Question 1

Analysis of covariance is a "special case" of the general linear model.

Accepted Answer

Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) is a blend of ANOVA and regression, both of which are part of the general linear model, making ANCOVA a special case of it.

Question 2

In nonexperimental research, which type of an independent variable IQ is?

Accepted Answer

IQ is considered a quantitative variable because it is measured on a numerical scale and represents a continuous range of values.

Question 3

At the conclusion of a study a researcher was able to claim that a finding was statistically significant. What did this mean for anyone who read their report?

Accepted Answer

Statistical significance indicates that the observed effect is unlikely to be due to chance alone, suggesting a real relationship, but it does not confirm causation.

Question 4

A typology of nonexperimental research was created by crossing the time dimension (retrospective, cross-sectional, and longitudinal) and the research objective dimension (descriptive, predictive, and explanatory). This typology includes nine specific types of research.

Accepted Answer

The typology is created by combining three time dimensions with three research objectives, resulting in nine specific types of nonexperimental research.

Question 5

What type of research are trend, panel, and prospective studies?

Accepted Answer

Trend, panel, and prospective studies are all types of longitudinal research, which involves collecting data from the same subjects repeatedly over a period of time.

Question 6

Educational researchers are interested in determining:

Accepted Answer

Educational researchers are interested in probabilistic causes to understand the likelihood of certain outcomes based on various factors, rather than attributing results to chance, fallacies, or misleading correlations.

Question 7

A post hoc fallacy means a researcher has made what type of error?

Accepted Answer

A post hoc fallacy occurs when someone assumes that because one event followed another, the first event must have caused the second, which is a logical error.

Question 8

A researcher surveyed all of the young people in a juvenile detention center and found that almost all of them had eaten white bread and drank Kool-Aid as young children. He concluded that these two items are causes of some of the teenagers' current problems. This is an example of what kind of reasoning?

Accepted Answer

The researcher is committing a post hoc fallacy by assuming that because the young people consumed white bread and Kool-Aid as children, these items caused their current problems, without considering other factors or evidence of causation.

Question 9

Tina is conducting a nonexperimental research study. She is following a group of students born in 2005 through school and collecting data on their academic achievement each year. She will report on the patterns she sees in the data. Tina's study can be described as a:

Accepted Answer

Tina's study is longitudinal because it follows the same group of students over time, and it is descriptive because she is reporting patterns in the data without manipulating variables or establishing causal relationships.

Question 10

Wiley's study described the achievement test scores and reading grades of a cross-sectional sample of elementary school students. He took the students' scores on an achievement test and divided the students into three groups based on their scores: high, medium, and low. He then described the reading scores of the students in the three groups. Why did he do this?

Accepted Answer

Wiley divided the students into groups based on their achievement test scores, which were originally quantitative, to create a categorical variable (high, medium, low) for analysis.

Question 11

A researcher has identified multiple rival explanations as part of her research project. She is:

Accepted Answer

The method of multiple working hypotheses involves considering multiple potential explanations or hypotheses for a phenomenon, which aligns with the researcher's identification of multiple rival explanations.

Question 12

In order to have an indirect relationship, there must be at least one intervening (i.e., mediating) variable.

Accepted Answer

An indirect relationship involves a mediator variable that explains the connection between the independent and dependent variables, indicating that the effect of one variable on another is transmitted through a third variable.

Question 13

In nonexperimental research, the most common way to control for extraneous variables is through the use of:

Accepted Answer

Statistical control is commonly used in nonexperimental research to account for the influence of extraneous variables by including them as covariates in statistical analyses.

Question 14

Marilyn developed a sample of individuals who had completed graduate school. She then had them complete questionnaires pertaining to elementary school, middle school, high school, and college. Marilyn's design is:

Accepted Answer

Marilyn's design is retrospective because she is collecting data about past experiences from individuals who have already completed graduate school.

Question 15

Differential attrition is a problem in which type of research study?

Accepted Answer

Differential attrition is a problem in panel studies because these studies involve following the same individuals over time, and if certain types of participants drop out at different rates, it can bias the results.

Question 16

Dr. Pugh is conducting a research study on student's mathematical abilities. Participants are tested once a year and they are asked to solve the same math problems every year. This is an example of a:

Accepted Answer

The answer of Dr. Pugh is conducting a research study...

Question 17

A spurious correlation is a noncausal correlation.

Accepted Answer

A spurious correlation occurs when two variables appear to be related but are actually both influenced by a separate, unseen factor, making the correlation noncausal.

Question 18

Margaret worked on a research study where she asked children in different classrooms in the third, fourth, and fifth grades at her school to read a passage aloud during the spring time. She recorded the number of words they read per minute and graphed the data. This is an example of what type of research?

Accepted Answer

This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study because it involves observing and recording data from different groups (third, fourth, and fifth graders) at a single point in time (spring) without manipulating any variables.

Question 19

Which of the following is an example of categorical independent variable that cannot be manipulated?

Accepted Answer

Student's special education status is a categorical variable that cannot be manipulated as it is an inherent characteristic of the student.

Question 20

Establishing the third required condition for cause and effect (lack of alternative explanation) can also be viewed as eliminating the presence of "the third variable problem."

Accepted Answer

Eliminating alternative explanations involves ruling out other variables that could account for the observed effect, which is essentially addressing the "third variable problem."

Quiz 14: Nonexperimental Quantitative Research