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A major difficulty with knowledge based on personal sensory experience is that it:

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is incomplete

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Knowledge arrived at by consensus or majority agreement

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is often in error

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Knowledge that is based on expert opinion

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is limited by the expert's experience

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Knowledge based on logical reasoning

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has specific prerequisites

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The essential characteristic of the scientific method is

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its public nature

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An investigator wishes to determine how much coverage current high school history texts give to the contributions of African Americans to our history. She should conduct

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content analysis

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Mixed-method research refers to use of both

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quantitaive and qualitative methods

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"Critical researchers" emphasize the importance of all the following except

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weak methodology

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Which of the following factors shoul dnot influence the decisions when on eis selecting a topic or problem for research?

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Will I be able to prove that my previously held beliefs are true?

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In conducting research, which of the following steps should generally be taken first?

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Formulation of the problem to be solved

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Operational definitions are encouraged in research in order to

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Make terms used in a study as explicit as possible

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"In this study interest in science is represented by the sciences area score on the Occupational Interest Inventory, Grades 7 to Adult, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1956." The preceding statement illustrates a(n):

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Operational definition

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Which of the following statements can be checked by means of scientific inquiry?

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The accident rate of driver education graduates is lower than the accident rate of those who have not had driver education.

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Which of the following definitions of the term "aggressive behavior" is operational?

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An "aggression" score on the XYZ behavior scale

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A constitutive definition is one that

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Is obtained from a published dictionary

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Whether or not a given study has the possibility of causing harm to participants

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must be determined by a review board established by the sponsoring institution

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Ethical behavior of educational researchers is guided primarily by

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ethical standards established by the profession

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Confidentiality requires that

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access to collected data be limited to research staff

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Which of the following groups are not protected by laws governing privileged communication?

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Researchers

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Research with minors presents special ethical concerns because

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they are less likely to understand what is being asked of them

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"Students taught first aid by programmed instruction will achieve at a higher level than those taught first aid by the transitional method." The independent variable in this hypothesis is

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method of instruction. In this example the dependent variable is- Level of achievement

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Statements or pedictions that are tested by collecting and analyzing objective evidence are called

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hypotheses

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"Learning disable children who attend publich school programs will show greater increases in social competence than will comparable child who attend institutional programs." This is an example of a(n)

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directional research hypothesis

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Empirically testing a hypothesis is the process of determining

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if systematic observation confirms it

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A research report states that Group A was exposed to a new teaching method and Group B was exposed to a traditional method. At the end of a four-month period, each group was given the same achievement test. Group A had a mean score that was higher than the mean score for Group B. The dependent variable in this study was the

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achievement scores of the students

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When a hypothesis is confirmend, one should conclude that

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the data provide evidence favorable to the belief that the hypothesis is true

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If a researcher studies the effects of frustration on the frequency of aggressive behavior, degree of frustration should be regarded as a(n)

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independent variable

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The dependent variable is so called because

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scores on this variable are hypothesized to depend on, and vary with, the value of the independent variable

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Characteristics of persons or things that can assume different values are called

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variables

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A categorical variable is one that varies in

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type but not amount

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An outcome variable is most similar to a(tiven)

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dependent variable

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In a study comparing methods of improving critical thinking, what type of variable is "critical thinking"

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Dependent, outcome, quantitative

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Which of the following is a quantitative variable?

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Self-Esteem

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Which of the follwoing is a nondirectional hypotheses?

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Boys and girls will differ in their attitudes towards school

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The first step in selecting a sample should be to

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define the population

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Generalizing research findings from a sample to the population is most likely to be justifiable when

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a large random sample is used

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A researcher drew a sample by selecting every tenth name in a telephone directory. Which of the following types of sampling did she use?

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Systematic

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The most important consideration in selecting a sample is that the sample be

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representative of the population

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In random sampling, it is necessarily true that

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each sampling unit has an equal probability of being selected

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The entire collection of people, elements, scores, or measurements to which conclusions are applied is

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a population

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The validity of generalizations based on a sample depends on the

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representativeness of the sample

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The sampel in a particular study is the

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group on which data are obtained

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The accessible population in a study is the

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group from which one selects a sample

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The most imporant feature of a table of random numbers is that

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there is no pattern to the numbers in the table

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Two stage cluster sampling refers to

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selecting groups and then individuals

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Random sampling is least effective when

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the sample size is very small

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A stratified random sample is used when

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the researcher wants to guarantee representativeness on specified variables

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When a convenience sample is used, the researcher should not

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generalize to a specified population

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The term "external validity" includes

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population generalizability and ecological generalizability

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Ecological generalizability includes the

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characterstics of the environment

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In reading a table of random numbers, the researcher begins

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with any number

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The best way to obtain a representative sample is to

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use a large simple random sample

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In which of the follwoing would one be most likely to find a professional evaluation of a particular commercial standardized test?

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The Buros Mental Measurement Yearbook

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The most serious limitation in the use of mailed questionnaires in research is in connection with

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obtaining responses

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Most widely used standardized achievement tests are useful because

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they have been carefully prepared, tried out, and refined through research

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One advantage that the interview has over the questionnaire is that it

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is more useful in probing for underlying feelings and attitudes

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Rapport is most essential when which data-gathering device is used?

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Interview

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Which is an example of a subject-completed instrument?

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Attitude scale

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How is "instrumentation" different from "instrument"?

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Instrumentation includes the way in which the instrument is used

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Which of the following is the best synonym for validity?

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Truthfulness

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Which of the following is the best synonym for reliability?

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Consistency

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The use of previously developed instruments in a study is desirable because

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instrument development is a complex undertaking

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A previously existing instrument

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may be inadequate for purposes of the researcher

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A performance checklist

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minimizes observer judgment

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Aptitude tests differ from ability tests primarily in their

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purpose

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Which of these could be used as an aptitude test

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The Stanford Achievement Test

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Which of the following would be the least appropriate variable to assess with an observational tally sheet?

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Critical thinking

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A score repored as 17-6 is most likely

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an age equivalent score

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A commonsense definition of validity refers to an instrument that

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measures what it is supposed to measure

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Reliability of measurement is concerned with

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consistency

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An indipensable quality required for a good measuring instrument is that it produce evidence that is

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valid

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The validity of scores on a teacher-made classroom achievment test should be appraised in terms of

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its relation to the content and objectives of the course

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The longer the time interval between a predition and the event to be predicted, the

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smaller are the chances of making a good prediction

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An arithmetic test is given twice within a few days to a student. The higest possible score is 40. He receives a score of 35 the first time and a score of 18 the second time. If similarly varying results are obtained with other students, the test is probably

answer

unreliable

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Which of the following is the best way to control for the unwanted influence of maturation processes in an experiment?

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Use a control group

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Which of the following is a question of internal validity in experimental research?

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Has maturation influenced the dependent variable

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Subjects performing well merely because they are being observed (and not necessarily becasue of any effect of treatment) are considered to be under the influence of

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The Hawthone effect

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The threate of "subject characteristics" refers to differences among subjects on

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an extraneous variable

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Loss of subjects in a threat to internal validity because

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those "lost" may differ on the dependent variable from the remainder

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Which of the following is not an example of a possible location threat?

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All tests are given in a noisy gym

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Instrument decay refers to the possibility that

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the instrument is systematically alered during the course of a study

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Loss of subjects is a serious threat to internal validity in a experimental study if

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more are lost from one group

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When the same questionnaire is scored for opinions on two or more topics, a threat to internal validity may exhists because

answer

respondentns may psych out the researcher's hypothesis

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Which of teh following illustrates an attitudinal threat to internal validity?

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Students resented not receiving the new curriculum

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A regression threat to internal validity refers to the fact that

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groups selected at extremes will score closer to the average on retesting

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Which threat would not apply to a correlational study?

answer

History

question

The maximum possible correspondence or correlation between two variables is represented by a Pearson product-moment coefficient of

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-1.00

question

Which one of theses correlation coefficients has the least predictive value?

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.19

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The kind of graph on which one would determine the frequency of a given score by noting the height of the line is calle a

answer

frequency polygon

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If there are only a few very high scores and a large number of closely bunched low scores ina distribution

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the mean will be higher than the median

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When scores are grouped in constructing a frequency polygon or scatterplot

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all intervals must be the same size

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A z-score is obtained by

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subtracting the mean from the score and dividing the standard deviation

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In a normal distribution, +-1 z-score includes about

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70% of the scores

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The median is equal to

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the 50th percentile

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The standard deviation tells how

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much the scores in a distrbution are spread out

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An advantage of z-scores is that

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scores on different instruments can be compared

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a scatterplot can be used only when

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both variables are quantitative

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Crossbreak tables are used when

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both variables are categorical

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A relationship is show in a crossbreak table by

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a large discrepancy between actual and expected frequencies

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the purpose of inferential statistics is

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to permit inferences from sample results to a population

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An assumption basic to all inferential statistics is

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the sample must be randomly selected

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A sampling distribution is

answer

a frequency polygon made from sample values

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A disadvantage of noparametric inference tests is that they

answer

are less likely to show statistical signifiance than parapmetric tests

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The magnitude of Chi-Square depends on the

answer

differences between observed and expected frequencies

question

Why are control groups necessary in certain experiments?

answer

to make it easier to estimate the influence of the independent variable

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One differnce between the experimental and other methods in research has to do with the

answer

control of variables

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The feature that best characterizes experimental research is

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systematic variation of conditions

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Experimental research is the most powerful research method for

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determining cause and effect

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A major problem with experimental research in education is that

answer

the researcher may not have sufficient control over treatment

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Which is not a serious threat in a one group pretest posttest design?

answer

Characterstics of subjects

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An important difference between experimental and noexperimental research is that the independent variable in experimental reserach is

answer

manipulated

question

A researcher would be liekly to use matching in a randomized posttest control group design

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if the number in each treatment group is small

question

A researcher would use matching rather than random assignment when

answer

random assignment is impossible

question

Which of the following is not possible in causal-comparative research?

answer

Random assignment to treatment or comparision groups

question

One way of providing some control in a causal-comparative research design is to

answer

match the subjects in the groups to be compared on as many extraneous variables as possible

question

Causal comparative research is so named because

answer

it is a way of exploring cause effect relationships

question

The causal comparative and experimental methods are similar in that both

answer

involve at least on categorical variable

question

The appropriate statistical procedure when all variables are categorical is the

answer

crossbreak table

question

In a causal comparative study, comparision group

answer

are already in existence

question

The major threat to internal validity in a causal comparative study is

answer

subject characteristics

question

A correlation coefficient of -0.79 between time spent in typing practice and the number of typing errors means that

answer

as time spent in practice increased, errors tended to decrease

question

In which of the following would be most likely to find a correlation coefficient of zero or close to zero

answer

Show sizes of adult males correlated with their salaries

question

A researcher studied the relationship between the use of alcohol and grades in college. She found that a larger proportion of drinkers received low grades than did teetotalers. She should conclude that

answer

drinking habits and grades are related

question

Correlational reserach differs from experimental research in that

answer

there is no manipulation of variables

question

A regression line is used to

answer

estimate the score on one variable from the score on another variable

question

Multiple regression is a technique for

answer

predicting a vriterion from two or more predictors in combination

question

Survey research is concerned primarily with

answer

reporting existing conditions

question

The purpose of most survey is to

answer

describe the characteristic of a population

question

In a panel study, the researcher obtains information from

answer

the same sample at different points in time

question

The primary advantages of the interview are

answer

high response rate and opportunity for clarification of questions

question

An advantage of multiple choice questions as compared to open ended questions is that they

answer

are easier to score

question

A cover letter should accomplish all of the following except

answer

clarifying the researchers hypothesis

question

Interviewers should trained to do all of the follwoing except

answer

show their own views regarding the study

question

A basic differnce between positivism and its critics pretains to

answer

the nature of reality

question

Which of teh following is more likely to be found in a qualitative study compared to other methods?

answer

A description of the patterns of interaction among the members of a group

question

Hypotheses in qualitative research usually

answer

emerge as the study progresses

question

In qualitative reserach, process is seen as

answer

an important aspect to be investigated

question

The unique perceptions of individuals are most likely to be viewed by qualitative researchers as

answer

an essential part of an investigation

question

Data analysis in qualitative studies, compared to quantitative studies is

answer

inductive rather than deductive

question

Qualitative researchers prefer natural settings because

answer

they believe context is crucial

question

Generalization in qualitative researchh is

answer

different from quantitative reserach

question

Advantages of Mixed Method studies are

answer

comprehnensiveness and thoroughness

question

Essential features of a good action research study are

answer

local focus and plan of action

question

"Stakeholders" in action research are those who

answer

are affected by the problem

question

Which is not a criticism of participatory action research

answer

It cannot provide useful knowledge

question

Action reserach and formal research differ in

answer

generalizizability

question

Generalization in action research is best accomplished by

answer

replication

question

Action reserach and "formal" research are similar in

answer

methodology

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