Action Research Improving Schools

and Empowering Educators 5th Edition

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Chapter 6: Analyzing Data
Test Bank

1. Which of the following is not generally considered a step in qualitative data analysis?
a. Developing general conclusions and theories
b. Making observations as a precursor to data collection
c. Formulating tentative hypotheses
d. Writing the research report
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: p. 171
Difficulty Level: Medium

2. One special challenge of inductive analysis of qualitative data is:

a. Reducing the data into bite-size chunks that can easily be discarded, if necessary
b. Remembering that you are trying to reduce the volume of information you have collected by organizing
the data into patterns and identifying themes in the data for the purpose of constructing a framework that
can be used to describe the data collected
c. Trying to reduce the data to one specific idea or theme
d. Minimizing and simplifying the data to make them easier to analyze
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: pp. 172-173
Difficulty Level: Hard

3. A(n) _______ is used to group data according to similar characteristics to facilitate effective data
analysis.
a. Analysis plan
b. Organizational scheme
c. Coding scheme
d. Inductive analysis
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 173
Difficulty Level: Easy

4. It is important to employ a coding scheme when beginning data analysis because:

a. Coding schemes enable the researcher to see patterns in the data that have been collected.
b. Coding schemes make it easier for researchers to describe the main features and characteristics of the
data they have collected.
c. Coding schemes help identify contradictions or conflicts in collected data.
d. All of these are important reasons to develop a strong coding scheme.
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: pp. 173-174
Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Schwalbach (2003) has suggested that researchers should consider engaging in a process of
introspection while coding data for analysis. Why is introspection important in action research?
a. Because introspection is required by the researchers’’ code of ethics.
b. Because it helps ensure that the researcher remains objective and emotionally unattached to the data,
permitting the researcher to inspect and interpret the data with a more open-minded perspective.
c. Because introspection is the opposite of reflection, and both are necessary components of an effective
study.
d. Because introspection guarantees that the researcher will develop an emotional attachment to the
data, ensuring more powerful results for the study.
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: p. 176
Difficulty Level: Hard

6. What method of data analysis incorporates the main processes of inductive analysis, including
reduction and organization of collected data, while also incorporating a complex, iterative process of
collection and coding?
a. Constant comparative method
b. Comparative method
c. Inductive method
d. Reductive method
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 177
Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Why is quantitative data analysis considered a deductive, rather than inductive, process?
a. Because the researcher begins by identifying a key question to be answered or hypothesis to be
tested, then proceeds to gather information to determine how the question or hypothesis connects to
broad themes in education.
b. Because in a deductive research study quantitative methods must always be used.
c. Because the researcher begins by identifying a given topic of interest and narrowing it down to
questions that can be answered or hypotheses than can be tested.
d. None of these answers explains why quantitative data analysis is considered a deductive process.
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: p. 178
Difficulty Level: Hard

8. _______ are simple mathematical procedures that serve to simplify, summarize, and organize relatively
large amounts of numerical data.
a. Measures of dispersion tendency
b. Descriptive statistics
c. Inferential statistics
d. Differential statistics
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 178
Difficulty Level: Medium

9. _______ are statistical procedures that indicate, with a single score, what is typical or standard about a
group of individuals and are commonly used to describe the collective level of performance, attitude, or
opinion of a group of study participants.
a. Inferential statistics
b. Central statistical measures
c. Measures of collective tendency
d. Measures of central tendency
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 179
Difficulty Level: Medium
10. What is the mean of the following data set: 15, 25, 25, 35, 50?
a. 25
b. 50
c. 75
d. 150
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Application/analysis
Answer Location: p. 179
Difficulty Level: Medium

11. In what kind of situation might the mean of a data set not be an accurate reflection of the
phenomenon being examined?
a. When one or more scores is a significant outlier (i.e., a score or piece of data is much higher or lower
than the mean without that score)
b. When all scores are very high or very low
c. When the mean cannot be calculated correctly
d. When there are no score outliers
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: p. 179
Difficulty Level: Hard

12. Which of the following is not a category of descriptive statistics?

a. Measures of relationship
b. Measures of central tendency
c. Measures of reflection
d. Measures of dispersion
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 179
Difficulty Level: Easy

13. The ____ is the measure of central tendency that is the most frequently occurring score in a set of
scores.
a. Median
b. Mean
c. Measure of dispersion
d. Mode
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 181
Difficulty Level: Easy

14. Identify the mode in the following set of scores: 10, 10, 11, 11, 11, 17, 21, 22, 22, 22, 22, 25, 50.
a. 10
b. 11
c. 22
d. 50
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Application/analysis
Answer Location: p. 181
Difficulty Level: Medium

15. What is the name given to the various measures of the degree and relationships of variables to each
other in a quantitative research study?
a. Correlation coefficients
b. Reflective statistics
c. Differential statistics
d. Range
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 181
Difficulty Level: Easy

16. In a quantitative data set, the _____ is calculated by subtracting the lowest score in the set of data
from the highest score.
a. Median
b. Range
c. Mode
d. Mean
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 181
Difficulty Level: Easy

17. Identify the range of the following data set: 5, 10, 15, 25, 50.
a. 45
b. 105
c. 50
d. 55
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Application/analysis
Answer Location: p. 181
Difficulty Level: Medium

18. A quantitative researcher seeking to represent his or her data visually may choose to represent it in
which of the following ways?
a. On a frequency distribution table
b. In a histogram
c. Both frequency distribution tables and histograms are visual representations of quantitative data
d. Neither frequency distribution tables nor histograms are appropriate ways to represent data visually
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 182
Difficulty Level: Hard

19. What is the primary goal of using inferential statistics in a quantitative research study?
a. To calculate the mean of a given data set
b. To infer the likelihood of selecting a representative sample of a population before data collection begins
c. To determine how unlikely a statistical result is to be repeated in a pair of members of a given sample
population
d. To determine how likely a given statistical result is for an entire population based on a smaller subset
of the population
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: p. 184
Difficulty Level: Hard

20. What kind of statistical test is appropriate to use in a research design where two groups (usually a
control group and an experimental group) are compared with one another on a common dependent
variable?
a. Test of practical significance
b. Independent-measures t test
c. Alpha level test
d. P-value test
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 186
Difficulty Level: Medium

21. Suppose an action researcher would like to compare how two sets of students who were taught
differently performed on a test of their knowledge afterward. What kind of statistical test could the
researcher use to evaluate the statistical significance of the difference between the performance of the
two groups?
a. A test of practical significance
b. An alpha-level test
c. A differential measurement test
d. An independent-measures t-test
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Application/analysis
Answer Location: p. 186
Difficulty Level: Hard

22. One of the most important concepts to keep in mind when conducting correlational research is the old
adage that correlation is not causation. What does this mean in practical terms?
a. Simply establishing a correlation between two or more variables does not mean that one caused the
other(s).
b. The correlation between or among a set of variables is never the cause of their relationship.
c. Simply establishing a link between or among a set of variables does not also establish causal links
between or among them.
d. All of these answers are accurate.
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: p. 182
Difficulty Level: Hard

23. _______ is a variation of the independent measures t-test, with the key difference being that this type
of test is appropriately applied in research designs where there are more than two groups.
a. Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
b. Repeated measures test
c. T-test
d. P-value test
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 186
Difficulty Level: Hard

24. Suppose a researcher is more interested in determining the number of girls versus the number of
boys who prefer to have study guides provided prior to taking a test, as opposed to evaluating the
difference in their test scores. What kind of test would be appropriate for comparing the number of
students who preferred the study guide for both girls and boys?
a. Independent measures t-test
b. ANOVA
c. Chi-square test
d. P-value test
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Application/analysis
Answer Location: p. 187
Difficulty Level: Hard

25. When test results can be used to compare the performance of a student or group of students to the
whole population of students who took the test, the results are said to be:
a. Criterion referenced
b. Norm referenced
c. Standardized
d. Equalized
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 188
Difficulty Level: Easy

26. On a ______ test, student performance is measured not against other students but against specific
criteria the test was designed to measure.
a. Norm referenced
b. Standardized
c. Equalized
d. Criterion referenced
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 188
Difficulty Level: Easy

27. One way to avoid being overwhelmed when trying to use empirical test data to make decisions about
their classes or individual students is for teacher-researchers to:
a. Only focus on data that other researchers have determined to be important or meaningful
b. Select only students who will score on their tests as participants in the study
c. Focus on national percentile ranks and their associated confidence bands to establish a baseline for
analyzing local test scores
d. Write the test questions themselves
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: p. 189
Difficulty Level: Hard

28. Which of the following is not a software program or package researchers might use to analyze
quantitative data?
a. ANOVA
b. SPSS
c. SYSTAT
d. StatCrunch
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: pp. 189-190
Difficulty Level: Easy

29. A researcher who would like to use both quantitative and qualitative data in a research study should
consider conducting a _______ research study.
a. Statistical
b. Differential
c. Mixed methods
d. Qualitative
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 196
Difficulty Level: Easy

30. Which of the following is not a key concern to be aware of when writing up the results of a qualitative
research study?
a. Make every effort to be impartial
b. Only include information essential to the study in the final report
c. Include references to yourself where they are warranted
d. Include representative samples to enhance the presentation
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: p. 199
Difficulty Level: Hard

True/False
1. When expressing quantifiable data using numerals in a quantitative research report, it is generally
acceptable to use numerals for numbers greater than 10 but to spell any values less than 10.
Ans: True
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 199
Difficulty Level: Easy

2. When reporting the results of a quantitative study, numerical data should generally be reported in
ascending order (i.e., from least to greatest).
Ans: False
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 200
Difficulty Level: Easy

3. When conducting inductive analysis of qualitative data, one challenge is to reduce the volume of data
collected into a framework that enables the presentation of the study’s findings.
Ans: True
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: p. 173
Difficulty Level: Medium

4. When coding data in a research study, it is not often necessary to reread narrative data that have
already been collected.
Ans: False
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: p. 173
Difficulty Level: Easy

5. It is important to be on the lookout for data that contradict or conflict with patterns or trends you have
already identified when analyzing data as part of a research project.
Ans: True
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: p. 174
Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Advanced computer software has been developed that is capable of completing all aspects of data
analysis for researchers.
Ans: False
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 178
Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Computer software has been developed to assist in the analysis of data, but it cannot replace the
efforts of researchers who must analyze data themselves in order to do it well.
Ans: True
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 178
Difficulty Level: Easy

8. The analysis of quantitative data is typically conceptualized as a deductive process, not an inductive
one.
Ans: True
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 179
Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Measures of central tendency, dispersion, and relationship are all basic categories of descriptive
statistics used by researchers.
Ans: True
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 179
Difficulty Level: Medium

10. The arithmetic average of a set of scores is known as the mode.

Ans: False
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 179
Difficulty Level: Easy

11. The mean of the following set of scores is 25: 15, 16, 16, 22, 25, 28, 28, 28, 30, 32.
Ans: False
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: p. 180
Difficulty Level: Medium

12. Median, mode, and mean are all measures of the central tendency of a set of numerical data.
Ans: True
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: pp. 179-180
Difficulty Level: Medium

13. Researchers cannot use the concept of standard deviation to determine the average distance of
scores away from the mean.
Ans: False
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: p. 181
Difficulty Level: Medium

14. In a histogram, scores are arranged from highest to lowest, moving down a table.
Ans: False
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 182
Difficulty Level: Medium
15. Most standardized tests report both norm-referenced results and criterion-referenced information.
Ans: True
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 188
Difficulty Level: Medium

Essay
1. What issues should researchers be aware of when using standardized test scores as a source of data
in an action research project, particularly with regard to interpretation of scores?
Ans: Standardized test scores typically arrive having already been “analyzed” in the sense that they have
already been given meaning by test makers or by test agencies (such as state departments of education)
responsible for giving the tests. There is, however, a science to interpreting them. Researchers may
consider looking at scale scores, grade equivalent scores, percentile ranks, and stanines when
interpreting standardized test data to evaluate the impact of changes in instruction on standardized test
scores.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: pp. 188-189
Difficulty Level: Hard

2. How can inferential statistics assist an action researcher in the process of data analysis? What are
inferential statistics good for from a research perspective?
Ans: The goal of inferential statistics is to determine how likely a given statistical result is for an entire
population based on a smaller subset or sample of the population. Inferential statistics are most useful
when a researcher wants to compare groups to one another.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 184
Difficulty Level: Hard

3. There are three basic categories of descriptive statistics employed by researchers: measures of central
tendency, measures of dispersion, and measures of relationship. Describe each procedure, and explain
how it might be useful in an action research project.
Ans: Measures of central tendency indicate, with a single score, what is typical or standard about a group
of individuals. Measures of central tendency are often used when a researcher is interested in describing
the collective level of performance, attitude, or opinion of a group. Measures of dispersion indicate
differences within a group of scores—a measure of dispersion may be calculated when a researcher is
interested in understanding the spread of scores on a given test or tool. Measures of relationship indicate
how variables are related to each other. While correlations do not indicate causation, researchers may be
interested in knowing if two or more variables impact others and in what ways.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: pp. 179-181
Difficulty Level: Hard

4. Why is it important for researchers to take the time to develop coding schemes for the data they have
collected as part of the data analysis phase of a research project?
Ans: Coding enables researchers to organize and categorize collected data, making it easier to see
patterns and themes that may exist in the data. Researchers might consider engaging in a constant-
comparative process of analysis once codes have been established to ensure that themes and patterns
are recognized effectively.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: p. 173
Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Qualitative researchers typically rely on inductive analysis of data when conducting research projects.
What is the goal of inductive analysis, and how does it differ from deductive analysis?
Ans: Inductive analysis involves the organization of collected data to identify important themes and
patterns that exist in them and follows a three-step process of organization, description, and
interpretation. The goal, ultimately, is to recognize patterns in the data in order to provider richer, fuller
explanations of their meaning. In deductive analysis, the goal is to provide specific answers to posed
research questions or test hypotheses.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: p. 172-173
Difficulty Level: Medium