Practice of Research in Social Work 4th

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Engel/Schutt, The Practice of Research in Social Work 4th Edition
Chapter 07

1. True experiments require random assignment of subjects to two or more groups.

*a. True
b. False

2. True experiments can have only two comparison groups: an experimental and a control
group.

a. True
*b. False

3. A control group receives no treatment in an experiment.

*a. True
b. False

4. A comparison group in a true experiment typically receives treatment-as-usual.

*a. True
b. False

5. Matching reduces the comparability of the experimental group and control group.

a. True
*b. False

6. Aggregate matching involves matching individuals and then randomly assigning the
individuals to either the experimental or control group.

a. True
*b. False

7. All true experiments require a pretest and a posttest.

a. True
*b. False
8. The distinguishing features of true experiments do not help researchers identify the
mechanisms by which treatments have their effects.

*a. True
b. False

9. Field experiments allow greater control over conditions than do laboratory

experiments.

a. True
*b. False

10. Non-equivalent control group designs designate experimental and comparison groups
before the treatment occurs.

*a. True
b. False

11. Reactivity is a threat to internal validity.

a. True
*b. False

12. A time series before-and-after quasi-experimental design makes multiple observations

in both pretest and posttest periods.

*a. True
b. False

13. When comparison groups are assigned prior to treatment, it is called an ex post facto
control group design.

a. True
*b. False

14. Selection bias is a threat to internal validity.

*a. True
b. False
15. The threat to internal validity of selection bias is reduced by randomization.

*a. True
b. False

16. History is an event that has occurred in the past that might impact on the outcomes of
an experiment.

a. True
*b. False

17. The maturation threat to internal validity is reduced by randomization only.

a. True
*b. False

18. The mortality threat to internal validity is most often related to older adults.

a. True
*b. False

19. Compensatory rivalry occurs when control group members are aware that they are
being denied some advantage and so increases their efforts by way of compensation.

*a. True
b. False

20. Differential attrition in experiments occurs when staff expectancies create self-
fulfilling prophecies.

a. True
*b. False

21. External validity deals with changes in the individual or group due to the
experimental conditions.

a. True
*b. False

22. Assigning voluntary clients to the experimental group and involuntary clients to the
control group might lead to a problem of the interaction of selection and treatment.
 *a. True
b. False

23. Although cross-population generalizability is difficult to achieve using experiments, a

true experiment usually has high sample generalizability.

a. True
*b. False

24. The Solomon Four Group design helps control for any bias in experiments through
pretesting.

*a. True
b. False

25. Meta-analysis is a method to analyze findings from multiple quantitative studies

evaluating a particular treatment.

*a. True
b. False

26. Match the key term to its description.

[c] 1. Comparison group

[b] 2. Control group
[e] 3. Experimental group
[d] 4. Pretest
[a] 5. Posttest
[f] 6. Randomization

a. Measurement of dependent variable following treatment

b. Receives no treatment in an experiment
c. Receives a new treatment in an experiment
d. Measurement of dependent variable prior to treatment
e. Receives treatment as usual in an experiment
f. Subjects are assigned to groups by chance

27. Match the key term to its description.

 [c] 1. True Experiment
[a] 2. Non-Equivalent Control Group
[e] 3. One Group Pretest-Posttest Design
[d] 4. Ex Post Facto Control Group
[b] 5. Solomon Four Group

a. Control group is created not by randomization, but to be as similar as

possible to the experimental group.
b. Contains two sets of control groups and two sets of experimental groups.
c. Randomized assignment into control and experimental groups.
d. Experimental and control groups are designated after experimental
treatment.
e. Lacks a control group.

28. Match the key term to its description.

[b] 1. Testing effect

[g] 2. Selection bias
[a] 3. The history effect
[h] 4. The Hawthorne effect
[e] 5. Demoralization
[d] 6. Compensatory rivalry
[c] 7. Regression
[f] 8. Mortality

a. Things can happen outside the experiment that change subjects’ scores
b. Measurement before experimental treatment may change subjects’ scores
on posttest
c. Extreme scores used to select subjects will move back towards the average
in subsequent testing
d. Competition between control and experimental groups can change scores
e. Subjects in the control group may feel deprived of treatment and perform
worse on posttests than expected
f. Subjects will drop out of the experimental or control group at rates that
change the nature of the comparison between groups
g. Subjects in the control and experimental group are initially different
h. Subjects’ scores can change because they feel special for being chosen for
an experiment

29. True experiments are designed to maximize:

*a. Internal validity

b. External validity
 c. Sample generalizability
d. Cross-population generalizability
e. Measurement validity

30. Differential attrition in comparison and experimental groups creates what threat to
internal validity?

*a. Mortality
b. Endogenous change
c. History effects
d. Contamination
e. Treatment misidentification

31. A social worker writes a report in which he compares women who have come to him
for depression and women in the general population. What problem has he not
considered?

a. Double-blind
b. Contamination
c. Differential attrition
d. Compensatory rivalry
*e. Sample generalizability

32. Which of the following is the threat to internal validity represented by changes that
simply occur with the passage of time?

a. Testing
b. History
*c. Maturation
d. Regression
e. Instrumentation

33. While participating in a lengthy experiment involving job training for welfare
recipients, the economy enters into a major recession. Posttest measurements found that
job training was unsuccessful in helping participants locate jobs. However, the
experiment’s designers claim that the findings were inconclusive because of internal
invalidity. Which of the following sources of internal invalidity would they be most
likely to name as the problem?

a. Contamination
*b. Secular drift
c. Selection bias
d. Reactivity
 e. Compensatory rivalry

34. If a control group realizes they are being denied some advantage, which two
processes may create invalid experimental findings?

*a. Compensatory rivalry and demoralization

b. Regression and maturation
c. Contamination and the placebo effect
d. Reactivity and the history effect
e. History and regression

35. The threat of testing as a source of internal validity in experiments occurs when there
is:

a. Subject maturation
b. A regression effect
c. A posttest but not a pretest
d. A comparison group but not a pretest
*e. A pretest but not a comparison group

36. Which threat to interval validity is not reduced by the presence of a comparison
group?

a. History
b. Regression
*c. Selection
d. Maturation
e. Instrumentation

37. External validity is enhanced by:

a. Nonprobability sampling
*b. Conducting the study at multiple sites
c. Having a comparison group
d. Randomly assigning participants into groups
e. Using a very homogenous group of participants

38. An after school program at the local Boys and Girls Club wanted to see if the
program improved behavior. A social worker administered a behavior assessment to
the group in September. The children then attended the program during the school
year. At the end of the school year, the behavior assessment was given again and
they found that behavior scores improved. While the intervention may have been
 effective, the best other explanation may be:

a. Instrumentation
b. Testing
*c. Maturation
d. Mortality
e. Demoralization

39. When a researcher explains to a participant why they were deceived in an experiment,
the researcher is:

a. Contaminating the experiment

b. Creating a self-fulfilling prophecy
c. Demoralizing the participant
*d. Debriefing the participant
e. Using a placebo with the participant

40. A true experiment must have all of the following EXCEPT:

a. An experimental group
b. At least one comparison group
c. Variation of the independent variable before assessment of change in the
dependent variable
*d. A measurement of the dependent variable before treatment
e. A measurement of the dependent variable after treatment

41. Which of the following is FALSE about pretesting in experiments?

a. It can be a source of internal invalidity.

b. It measures the dependent variable prior to treatment.
c. It is exactly the same as a posttest, just administered at a different time.
d. It is not required in a true experiment.
*e. It allows researchers to test for ambiguity in measurement instruments.

42. In an experiment, the posttest measures:

a. The control group

b. The experimental group
c. The independent variable
*d. The dependent variable
e. The treatment
43. Experimental and some quasi-experimental designs establish association through:

*a. Using two comparison groups

b. Controlling when treatment occurs
c. Random assignment into two or more comparison groups
d. Documenting the conditions under which change occurs
e. Controlling conditions under which experiment occurs

44. Because quasi-experimental designs do not use randomization to assign subjects to

treatment and comparison groups, it is more difficult to establish:

a. Association
b. Time order
*c. Nonspuriousness
d. Causal mechanism
e. Context

45. A true experiment allows the establishment of nonspuriousness through:

a. Using two comparison groups

b. Controlling when treatment occurs
*c. Random assignment into two or more comparison groups
d. Documenting the conditions under which change occurs
e. Controlling conditions under which experiment occurs

46. A researcher randomly assigns people into two groups: one that will receive the
experimental treatment and one that will not. The group that receives the treatment is
called the

a. Spurious group
b. Association group
c. Comparison group
d. Control group
*e. Experimental group

47. A researcher is concerned that gender may affect how participants respond to an
experimental stimulus. So participants are paired with another participant who has the
same gender, and one member from each pair is assigned by a flip of a coin to the
experimental group and one to the control group. This method of assigning subjects to
groups is called:

*a. Individual matching

 b. Aggregate matching
c. Stratified randomization
d. Simple random assignment
e. Block matching

48. Quasi-experimental designs are like true experiments, EXCEPT:

a. They never have a control group.

b. They use multiple control groups.
*c. They do not randomly assign subjects to groups.
d. They take measurements at more than one point in time.
e. They do not use pretests.

49. In nonequivalent control group designs, the comparison group is selected by using:

a. Matching and randomization

b. Stratified sampling
*c. Individual and aggregate matching
d. Convenience
e. A subsample of the subjects that receive experimental treatment.

50. A common feature of One Group Pretest-Posttest designs is:

a. Deliberate assignment is used to determine control and experimental groups.

*b. All cases receive the experimental treatment.
c. Pretests are given to only half of the subjects.
d. Group assignment occurs through matching.
e. Multiple groups are used as experimental and control groups.

51. The potential for interaction of testing and treatment creates the least concern in
which of the following designs?

a. True experimental designs

b. Nonequivalent control group designs
c. Before-and-after designs
d. Quasi-experimental designs
*e. Posttest only control group design

52. Assume that you have developed study techniques that you believe will result in
students scoring higher on research methods quizzes. You test your study technique
using the following design:
 RA O1 X O2
RB O3 O4 Where R = Random Assignment

Using the diagramed design, what predictions will you make?

a. O2 should be greater than O1

b. O2 should be greater than O4
c. O1 should be equal to O3
d. a and b only are correct
*e. a, b, and c are correct

53. What is the primary difference between true experiments and quasi-experimental
designs? Why is this difference so important?

Correct answer:
True experiment—experiment in which subjects are assigned randomly to an
experimental group that receives a treatment or other manipulation of the independent
variable and a comparison group that does not receive the treatment or receives some
other manipulation; quasi-experimental design—a research design in which there is a
comparison group that is comparable to the experimental group in critical ways, but
subjects are not randomly assigned to the comparison and experimental groups;
Researchers cannot be certain that they can rule out non-spurious relationships in a quasi-
experimental design since randomization of participants helps control this. Therefore,
causality may be affected.

54. Outline the procedure for the Solomon Four Group design. What is the primary
advantage using this design over other designs?

Correct answer:
Have to recruit sufficient numbers of individuals. Randomly assign into four groups.
Group 1 gets pretest and intervention; group two gets pretest no intervention; group 3
gets intervention; group 4 gets no intervention. Can evaluate the impact of the pretest on
outcomes by doing comparisons between groups 1 and 3 and between groups 2 and 4. If
pretest does have added effect, might even want to integrate into practice.

55. Why aren’t experiments very generalizable? What can be done to improve the
external validity of experiments?

Correct answer:
The design components that are essential for a true experiment and that minimize the
threats to causal validity make it more difficult to achieve sample generalizability;
subjects who are recruited, randomly assigned to a group, and kept under carefully
controlled conditions are unlikely to represent the larger population; researchers, then,
can take steps both before and after an experiment to increase a study’s generalizability.
In field experiments, participants can be selected randomly from the population and then
results can be more generalizable to the population. Also, when random selection is not
feasible, the researchers may be able to increase generalizability by selecting several
different experimental sites that offer marked contrasts on key variables.

56. Describe the characteristics of a true experiment. Explain how true experiments meet
(or do not meet) the criteria for causality. Do quasi-experiments and non-experimental
designs improve on these criteria? Explain how or how not.

Correct answer:
Random assignment, comparison/control group, pretest posttest; while quasi- and
nonexperimental do not meet all the conditions

57. Is it possible to determine whether a treatment led to a change in the value of cases on
the dependent variable in an experiment in which there was no pretest? Using a social
work topic of your choice as an example, explain your answer.

A true experiment does not require a pretest. When researchers use random assignment to
the experimental and control groups, the groups’ initial scores on the dependent variable
and on all other variables are very likely to be similar. Any difference in outcome
between the groups is therefore likely to be due to the intervention and the likelihood of a
difference just on the basis of chance can be calculated.

58. Compare randomization and random sampling. What are their similarities and
differences? In what way does each help to improve the validity of research conclusions?
Why does the use of one of these techniques preclude the use of the other?

Randomization—the random assignment of cases, as by the toss of a coin for example;

randomization increases validity since it reduces the risk of spuriousness; a randomized
comparison group can provide a good estimate of the counterfactual; assigning subjects
randomly to the experimental and comparison groups ensures that systematic bias does
not affect the assignment of subjects to groups; random assignment does not help at all to
ensure that the research subjects are representative of some larger population; random
sampling—a method of sampling that relies on a random, or chance, selection method so
that every element of the sampling frame has a known probability of being selected;
random sampling allows a researcher to take a representative sample of the population of
interest, increasing generalizability.

59. You want to conduct research that documents the effects of watching violent cartoons
on violence during children’s playtime. Set up the following types of experimental and
quasi-experimental designs: pretest and posttest control group design, posttest only
control group design, Solomon four group design nonequivalent group, and an ex-post
facto control group design. Which design do you think would produce the most valid
results? Defend your position.

Correct answer:
Varies