. They show that replication is unnecessary

a

25.

If the p-value is less than α = 0.05, what should the researcher do?
A. Fail to reject the null hypothesis
B. Accept the null hypothesis
C. Reject the null hypothesis
D. Redo the analysis

c