Deck 11: Statistics for Evidence-Based Practice

Question 1

Human service agencies are increasingly expected to demonstrate that they:

A) serve their clients
B) seek funds as needed
C) employ evidence-based practices
D) report on clients who are not complying with service requirements

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Evidence-based practice requires:

A) treating evidence of treatment effectiveness as information of secondary importance
B) scientific evidence to be taken into consideration when making practice decisions
C) only the use of descriptive statistics
D) establishing theoretical relationships

Answer 2

B

Question 3

In the scientific world, evidence refers to:

A) information collected according to the practices of a specific treatment modality
B) information collected according to the principles of practice wisdom
C) information collected according to the principles and practices of scientific inquiry
D) information collected based on client satisfaction only

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Attributes of evidence-based practice are:

A) clinical practice in the human services and judicious use of the best available evidence
B) clinical practice in the human services and considerations of client preferences and therapist expertise
C) clinical practice in the human services and judicious use of the best available evidence, along with considerations of client preferences and therapist expertise
D) clinical practice in the human services, judicious use of the best available evidence, considerations of client preferences and therapist expertise, making practice decisions in collaboration with the client to decide on the goals of treatment, and choosing a practice that is best according to several factors

Question 5

The evidence-based practice movement has generated a number of new ideas about how to examine evidence. One of these ideas is that:

A) practitioners should cherry-pick studies according to whether they support the professional's preconceived view of reality
B) practitioners can usually find some evidence to support just about any assertion they would like to make
C) practitioners can choose the studies they want to use in support of their evidence as they can claim that the results of scientific studies are quite varied and inconsistent
D) the evidence must be examined in terms of criteria determined prior to the search of the literature, with the result that preconceived ideas may need to be revised

Question 6

Which one of the following is not one of the four levels of evidence that this textbook discusses?

A) the single research study
B) traditional review of the research literature
C) articles that report the opinions of experts or practitioners
D) meta-analysis

Question 7

The single research study does not examine which of the following?

A) a given sample of people
B) using a given method of measurement
C) combined results of a number of studies on a common theme
D) a given statistical analysis of data

Question 8

Single studies are only the first level of scientific evidence to consider because:

A) they are useful but limited in their scope
B) it is possible to find a single study that perfectly fits your practice situation
C) single studies are not vulnerable to being misused by people
D) they cannot be used by those who wish to cherry-pick evidence to prove a point

Question 9

What does a traditional literature review of the evidence do?

A) reports on a selective group of studies of a given practice issue and provides a partial view of what the body of literature tells us
B) reports on a number of studies of a given practice issue and provides a summary of what the body of literature tells us
C) reports on one specific study of a given practice issue
D) reports on client reports on the practice

Question 10

What is a bias?

A) a systematic viewpoint in the methods used to collect or analyze data that influences the data and the conclusions that can be drawn from it
B) a systematic approach in the methods used to collect or analyze data that enhances the data and the valid conclusions that can be drawn from it
C) a systematic error in the methods used to collect or analyze data that influences the data and the conclusions that can be drawn from it
D) a systematic modification in the methods used to collect or analyze data that accurately describes the data and the conclusions that can be drawn from it

Question 11

What is meta-analysis?

A) a technique for combining the results of a small number of studies on a common theme
B) a specific scientific technique for combining similar study results into a single metric
C) a technique for combining the results of a number of studies on different themes
D) a specific scientific technique for combining disparate study results into a single metric for drawing conclusions about the research question

Question 12

A key contribution of meta-analysis is that it:

A) begins with the conclusion of the relevant literature
B) begins with the establishment of a protocol for searching the literature
C) ends with the establishment of a protocol for searching the literature
D) ends with the analysis of the data

Question 13

The protocol for searching the literature in conducting meta-analysis does not include:

A) the selection of the electronic literature databases to review
B) the keywords that will be used to search the databases for articles
C) the criteria that will be used to select studies for the meta-analysis from all the articles that appear
D) the deletion of the studies whose findings the author does not agree with from the meta-analysis

Question 14

The systematic review of the literature:

A) unlike meta-analysis does not employ a protocol for searching the literature
B) employs a protocol for searching the literature and may include one or more meta-analyses
C) does not include meta-analyses
D) includes a protocol similar to meta-analysis for searching the literature

Question 15

The highest-quality scientific inquiry normally available to the human service professional is:

A) meta-analysis
B) single research study
C) systematic review of the literature
D) traditional literature review

Question 16

In looking for evidence for the practice, the order for searching that is presented in this textbook is:

A) meta-analysis then systematic review of the literature
B) traditional literature review then meta-analysis
C) systematic review of the literature, meta-analysis, then traditional literature review
D) systematic review of the literature, meta-analysis, then traditional literature review and if all else fails to generate sufficient evidence for the researcher's purposes, the researcher can seek articles that report single studies that are of interest to the research question

Question 17

The use of effect size in systematic review involves:

A) combining the effect sizes of various studies to compute the overall effect of a given intervention on a given target behavior even when the various studies employed different tools to measure the common dependent variable
B) individually looking at the effect sizes of various studies to compute the overall effect of a given intervention on a given target behavior when the various studies employed different tools to measure the common dependent variable
C) combining the effect sizes of various studies to compute the overall effect of a given intervention on a given target behavior only when the various studies employed the same tools to measure the common dependent variable
D) combining the effect sizes of random studies to compute the individual effect of a given intervention on a given target behavior even when the various studies employed different tools to measure the common dependent variable

Question 18

What is sensitivity analysis?

A) the examination of whether certain aspects of the protocol, such as inclusion criteria, may have made a difference in the results
B) the examination of whether all aspects of the protocol may not have made a difference in the results
C) the examination of whether the protocol was coherent
D) the examination of whether all aspects of the protocol were flawed
Answer Location: The Analysis of Bias in the Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

Question 19

Professionals' years of practice experience can be construed as evidence-based practice.

Question 20

Articles that provide information on the nature of a given practice along with the opinions of the author about the effectiveness of a specific treatment are forms of evidence as used in the textbook.

Question 21

The only way you will really know the effectiveness of your own service is to engage in evaluative research, evaluating your service with your own clients.

Question 22

The research literature on a given theme varies a great deal from study to study in the conclusions that are drawn, and therefore, the review of a single article can be misleading.

Question 23

A literature review does not inform you of the limitations of the intervention or whether it is better than other interventions.

Question 24

One of the ways to reduce the filtering of information based on the researcher's bias in setting up the criteria for review is to include only studies that used a randomized control trial in the experimental design.

Question 25

A systematic review is usually conducted by a team of researchers who receive the benefit of ongoing peer review from others.

Question 26

The advantage of the effect size for a review of evidence is that it is a standard measure can be applied regardless of the particular tool used to measure the target behavior.

Question 27

Moderator analysis does not use statistical tests.

Question 28

Explain the importance of meta-analysis in evidence-based practice.

Question 29

What factors do you look for when you review the statistics of studies in the review of literature? Provide a rationale.

Question 30

Explain the relevance of meta-analysis for evidence-based practice and provide an example.