Practice of Research In Criminology And Criminal Justice 6th Edition By Bachman – Test Bank

Practice of Research In Criminology And Criminal Justice 6th Edition By Bachman – Test Bank

Chapter 7: Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs

Test Bank

1. Which of the following is valuable but non-essential feature of a true experiment?

1. Random assignment to two groups
2. Assessment of change in the dependent variable

*c. Complete control over the experiment’s context

1. An experimental group and a control group

Section: True Experiments

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

2. Which of the following is a requirement for the pretest in an experiment?

1. The pretest must be a previously validated instrument.
2. The pretest cannot refer to the treatment to be tested.
3. The pretest must be given only to the comparison group, not to the experimental group.

*d. The pretest must be the same as the posttest.

Section: Pretest and Posttest Measures

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

3. Randomization in experimental research:

1. Results in a sample that can be generalized to a population

*b. Removes the operation of systematic bias from the assignment process

1. Guarantees that the experimental and comparison groups are identical at the start of the experiment
2. Precludes the detection of relatively small outcome differences with reasonable confidence

Section: Random Assignment

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

4. How do randomization and random sampling differ?

1. Both use of a random selection procedure, for example, flipping a coin.
2. They are the same.

*c. The purpose of random sampling is to increase generalizability and the purpose of randomization is to decrease spuriousness.

1. Randomization is only used in quasi-experiments.

Section: Random Assignment

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

5. When matching is used to assign subjects to an experimental and a comparison group, the resulting research design is:

1. Equivalent to when random assignment is used
2. Weakened if it is combined with random assignment
3. Superior to assignment on the basis of chance

*d. Weakened by the possibility of additional differences between the groups

Section: Random Assignment

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

6. A researcher is interested in examining the effect that participation in D.A.R.E. has on future drug use. In her experiment, she identifies one student who has completed the D.A.R.E. program and matches the student to another who is similar in most respects except he/she has not completed D.A.R.E. This is an example of:

1. Randomization
2. Random selection

*c. Individual matching

1. Aggregate matching

Section: Random Assignment

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application

7. The key feature of an experimental design that distinguishes it from a quasi-experimental design is the:

1. Longitudinal measurement of the dependent variable

*b. Random assignment to two or more groups

1. Comparison of the dependent variable before and after the independent variable
2. Elimination of error due to chance

Section: Random Assignment

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

8. A researcher wants to study the effectiveness of a midnight basketball program in reducing juvenile delinquency. She identifies a community that already has a program in place and compares delinquency rates to a community that does not. This is an example of which type of quasi-experimental design?

*a. Non-equivalent control group design

1. Before-and-after design
2. Ex post facto control group design
3. This cannot be a quasi-experiment.

Section: Before and After Designs

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application

9. Before-and-after designs are distinguished from other quasi-experimental designs by:

*a. The absence of a traditional comparison group

1. A comparison group designated after the treatment is administered
2. A posttest-only comparison group
3. Random assignment to a comparison group

Section: Before and After Designs

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

10. This is the reason that ex post facto control group design should be considered nonexperimental rather than quasi-experimental:

1. It does not employ random assignment to the experimental and comparison groups.
2. It lacks a posttest.
3. It lacks internal validity.

*d. The comparison group is designated only after the intervention has occurred.

Section: Ex Post Facto Control Group Designs

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

11. A quasi-experimental design is just as strong on this criterion as an experimental design:

1. Non-spurious relationship between variables

*b. Association between the independent and dependent variables

1. Time order of effects of one variable on another
2. None. There are no criterion in which a quasi-experiment performs as well as a quasi-experiment.

Section: Summary: Causality in Quasi-Experiments

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Comprehension

12. A researcher is seeking to maximize generalizability of results. Which research design should she use?

1. Laboratory experiment

*b. Field experiment

1. Non-experiment
2. Qualitative

Section: Validity in Experiments

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Comprehension

13. In a study examining the effectiveness of an education program, subjects are given a pretest. Their scores on the posttest increased because they learned information in the pretest and not as a result of the education program. This is an issue of:

*a. Testing

1. Regression
2. External event
3. Maturation

Section: Endogenous Change

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application

14. In a study examining the effectiveness of an SAT prep course, the researcher is considering how at prettests some students might have been having a bad day and their scores were artificially low. This is an issue of:

1. Testing
2. Maturation

*c. Regression

1. Subject attrition

Section: Endogenous Change

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application

15. A researcher is conducting a study examining residents’ attitudes toward police. During data collection, news emerges that many police officers were involved in corruption. This is an issue of:
16. Testing
17. Maturation

*c. External event

1. Subject attrition

Section: External Events

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application

16. Multiple pretest and posttest measures are valuable in before-and-after designs because they decrease the possibility of internal invalidity due to:

1. Selection

*b. External events

1. Compensation
2. Interaction of testing and treatment

Section: External Events

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

17. In medical research, the placebo effect occurs when subjects:

1. Feel no different in the experimental group than in the control group
2. Complain about being members of the control group
3. Act passively throughout the experiment

*d. Feel better just because they think they are being given a drug

Section: Treatment Misidentification

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

18. Since social programs are delivered by human beings, ___________ can be very difficult to control.

*a. expectancy effects

1. regression
2. maturation
3. history

Section: Treatment Misidentification

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

19. A Hawthorne effect occurs when:

1. Members of the control group change because they feel disadvantaged compared with the treatment group.
2. Members of the treatment group change due to positive expectations of the experimental staff.

*c. Members of the treatment group change because their participation in the study makes them feel special.

1. Members of the control group are influenced by the experience of testing at baseline.

Section: Treatment Misidentification

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

20. The features of experimental designs that make them so useful for establishing causation:

1. Enhance the cross-population generalizability of a study

*b. Reduce the sample generalizability of a study

1. Limit the internal validity of a study
2. Prove to be a disadvantage in measurement validity

Section: Generalizability

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

21. A randomized field experiment is designed to test the usefulness of a new DNA test for solving crimes. Crime clearance rates in police departments that use the new DNA test will be compared with crime clearance rates in police departments that use traditional DNA tests. The fact that some departments will not be using this new DNA test to solve crimes during the experiment may be ethically justifiable when:

1. Citizens do not know about the new DNA test.

*b. There is no way of knowing whether the DNA test is of any value to solving crime.

1. DNA tests have become affordable to police departments.
2. The research is conducted in a high-crime area.

Section: Ethical Issues in Experimental Research

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application

22. A researcher is testing the effectiveness of a new boat paddle by holding a race between two teams. When the control team realizes that it received traditional paddles instead of the new paddles that the experimental team received, the control team members feel as though they have no chance of winning and put forth little effect in the race. This is an example of:

1. External events
2. Endogenous change

*c. Demoralization

1. Compensatory rivalry

Section: Contamination

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application

23. All of the following are accurate statements about pretests and posttests except:

1. In order to be an experiment, there must be a posttest.

*b. In order to be an experiment, there must be a pretest.

1. Some experiments have multiple posttests and pretests.
2. Pretests provide a direct measure of change over time.

Section: Pretest and Posttest Measures

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Comprehension

24. Which design has no comparison group?

1. Nonequivalent

*b. Before-and-after

1. Ex post facto
2. Experiment

Section: Before-and-After Design

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

25. A time series (repeated measures) design is a type of:

1. Nonequivalent control group

*b. Before-and-after

1. Ex post facto control group
2. Randomization

Section: Before and After Designs

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

26. Which of the following is not a source of internal invalidity?

1. Selection bias
2. External events
3. Contamination

*d. Statistical control

Section: Causal (Internal Validity)

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

27. All of the following are types of endogenous change except:

1. Testing
2. Maturation
3. Regression

*d. Selection bias

Section: Endogenous Change

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

28. In the process of conducting an experiment, a researcher administers a survey before the treatment is applied, in order to provide a baseline against which to judge the results. This survey is a:

1. Controlling variable

*b. Pretest

1. Posttest
2. Selection bias

Section: Pretest and Posttest Measures

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

29. Which of the following is not required for a true experiment?

1. Random assignment
2. Control group
3. Posttest

*d. Pretest

Section: Pretest and Posttest Measures

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

30. A researcher conducts a study on the effectiveness of a new prisoner rehabilitation program. All of the elements of an experiment are present except that the groups were not randomly assigned. This study is an example of a(n):

*a. Nonequivalent control group design

1. Before-and-after design
2. Ex post facto control group design
3. Regression-discontinuity design

Section: External Events

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application

31. All of the following are accurate statements about factorial surveys except:

1. Factorial surveys have many of the elements of an experiment.
2. Factorial surveys are utilized to increase generalizability.

*c. Factorial surveys are quasi-experimental as they lack a control group.

1. Factorial surveys randomly alter elements of the vignettes.

Section: Factorial Survey Design

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

32. In a study of the effectiveness of a new cancer drug, the researcher administering the medication is unaware of which patients are receiving the new drug and which are receiving a placebo. This is an example of:

1. The self-fulfilling prophecy

*b. A double-blind procedure

1. The Hawthorne effect
2. Generalizability

Section: Treatment Misidentification

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application

33. Which of the following is an accurate statement about the Solomon four-group design?

*a. Not all of the groups receive the pretest.

1. All of the groups receive the pretest.
2. Not all of the groups receive the posttest.
3. All of the groups receive the posttest.

Section: Interaction of Testing and Treatment

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Comprehension

34. A worthwhile, conservative strategy for minimizing the possibility of invalid causal conclusions due to differential attrition is:

1. Ensuring at the outset of the experiment that subject assignment is truly random
2. Recruiting only subjects with stable residential histories and ongoing institutional ties
3. Combining matching with randomization

*d. Basing the outcome analysis on comparing all subjects initially assigned to each condition

Section: Selection Bias

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Comprehension

35. Matching is a more preferable strategy than randomization.

1. True

*b. False

Section: Randomization

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Comprehension

36. Attrition can cause experimental and control groups to differ over time.

*a. True

1. False

Section: Selection Bias

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Comprehension

37. In a factorial survey design, all of the respondents complete some version of the survey.

*a. True

1. False

Section: Factorial Survey Design

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Comprehension

38. Process analysis is one way to minimize treatment misidentification.

*a. True

1. False

Section: Treatment Misidentification

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

39. In the Solomon four-group design, some groups do not receive a pretest.

*a. True

1. False

Section: Interaction of Testing and Treatment

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

40. A true experiment requires a pretest and a posttest.

1. True

*b. False

Section: True Experiments

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge

41. Sherman and Beck’s study of the effect of arrest on domestic violence is an example of a field experiment.

*a. True

1. False

Section: Random Assignment

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application

42. Random assignment eliminates systematic bias.

*a. True

1. False

Section: Randomization

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge