SDHE 531 Res Design

1.        The quantitative research paradigm:

• Believes understanding of statistical methods is foundational to a college education

• Assumes there is a stable, consistent reality out there to be measured

• Focuses on quantity over quality

• Is committed to finding the Truths of our social world

The best research design to be highly confident of a cause-effect relationship between two variables is:

• Causal Comparative

• Experimental

• Case Study

• Correlational

Moderating variables:

• Help to ‘average out’ the most extreme variables, minimizing their impact

• Are variables external to the study that compromise the internal validity of the study by impacting the dependent variable

• Are an essential part of any good experimental design

• All of the above

A researcher recently completed a study of incidents of fires in the City of Long Beach. They found a high correlation (almost +1.0) between the presence of fire trucks whenever a fire was reported. One of their recommendations was to investigate fire departments since the high correlation suggests fire trucks may be responsible for causing many of the city’s fires. Is this an accurate interpretation of the finding?

• Yes

• No

In quantitative research the independent variable is:

• The must stubborn and troublesome variable

• The variable researcher manipulates to determine its effect on the dependent variable

• The variable researchers watch to see if anything impacts it

• All of the above

Experimental designs are the best designs to determine causation.

• True

• False

One of the positive aspects of quantitative designs is:

• They allow for prediction

• They generally follow standardized methods

• They aid decision-making

• All of the above

Chi-Ah is working on her thesis about new students’ participation in a learning community and their sense of belonging at CSU Long Beach. She knows she needs to control for moderating variables as best she can. What of the following is the most likely moderating variable?

• Comfort with use of technology

• Commuter status

• Age

• Number of visible tattoos

Ideally, in an experimental design, participants are:

• As similar to each other as possible

• As different from each other as possible

• Randomly assigned to the groups to be studied (e.g., control and invention groups)

• From roughly the same geographic area

All quantitative designs allow for researchers to determine a causal relationship between two variables

• True

• False