Deck 6: Objectives, Questions, Hypotheses, and Study Variables

Question 1

Read the following statement: There is no measurable difference in incidence of incarceration for adolescent children whose mothers work outside the home in comparison with those whose mothers do not work outside the home. How is this statement best defined?

A)Null hypothesis
B)Confounding variable
C)Research objective
D)Research question

Answer 1

Null hypothesis

Question 2

A pediatric nurse, who has worked on the inpatient unit for 7 years, is enrolled in a master's program. The nurse notes that children who are homeless and who are admitted to the inpatient setting have longer lengths of hospital stay, appear to have poorer verbal skills, and seem to be more fearful of separation from their parents. The nurse designs a study to measure these variables in homeless children and to compare the findings with the average patients on the same unit. What are the research variables in this study?

A)Patient age
B)Verbal skills
C)Homelessness
D)Parental presence
E)Fear of separation from parents
F)Length of hospital stay

Answer 2

Verbal skills
Homelessness
Fear of separation from parents
Length of hospital stay

Question 3

A professor of medical-surgical nursing researches the effect of special tutoring sessions offered once weekly to students, in hopes of improving student performance on examinations. In the fall semester, student exam scores were significantly improved over those of the previous term, when tutoring was not offered. The performance of the spring term students does not show a significant improvement over students without tutoring. The professor's colleague identifies a confounding variable. Which variable is the confounding variable?

A)The same professor provided tutoring in both fall and spring semesters.
B)The fall semester students had a lower admission grade point average than the spring semester students.
C)The fall semester students were, on average, older than the spring students.
D)The fall tutoring sessions were conducted on Mondays after the medical-surgical class and the spring sessions were held on Fridays, after a different class.

Answer 3

The fall tutoring sessions were conducted on Mondays after the medical-surgical class and the spring sessions were held on Fridays, after a different class.

Question 4

Simple descriptive statistics may be used to depict the sample characteristics, reflecting demographic variable values, in which kind of research?

A)Quantitative research only
B)Qualitative research only
C)Both quantitative and qualitative research
D)Only when data have been extracted from an electronic database

Question 5

The intervention that the researcher manipulates is the:

A)demographic variable.
B)independent variable.
C)dependent variable.
D)extraneous variable.

Question 6

A pediatric nurse, who has worked on the inpatient unit for 7 years, is enrolled in a master's program. The nurse notes that children who are homeless and who are admitted to the inpatient setting seem to have longer lengths of hospital stay, appear to have poorer verbal skills, and seem to be more fearful of separation from their parents. The nurse designs a study to measure these variables in homeless children, and to compare the findings with the average patients on the same unit. What is the research hypothesis?

A)Longer length of hospital stay, worse verbal skills, and fear of separation from parents are caused by children's homelessness.
B)Homelessness in children is related to length of hospital stay, verbal skills, and fear of separation from parents.
C)There is no relationship between children's homelessness and length of hospital stay, verbal skills, and fear of separation from parents.
D)If a homeless child has a longer hospital stay, that child is likely to have poor verbal skills and more difficulty separating from parents.

Question 7

The research question states: "Can diabetics on oral antiglycemic medications achieve better control of blood sugar, as measured by Hemoglobin A1C, if they are taught to meditate and do this on a daily basis?" What is the independent variable in this research question?

A)Oral antiglycemic medications
B)Hemoglobin A1C
C)Meditation
D)Blood sugar

Question 8

A research hypothesis states: "Providing early written feedback to undergraduate nursing students in the clinical setting increases the incidence of desired behaviors of safe medication administration, work efficiency, accurate charting, and competent time management." What type of hypothesis is this?

A)Simple hypothesis
B)Complex hypothesis
C)Causal hypothesis
D)Associative hypothesis
E)Nondirectional hypothesis
F)Directional hypothesis

Question 9

A researcher identifies three variables and formulates a hypothesis that links them. That hypothesis is testable. What does it mean that the hypothesis is testable?

A)All the variables in the hypothesis are measurable.
B)The hypothesis must be replaced by a research question.
C)The value of the hypothesis is low.
D)The hypothesis is causational.

Question 10

A research hypothesis states: "Number of hours spent daily playing videogames is negatively related to student achievement in high school history class." What type of hypothesis is this?

A)Simple hypothesis
B)Complex hypothesis
C)Causal hypothesis
D)Associative hypothesis
E)Nondirectional hypothesis
F)Directional hypothesis

Question 11

A research hypothesis states: "Patients with recurrent bowel obstruction due to Crohn's disease who are assigned to be treated in an emergency room complain less frequently of pain and require less pain medication than those patients admitted, in the usual fashion, and treated on a medical floor." What is the independent variable in the hypothesis?

A)Bowel obstruction due to Crohn's disease
B)Place treated
C)Number of complaints of pain
D)Number of doses of pain medication

Question 12

A pediatric nurse, who has worked on the inpatient unit for 7 years, is enrolled in a master's program. The nurse notes that children who are homeless and who are admitted to the inpatient setting seem to have longer lengths of hospital stay, appear to have poorer verbal skills, and seem to be more fearful of separation from their parents. The nurse designs a study to measure these variables in homeless children and to compare the findings with the average patients on the same unit. What is the research objective?

A)To answer the research question
B)To determine the strength of the statistical relationship among the variables
C)To determine whether homeless children seem to have longer length of hospital stay, poorer verbal skills, and more fear of separation from their parents than do other children
D)To measure length of stay, verbal skills, and fear of separation from parents in homeless children admitted to the hospital

Question 13

What is the relationship between a conceptual definition and an operational definition?

A)The conceptual definition provides information; the operational definition provides none.
B)The conceptual definition is concrete, and the operational definition is abstract.
C)They are the same, in most instances.
D)The operational definition allows the researcher to create a measurable variable from a concept; the conceptual definition does not.

Question 14

Read the following purpose statement: "The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a generous weekly allowance and twice-weekly text messages from parents on number of days absent from class, in freshman college students." What kind of variable is number of days absent from class?

A)Demographic variable
B)Independent variable
C)Extraneous variable
D)Dependent variable

Question 15

A pediatric nurse, who has worked on the inpatient unit for 7 years, is enrolled in a master's program. The nurse notes that children who are homeless and who are admitted to the inpatient setting seem to have longer lengths of hospital stay, appear to have poorer verbal skills, and seem to be more fearful of separation from their parents. The nurse designs a study to measure these variables in homeless children, and to compare the findings with the average patients on the same unit. What is the research question?

A)Are longer hospital stays, poorer verbal skills, and increased fear of separation from parents made worse by children's homelessness?
B)Does children's homelessness affect length of hospital stay, verbal skills, and fear of separation from parents?
C)Was homelessness related to length of hospital stay, verbal skills, and fear of separation from parents in this study?
D)Is homelessness in children related to length of hospital stay, verbal skills, and fear of separation from parents?

Question 16

A research hypothesis states: "Decreasing the time allotted for weekly, in-class pop quizzes increases student anxiety and decreases student grades." What type of hypothesis is this?

A)Simple hypothesis
B)Complex hypothesis
C)Causal hypothesis
D)Associative hypothesis
E)Nondirectional hypothesis
F)Directional hypothesis

Question 17

A research hypothesis states: "The number of minutes a 16-year-old girl spends applying her makeup in the morning is related to her perceived personal attractiveness." What type of hypothesis is this?

A)Simple hypothesis
B)Complex hypothesis
C)Causal hypothesis
D)Associative hypothesis
E)Nondirectional hypothesis
F)Directional hypothesis

Question 18

A research hypothesis states: "There is no measurable difference in incidence of acne in 15-year-olds who are placed on a chocolate-free diet." What is the dependent variable in this hypothesis?

A)15-year-olds
B)No chocolate in the diet
C)Chocolate in the diet
D)Acne

Question 19

A research hypothesis states: "Having one's house and yard professionally sprayed yearly by an extermination service has an effect on infestations of common garden ants." What type of hypothesis is this?

A)Simple hypothesis
B)Complex hypothesis
C)Causal hypothesis
D)Associative hypothesis
E)Nondirectional hypothesis
F)Directional hypothesis

Question 20

A researcher identifies an important extraneous variable after a study is under way. What is the best action for the researcher to take now?

A)Determine whether the extraneous variable is an independent or dependent variable.
B)Stop the study, then redesign it so as to control for this extraneous variable.
C)Attempt to measure the extraneous variable so that its effect may be determined during the analytic phase.
D)Nothing now. Plan to identify this as a limitation during the dissemination phase.

Question 21

A research hypothesis states: "The number of children in the home is associated with noise level in that home and with parental stress." What type of hypothesis is this?

A)Simple hypothesis
B)Complex hypothesis
C)Causal hypothesis
D)Associative hypothesis
E)Nondirectional hypothesis
F)Directional hypothesis

Question 22

Which could be a research question?

A)What does postoperative vomiting feel like, to research subjects?
B)How is hypnosis related to smoking cessation?
C)In an English course, how do grading, praise, practice, submitting papers for publication, and writing skills interact?
D)What are the differences between clients with preoperative orientation and those without, in terms of procedural anxiety?
E)How does the researcher define loneliness?

Question 23

A research hypothesis states: "Increased intake of dietary fiber in elders and increased fluid intake are associated with fewer episodes of diverticulitis." What type of hypothesis is this?

A)Simple hypothesis
B)Complex hypothesis
C)Causal hypothesis
D)Associative hypothesis
E)Nondirectional hypothesis
F)Directional hypothesis

Question 24

An experimental psychologist studies rat behavior. The psychologist runs rats through a maze, under different scent conditions. At the end of the maze is cheese. Sometimes the maze is lit, and sometimes it is dark. During each run, the rats are subjected to different scents (cat pheromone, the smell of cheddar cheese, tiger pheromone, the smell of rat feces) at crucial decision points in the maze. The psychologist measures the time it takes the rats to finish the maze. What could be considered independent variables in this study?

A)The rats
B)Light versus dark
C)The psychologist
D)The amount of time the rats take to finish the maze
E)The scents
F)The cheese at the end of the maze
G)Rat behavior

Question 25

What could be an independent variable in an experimental study?

A)Quality of life
B)The percentage of moisture in the inspired air the subject breathes
C)The researcher's preference for quantitative versus qualitative methodologies
D)Wearing a hat with a large brim
E)Seizure activity during the experiment

Question 26

What could be a dependent variable in an experimental study?

A)Medication A
B)The number of times the gerbil rings the bell
C)Quality of life
D)The number of times the subject is instructed in how to use the experimental equipment
E)Vomiting

Question 27

A research hypothesis states: "Taking lessons to learn how to play bridge and weekly practice in playing bridge have an effect on beginning bridge players' win-loss ratio." What type of hypothesis is this?

A)Simple hypothesis
B)Complex hypothesis
C)Causal hypothesis
D)Associative hypothesis
E)Nondirectional hypothesis
F)Directional hypothesis

Question 28

A cook wants to know what happens to bacon when it is fried in a frying pan, versus microwaving it. Specifically, the cook wonders if the bacon ends up moister and more flavorful when fried or when microwaved. What are the dependent variables?

A)Frying bacon
B)Microwaving bacon
C)Consistent cooking temperature
D)Variable cooking temperature
E)Moistness of bacon
F)Kitchen burns
G)Flavor of bacon