Deck 12: Quasi-Experimental and Longitudinal Designs: Examining Relationships in Applied Setting

Question 1

Which of the following cohort designs has more than one level of treatment?

A) The posttest-only cohort design
B) The posttest-only cohort design with partitioned treatments
C) The pretreatment-posttreatment cohort design
D) The reversed-treatment pretest-posttest cohort design

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The analysis of whether changes in one variable in a time series cause subsequent changes in another variable in the series is referred to as an analysis of concomitance in time series.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

In the context of interpretable nonequivalent groups designs, _____ is the main problem with a reversed-treatment pretest-posttest design.

A) historical concern
B) pretest sensitization
C) selection-by-maturation interaction
D) ethical concern

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Time-series designs are a class of quasi-experimental designs in which comparisons are made between participants in nonrandomly formed groups.

Question 5

X₁ O₁ is a diagram of a one-group posttest-only design, which is a type of uninterpretable nonequivalent groups designs.

Question 6

Which of the following designs is an interpretable nonequivalent groups design?

A) The one-group posttest-only design
B) The pretest-posttest nonequivalent groups design with additional pretest
C) The posttest-only nonequivalent design comparing multiple active treatments
D) The one-group pretest-posttest design

Question 7

One way to reduce the threat of history to the internal validity of a simple interrupted time-series design is to add a second dependent variable that theoretically will not be affected by the treatment.

Question 8

In a time-series design, the point at which the treatment takes place is called a(n) _____.

A) control point of the series
B) intervention of the series
C) interruption of the series
D) change window of the series

Question 9

A hallmark of a true experimental design is the random assignment of participants to various treatment conditions, allowing a researcher to control many of the threats to internal validity.

Question 10

Which of the following is a disadvantage of the one-group pretest-posttest uninterpretable design?

A) The lack of information about any possible difference in the groups that exist before treatment makes it difficult to attribute results to the treatment.
B) The lack of a comparison group makes it impossible to rule out threats to internal validity.
C) The lack of random assignment of participants to groups allows the possibility that the groups may have differed along a number of important dimensions.
D) The lack of a control group makes it impossible to determine-after comparing pretest-posttest observations-if a change has occurred.

Question 11

The pretest-posttest nonequivalent groups design is a stronger and more interpretable design than the posttest-only nonequivalent groups design because it allows for an examination of:

A) some of the posttreatment differences.
B) the results of the posttreatment analysis.
C) some of the pretreatment differences.
D) the results of the pretreatment analysis.

Question 12

An advantage of the true experimental design in field settings is that the random assignment of participants into groups is easily achievable.

Question 13

A true experimental design differs from a quasi-experimental design in terms of the _____.

A) random assignment of participants to conditions
B) manipulation of independent variables
C) comparisons between or among groups
D) systematic factors related to conditions

Question 14

One of the most functional reasons for choosing a true experimental design over a quasi-experimental design is often that of cost.

Question 15

Time-series designs are characterized by:

A) observations taken solely before the treatment.
B) observations of the same participant or similar participants.
C) a single observation comparing two or more groups.
D) a possibility of selection effects.

Question 16

The broken line used in a diagram for a cohort design indicates that the two groups in the design are successive cohorts and not nonequivalent groups.

Question 17

In terms of the MAXMINCON principle, researchers using a quasi-experimental design can both minimize differences in the independent variable(s) and maximize error variance due to measurement issues.

Question 18

The usefulness of quasi-experimental designs for advancing knowledge is directly related to how thoroughly an investigator examines and controls for the:

A) results of the posttest analysis of a study.
B) measures to be used in a questionnaire to record responses.
C) method to be used for statistical analysis.
D) selection criteria used in forming the initial groupings.

Question 19

In the context of the selection of participants for research, a selection-by-threat interaction effect occurs when the threats to internal validity operate similarly across treatment conditions.

Question 20

Consider the following diagram of a quasi-experimental design: Non R O_A1 X O_B2
Non R O_A1 O_B2
This design represents the _____.

A) nonequivalent groups design with a proxy pretest measure
B) pretest-posttest nonequivalent groups design with additional pretest
C) reversed-treatment pretest-posttest nonequivalent groups design
D) interpretable pretest-posttest nonequivalent groups design