Deck 2: Foundational Concepts for Quantitative Research

Question 1

What is the definition of the term data?

A) a numeric value within a specified range
B) information collected on characteristics
C) a collection of numbers within a set
D) positive or negative numeric values

Answer 1

B

Question 2

What distinguishes data from a number or numbers?

A) Both terms are interchangeable.
B) Numbers with unit measures are data.
C) Data are numbers with attached meaning.
D) A number collected on a topic is data.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What does the term raw data refer to?

A) information gathered but not processed
B) naked numbers without any units
C) data that are outside of a database
D) numeric values from multiple sources

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following is an observational unit?

A) each row of a data set
B) a data set within a database
C) an individual entity
D) a variable in a data set

Question 5

In longitudinal studies, what does the term observation refer to?

A) data for each time point
B) value for each study subject
C) each row in a data set
D) all rows for a time point

Question 6

What is a variable?

A) a data field or data column
B) a characteristic that varies
C) a row in a data set
D) a level of aggregation

Question 7

What does the term "data set" mean?

A) a table within a database
B) collection of different data points
C) case information on set variables
D) rows and columns of data

Question 8

What factor differentiates quantitative research from qualitative research?

A) the method for data collection
B) statistical methods for analysis
C) the types of variables used
D) numbers are used as evidence

Question 9

Which of the following best describes inductive research?

A) outlines a theory from observation
B) uses data to develop a theory
C) generates a hypothesis
D) tests a hypothesis using data

Question 10

What does the term deductive research refer to?

A) testing a hypothesis using data
B) using data to build a theory
C) build a theory from observation
D) develop a hypothesis

Question 11

In research terminology, what does the word "theory" mean?

A) a hypothetical explanation of some social event
B) an idea about some aspect of the world
C) a hypothesis developed from observation or data
D) an explanation of some phenomena

Question 12

An assumption is made that adults between the ages of 18-25 have more points on their driving record than adults aged 26-60 years. Data are collected from the driving records of a random sample to test this assumption. What type of research does this signify?

A) descriptive
B) inductive
C) empirical
D) deductive

Question 13

Which of the following best describes the term "hypothesis?"

A) a theory or idea based on empirical evidence
B) a statement predicting association between two variables
C) a conclusion made based on data analysis
D) a conjecture on correlation between several variables

Question 14

A statistical model is developed by a team of researchers who predict the probability of a financial debt going bad after 90 days. The prediction made by the model is based on several variables such as age, education, credit score, and average savings balance of the debtor. Which is the dependent variable in this model?

A) probability of bad debt
B) age of debtor
C) education of debtor
D) average savings balance

Question 15

What are the components of a research circle?

A) inductive, deductive
B) descriptive, deductive, inductive
C) deductive, empirical, descriptive
D) descriptive, deductive

Question 16

A telecommunications company seeks to classify its customers based on their network usage and revenue generated per customer. Which type of goal does this research fall under?

A) exploratory
B) evaluation
C) descriptive
D) explanatory

Question 17

Which of the following statements best describes the goal of exploratory research?

A) understand how a phenomenon works
B) identify cause and effect relationship
C) describe a pattern in the data
D) explore several variables in data

Question 18

What is primary goal of evaluation research?

A) approve a government policy
B) gauge impact of social programs
C) assess the impact of programs
D) identify the effect of public policy

Question 19

What does the term "reporting" refer to?

A) graph numeric variables
B) create tables of numbers
C) create a summary of the data
D) present numbers for analysis

Question 20

Which of the following defines the expression "interpret numbers?"

A) explain how numbers answer a question
B) present numbers in a chart or table
C) identify how variables are associated
D) make a decision with numbers

Question 21

When comparing two or more values, what does direction of association refer to?

A) the trend in the values
B) Which value is higher
C) negative or positive change
D) difference between numbers

Question 22

A newspaper publishes a chart showing the frequency of residents of the local city by six age groups. Which of the following best describes this chart?

A) a bar chart
B) a bivariate pattern
C) a univariate distribution
D) a histogram

Question 23

What is magnitude of an association?

A) highest value among set of numbers
B) ratio of values among two numbers
C) cumulative number of a set of values
D) size of the difference between values

Question 24

What is the requirement of a good hypothesis?

A) state the predicted direction of association
B) give the predicted magnitude of association
C) specify both direction and magnitude of association
D) define the outcome and independent variables

Question 25

The quarterly registration of students for the undergraduate Calculus 101 class was found to fluctuate significantly during the last 2 years. How would you term the number of students registered?

A) respondent
B) variable
C) observation
D) unit measure

Question 26

The term "datum" is the singular form of the term "data."

Question 27

The term "raw data" refers to data that has been transformed.

Question 28

Data collected on a case across time are called observation units.

Question 29

A study seeks to compare GDP growth of countries in Asia from 1990 to 2010. Country is a variable in the study.

Question 30

Missing values occur when a particular question in a survey is not relevant for the respondent.

Question 31

There are two types of research strategies, Descriptive and Deductive.

Question 32

The goal of exploratory research is to understand how a phenomenon works and its causes.

Question 33

The W's refer to who, what, when, where, and, how of a study.

Question 34

An analyst gave a presentation of his exploratory research to the marketing department of his company. He showed them charts and tables of distributions of each variable in the data, their quantile spread, and their moments. This is an example of interpretation of numbers.

Question 35

The net profit of a fertilizer company fell by 4% from 2018 to 2019. This statement enumerates the magnitude of association between net profit and time.

Question 36

With the help of an example, illustrate the difference between data and numbers.

Question 37

How would you distinguish an observation from an observation unit? Explain with a real-world example.

Question 38

A research study is conducted on the profitability, that is, net quarterly profit, of small businesses (less than 20 employees) in the township of East Brunswick, NJ, for the year 2019. Identify the variables and constants of the study. Explain your answer.

Question 39

In your own words, explain a mixed methods research study. Provide an example of this type of study.

Question 40

Explain the components of the research circle. In which direction of the circle do the components need to be executed?

Question 41

Give a real-world example of inductive research. List the steps generally taken in this type of research.

Question 42

Describe the goal of evaluation research in a study, with an example.

Question 43

Explain why it is important to both report and interpret numbers when presenting the results of a research study.

Question 44

Describe the difference between direction and magnitude of an association.

Question 45

Provide an example of a bivariate association found in a research study.

Question 46

Construct a real-world study of explanatory research to be conducted by you. Describe the steps you would take, including defining the hypothesis, to complete the study. Use research terminology to explain your steps.

Question 47

Identify and expand on the W's for the research study you described in Question 1. Include the "how" attribute of the W's for data collection and analysis.

Question 48

For the research study you outlined in Question 1, describe the types of reports you would create to present the numbers and analysis results of the study.