Deck 14: Rigour in Research

Question 1

What is being established when a researcher submits a few items to each of several concepts on an instrument? For example,a questionnaire on measuring depression has items on emotional and physical abuse.

A) Content validity
B) Construct validity
C) Concurrent validity
D) Criterion-related validity

Answer 1

Construct validity

Question 2

What type of validity is demonstrated by examining the extent to which a passing grade in a nursing course is correlated with passing the registered nurse licensure examination?

A) Content validity
B) Construct validity
C) Predictive validity
D) Concurrent validity

Answer 2

Predictive validity

Question 3

A researcher who is developing a new instrument to measure pain has been told by experts and patients that the instrument has face validity.What should be the researcher's next step?

A) Use the instrument in a parent study
B) Use the instrument in a pilot study
C) Assess the reliability of the instrument
D) Assess the content validity of the instrument

Answer 3

Assess the content validity of the instrument

Question 4

Which type of validity is demonstrated when a nurse researcher submits items of an instrument to a panel of experts to evaluate item clarity?

A) Content validity
B) Construct validity
C) Concurrent validity
D) Criterion-related validity

Question 5

A new instrument has been determined to be highly valid.The nurse researcher should interpret this finding to mean what?

A) It is sensitive but not specific.
B) Its use results in minimal random errors.
C) It accurately measures level of mentation.
D) Determination of inter-rater reliability is unnecessary.

Question 6

What type of validity is demonstrated in measuring the cognitive knowledge of wound care by (1)administering a test in which all the items relate to wound care and (2)evaluating students' performance in caring for patients with wounds in the clinical setting?

A) Face validity
B) Content validity
C) Construct validity
D) Criterion-related validity

Question 7

The reliability coefficient of a new instrument designed to measure anxiety is established at 0.86.What is the correct interpretation of this finding?

A) High error variance; high reliability
B) High error variance; low reliability
C) Low error variance; high reliability
D) Low error variance; low reliability

Question 8

Nurse researchers critiquing research reports should be concerned with the assessment of the validity and reliability of study instruments to do what?

A) To determine the utility of the instruments for triangulation
B) To assess the relationships between hypotheses and research questions
C) To determine whether concepts and variables were measured adequately
D) To assess whether the concept under study is being treated as a dependent variable or an independent variable

Question 9

The validity of a new instrument developed to measure peripheral neuropathy has been determined to be very high.What does this attribute mean?

A) It is sensitive but not specific.
B) Its use results in minimal random errors.
C) It accurately measures peripheral neuropathy.
D) Determination of inte-rrater reliability is unnecessary.

Question 10

Which of the following types of validity is the most difficult to establish?

A) Content validity
B) Construct validity
C) Predictive validity
D) Concurrent validity

Question 11

What is the significance of concurrent validity to a nurse researcher?

A) The degree of correlation between the measure of the concept and some future measure of the same concept
B) The degree of correlation between two measures of the same concept administered at the same time
C) The extent to which a test measures a theoretical construct or trait
D) The representativeness of items to measure a specific concept

Question 12

A nurse researcher should be concerned about an instrument's degree of internal consistency because it means what?

A) The instrument is appropriate to measure a single concept.
B) The instrument has low measurement error and high error variance.
C) More refinement of the instrument is needed before it can be applied.
D) The instrument is valid, but the reliability has yet to be determined.

Question 13

The dimensions or components of a particular construct are determined by using a statistical technique to assess the degree to which the individual items on a scale truly cluster around one or more dimensions.Which of the following is the term used for this description?

A) Factor analysis
B) Split-half reliability
C) Cronbach's alpha coefficient
D) Kuder-Richardson coefficient

Question 14

Which of the following terms is applied to variability in test scores being attributed to error rather than to actual differences in behaviour?

A) Random error
B) Variance error
C) Persistent error
D) Systematic error

Question 15

A researcher developed a fatigue scale in an attempt to distinguish depression from fatigue in patients receiving radiation therapy for cancer.The researcher administered the new fatigue scale along with established instruments that measure depression.The fatigue scores were found to be negatively related to the indicators of depression.How should this information be interpreted?

A) Divergent validity present; construct validity supported
B) Divergent validity present; construct validity unsupported
C) Convergent validity present; construct validity supported
D) Convergent validity present; construct validity unsupported

Question 16

A nurse researcher describes an instrument that is administered repeatedly and obtains the same results as having what?

A) Validity
B) Reliability
C) Consistency
D) Predictability

Question 17

A researcher developed an instrument to measure self-esteem and administered it to a group of individuals who were intravenous substance abusers and to a group of people who were not,expecting to see significant differences in scores between the two groups.How should this method of establishing construct validity be categorized?

A) Factor analysis
B) Convergent validity
C) Discriminant validity
D) Contrasted-groups approach

Question 18

An ear temperature probe that consistently reports body temperature at a degree lower than the patient's actual temperature has what type of reliability or validity problem?

A) Reduced reliability, systematic error
B) Reduced validity, random error
C) Increased validity, systematic error
D) Increased validity, random error

Question 19

Which type of validity is most difficult to establish?

A) Content validity
B) Construct validity
C) Predictive validity
D) Concurrent validity

Question 20

Which type of validity is demonstrated by administering a test in which all items relate to wound care,and then evaluating student performance in caring for patients with wounds in the clinical setting?

A) Face validity
B) Content validity
C) Construct validity
D) Criterion-related validity

Question 21

Which measures used to test reliability are specific for homogeneity?

A) Test-retest reliability
B) Item-to-total correlation
C) Parallel or alternate form
D) Split-half reliability
E) Kuder-Richardson coefficient
F) Cronbach's alpha
G) Inter-rater reliability

Question 22

A nurse researcher determines an instrument's homogeneity using which type of reliability?

A) Split-half reliability
B) Test-retest reliability
C) Inter-rater reliability
D) Alternate-form reliability

Question 23

When validity of an instrument is determined,the nurse researcher assesses what?

A) Stability
B) Variance
C) Accuracy
D) Precision

Question 24

A nurse researcher administered a test anxiety questionnaire to a group of nursing students before they attended a test anxiety workshop and then administered a different questionnaire to the same nurses immediately following the workshop.This is indicative of which type of reliability?

A) Split-half
B) Test-retest
C) Parallel form
D) Alternate form

Question 25

The nurse researcher notes that test-retest correlations were r = 0.79 when given over 4-week intervals.This is interpreted to indicate what?

A) Equivalence
B) Discriminability
C) Reliability
D) Homogeneity

Question 26

The inter-rater reliability of a new instrument is established as 48%.What is the correct interpretation of this finding?

A) The instrument is not equivalent.
B) The instrument demonstrates homogeneity.
C) The scoring criteria require clarification.
D) The scoring criteria are clear and unambiguous.

Question 27

Testing of a new instrument demonstrates that it has a high degree of internal consistency.What does this indicate to the nurse researcher?

A) The instrument is appropriate to use to measure a single concept.
B) The instrument has low measurement error and high error variance.
C) More refinement of the instrument is necessary before it can be applied.
D) The instrument is valid, but the reliability has yet to be determined.

Question 28

The nurse researcher notes that the initial test for reliability of an instrument has been conducted on a sample that has different characteristics from those of the current study sample.The researcher should do what?

A) Conduct a pilot study on the current sample to determine whether reliability is maintained.
B) Use the instrument with the current sample because reliability holds across samples.
C) Use the Kuder-Richardson formula to recalculate the reliability coefficient.
D) Discard or reject the instrument.

Question 29

When using the item-to-total correlation in testing an instrument that consisted of 25 items for homogeneity,8 items were found to have a low correlation to the total.How should the researcher use this information?

A) Use the instrument without changes.
B) Only use the instrument with a multitrait-multimethod approach.
C) Retain the 8 items with low correlation and delete the other 17 items.
D) Delete the 8 items with low correlation and retain the other 17 items.

Question 30

What property is established when the results of two separately administered tests that measure the same domain or concept are highly correlated?

A) Validity
B) Stability
C) Equivalence
D) Homogeneity

Question 31

What is the method or format of Cronbach's alpha coefficient as a test for reliability?

A) Comparison of each item in the scale simultaneously with each other item
B) Determination of the correlation between the odd-numbered and even-numbered items of an instrument
C) Determination of a correlation based on the consistency of responses to all items of a single-test form
D) Demonstration of a high degree of agreement when the behaviour or change is observed by two or more observers

Question 32

In testing an instrument consisting of 25 items for homogeneity using the "item-to-total" correlation,8 items were found to have a low correlation to the total.The nurse researcher interprets this information to mean that the researcher should do what?

A) Use the instrument without changes.
B) Use the instrument only with a multitrait-multimethod approach.
C) Retain the 8 items with low correlation and delete the other 17 items.
D) Delete the 8 items with low correlation and retain the other 17 items.

Question 33

A nurse investigator administers an Alcoholic Health Risk Appraisal instrument to participants attending an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and to participants who belong to a religious sect known for its members' abstinence from alcohol.Which type of validity is this investigator attempting to establish?

A) Expert
B) Predictive
C) Convergent
D) Contrasted-groups

Question 34

What criterion of scientific rigor for qualitative research is met when the research report leads the reader from the research question and raw data through the steps of analysis and interpretation of the data?

A) Confirmability
B) Auditability
C) Fittingness
D) Credibility

Question 35

How should the nurse researcher describe variability in test scores attributed to error rather than to actual differences in behaviour?

A) Random error
B) Variance error
C) Persistent error
D) Systematic error

Question 36

A nurse researcher describes an instrument that produces the same result when it is administered to the same participants under similar conditions on two or more occasions as possessing what?

A) Homogeneity
B) Equivalence
C) Stability
D) Validity

Question 37

A group of researchers developing an instrument performed a test-retest on the instrument with an interval of 5 days.This testing resulted in a correlation coefficient of 0.38.The nurse researcher interprets this as being indicative of what?

A) Instrument is stable; high reliability
B) Instrument is stable; low reliability
C) Instrument is unstable; high reliability
D) Instrument is unstable; low reliability

Question 38

A newly developed instrument is found to have a Cronbach's alpha of 0.82.The nurse researcher interprets this to mean what?

A) The instrument has no internal consistency.
B) The instrument has a low degree of internal consistency.
C) The instrument has a moderate degree of internal consistency.
D) The instrument has a relatively high degree of internal consistency.

Question 39

A nurse researcher would want to use a Cronbach's alpha coefficient to establish the internal consistency of an instrument in which case?

A) When questions are open-ended
B) When questions/statements demand a yes or no response
C) When the instrument uses a Likert-type response scale
D) When the instrument is designed to measure more than one concept

Question 40

Which type of reliability exists when consistency of observation,measured by a correlation coefficient,is noted between two or more research assistants who record their observations of an event at the same time?

A) Internal consistency
B) Parallel forms
C) Test-retest
D) Inter-rater

Question 41

Which measures used to test reliability are specific for equivalence?

A) Test-retest reliability
B) Item-to-total correlation
C) Parallel or alternate form
D) Split-half reliability
E) Kuder-Richardson coefficient
F) Cronbach's alpha
G) Inter-rater reliability

Question 42

Which criteria are used to judge a qualitative study's scientific rigor?

A) Reality based
B) Credibility
C) Confidentiality of participants
D) Auditability
E) Record keeping
F) Fittingness

Question 43

A nurse researcher critiques a phenomenological study for fittingness.The researcher will examine the study to see whether the study included which of these elements?

A) Queried participants to confirm identified themes
B) Documented the bracketing process used to maintain proper perspective
C) Described the experiences of participants in a way that "rings true" for the reader
D) Presented narrative in a way that captures everyday reality of participants
E) Discussed in detail the process through which identified themes emerged