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NCE: Research and Program Evaluation
Research - correct answer systematic process of collecting and analyzing data for some purpose such as investigating a problem or answering a question Evidence-based inquiry - correct answer search for knowledge using empirical data which has been gathered systematically Inductive Research - correct answer this research begins at the real world, practical level. It tends to be descriptive, correlational, or historical and leads to the building of theory. Deductive Research - correct answer this research springs from theory which is already established. This research tries to determine what the relationships are between elements of the theory and may be experimental in nature. Survey - correct answer this non-experimental design may occur through questionnaires, interviews, etc. and is used to measure attitudes, perceptions, etc. Descriptive - correct answer this research simply describes an existing state of events. Numbers may be used to characterize groups or individuals Comparative - correct answer this research method investigates whether there are differences between two or more groups. There is no manipulation of conditions experienced by each group Correlational - correct answer this research method uses the correlation coefficient to determine the degree of relationship between two or more variables or phenomena.
Ex Post Facto - correct answer Also called causal-comparative, this research design studies possible causal relationships among variables after the fact True Experiment - correct answer This research is characterized by the use of experimental and control groups with random assignment to each. Quasi-Experiment - correct answer This research is similar to experimental research except that randomization of subjects to treatment and control groups is not possible. It may be that no control or comparison group is available Qualitative - correct answer Research type that emphasizes gathering data about naturally occurring phenomena (individual's and groups' living experiences) and events. Data collection may be in terms of words rather than numbers. Mixed-method research designs - correct answer These designs combine quantitative and qualitative methods in the same research effort. The researcher retains the flexibility to use both types of designs. Typically, the designs are used sequentially. Single-subject design - correct answer research design that studies the effects of a program or treatment on an individual or group treated as an individual, usually after a baseline has been established Action Research - correct answer research conducted in an attempt to improve services or a program. This research may often be viewed as having an evaluative function Pilot Study - correct answer a small-scale research effort often used to determine the feasibility of a large scale effort with emphasis on refining procedures and instrumentation Longitudinal Research - correct answer consists of collecting data from the same group of individuals over a period of time. This is also called a panel study
Ecological validity - correct answer if the results can be generalized from one setting or circumstance to another Hawthorne Effect - correct answer refers to the influence in performance which occurs when subjects receive attention or know they are participating in research Demand Characteristics - correct answer these are all the cues, information, knowledge, and even rumors the subject has heard about the experiment, which are likely to influence his/her performance Rosenthal Effect - correct answer these are the changes in the subject's behavior brought about by the researcher's expectations, behaviors or attitudes. Self-fulfilling expectation of doing well because it is expected Placebo - correct answer any control treatment; should be identical to experimental treatment except for the critical item being studied Nominal - correct answer the numbers represent the variable's qualities or categories Ordinal - correct answer the numbers represent differences in some magnitude of the variable. You can order the data, from top to bottom, from high to low Interval - correct answer intervals between the numbers on a scale contain the same amount of the variable throughout the scale. These provide a constant unit of measurement Ratio - correct answer the numbers are on a scale which has a true zero. In addition the numbers can be compared by ratios Sampling - correct answer selection of a part of the population
Random Sampling - correct answer All the individuals in the population have an equal and independent chance of being selected Stratified sampling - correct answer This refers to selecting in such a way that major subgroups in the population will be sampled. These subgroups may be based on ethnicity, gender, age, etc Proportional stratified sampling - correct answer This refers to randomly selecting the same proportion of individuals for the sample as they represent proportionally in the major subgroups in the population Cluster sampling - correct answer In this sampling, the unit is not an individual but naturally occurring groups of individuals, such as classrooms or city blocks 30 - correct answer Suggested minimal sample size for correlational research 15 - correct answer Suggested minimal sample size for Ex Post Facto and experimental research 100 - correct answer Suggested minimal sample size for survey research Descriptive - correct answer Type of statistical analysis that is used to describe the data collected for a research sample or population, and include means, standard deviations, frequency counts, and percentages Inferential - correct answer Type of statistical analysis that is used to make inferences from the sample to the population. The goal is to determine the probability of some event occurring. Parametric - correct answer Type of statistical analysis that is used when a sample is randomly drawn from a population and the data is normally distributed. You have para (two-sided) data that yields a bell-shaped curve. Also, you assume that the variance of the
Type II Error - correct answer refers to the failure to reject the null hypothesis when there is, in fact, a difference decreases, increases - correct answer As the significance level goes down, Type I Error _________ but type II Error ________. T-Test - correct answer used to determine whether the mean scores of two groups are significantly different from each other. It can only be used when there are two groups (two mean scores) One-way Analysis of Variance - correct answer when you have only one variable at three or more levels Factorial Analysis of Variance - correct answer used to simultaneously determine whether mean scores on two or more variables (factors) differ significantly Multivariate Analysis of Variance - correct answer used when you have two or more dependent variables Post hoc test - correct answer test applied after the fact to determine whether different particular group means or combinations of group means are significantly different Mann-Whitney U Test - correct answer nonparametric test used when you collect data from two samples that are independent from each other and the scores are not normally distributed Wilcoxen signed-rank test - correct answer nonparametric test used when you have scores for two samples and these scores are correlated (that is, you matched them or got two scores for each individual - repeated measures). However, the scores do not approximate a normal distribution
Kruskal-Wallis Test - correct answer nonparametric test used when you have more than two mean scores on a single variable. Chi-square - correct answer nonparametric test and is used when you have nominal data (groups or categories). This statistic is used to determine whether two distributions differ significantly Multiple Regression - correct answer This is the use of the correlation coefficient to determine the strength of the relationship of predictor (independent) variables on a criterion (dependent) variable. Adds together the predictive power of several independent variables. Scatterplot - correct answer This is a graphic representation of the relationship between two variables for a group of individuals. Factor Analysis - correct answer This is a statistical method using the correlation coefficient to determine whether a set of variables can be reduced to a smaller number of factors. Likert Scale - correct answer This is a widely used technique for measuring attitudes or opinions. It allows for several response choices. Biserial correlation - correct answer an appropriate correlation coefficient to use when one variable yields continuous data and the other yields data that is dichotomous Cross-sectional - correct answer studying or measuring characteristics of several groups at the same time, versus Longitudinal Degrees of Freedom - correct answer the number of observations that are free to vary
evaluation designed to measure the effectiveness of a program, usually conducted at the end of a cycle such as a school year. Regression - correct answer Statistical technique used to predict a variable when a second variable I sknown; usually presented as a linear equation. Desgins include multiple, stepwise, hierarchical, and simultaneous. Stratified Random - correct answer When one desires to be certain the norm group is truly representative of the population for which a test is designed. The researcher will classify the target population along certain variables such as age, sex, socio- economic levels, and educational levels and then randomly select a certain percentage per level, based upon census data. True Score - correct answer Considered to be a hypothetical score based upon no measurement error. An individual's average of all scores on a test that has been taken several times, can be estimated, but nevery precisely known. Analogue - correct answer Research conducted under situations or conditions which approximate real counseling contexts. This situation is an experimental simulation of some aspect of the counseling process. The client, the counselor, or the counseling process is manipulated. Generalizability is the major disadvantage. Advantages are control, achieving high level of specificity in the operational definition, isolating specific events, and reducing the ethical and practical obstacles in research. Applied Research - correct answer Tests a theory and gathers data to support a theory. Cohort Design - correct answer A type of design whereby subjects are assumed to be similar because they have followed each other through a formal or informal institution. An example would be class after class (year after year) of sorority sisters in a particular sorority at a specific university. Good for drawing causal inferences from non-equivalent groups. Confidence Intervals (Band) - correct answer The confidence placed around the fixed value of a population mean. The sample means deviate around this value. Specific values are: 90% = 1.65 SEM; 95% = 1.96 SEM; 99% = 2.56 SEM. NCE is more likely to use whole-number standard errors of measurement such as +/- 1 or
+/- 2 rather than 1.65 and 1.96. Utilized when one desires to know how they would have scored were there not any errors in the process of testing. Control Group - correct answer Group of subjects who do not receive the active treatment. Types include no-treatment, waiting list, placebo, and matched. Covariance - correct answer Variance two or more tests have in common. Dependent Variable - correct answer The effect. It changes as the result of what has been done to it by the independent variable. Double Blind Procedure - correct answer The researcher and participants do not know the hypothesis or who belongs to the treatment or control groups. Single Blind Procedure - correct answer The subject does not know if he/she is receiving one ingredient or the other (treatment or not/placebo). F-Ratio Chart - correct answer This is utilized to read the significance level for critical values for the F-test. F-Test - correct answer Ration of two estimates of variance. History - correct answer A threat to internal validity of a research design. Refers to any event that takes place during the time when the treatment is being administered, which may affect the observations. These events can take place in one's work, school, home life, recreation, etc. The best control for this type of threat is to use two groups so that the event affects both groups equally. Inferential Statistics - correct answer A means to make inferences about a population based on the data from a sample. This is a probablity statement that enables one to state the certainty of the results utilizing the descriptive statistics. A degree of confidence is attained as to how closely the data from the sample are close estimates of the value that would be found for a population. If not, then the differences of the two means is accountable to chance. Parametric & non- parametric are two classficiations of this.
Mode - correct answer Most frequently appearing number in a distribution. Measures of Dispersion - correct answer Range, Variance, Standard Deviation Number Scales - correct answer Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, Ratio Inclusive Range - correct answer The highest score minus the lowes score in a distribution plus 1. Exclusive Range - correct answer Highest score minus the lowest score. Variance - correct answer Conceptually the average of the squared deviation scores from the mean of the distribution...divided by the number of observations (N). Standard Deviation - correct answer Square root of the variance. Scores - correct answer Raw, Standard, Z, T, Percentile Ranks Raw Scores - correct answer Number of actual points a person scores on a test or one of its scales. Because tests and even scales within the same test have different numbers of items, it makes this concept difficult to compare. These man nothing unless you know the mean and standard deviation of the distribution they come from. Standard Scores - correct answer Converted score (formerly a raw score) where the mean and standard deviation of a distribution have been set at certain values, and scores are expressed along that scale. Z-Scores - correct answer A standard score where the mean of the distribution is set at 0 and standard deviation at 1. T-Scores - correct answer A standard score where the mean of the distribution is 50 and standard deviation 10.
Percentile Ranks - correct answer Test results are often reported as a percentile standing in a distribution. If this is 85, it means the subject's performance was equal to or better than 85% of the people taking the test. Normal Probablity Curve - correct answer Bell shaped curve that is perfectly symmetrical on both sides. The mean falls directly at the center, and standard deviation bands fall at precisely known percentiles along the curve. Bimodal Distribution - correct answer Often called the camel back distribution because of its two high points. When it occurs, the data may be reflecting the performances of two different groups. The actual mean falls somewhere between the two high points. Skewed Distribution - correct answer The direction of the tail defines whether a distribution is positively or negatively skewed. Ceiling Effect - correct answer When observations are correct answers on a test and a strong negative skew is apparent. The opposite concept is Basement Effect. Standard Error of Measurement - correct answer Example: When a subject takes a test, the resulting score is called the Observed Score, which consists of a "Signal" and "Noise or Error". The quantification of the noise or error is the test's _______________________________________________________________. Correlation - correct answer Range from -1 to +1. Gives us information about the relationship between two variables. Does not tell us anything about causation. How we measure the extent of a relationship between two sets of paired numbers. Multiple Regression - correct answer Statistical procedure designed to predict a single dependent variable using correlations obtained with a number of other variables. Stepwise Multiple Regression - correct answer Explains as much variance as possible by the best predictor, then moves to the second until its predictive power is exhausted, the third, and so forth.
