Deck 17: Making Inferences From Sample Data II: the Evidence-Based Approach

Question 1

Confidence intervals are an important procedure for the evidence-based approach because:

A) Relying solely on the p value removes the researcher from the actual data.
B) Utilizing p values decreases the likelihood of a Type II error.
C) The fact that p values are interpreted as a dichotomous decision is misleading.
D) a and c

Answer 1

a and c

Question 2

Confidence intervals that are small:

A) Increase preciseness.
B) Decrease preciseness.
C) Do not indicate preciseness.
D) More information is needed to estimate the preciseness of a confidence interval.

Answer 2

Increase preciseness.

Question 3

Confidence intervals:

A) Always contain the true population difference between means.
B) Do not contain the true population difference between means.
C) Should contain the true population difference between means.
D) Should contain the true population difference between medians.

Answer 3

Should contain the true population difference between means.

Question 4

A confidence interval tells the researcher:

A) There is a 95% probability that the true population difference between means is within the interval.
B) If multiple confidence intervals were created, they would all be identical.
C) There is a 95% probability that the true population difference between means is outside of the interval.
D) None of the above.

Question 5

If zero is in the confidence interval:

A) The confidence interval indicates that the outcome is statistically significant.
B) The confidence interval indicates that the outcome is not statistically significant.
C) The confidence interval indicates that a computation error occurred.
D) None of the above.

Question 6

Standardized effect sizes:

A) Cannot be computed regardless of the specific measurement scale used in the study.
B) Can be computed only when exact measurement scales are used in the study.
C) Cannot be computed unless two or more measurement scales are used in the study.
D) Can be computed regardless of the specific measurement scale used in the study.

Question 7

The effect size:

A) Indicates the strength of the relationship between the IV and DV
B) Is influenced by whether the study is statistically significant or not
C) Is dependent on the study's sample size
D) a and c

Question 8

The r family of effect size measures includes:

A) r
B) phi
C) rho
D) eta
E) All of the above.

Question 9

Disagreement regarding effect sizes includes:

A) Which effect to use.
B) Whether to use the squared or unsquared value.
C) When to report effect sizes.
D) a and b
E) All of the above.

Question 10

When interpreting an effect size:

A) Regardless of the type of effect size (e.g., r, d, etc.), the value should be interpreted as a standard deviation.
B) Effect sizes from previous research should be considered so that context is considered.
C) Effect sizes do not need to be interpreted, only reported.
D) All of the above.

Question 11

Meta-analysis is:

A) A research synthesis of a set of studies that uses a quantitative measure, effect size, to indicate the strength of relationship between the variables.
B) Utilizing multiple statistics in the same study.
C) Reporting descriptive statistics in study prior to the inferential statistics.
D) None of the above.

Question 12

Advantages of performing a meta-analysis include:

A) Computing a summary statistic for a large number of studies.
B) Providing evidence of the reliability of a research finding.
C) Can include studies that did not result in statistically significant results.
D) Increased external validity.
E) All of the above.

Question 13

Reed R. Rabbit is interested in whether phonics or whole-word instruction more effectively teaches children how to read. He decides to do a meta-analysis of prior studies. Which of the following issues should concern him when doing this meta-analysis?

A) Whole-word instruction subsumes a number of different strategies.
B) Experimental studies yield different effect sizes than comparative studies.
C) Few studies have been published that compare the two instructional approaches.
D) Some studies report correlation coefficients (r) whereas others report a mean difference (d).
E) a, b, and c

Question 14

Most research studies conducted in the social sciences unfortunately utilize a convenience sample.

Question 15

The evidence-based approach discourages making decisions based on a single study.

Question 16

A confidence interval tells the researcher that there is a 95% probability that the true population difference between means is within the interval.

Question 17

When confidence intervals are constructed, statistical testing does not need to occur.

Question 18

If an infinite number of confidence intervals are created, they would all be identical.

Question 19

Large sample sizes may yield statistically significant results with very weak relationships.

Question 20

In the social sciences, unstandardized effect sizes are routinely reported.

Question 21

The d family of effect size measures focuses on the magnitude of the difference between the means of two groups.

Question 22

The d family of effect size measures are expressed in standard deviation units.

Question 23

The value of d must be between 0 and 1.

Question 24

Effect sizes should always be reported.

Question 25

Cohen's guidelines for effect sizes (i.e., small, medium, and large) apply to all subfields.

Question 26

Effect sizes can be computed from an individual study, even if the means and standard deviations are not presented.

Question 27

Effect sizes allow investigators to combine effect sizes from different studies.

Question 28

When conducting a meta-analysis, the end product will never be better than the individual studies that make up the meta-analysis.

Question 29

The purpose of a research synthesis is increase the internal validity with a representative sample.

Question 30

The most important aspect of a meta-analysis is determining the criteria for inclusion and exclusion of research studies.

Question 31

Why should effect sizes be reported?

Question 32

What are the advantages of conducting a meta-analysis?