Research Design unit test
A test on this unit alone, marked as a percentage and a letter grade — for the test your class is actually sitting, rather than for May. Answer everything, then submit once: seeing the answer to question 3 before attempting question 4 makes the final percentage meaningless.
Control group and comparison group
Placebo and blinding
Four kinds of gap
Aligning question, method and conclusion
Case study design
Scope and delimitation
Between-subjects vs within-subjects
From gap to question
Feasibility check
Justifying the method
Independent and dependent variables
Null and alternative hypotheses
Short answer 1. Define or explain: Random assignment vs random selection
3 ptsShort answer 2. Define or explain: Action research
3 ptsShort answer 3. Define or explain: Feasible sample sizes for student work
3 ptsShort answer 4. Define or explain: Secondary data analysis
3 ptsFree response
6 ptsA student proposes the following study. "I want to know how students in my school cope with academic stress. I am going to hand out a questionnaire in my third-period class asking students to describe their most stressful experience this year, whether they have ever had thoughts of self-harm, and what they do to cope. I will put their names on the forms so I can follow up with interviews. I will present the most interesting responses in my presentation. My mother is a school counselor and said the topic is important, so I do not think I need any approval." Evaluate the ethics of this proposal.
Identify three distinct ethical problems and explain the harm each creates.
Explain what the student has misunderstood about the need for review and consent.
Describe the specific protections a revised protocol should include.
Explain how the revisions affect what the study can claim, and whether the topic can be studied responsibly at all.