Deck 11: Non-Experimental Designs

Question 1

Which of the following would be used to assess whether mental health patients who received cognitive-behavioural therapy via smart phones remain out of hospitals for longer periods of time?

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

Answer 1

Longitudinal, comparative survey

Question 2

Which of the following study titles suggests 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 Breastfeeding at 1 Month and 6 Months After Delivery
D) Women's Appraisal of the Diagnosis Within the First 48 Hours After Initial Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Answer 2

Women's Appraisal of the Diagnosis Within the First 48 Hours After Initial Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Question 3

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

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

Answer 3

Information collected is relatively superficial.

Question 4

A nurse researcher will choose to use a developmental study design to do what?

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

Question 5

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 6

How is an ex post facto design more advantageous than a correlational design?

A) This design is easier to carry out.
B) The independent variable can be manipulated in this design.
C) A greater degree of control is possible with this design.
D) This design offers increased flexibility when the relationships among the variables in the study are complex.

Question 7

A nurse researcher will choose an ex post facto design over more a correlational design for which reason?

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

Question 8

What study type is indicated by data collection at only one point in time?

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

Question 9

A nurse researcher would decide to use a longitudinal or prospective design for which reason?

A) The data obtained are focused and deep.
B) The study overall is more manageable for the researcher.
C) The issue of maturation as a threat to internal validity is avoided in this design.
D) This design does not require the use of tools or instrumentation.

Question 10

Which of the following titles suggests a descriptive study?

A) Characterization of Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy
B) The Lived Experience of Liver Transplantation Among Older Caucasian Men
C) Effect of Virtual Reality as a Distraction Intervention on Adolescents Undergoing Chemotherapy
D) Correlation Between Current Income Level and Self-Esteem Among Recently Widowed Women

Question 11

Which of the following types of design would be 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 12

A nurse researcher would decide to use a retrospective or ex post facto study for which reason?

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 maturation.
D) The dependent variable has already been affected by the independent variable.

Question 13

A nurse researcher would choose to use a correlational study of multiple variables for which purpose?

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 14

What is the major characteristic of a retrospective,or ex post facto,study?

A) Obtaining informed consent is not an important issue in a retrospective study.
B) Maximal opportunity to manipulate the independent variable exists in a retrospective study.
C) In a retrospective study, the dependent variable is measured multiple times to examine the effect of maturation.
D) The dependent variable has already been affected by the independent variable in a retrospective study.

Question 15

Which of the following statements 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.

Question 16

When should a descriptive or exploratory design be used?

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

Question 17

What is the first question that should be asked in determining whether an experimental design or a nonexperimental 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 18

Which of the following titles is most suggestive 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 Within the First 48 Hours After Initial Diagnosis of Breast Cancer

Question 19

Which of the following is an advantage of research studies that examine the association or relationships between variables?

A) Ability to determine a causal relationship
B) Possibility for greater manipulation of the variables
C) Randomization of participants that allows for increased generalizability
D) Potential for application in clinical settings and establishment of a foundation for future experimental studies.

Question 20

Which of the following factors or situations in a study using a correlational design should cause you to question the validity of the study?

A) The study did not have a nontreatment control group.
B) The researchers concluded that a causal relationship existed between the variables.
C) The researchers suggested that their findings had practical application in a clinical setting.
D) The researchers used preexisting instruments to measure the variables instead of developing specific instruments for the study.

Question 21

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 their 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 22

What type of research focuses on the theory and development of measurement instruments?

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

Question 23

Which types 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

In which study design do 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 25

Which types of research designs are considered to be relationship-difference studies?

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

Question 26

Which of the following threats to internal validity is more likely to occur with a longitudinal design?

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

Question 27

The longitudinal study and the prospective study are similar for which reason?

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 28

What features identify a study as methodological in design?

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 29

If no hypothesis is present in a study,does this indicate a weakness in the study? Why,or why not?

A) This is not a weakness, as the study can be descriptive.
B) This is not a weakness, if the study is quasi-experimental.
C) This is a weakness, as the study is descriptive.
D) This is not a weakness, as the study can be quasi-experimental.

Question 30

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 basis.

Question 31

What can a nurse researcher address in a study using a survey design?

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

Question 32

Which types of research designs are considered to be survey studies?

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

Question 33

Advantages to use of correlational design for a study include what?

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