Chapter 26: Interpreting Research Outcomes
Test Bank
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. A researcher studies the effect on reading comprehension level of providing fourth-grade
boys who are slow and ponderous readers with illustrated comic books for a six-week
summer session instead of textbooks, hypothesizing that reading associated with pictures will
results in a higher reading comprehension level. The researcher set a level of significance at p
<.05. Analysis of the data from a study indicates that there was a significant difference
between the two groups, which were randomly selected and composed of 100 subjects each.
However, the experimental comic book group’s scores improved less than did the scores of
the boys who used the textbooks. The measured p-level was 0.026. What type of finding is
this?
a. Significant results that are in keeping with those predicted by the researcher
b. Nonsignificant results
c. Significant results that oppose those predicted by the researcher
d. Mixed results
ANS: C
Significant results opposite those predicted, if the results are valid, are an important addition
to the body of knowledge. An example would be a study in which the researchers proposed
that social support and ego strength were positively related. If the study showed that high
social support was related to low ego strength, the result would be the opposite of that
predicted. Such results, when verified by other studies, indicate that the theory being tested
needs modification and refinement. Because these types of studies can affect nursing practice,
this information is important.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: Page 594
2. The analysis of the data from a study indicates that there was a significant difference between
the two groups, which were randomly selected and composed of 100 subjects each. The
instruments measuring stress, mood, and various scaled measures of emotion were well
normed, widely tested, and suitable. As the researcher begins interpretation of the data, she
discovers that during data collection one of her assistants had recorded the demographic item
, “household size” incorrectly, understanding the item as “number of people who live with
you.” There is no way to determine which research assistant worked with which research
subject. What effect did this way of recording the data have on the study findings?
a. That item cannot be analyzed as a ratio item and will have to be treated in a different way.
b. None, because the numbers will be the same either way the data are collected.
c. That particular item will have to be discarded, because it can no longer be analyzed.
d. None, because post hoc statistical analysis will automatically adjust for this type of
“error.”
ANS: A
Many activities that occur during data collection affect the meaning of study results. Did your
study have a high refusal rate for subject participation, or was the attrition high? Was the
sample size sufficient? Did strategies for acquiring a sample eliminate important groups
whose data would have influenced the results? Did you and your research team achieve
intervention fidelity when the treatment was implemented? Did unforeseen events occur
during the study that might have changed or had an impact on the data? Were measurement
techniques consistent? What impact do inconsistencies have on interpreting results?
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Methodological limitations result from factors such as nonrepresentative samples, weak
designs, single setting, limited control over treatment (intervention) implementation,
instruments with limited reliability and validity, limited control over data collection, and
improper use of statistical analyses. Nominal level of measurement is the lowest of the four
measurement levels or categories. It is used when data can be organized into categories of a
defined property but the categories cannot be ordered. Data that can be measured at the
ordinal level can be assigned to categories of an attribute that can be ranked. In interval level
of measurement, distances between intervals of the scale are numerically equal. Interval
scales are assumed to be a continuum of values. Ratio level of measurement is the highest
form of measure and meets all the rules of the lower forms of measures.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Synthesis REF: Page 592
3. In a cross-sectional study, a researcher studies career trajectories in nurses over the past
twenty years. There are five correlational research hypotheses. Why are mixed results, related
to significance of findings, to be expected?
a. The study is cross-sectional, and the economy has made bedside care a more practical
decision over the past few years.
b. Groups across time cannot be expected to have the same responses to career advancement.
c. The study is merely correlational.
d. Five statistical hypotheses are being tested; not all of these can be expected to demonstrate
statistical significance.
ANS: D
Mixed results are probably the most common outcome of studies. In this case, one variable
may uphold the characteristics predicted whereas another does not, or two dependent
measures of the same variable may show opposite results.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: Page 594
4. A researcher working for a company that produces a standardized exam that predicts whether
or not nursing students will pass the national licensure exam tests this tool at a level of
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