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How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education Book Cover

How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education, 5/e

Jack R. Fraenkel, San Francisco State University
Norman E. Wallen, San Francisco State University

Causal-Comparative Research

Multiple Choice Quiz


1	A characteristic of causal-comparative research that distinguishes it from experimental research is that in causal-comparative research
		A)	the researcher manipulates the independent variable.
		B)	one variable can be isolated as the cause for changes in other variables.
		C)	extraneous variables are statistically controlled.
		D)	existing groups are studied.


2	Which of the following research questions would almost certainly be studied with causal-comparative research?
		A)	Do instructor-provided notes lead to higher achievement than student-constructed notes?
		B)	Are three-year-old boys more likely to exhibit aggressive behaviors than three-year-old girls?
		C)	Is mathematics achievement related to spatial reasoning aptitude?
		D)	What proportion of school district superintendents support school choice?


3	Which of the following is a method for controlling the subject characteristics threat in causal-comparative research?
		A)	matching subjects in the groups
		B)	randomizing subjects to conditions
		C)	varying the baseline interval for each group
		D)	counterbalancing the groups


4	Which of the following is not a type of causal-comparative research?
		A)	exploration of effects caused by group membership
		B)	exploration of causes of group membership
		C)	exploration of the consequences of an intervention
		D)	exploration of factors underlying a set of variables


5	Causal-comparative research is a type of
		A)	intervention research.
		B)	associational research.
		C)	descriptive research.
		D)	historical research.


6	The most commonly used method of statistical inference in causal-comparative studies is
		A)	the t-test.
		B)	discriminant analysis.
		C)	multiple regression.
		D)	factor analysis.


7	The primary threat to internal validity in causal-comparative studies is
		A)	subject characteristics.
		B)	implementation.
		C)	testing.
		D)	mortality.


8	In causal-comparative research, investigators attempt to determine
		A)	the changes in behavior an individual exhibits after exposure to an intervention or treatment of some sort.
		B)	our understanding of important phenomena through the identification of relationships.
		C)	the cause or consequences of differences that already exist between or among groups of individuals.
		D)	hypotheses concerning relationships or trends.


9	Which threat to internal validity is less in causal comparative than in experimental research?
		A)	location
		B)	attitudinal
		C)	data collector bias
		D)	subject characteristics


10	Which of the following is not a similarity between causal-comparative and correlational research?
		A)	They are examples of associational research.
		B)	They provide guidance for subsequent experimental studies.
		C)	They permit the manipulation of variables by the researcher.
		D)	They attempt to explain phenomena.


11	Which of the following is a step in causal-comparative research?
		A)	formulating the problem by identifying and defining the particular phenomena of interest, and then considering possible causes for or consequences of these phenomena
		B)	providing guidance for subsequent experimental studies
		C)	identifying the changes in behavior an individual exhibits after exposure to an intervention or treatment of some sort
		D)	exploring of our understanding of important phenomena through the identification of relationships


12	What is one weakness of causal-comparative research?
		A)	It cannot provide guidance for subsequent experimental studies.
		B)	It allows for the exploration of effects caused by membership in a given group.
		C)	It allows for exploration of causes of group membership.
		D)	Its inability to manipulate the independent variable.


13	Which of the following is not one of the ways that researchers can control for an extraneous variable in causal comparative research?
		A)	mechanical matching of subjects
		B)	finding or creating homogeneous subgroups
		C)	use a counterbalanced design
		D)	statistical matching


14	One strategy that can greatly reduce the threat to external validity in causal comparative research is
		A)	statistical matching.
		B)	replicating the causal-comparative study.
		C)	matching subjects.
		D)	finding or creating homogeneous subgroups.


15	Which technique is not appropriate to analyze data in a causal-comparative study?
		A)	analysis of covariance
		B)	discriminate function analysis
		C)	t test for means
		D)	Pearson r

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