L2 (ch 9) - Selecting a Quantitative Research Design

______________ uses numbers to represent reality and is directed at the discovery of relationships such as cause and effect.

• measurement and analysis of relationships between and among variables at a point in time

• objective

• product-oriented research

Quantitative research

_________ directed at the discovery of meaning and involves the use of language, concepts and words to represent evidence from research

• subjective

• person-oriented research

qualitative research

_________ — an oganizing framework that contains a set of assumptions, or values that underlies how scientists view reality, truth, and research

paradigm

What are the three characteristics associated with conducting experimental designs?

• control

• random assignment

• manipulation

_______ — any variable that is not directly related to the purpose of the study but that may affect the dependent variable

extraneous variable

The following is what type of experimental design:

• “before-and-after” method

• evaluate the dependent variable before the independent variable

Randomized pretest-posttest control group design

The following is which type of experimental design:

• exludes use of pretest

randomized posttest-only control group

The following is which type of experimental design:

• no comparison grouo

• threats to internal validity

• external validity limited

one-group pretest-posttest design

__________ — the extent to which the results of a study can be generalized from the study sample to the target population

external validity

_________ — whether or not the independent variable made a difference

internal validity

__________ — the most widely accepted approach to evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention or a treatment in a sample of patients

randomized controlled trials (RCTs)

___________ — the teatment assignment is unknown to the patients

single-blinded study

________ — the treatment assignment is unknown to the patients and to the health-care providers

double-blinded study

_________ — a research method whereby the researcher uses previously gathered and analyzed data from one study and reanalyzes the data (or a subset of the data) to test new hypotheses, examine new relationships among variables, or describe/explore new insights

secondary analysis

_______ — a statistical technique that combines the results of many research studies in a specific area and synthesizes their findings to draw conclusions regarding the state of the science in an area of focus.

meta-analysis

__________ epidemiological studies are concerned with the distribution and patterns of disease or disability in a population.

descriptive

___________ epidemiological studies involve testing hypotheses to determine whether specific exposures are related to the presence or absence of specific diseases or disabilities.

analytic

What is the difference between experimental designs and quasi-experimental designs?

random assignment and/or control groups are absent from quasi-experimental designs

What makes nonexperimental designs different from experimental and quasi-experimental research?

nonexperimental research does not manipulate the independent variable

• the researcher observes the actions of variables as they occur in the natural state.

__________ — a type of nonexperimental design that gathers information about conditions, attitudes, or characteristics of individuals or groups of individuals

• the prupose is to descrive the meaning of existing phenomena

descriptive design

________ — a type of nonexperimental design that investigates the relationship between or among two or mare variables

correlational designs

_____________ — to describe and explain the nature and magnitude of existing relationships, without necessarily clarifying the underlying causal factors in the relationship.

descriptive correlational study