Research Methodology Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. A study finds that people who carry lighters have higher rates of lung disease. Smoking is associated with both carrying a lighter and lung disease. In this relationship, smoking is best described as what?
A sampling frame
A dependent variable
A placebo effect
A confounding variable
2. In a significance test, what does a p-value represent?
Assuming the null hypothesis and model assumptions, the probability of results at least as extreme as those observed
The probability that an identical study will produce the same result
The probability that the null hypothesis is true after seeing the data
The size or practical importance of the observed effect
3. Participants are randomly assigned to drink either caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee before completing a reaction-time task. What is the independent variable?
The participants’ reaction time
The number of participants in each group
The type of coffee participants receive
The equipment used to measure reaction time
4. In a medication trial, neither participants nor the researchers who interact with them know who receives the medication or placebo during data collection. What is the main purpose of this double-blind procedure?
To eliminate random measurement error
To ensure the sample matches the wider population
To reduce expectancy-related bias from participants and researchers
To guarantee that every participant benefits
5. Before collecting data, researchers publicly record their hypotheses, primary outcomes, and planned analyses. What is a key purpose of this preregistration?
To make random sampling unnecessary
To ensure the results will be statistically significant
To distinguish planned tests from analyses developed after seeing the data
To prevent participants from withdrawing from the study
6. Researchers create a scale intended to measure academic anxiety. Scores closely relate to established anxiety measures but not to unrelated traits such as musical preference. What does this evidence most directly support?
Inter-rater reliability
Construct validity
Statistical power
Sampling adequacy
7. A survey finds that students who sleep more tend to report higher grades. Why can the researchers not conclude from this correlation alone that extra sleep causes higher grades?
Correlations can only be calculated for experimental data
Self-reported variables can never be analyzed scientifically
A positive correlation means the variables are statistically identical
Directionality and third variables may provide alternative explanations
8. A researcher defines “study engagement” as the number of minutes each participant actively uses a learning platform per week. What has the researcher created?
A null hypothesis
A theoretical framework
A sampling frame
An operational definition
9. Which statement best describes a null hypothesis in a conventional significance test?
A testable statement commonly representing no effect or no association
The researcher’s preferred explanation of the findings
A guarantee that the sample accurately represents the population
A prediction that the observed effect is practically important
10. A researcher systematically codes interview transcripts and develops recurring patterns that capture how participants describe remote work. Which method is being used?
Survival analysis
Thematic analysis
Factorial randomization
Meta-regression
11. During a voluntary interview study, a participant decides halfway through that they no longer want to continue. Which response best follows informed-consent principles?
Require completion because consent was already signed
Stop the interview and follow the study’s stated withdrawal procedures
Finish the interview but exclude the participant’s final answers
Allow withdrawal only if the participant gives a reason
12. A national researcher wants adequate representation from urban, suburban, and rural residents. The population is divided into those groups, and people are randomly sampled within each group. What sampling method is this?
Stratified random sampling
Cluster sampling
Purposive sampling
Systematic sampling
13. A team studies neighborhood safety using resident interviews, direct observations, and administrative records. They compare where findings converge or differ. What methodological strategy does this illustrate?
Statistical imputation
Random allocation
Triangulation
Demand characterization
14. A university has a numbered list of all 8,000 enrolled students. A computer randomly selects 400 unique numbers for invitations. Which sampling method is being used?
Convenience sampling
Simple random sampling
Snowball sampling
Quota sampling
15. A team surveys different groups of first-, second-, third-, and fourth-year students once during the same semester. Which design best describes this study?
Cross-sectional design
Randomized experimental design
Longitudinal cohort design
Case-control design
16. A new questionnaire gives very similar scores when the same stable characteristic is measured in the same people two weeks apart. Which property does this most directly support?
External validity
Content saturation
Ecological validity
Test–retest reliability