Question 1

Which of the following is likely to be the most important benefit from the use of program evaluation based on sound experimental methodology?

Accepted Answer

A)  advancing the development of basic research in the social sciences by focusing on social policy 
B)  advancing the influence and prestige of the social sciences in decision making among social policy makers 
C)  providing information to policy makers that can be helpful in making more informed choices among possible treatments for social problems issues 
D)  providing definitive information to policy makers such that program evaluation will eventually become the primary basis of social policy decisions

Question 2

How does a time series design with nonequivalent control group differ from a nonequivalent control group design? Identify a threat to internal validity that is controlled by adding a nonequivalent control group to a simple interrupted time series design.

Accepted Answer

The answer of How does a time series design with...

Question 3

Participants for a treatment group are chosen because they score very low on a pretest measure of performance.When their performance improves on the posttest,the researcher

Accepted Answer

A)  should consider the possibility that statistical regression influenced posttest scores. 
B)  can rule out testing and instrumentation threats to internal validity. 
C)  can be confident that the treatment was effective. 
D)  must conclude that additive effects with selection are responsible for the outcome.

Question 4

Random assignment to conditions is used in true experiments to control which of the following threats to internal validity?

Accepted Answer

A)  selection 
B)  testing 
C)  history 
D)  subject attrition

Question 5

An intervention in an office setting leads employees to be pleased that the management is interested in their welfare.If the employees' performance improves in this situation,the researcher should be concerned about potential

Accepted Answer

A)  novelty effects such as the Hawthorne effect. 
B)  lack of discontinuity in the time series. 
C)  Campbell effects. 
D)  contamination effects.

Question 6

A psychologist examines the effect of a new therapy by first assessing patients' symptoms using a pretest,then administering eight weeks of therapy,and then administering a posttest.Based on this research design,the psychologists will be able to

Accepted Answer

A)  make a causal claim about whether the treatment is effective. 
B)  make a claim about the applicability of the treatment to other potential patients. 
C)  both (
A)  and (
B)  
D)  neither (
A)  nor (
B)

Question 7

When individuals' performance on a posttest differs from their initial testing not because of a treatment but because of familiarity with the measure,a __________ threat to internal validity is likely.

Accepted Answer

A)  testing 
B)  instrumentation 
C)  regression 
D)  contamination

Question 8

After implementing a program to improve admitting procedures in a hospital emergency room,a researcher seeks to determine whether the program is being implemented as proposed.Which research method will best serve this purpose?

Accepted Answer

A)  observational method 
B)  survey method 
C)  experimental design 
D)  quasi-experimental design

Question 9

Among the following research designs,which allows researchers to rule out the most threats to internal validity?

Accepted Answer

A)  one group pretest-posttest design 
B)  nonequivalent control group design 
C)  simple interrupted time series design 
D)  times series design with nonequivalent control group

Question 10

Program evaluation is a hybrid discipline whose professional activity

Accepted Answer

A)  relies almost exclusively on the experimental method. 
B)  is confined almost entirely to the discipline of psychology. 
C)  has as its basic goal providing feedback to providers of human service activities. 
D)  focuses primarily on conducting basic research.

Question 11

One of the main ways that true experiments differ from quasi-experiments is that true experiments use

Accepted Answer

A)  correlational methods. 
B)  random selection from the population. 
C)  random assignment to conditions. 
D)  all of these

Question 12

In clinical trials involving tests of new medical treatments,it may be extremely difficult to get patients to agree to be randomly assigned to either the treatment or the control group.In these situations researchers can use

Accepted Answer

A)  natural groups designs. 
B)  quasi-experimental designs. 
C)  yoked control designs. 
D)  matched groups designs.

Question 13

A researcher was asked to evaluate the outcome of a program implemented to enhance recycling in a community.Which method will the researcher likely select to answer the question of whether the program was effective?

Accepted Answer

A)  participant observation 
B)  random groups design 
C)  cross-sectional survey design 
D)  time series with nonequivalent control group design

Question 14

One threat to the internal validity of research that affects both true experiments and quasi-experiments is

Accepted Answer

A)  selection threats. 
B)  additive effects with selection. 
C)  experimenter expectancy effects. 
D)  all of these

Question 15

When individuals in one group of a nonequivalent control group design experience natural changes at a faster rate than individuals in the other group,there is danger of a threat to internal validity called

Accepted Answer

A)  additive effects of selection and history. 
B)  additive effects of selection and maturation. 
C)  additive effects of selection and instrumentation. 
D)  differential statistical regression.

Question 16

Which of the following is not one of the four questions addressed in program evaluation?

Accepted Answer

A)  assessment of needs 
B)  evaluation of process 
C)  evaluation of outcome 
D)  decision making efficiency

Question 17

The relationship between basic research and applied research can best be described as

Accepted Answer

A)  an independent relationship. 
B)  a reciprocal (or circular) relationship. 
C)  a hierarchical relationship with basic research taking precedence over applied research. 
D)  a top-down relationship with applied research taking precedence over basic research.

Question 18

The main problem associated with subject attrition during the course of a study is that

Accepted Answer

A)  regression toward the mean on the dependent variable measure is likely. 
B)  the group with the most participants remaining at the end of a study will likely have higher posttest scores. 
C)  the researcher can no longer use statistical analysis to understand the results. 
D)  groups initially created to be equivalent may no longer be equivalent.

Question 19

At a large university,a group of education specialists tested the effectiveness of a new academic improvement course.Students seeking help at the university counseling center because of academic difficulties were asked to participate in this 4-week program.Only students who were judged to be deficient in reading comprehension and other study-related skills were chosen for the program.Students who sought help at the counseling center for emotional difficulties were included in the study as a comparison group.These students received the usual treatment offered at the counseling center.A group of 30 students completed the academic-improvement program at the counseling center.Average test grades from the students' courses for the two groups were compared before (midterm exams)and after (final exams)the program.Analyses revealed that a statistically significant majority of the students were doing better in school after completing the academic-improvement program than before.
What type of research design was used for this study?

Accepted Answer

The answer of At a large university,a group of education...

Question 20

At a large university,a group of education specialists tested the effectiveness of a new academic improvement course.Students seeking help at the university counseling center because of academic difficulties were asked to participate in this 4-week program.Only students who were judged to be deficient in reading comprehension and other study-related skills were chosen for the program.Students who sought help at the counseling center for emotional difficulties were included in the study as a comparison group.These students received the usual treatment offered at the counseling center.A group of 30 students completed the academic-improvement program at the counseling center.Average test grades from the students' courses for the two groups were compared before (midterm exams)and after (final exams)the program.Analyses revealed that a statistically significant majority of the students were doing better in school after completing the academic-improvement program than before.
What major threats to internal validity are controlled by this research design?

Accepted Answer