Purpose & Ethics
Research is seen as an integral part of social work practice by both the National Association of Social Workers and the Council on Social Work Education for which of the following reasons?
a. Social workers should monitor and evaluate policies, implementation of programs, and practice interventions.
b. Social workers should be able to apply research findings to their professional practice.
c. Social workers should promote and facilitate research to contribute to the development of knowledge.
d. All of the above.
d. All of the above.
The primary difference between most experimental research designs and their pre- or quasi-experimental counterparts is that the experimental designs:
a. require that all subjects receive some sort of intervention.
b. employ both baseline and post-intervention observations.
c. have random assignment of subjects.
d. use more sophisticated measures.
c. have random assignment of subjects.
The reliability of a scale or research instrument refers to which of the following?
a. Its comprehensiveness in measuring a phenomenon.
b. Its predictive value in measuring a phenomenon.
c. Its ability to measure what you want it to measure.
d. Its consistency in measuring a phenomenon.
d. Its consistency in measuring a phenomenon.
Which of the following would NOT qualify as a measure of a target behavior in a SSD?
a. A subject's score on a scale measuring depression.
b. A subject's anxious feelings.
c. The number of days a subject misses school.
d. The number of times per session a subject makes eye contact with the counselor.
b. A subject's anxious feelings.
Proposals for performing research involving human subjects in any treatment facility generally must be approved by what body?
a. The facility's board of trustees
b. The governor's office of the state where the research will be conducted
c. An institutional review board
d. An accreditation and licensure panel
c. An institutional review board
The B in an AB design indicates which phase of the study?
a. Intervention.
b. Baseline.
c. Data collection.
d. Data analysis.
a. Intervention.
Cronbach's Alpha is a measure of validity.
a. True.
b. False
b. False
Independent variables are variables that are assumed to:
Informed consent from study participants is obtained primarily to assure which of the following?
a. That researchers have a binding contract with the participants to complete the project.
b. That participants know what the study entails and how it might affect them.
c. That participants will volunteer to receive the experimental treatment.
d. That there is a large enough sample of participants.
b. That participants know what the study entails and how it might affect them.
Which response best describes a directional hypothesis?
a. It provides a formal statement of your study question.
b. It predicts that there is no relationship between study variables.
c. It predicts a positive or negative relationship between two or more variables.
d. It is only valid if the researcher can prove that it is correct.
c. It predicts a positive or negative relationship between two or more variables.
What is external validity of a study?
a. Its potential to attract funding from external sources
b. Its historical significance to social work
c. Its experimental design
d. Its generalizability of findings or results
d. Its generalizability of findings or results
What is the term for a question with prepared response choices?
a. A closed-ended question.
b. An open-ended question.
c. A double-barreled question.
d. A poorly written question.
a. A closed-ended question.
A literature review helps researchers do all but which of the following?
a. Locate measures or research instruments to use in their own studies.
b. Ground their research interests within a theoretical framework.
c. Describe the data analysis methods used in their study.
d. More narrowly define their research questions.
c. Describe the data analysis methods used in their study.
If your experimental group is comprised of voluntary clients and your control group is comprised of subjects who were court-ordered to the intervention program, a major threat to the internal validity of your study is:
a. history.
b. mortality.
c. selection.
d. maturation.
c. selection.
You design a scale to measure teens' potential for developing eating disorders. You get permission to ask a group of seventh-graders to complete the scale and to follow up with them when they are 12th-graders to determine how many of them have in fact developed eating disorders. What are you trying to establish?
a. Face validity
b. Discriminant validity
c. Concurrent validity
d. Predictive validity
d. Predictive validity
Single-subject designs (SSDs) are studies of individual cases that usually record and graph that individual's status in regard to a target behavior. A target behavior should:
a. Always be monitored over time in order to observe any changes.
b. Never be revealed to the subject, since that might skew results.
c. Always be behavior you want to eliminate.
d. Never be too specific, since most subjects have multiple problems.
a. Always be monitored over time in order to observe any changes.
Developing your own data-collection instruments is appropriate when you are:
a. Testing the validity of instruments developed by other researchers.
b. Trying to assure that the results of your study will be positive.
c. Not really sure about what you are trying to study.
d. Unable to locate instruments that meet your study needs.
d. Unable to locate instruments that meet your study needs.
Which statement best describes research designs for group comparisons?
a. They are generally considered too complex for social workers.
b. They include the AB design.
c. They can be experimental or non-experimental.
d. They must include pretest or baseline observations.
c. They can be experimental or non-experimental.
You have designed a scale to measure fathers' attitudes about their roles and responsibilities as parents. You ask two groups of men to complete your scale: a group identified as "deadbeat dads" and a second group of stay-at-home "Mr. Moms". Theoretically, these two groups should have scores that differ significantly.
You are trying to establish your scale's:
a. face validity.
b. content validity.
c. criterion validity.
d. construct validity.
d. construct validity.
A contingency or branching question refers to which type of question?
a. question that is generally not considered to be "construct valid"
b. A question that is negatively constructed
c. A question that uses jargon or technical terms that should be explained in a footnote
d. A question that directs respondents to other questions or sub-questions according to their response to that question
d. A question that directs respondents to other questions or sub-questions according to their response to that question