overall intro to research exam

Basic research

Research aimed at understanding fundamental mechanisms or phenomena for the sake of knowledge, without a direct practical application (e.g., what acoustic cues neurotypical listeners use to localize sound)

Applied research

Research aimed at solving a specific practical problem (e.g., optimizing a treatment schedule or identifying risk factors for poor recovery)

Translational research

Research that moves findings from basic science into clinical practice or real-world use

Descriptive research

Research that describes characteristics or relationships in existing data without manipulating anything (e.g., correlating income and CELF scores in a clinical database)

Correlational research

Research examining the relationship between variables without manipulating them; does not show causation

Longitudinal research

Research that follows the same participants over time

Qualitative research

Research focused on non-numerical data such as interviews, themes, and lived experience

Inductive reasoning

Reasoning from specific observations to a general idea or hypothesis (bottom-up)

Deductive reasoning

Reasoning from a general hypothesis or theory to specific predictions that can be tested (top-down)

Evidence-based practice

Integrating the best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values

Error signal

Any discrepancy between the prediction based on a hypothesis and the observed, empirical facts; it drives hypothesis modification

Hypothesis cycle

Hypothesis > deduction > consequences > compare with facts > error signal > induction > modified hypothesis replaces the old one

Accuracy

How close measurements are to the true value

Precision

How close repeated measurements are to each other (low spread/variability)

Accurate but not precise

Measurements center on the true value but are widely spread

Precise but not accurate

Measurements are tightly clustered but centered away from the true value

Gap statement

A statement in the Introduction identifying what is missing or unknown in the literature, which justifies the current study

Citations in an Introduction

Used to support claims from prior research; least expected on the authors' own gap statement or rationale for the current study

Weak analogy

Fallacy that assumes two things are alike in all respects because they share some similarities (e.g., DLD and stuttering)

False cause

Fallacy that assumes one event caused another just because they are related in time or correlated

Hasty generalization

Fallacy that draws a broad conclusion from too little or unrepresentative evidence

Confirmation bias

Favoring or seeking only information that supports what you already believe

PubMed Boolean AND

Default between search terms; each term added narrows results, so removing a term yields the same number or more results

Independent variable

The variable manipulated or compared by the researcher (e.g., real vs. sham brain stimulation)

Dependent variable

The outcome that is measured (e.g., accuracy of word production)

Sham condition

A fake version of the intervention used as a control so participants cannot tell which condition they received

Nominal variable

Categories with no order (e.g., type of hearing loss)

Ordinal variable

Ordered categories where distances between ranks are not equal (e.g., 1-5 accuracy ratings)

Interval variable

Equal distances between values but no true zero (e.g., temperature in Celsius)

Ratio variable

Equal distances between values and a true zero (e.g., reaction time in ms, Hz, dB SPL)

Old Q1: Clearest example of basic research? A) develop new tech to diagnose hidden hearing loss | B) optimize treatment schedule for reading disability intervention | C) identify risk factors for poor post-stroke aphasia recovery | D) what acoustic cues neurotypical listeners use to localize sound

D - it seeks fundamental understanding with no direct application

Old Q2: McKenna 2019 excerpt on vocal effort (A-E). Where would you LEAST expect a citation? (B) (C) (D) (E)

E - the gap statement ("current research is lacking…") is the authors' own point, not prior findings

Old Q3: McKenna 2019 excerpt on vocal effort (A-E). Which letter is the best gap statement? (A) (C) (D) (E)

E - it states what research is lacking (relationship between laryngeal tension and perceived vocal effort)

Old Q4: "Children with DLD have smaller vocabularies at age 6. Because stuttering impacts spoken language, children who stutter will too." Which fallacy? A) Weak analogy | B) False cause | C) Hasty generalization | D) Confirmation bias

A - Weak analogy: assumes DLD and stuttering are alike based on one shared feature

Old Q5: Clinician notices 8 of her aphasia patients with no progress report sleep problems, so she decides to study sleep quality as a predictor of recovery. What process? A) Correlational research | B) Evidence-based practice | C) Deductive reasoning | D) Inductive reasoning

D - Inductive: specific observations lead to a general idea

Old Q6: Researchers examine a large clinical database for the correlation between household income and CELF Core Language Score at age 6. Type of research? A) Translational | B) Descriptive | C) Longitudinal | D) Qualitative

B - Descriptive: describing a relationship in existing data

Old Q7: Histograms of repeated measures of a known quantity. Solid curve is centered on the true value but wide; dashed curve is narrow but shifted off the true value. Which instrument is more ACCURATE? A) dashed | B) solid

B - Solid: its measurements center on the true value

Old Q8: Same histograms (solid = centered but wide, dashed = narrow but off-center). Which instrument is more PRECISE? A) dashed | B) solid

A - Dashed: less spread across repeated measures

Old Q9: In the hypothesis-cycle figure (hypothesis > deduction > consequences > error signal > induction > modified hypothesis), what is the ERROR SIGNAL? A) natural variability and measurement error | B) difference between initial and new hypothesis predictions | C) discrepancy between hypothesis prediction and observed facts | D) difference between inductive and deductive claims

C - Any discrepancy between the prediction and the observed empirical facts

Old Q10: PubMed "hearing loss children genetics" returns 6,945 results. What happens when you search "hearing loss children"? A) definitely MORE results | B) definitely fewer because "genetics" is gone | C) fewer because MeSH headings reduced | D) cannot determine

A - Removing a required AND term broadens the search, so the result count goes up (or stays the same)

Old Q11: Brain stimulation (real vs. sham, 20 each) before producing 24 non-native words; audio is rated for accuracy. Which is clearly the INDEPENDENT variable? A) number of participants | B) speech produced | C) presence or absence of brain stimulation | D) difference in accuracy between groups

C - It is the condition the researchers manipulate

Old Q12: Production accuracy rated 1-5 (1 least accurate, 3 somewhat, 5 most accurate). This is: A) nominal | B) ordinal | C) interval | D) attribute

B - Ordinal: ordered ranks without equal spacing

New Q1: Clearest example of applied research? A) hair cell response to frequencies in animal models | B) compare two therapy approaches to reduce stuttering severity in children | C) vocal fold tissue vibration in excised larynges | D) how infants distinguish phonemes in unheard languages

B - Tests a treatment to solve a practical problem

New Q2: Excerpt: Dysphagia common after stroke (A). Aspiration pneumonia leading cause of death (B). Early screening linked to fewer complications (C). However, little is known about screening timing in rural hospitals (D). Present study examines this (E). Which is the best GAP statement?

D - It names what is unknown

New Q3: Same dysphagia excerpt (A-E). Where would you LEAST expect a citation? A) (A) | B) (B) | C) (C) | D) (E)

D (E) - It is the authors' own aim, not a claim from prior work

New Q4: SLP notices the three students with the most absences have the lowest articulation scores and wonders if attendance predicts progress. What process? A) Deductive | B) Inductive | C) Evidence-based practice | D) Translational

B - Inductive: specific observations lead to a general idea

New Q5: "Adults with hearing loss often experience social isolation. Because cochlear implant users have hearing loss, they must experience it at the same rate." Which fallacy? A) False cause | B) Hasty generalization | C) Weak analogy | D) Confirmation bias

C - Weak analogy: assumes two groups are alike due to one shared feature

New Q6: Clinic starts an app in January; by June voice therapy outcomes improved; clinic concludes the app caused it. Which fallacy? A) False cause | B) Weak analogy | C) Hasty generalization | D) Confirmation bias

A - False cause: assumes the app caused the improvement because one followed the other

New Q7: Researcher interviews 12 parents of children with hearing loss and identifies recurring themes about school services. Type of research? A) Longitudinal | B) Qualitative | C) Experimental | D) Correlational

B - Qualitative: themes from interviews

New Q8: Device measures a 100 Hz tone five times: 112, 111, 113, 112, 112 Hz. The device is: A) accurate and precise | B) accurate not precise | C) precise not accurate | D) neither

C - Tight cluster (precise) but about 12 Hz off the true value (not accurate)

New Q9: In the hypothesis cycle, the prediction does not match the data. What is this mismatch called? A) Induction | B) Error signal | C) Confound | D) Sham effect

B - Error signal

New Q10: PubMed gives 2,400 results for "aphasia stroke treatment." You search "aphasia stroke treatment intensity." What is true? A) same or smaller | B) definitely increases | C) unrelated to number of terms | D) changes only with MeSH

A - The default is AND, so adding a term narrows the results

New Q11: 30 adults who stutter are randomly assigned to practice with a real or placebo app; researchers measure percentage of syllables stuttered. What is the DEPENDENT variable?

Percentage of syllables stuttered (the measured outcome)

New Q12: Which is an example of a RATIO variable? A) type of hearing loss | B) severity rating mild/moderate/severe | C) temperature in Celsius | D) speech reaction time in ms

D - Reaction time has a true zero

New Q13: Parents in one group of a language intervention study were more educated than in the other group, and education also affects child language growth. Education is a: A) dependent variable | B) confound | C) sham condition | D) nominal variable

B - Confound: differs across groups and also influences the outcome

New Q14: Which statement about accuracy and precision is correct? A) a measure can be precise without being accurate | B) accuracy means low variability | C) precision means close to the true value | D) a precise measure is always accurate

A - Precision is about consistency, accuracy is about closeness to the true value, so they can come apart