Question 1

Which of the following does not represent a threat to internal validity?
A) Random assignment
B) History
C) Differential attrition
D) Regression artifact

Accepted Answer

Random assignment is a method used to ensure that participants are equally distributed across different groups, thereby enhancing internal validity rather than threatening it.

Question 2

External validity in qualitative research:
A) Is always irrelevant in qualitative research
B) Is confirmed through random sampling in qualitative research
C) Is confirmed through random assignment in qualitative research
D) Can be obtained by replication in qualitative research, but it is often of little interest to the qualitative researcher

Accepted Answer

External validity can be obtained by replication in qualitative research, but it is often of little interest because qualitative research focuses more on depth and context-specific insights rather than generalizability.

Question 3

Fred took the SAT to meet an entrance requirement for a college. On his first attempt he scored far below average. He decided to study for the test and take it again. This time he scored higher and closer to the average of all people taking the test. This example illustrates the possibility of _______________ as a rival plausible explanation.
A) History
B) Maturation
C) Regression artifact
D) Differential selection

Accepted Answer

Regression artifact refers to the statistical phenomenon where extreme scores tend to move closer to the average upon retesting, which explains Fred's improved score.

Question 4

Dr. Sanjay is studying whether his racism awareness program increases his research participants' awareness of issues of race and ethnicity in his city. On Monday, he gives an attitude survey to his participants to gauge their awareness. On Tuesday through Thursday, he puts them through his program. On Wednesday, a local predominantly black church is firebombed and the KKK claims responsibility. On Friday, Dr. Sanjay gives his awareness survey again and finds awareness of racial issues has increased dramatically. This example illustrates the possibility of ______________ as a plausible rival explanation.
A) History
B) Maturation
C) Regression artifact
D) Differential selection

Accepted Answer

The firebombing event on Wednesday is an external event that could have influenced participants' awareness, making "History" a plausible rival explanation for the increased awareness observed.

Question 5

When we talk about inferring that the independent and dependent variables are related in the population of interest and the strength of the relationship is accurate, we are talking about:
A) Statistical conclusion validity
B) Internal validity
C) Construct validity
D) External validity

Accepted Answer

Statistical conclusion validity refers to the degree to which conclusions about the relationship between variables based on the data are correct or reasonable.

Question 6

The confounding effects referred to collectively as "maturation" include all of the following plausible rival hypotheses except:
A) Aging
B) Instruction
C) Fatigue
D) Boredom

Accepted Answer

Maturation refers to natural changes that occur over time, such as aging, fatigue, and boredom, but not external factors like instruction.

Question 7

A school counselor was concerned with the rising level of violence at the school in which she was employed so she decided to try an experimental program to reduce the level of violence. She identified two groups of violent children at her school and randomly assigned them to two groups. Both groups of children are taught effective methods of dealing with other children and with frustration, but one group is reinforced every time they use any of these techniques and isolated when they are violent. The other group is isolated and punished in the form of having to do additional duties such as cleaning the bathrooms whenever they act violently. Some of the participants in both groups fail to complete the study but most of the ones that drop out are in the punishment group. The study found that both groups reduced their violent behavior by equal amounts. Which is the best conclusion to draw from this study?
A) There is no difference in the effectiveness of reinforcement versus punishment
B) The study is confounded by differential attrition and this might explain the failure to find any group differences
C) The study is confounded by a history bias and this might explain the failure to find any group differences
D) Reinforcement would have been demonstrated to be more effective if the study had lasted longer

Accepted Answer

The study is confounded by differential attrition, as more participants dropped out from the punishment group, which could have affected the results and masked any potential differences between the groups.

Question 8

The extent to which a researcher understands, uses, and presents participants' but maintains her objective outsider view is known as:
A) Paradigmatic legitimation.
B) Inside-outside legitimation.
C) Philosophical legitimation.
D) Sequential legitimation.

Accepted Answer

Inside-outside legitimation refers to the balance a researcher maintains between understanding and presenting participants' perspectives while maintaining an objective outsider view.

Question 9

Mr. Jones has demonstrated that his experimental reading program is very effective with 4th and 5th grade children with a learning disability. Ms. Thornton is using his experimental reading program but does not use it exactly like the instructions specify. Although Ms. Thornton has varied the way in which she is implementing the reading program she also finds it to be very effective with her students with learning disabilities. This is a demonstration that the reading program has:
A) Population validity
B) Temporal validity
C) Ecological validity
D) Treatment variation validity

Accepted Answer

Treatment variation validity refers to the effectiveness of a program when it is implemented in different ways, as demonstrated by Ms. Thornton's success despite not following the exact instructions.

Question 10

Internal validity in qualitative research refers to:
A) The validity of cause and effect conclusions
B) The validity of the research results for other settings
C) The validity of the research results for other populations
D) The validity of the theories that guided the research

Accepted Answer

Internal validity refers to the validity of cause and effect conclusions.

Question 11

If a research study revealed that the independent and dependent variables covary and they really do covary, the study has:
A) Been demonstrated to be worthwhile
B) Revealed a causal relationship
C) Statistical conclusion validity
D) Revealed a spurious relationship

Accepted Answer

Statistical conclusion validity refers to the degree to which conclusions about the relationship among variables based on the data are correct or reasonable. Covariation of variables is a key aspect of statistical conclusion validity.

Question 12

Dr. Kenji wants to determine whether his new phonics program helps children's reading comprehension. He gives a fifth grade class the program and also studies a second grade class that does not go through the program. He finds that the fifth graders read with better comprehension. The confounding variable in this research design is:
A) The grade the students are in
B) The phonics program
C) The reading comprehension scores
D) Not giving one group the program

Accepted Answer

The grade the students are in is a confounding variable because it affects reading comprehension independently of the phonics program, making it unclear if the program or the grade level is responsible for the difference in comprehension.

Question 13

If the results of your study can be generalized to other people, in other settings, using different treatment variations and outcome measures, and the results have held up over time you have the ultimate in:
A) Statistical conclusion validity
B) Internal validity
C) External validity
D) Construct validity

Accepted Answer

External validity refers to the extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other contexts, populations, and times.

Question 14

Dr. Faust investigated the overall effectiveness of an experimental program to teach reading to children from cultures other than the U.S.. He found that the experimental program was much more effective than the standard reading program typically administered to these children. In this study, Dr. Faust investigated:
A) Causal explanation
B) Ambiguous temporal precedence
C) Statistical conclusion validity
D) Causal description

Accepted Answer

Dr. Faust investigated causal description, as he was examining whether the experimental program caused an improvement in reading effectiveness compared to the standard program.

Question 15

William has conducted a qualitative study. He has internally validated his findings by ruling out rival explanations for the results. This is referred to as the:
A) Researcher-as-laborer metaphor
B) Researcher-as-teacher metaphor
C) Researcher-as-legislator metaphor
D) Researcher-as-detective metaphor

Accepted Answer

The "Researcher-as-detective" metaphor is used to describe the process of ruling out rival explanations and ensuring the validity of findings in qualitative research, similar to how a detective investigates and eliminates alternative theories.

Question 16

Qualitative researchers can determine whether their results would hold in other settings and with other populations by using:
A) Replication logic
B) Low inference descriptors
C) Data multiple sources of data
D) Multiple theoretical perspectives

Accepted Answer

Replication logic involves repeating the study in different settings or with different populations to see if the results are consistent, thus determining the generalizability of the findings.

Question 17

A qualitative researcher is often concerned with identifying the immediate, intentional, particular, complex, and local causes of attitudes, actions, and events. This is known as:
A) Nomothetic causation
B) Idiographic causation
C) Replication causation
D) Naturalistic causation

Accepted Answer

Idiographic causation refers to understanding the specific, detailed, and unique causes of particular events or behaviors, which aligns with the qualitative researcher's focus on the immediate, intentional, particular, complex, and local causes.

Question 18

Dr. Martin's research team was able to generalize the results of their study because they saw the same results in several other studies. These researchers were using:
A) Theoretical transfer
B) Replication logic
C) Low inference descriptors
D) Participant feedback

Accepted Answer

Replication logic involves repeating a study or experiment to see if the same results can be obtained, thereby supporting the generalization of the findings.

Question 19

Mary wanted to demonstrate that her qualitative research results held in other settings and with other populations. In order to do this she should:
A) Use low inference descriptors
B) Use multiple sources of data
C) Use multiple theoretical perspectives
D) Use naturalistic generalization

Accepted Answer

Naturalistic generalization involves applying findings from qualitative research to other settings and populations based on the similarities and experiences shared by the audience, thus demonstrating the applicability of the results beyond the original study context.

Question 20

Dr. Johnson conducted a research study in which he investigated the effect of three different methods of teaching mathematics to three different classes of fifth grade students. However, one of the classes had smarter students than the other two and as a result this class demonstrated the most improvement in their mathematics scores. In spite of this problem, he concluded that the method used to teach mathematics to this class of students was the most effective. In this experiment, the intellectual ability of the students in the various classes was:
A) A confounding extraneous variable
B) An extraneous variable that did not confound the results
C) An independent variable
D) A dependent variable

Accepted Answer

The intellectual ability of the students in the various classes was a confounding extraneous variable because it was not controlled for and it affected the results of the study.

Quiz 11: Validity of Research Results in Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Research

Which of the following does not represent a threat to internal validity?

External validity in qualitative research:

When we talk about inferring that the independent and dependent variables are related in the population of interest and the strength of the relationship is accurate, we are talking about:

The confounding effects referred to collectively as "maturation" include all of the following plausible rival hypotheses except:

The extent to which a researcher understands, uses, and presents participants' but maintains her objective outsider view is known as:

Internal validity in qualitative research refers to:

If a research study revealed that the independent and dependent variables covary and they really do covary, the study has:

If the results of your study can be generalized to other people, in other settings, using different treatment variations and outcome measures, and the results have held up over time you have the ultimate in:

William has conducted a qualitative study. He has internally validated his findings by ruling out rival explanations for the results. This is referred to as the:

Qualitative researchers can determine whether their results would hold in other settings and with other populations by using:

A qualitative researcher is often concerned with identifying the immediate, intentional, particular, complex, and local causes of attitudes, actions, and events. This is known as:

Dr. Martin's research team was able to generalize the results of their study because they saw the same results in several other studies. These researchers were using:

Mary wanted to demonstrate that her qualitative research results held in other settings and with other populations. In order to do this she should: