Deck 9: Nonexperimental Designs

Question 1

Which statement about cross-sectional studies is most accurate?

A) More than one group can be compared.
B) Only descriptive data can be measured.
C) Data are collected retrospectively rather than prospectively.
D) Data collection and data analysis can occur simultaneously.

Answer 1

More than one group can be compared.

Question 2

Why would a nurse researcher decide to use a retrospective or ex post facto study?

A) Obtaining informed consent is not an important issue.
B) There is maximal opportunity to manipulate the independent variable.
C) The dependent variable is measured at multiple times to examine the effect of maturation.
D) The dependent variable has already been affected by the independent variable.

Answer 2

The dependent variable has already been affected by the independent variable.

Question 3

When should a nurse researcher expect to use a descriptive or exploratory design?

A) When expanding the results of a qualitative study
B) When direct contact with potential subjects is not possible
C) When little is known about a particular subject or phenomenon
D) When issues of cause and effect in a situation have already been determined

Answer 3

When little is known about a particular subject or phenomenon

Question 4

Which type of design would be most appropriate to forecast the effects of psychoeducational interventions on psychological adaptation of women diagnosed with breast cancer?

A) Correlational
B) Prediction
C) Descriptive
D) Ex post facto

Question 5

In a study of psychosocial adjustment to breast cancer,data-collection instruments were sent to the same sample of women at six different times during the first year of living with breast cancer.What type of study design does this exemplify?

A) Cross-sectional
B) Retrospective
C) Longitudinal
D) Correlational

Question 6

When would a nurse researcher choose to use a developmental study design?

A) To allow comparison of the results of qualitative studies of a particular phenomenon to the results of quantitative studies of the same phenomenon
B) To allow reanalysis of existing data for a secondary purpose not stated in the original research
C) To allow exploration of the changing nature of relationships between variables over time
D) To allow development or refinement of a tool or instrument

Question 7

Which title is most indicative of a longitudinal study?

A) Effect of prenatal parenting classes on maternal-infant bonding in the early postpartum period
B) Change in self-esteem over time among women participating in a weight-loss support group
C) Relationship between self-esteem and successful breastfeeding at 1 month after birth
D) Women's appraisal of the diagnosis of breast cancer within the first 48 hours after initial cancer diagnosis

Question 8

Which factor or situation in a report of a study using a correlational design would cause a nurse researcher to question the validity of the study?

A) The study does not have a nontreatment control group.
B) The researchers conclude that a causal relationship exists between the variables.
C) The researchers suggest the findings have a practical application in a clinical setting.
D) The researchers used existing instruments to measure the variables instead of developing specific instruments for the study.

Question 9

Which title is most suggestive of a descriptive study?

A) Characterization of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy
B) The lived experience of liver transplantation among older white men
C) Effect of virtual reality as a distraction intervention for adolescents undergoing chemotherapy
D) Correlation between current income level and self-esteem among newly widowed women

Question 10

What is the first question that should be asked in determining whether a cross-sectional design or a longitudinal design should be used in a quantitative study?

A) Is there an independent variable?
B) What is the nature of the problem being studied?
C) Will a measurement tool or instrument be needed?
D) Can statistical analysis be applied to the study data?

Question 11

Why would a nurse researcher choose to use a correlational design for a nonexperimental study?

A) It represents an efficient and effective method of collecting a large amount of data about a problem.
B) Many questionnaires and instruments are already developed and have been determined to be valid and reliable.
C) Generalizability is greater than for results of studies using experimental designs.
D) It allows flexibility in the manipulation of more than one variable.

Question 12

What type of study design would be most appropriate for a nurse researcher to use to assess whether premature infants who were visited more often by parents had shorter lengths of stay in the newborn intensive care unit?

A) Cross-sectional survey
B) Descriptive, comparative survey
C) Predictive, statistical survey
D) Causative, correlational

Question 13

What study of type would be most appropriate when data are collected at only one point in time?

A) Cross-sectional
B) Retrospective
C) Longitudinal
D) Prospective

Question 14

Why would a nurse researcher choose not to use a survey study design?

A) Data analysis is limited.
B) Information collected is relatively superficial.
C) Results are never applicable beyond the study population.
D) More subjects are required to reach statistical significance than for other study designs.

Question 15

Why would a nurse researcher choose an ex post facto design over more a correlational design?

A) It is easier to carry out.
B) The independent variable can be manipulated.
C) There is a greater degree of control in the design.
D) There is increased flexibility for study when relationships among the variables are complex.

Question 16

Which method of data collection is most appropriate for a nurse researcher to use in a survey study?

A) Videotaping of people-to-people interactions
B) Direct participant observation
C) Unstructured interview
D) Questionnaires

Question 17

Why would a nurse researcher choose to use research studies that examine the associations or relationships between variables?

A) A causal relationship can be determined.
B) Greater manipulation of the variables is possible.
C) Randomization of participants allows for increased generalizability.
D) There is potential application in clinical settings and a foundation for future experimental studies.

Question 18

Why would a nurse researcher decide to use a longitudinal or prospective design?

A) It is associated with data that are focused and deep.
B) It allows the overall study to be more manageable for the researcher.
C) It allows the issue of maturation to be avoided as a threat to internal validity.
D) It allows the nurse researcher to avoid the use of tools or instrumentation.

Question 19

Why would a nurse researcher choose to use a correlational study of multiple variables?

A) To identify the independent variable
B) To test whether one variable causes another variable
C) To examine relationships between or among variables
D) To distinguish how different one variable is from another variable

Question 20

Which study title is most indicative of a cross-sectional design?

A) Effect of prenatal parenting classes on maternal-infant bonding in the early postpartum period
B) Change in self-esteem over time among women participating in a weight-loss support group
C) Relationship between self-esteem and successful breast feeding at 1 month and 6 months after birth
D) Women's appraisal of the diagnosis of breast cancer within the first 48 hours after initial cancer diagnosis

Question 21

What can a nurse researcher address in a study using a survey design? (Select all that apply.)

A) Interrelationships of variables
B) Description of variables
C) Assessment of differences between variables
D) Determination of causation
E) Prediction of treatment outcomes

Question 22

Which study would be representative of methodologic research?

A) Assessment of nurses' attitudes and knowledge regarding pain management
B) The relationship between need satisfaction, support, and maternal attachment in the adolescent mother-infant dyad
C) Sibling perceptions of childhood physical and mental chronic illness, a secondary analysis of three data sets
D) Development and further testing in the critical care setting of an instrument to measure comfort provided by nurses

Question 23

What type of research designs are considered to be developmental studies?

A) Cross-sectional
B) Comparative
C) Exploratory
D) Longitudinal
E) Prospective
F) Cohort
G) Descriptive

Question 24

A nurse researcher seeking level I evidence to guide clinical practice will search for what kind of studies,designs,and methods? (Select all that apply.)

A) Descriptive studies
B) Randomized, controlled clinical trials (RCCTs)
C) Correlational designs
D) Meta-analyses
E) Qualitative designs

Question 25

When can study participants serve as their own controls,allowing early trends in the data to emerge?

A) Cross-sectional
B) Ex post facto
C) Retrospective
D) Longitudinal

Question 26

What are some advantages to use of correlational design for a study? (Select all that apply.)

A) Efficiency and effectiveness in data collection
B) Flexibility for investigating complex relationships
C) Multivariate manipulation of variables
D) Strong potential for clinical ( real-world ) application
E) Increased potential for generalizability

Question 27

What type of research designs are considered to be relationship-difference studies?

A) Descriptive
B) Exploratory
C) Correlational
D) Developmental
E) Comparative
F) Cross-sectional

Question 28

Which threat to internal validity is most closely associated with a longitudinal design?

A) Instrumentation effects
B) Mortality effects
C) History effects
D) Selection bias

Question 29

For which type of research studies would the nurse researcher develop research questions rather than hypotheses?

A) Experimental studies
B) Exploratory studies
C) Correlational studies
D) Predictive studies

Question 30

In what way are studies involving meta-analysis and secondary analysis similar?

A) Causality is easily determined.
B) The researcher does not directly collect the data.
C) There is maximal opportunity to manipulate the variables.
D) Issues of maturation and mortality are heightened as threats to internal validity.

Question 31

For the nurse researcher to develop a research instrument accurately,what is the sequence of steps that he or she must take?

A) Define the construct, formulate the items, develop the instructions to the respondents, and test the instrument for reliability and validity
B) Formulate the items, define the construct, develop instructions to the respondents, and test the instrument for reliability and validity
C) Develop the instructions to the respondents, define the construct, formulate the items, and test the instrument for reliability and validity
D) Formulate the items, develop the instructions to the respondents, test the instrument for reliability and validity, and define the construct

Question 32

What type of research will assist a nurse researcher in focusing on the theory and development of measurement instruments?

A) Meta-analysis
B) Psychometrics
C) Methodology
D) Data management

Question 33

How does an experimental research design differ from a nonexperimental research design?

A) Experimental designs allow observation of a phenomenon as it naturally occurs, and nonexperimental designs permit environmental manipulation.
B) Nonexperimental designs manipulate the dependent variable, and experimental designs manipulate the independent variable.
C) Nonexperimental designs attempt to test differences among variables, and experimental designs attempt to establish cause-and-effect relationships.
D) Experimental designs are scientific, and nonexperimental designs have no scientific base.

Question 34

What techniques could a nurse researcher use to establish predictive links between nonmanipulated variables? (Select all that apply.)

A) Data analysis
B) Causal modeling
C) t testing
D) Chi square
E) Model testing

Question 35

What features will identify a study as methodologic in design? (Select all that apply.)

A) A description of how the tool's items were formulated
B) A description of the experimental treatment
C) A clear definition of how the construct was measured
D) A reporting on the tool's tested reliability and validity
E) A statistical table showing the effect of the independent variable

Question 36

What type of research designs are considered to be survey studies?

A) Descriptive
B) Exploratory
C) Correlational
D) Developmental
E) Comparative
F) Cross-sectional

Question 37

How are the longitudinal study and the prospective study similar?

A) Each moves forward in time.
B) Each has an experimental focus.
C) Each is able to establish causal relationships.
D) Each selects different samples from the same population at various periods of time.

Question 38

Which statement regarding focus of methodologic research is most accurate?

A) Predicting outcomes
B) Defining the construct to be measured
C) Examining the relationship among variables
D) Quantifying the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable

Question 39

Which features are characteristic of nonexperimental research? (Select all that apply.)

A) Clear research problem
B) Use of a control group
C) Randomized subjects
D) Variable manipulation
E) Some elements of control