Module 4 – Flashcards

A researcher working for a large nutraceutical company was very enthusiastic about the potential of a new supplement for attention deficit disorder. His role is to measure its effects on behavior in children. Which type of bias could easily occur? -Observation -Measurement -Attrition -Sampling

Randomization is an effective way to overcome the potential for bias in research. -True -False

To determine whether a study has validity, you evaluate whether it was done well and answered the question it intended to answer. -True -False

A study compared the effectiveness of massage therapy versus medication as treatments for chronic back pain. One of the outcomes measured was paraspinal muscle tightness, assessed and rated by a therapist who also delivered study treatment. Which type of bias might you expect as influencing study results? -Attrition -Measurement -Observation -Sampling

After being told how the study will be conducted, participants are allowed to choose the group into which they wish to be placed. This is an example of which type of bias? -Observation -Measurement -Attrition -Sampling

A scale consistently understates weight. This is an example of which type of bias? -Observation -Attrition -Measurement -Sampling

Potential participants flipped a coin to determine the research group into which they would be placed. This is an example of randomization. -True -False

Which of the following is an inferential statistic? Counts Ranges Confidence interval

Which of the following is NOT an example of statistics in healthcare? -Comparing costs of different management strategies -Evaluating how well different treatments work -Obtaining a past medical history from your patient -Assessing the accuracy of diagnostic tests

Descriptive statistics are a way of determining if "random error" could explain the findings. -True -False

Which of the following is NOT an example of descriptive statistics? -Averages -Counts -Percentages -Confidence intervals

Which of the following is the best description of inferential statistics? -They explore if the results or data summarized by descriptive statistics could occur by chance -They allow us to summarize data in a way that makes better sense to the audience -They are limited to one of two values -They limit potential responses to certain categories

Which of the following is a term commonly associated with inferential statistics? -Mean -Median -P-value -Percentage

News sources typically report results of a political poll like this: "45% of polled respondents think the president is doing a good job (±6%)." Which of the following statements is true? -45% and ±6% are both descriptive statistics -45% and ±6% are both inferential statistics -45% is an inferential statistic and ±6% is a descriptive statistic -45% is a descriptive statistic and ±6% is an inferential statistic

Which of the following are examples of continuous data? -Pain severity (0-10) -Heart attack (yes or no) -Roland-Morris Disability Score (0-24) -Smoking (yes or no) -Age group (child, teenager, adult, senior)

Jill is interested in describing the amount of time she spends with clients during massage therapy sessions. Which of the following scenarios would lead her to choose using a median instead of a mean when describing her results? A. She spends close to 60 minutes with all clients, but the actual times can be a little less or a little more than 60 minutes. B. She spends 60 minutes with most clients, but there were 2 clients where she only spent 15 minutes due to family emergencies.

Which of the following best describes a mean? -It represents the exact middle value of all the data observations -It indicates symmetrical data -It represents the highest and lowest values of all the data observations -It represents the average value of all the data observations

When might a researcher choose to use a median instead of a mean to describe the data results? -When he wants to provide a good description of the average participant in the study -When the data is categorical -When the data is fairly symmetrical -When there are a few extreme values in the data

Why is it important to understand the variability in a set of data? -To know how reliable the data is -To provide a good description of the average participant in the study -To determine whether or not patients generally have similar results -To understand the measures of central tendency

Which of the following statements best describes a range? -It represents the highest and lowest values of all the data observations -It represents the middle 50% of all the data observations -It represents the average distance from the mean -It represents the exact middle value of all the data observations

Which of the following statements best describes a standard deviation? -It represents the data points being equally distributed in a similar fashion on both sides of the mean -It represents the middle 50% of all the data observations -It represents the average distance from the mean -It represents the highest and lowest values of all the data observations