Research Methods Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. Researchers survey the same participants once a year for five years to examine changes in working habits. What type of design is this?
Cross-sectional design
Case-control design
Longitudinal design
Single-blind experiment
2. A researcher examines interview transcripts to identify recurring patterns in how caregivers describe support. Which approach is most directly suited to this aim?
Randomized controlled trial
Thematic analysis
Survival analysis
Meta-analysis
3. A project first uses a survey to estimate how common a workplace experience is, then conducts interviews to understand why it occurs. Which description best fits this design?
A mixed-methods design combining quantitative and qualitative evidence
A purely qualitative design
A cross-sectional census with no follow-up
A purely experimental design
4. In a study, students using a new learning app also receive more tutoring than students in the comparison group. Why is tutoring a potential confounding variable?
It is the outcome the researchers intend to explain.
It differs between groups and could independently affect learning outcomes.
It prevents the researchers from collecting qualitative data.
It is measured after the learning outcomes are recorded.
5. In a medication trial, expectations from both participants and outcome assessors could influence reported results. Which procedure most directly reduces both influences?
Convenience sampling
Increasing the number of survey questions
Publishing the hypothesis before data collection
Keeping both participants and relevant assessors unaware of treatment allocation
6. A second research team follows the published procedures of an earlier study to see whether a similar result can be obtained. What is this process called?
Operationalization
Stratification
Debriefing
Replication
7. A small dataset of household incomes contains one extremely high value. Which measure usually gives the more representative center in this situation?
The range
The standard deviation
The median
The maximum
8. 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 the research hypothesis is true
The percentage of observations caused by random error
The probability that another study will obtain the same result
9. A study finds that people who sleep longer tend to report less stress. Which conclusion is best supported?
Longer sleep directly reduces stress in everyone.
Lower stress directly causes people to sleep longer.
Sleep duration and reported stress are associated, but the study alone does not establish causation.
The association must be caused by inaccurate self-reports.
10. A researcher randomly assigns volunteers to either a new teaching method or a standard method. What is the main purpose of random assignment?
To make the groups comparable by distributing potential confounding factors
To ensure the volunteers represent the entire population
To guarantee that participants remain in the study
To increase the number of variables being measured
11. A questionnaire produces similar scores when completed twice by the same stable group under similar conditions. Which property does this most directly demonstrate?
Test-retest reliability
Construct validity
Experimental control
External validity
12. During an interview study, a participant says they want to stop and withdraw their data as allowed by the consent agreement. What should the researcher do?
Continue until the interview is complete so the sample remains balanced.
Respect the withdrawal without applying pressure or a penalty.
Ask the participant to find a replacement before withdrawing.
Keep the data automatically because consent was given at the beginning.
13. A new questionnaire is intended to measure social anxiety, but its items mostly capture general sadness. Which aspect of the measure is most questionable?
Random assignment
Sampling precision
Inter-rater reliability
Construct validity
14. Which statement is an operational definition of academic engagement?
Academic engagement is an important part of learning.
Academic engagement differs between students and institutions.
Academic engagement is influenced by motivation and teaching quality.
Academic engagement is the number of course activities a student completes each week.
15. An experiment tests whether different amounts of fertilizer affect plant growth. What is the independent variable?
The type of instrument used to measure growth
The growth recorded after treatment
The amount of fertilizer applied
The average growth calculated at the end
16. Researchers survey patients from one specialist clinic and use the findings to describe all adults in the country. What is the main methodological concern?
The study cannot contain any numerical variables.
The clinic sample may not support generalization to the wider population.
The researchers must randomly assign patients to clinics.
The survey necessarily lacks test-retest reliability.