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Name: ______

ECD 560 – Research and Assessment in Counseling

RESEARCH EXAM

  1. Research Concepts:(10 Points)

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Match the following terms with the phrase that is the best match in defining the term:

  1. Type I Error_____
  2. Mortality_____
  3. Mode_____
  4. Reliability_____
  5. Hawthorne Effect_____
  6. Maturation_____
  7. Validity_____
  8. Compensatory Rivalry_____
  9. Qualitative Research_____
  10. Experimental Research_____
  1. Subjects do not complete the study.
  2. Degree of consistency of scores over repeated testing.
  3. Research where the researcher manipulates the independent variable, employs standardized procedures, and randomly assigns participants.
  4. Systematic change during course of study that has nothing to do with variables under study.
  5. Degree to which the research or test measures or describes what it purports to measure.
  6. Research that relates, portrays and recounts variables in an attempt to describe the nature of the relationship between events.
  7. Error made in conclusion where the null is rejected erroneously.
  8. State where participants in study want to excel for researcher.
  9. Most frequently occurring score in a distribution.
  10. Subjects in a comparison group work harder to ensure that they perform as well as the treatment group.

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  1. Research Design:(60 Points)

Review each cited abstract and identify the important components requested of the research Design. Follow the following example:

  1. D’Onofrio, B.M. & Van Hulle, C. A. (2007) Causal inferences regarding prenatal alcohol exposure and childhood externalizing problems.

Existing research on the neurobehavioral consequences of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has not adequately accounted for genetic and environmental confounds. Objective: To examine the association between PAE and offspring externalizing problems in a large representative sample of families in the United States using measured covariates to account for unmeasured genetic and environmental confounds. Design: This study examines existing data that had been collected from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The researcher grouped the participants on the mothers and families exposure to alcohol and other prenatal psychoactive substances. In the primary analyses, siblings differentially exposed to prenatal alcohol were compared. Setting and Participants: The selected sample included 8621 offspring of 4912 mothers. Main Outcome Measures: Maternal report of conduct problems (CPs) and attention/impulsivity problems (AIPs) during childhood (ages 4-11 years) using standardized assessments related to psychiatric diagnoses. Results: There was an association between PAE and offspring CPs that was independent of confounded genetic and fixed environmental effects and the measured covariates. The CPs in children of mothers who drank daily during pregnancy were 0.35 SD greater than those in children whose mothers never drank during pregnancy. Although AIPs were associated with PAE when comparing unrelated offspring, children whose mothers drank more frequently during pregnancy did not have more AIPs than siblings who were less exposed to alcohol in utero. Additional subsample analyses suggested that maternal polysubstance use during pregnancy may account for the associations between PAE and AIPs. Conclusion: These results are consistent with PAE exerting an environmentally mediated causal effect on childhood CPs, but the relation between PAE and AIPs is more likely to be caused by other factors correlated with maternal drinking during pregnancy.

Identify the:

  1. Independent Variable(s): ______
  1. Dependent Variable(s): ______
  1. Research Question: ______
  1. Research Design: ______
  1. Potential Threat to Validity: ______
  1. Wyant, B. R. (2008). Multilevel impacts of perceived incivilities and perceptions of crime risk on fear of crime: Isolating endogenous impacts.

Past work has linked incivilities to fear of crime but has left the question: Does the perception of incivilities and perceived risk versus experiencing actual crime impact the level of fear in a neighborhood? Data were collected from 45 Philadelphia neighborhoods yielding 432 respondents (N=432) to the questionnaire. The questionnaire asked participants to note the crime rate in their neighborhood, their perceived level or risk, their perceived level of fear, etc. Data showed that those perceiving more incivilities and more crime risk than their neighbors were more fearful. Furthermore, neighborhoods where residents on average saw more crime rather than perceived more crime were on average more fearful than the previous group. The results suggest that impacts of incivilities on fear at the individual level are not completely mediated by perceived risk and that average fear levels in nearby neighborhoods correlate significantly, suggesting that some localized processes are operating above the neighborhood level. What these are, and how they link to neighborhood and individual-level dynamics, remains to be investigated.

Identify the:

  1. Independent Variable(s): ______
  1. Dependent Variable(s): ______
  1. Research Question: ______
  1. Research Design: ______
  1. Potential Threat to Validity: ______
  1. Smith, J.R. (2008) Comparison of the impact on student literacy outcomes on the half-day versus full-day kindergarten program model.

In this research, literacy data obtained on students were examined to assess relationships between kindergarten program model (full- vs. half-day) and student literacy outcomes as assessed from literacy scales. Enrolled students were grouped into either the half-day or full-day kindergarten program in economically disadvantaged schools in a large southwestern school district. Students were assessed for literacy levels prior to the program and upon completion. Data revealed that students exposed to a full day of instruction had greater literacy growth than their peers in half-day classrooms. Further examination of the program model results revealed that the relative efficacy of full-day kindergarten tended to be greater in smaller class size environments. These results, if replicated, suggest that full-day kindergarten initiatives targeted toward students from disadvantaged backgrounds may be more successful when implemented in classrooms with relatively small student enrollments. Implications for instructional policy and practice are discussed.

Identify the:

  1. Independent Variable(s): ______
  1. Dependent Variable(s): ______
  1. Research Question: ______
  1. Research Design: ______
  1. Potential Threat to Validity: ______
  1. Taylor, C. A. & Sorenson, S.B. (2007). Intervention on behalf of children exposed to intimate partner violence: Assessment of support in a diverse community-based sample.

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess community-based support for intervening on behalf of children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) and to determine what contextual and respondent characteristics are associated with that support. Method: This research explored the responses of six ethnic groups in California. Each respondent was randomly selected and asked to review (n = 3679), seven vignettes about IPV were generated using randomized categories of victim and assailant characteristics (i.e., gender and sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, nativity, occupational status, and relationship status) and situational characteristics (i.e., motivation, weapon use, type of abuse, alcohol use, frequency of the incident, and child present). All vignettes analyzed for this manuscript (n = 6556) mentioned that "there was a child in the other room" during the incident. Results: In 70% of the IPV scenarios, respondents supported intervention on behalf of the child. Support was lowest when the IPV was purely psychological in nature (62-63%), higher when it involved threats, coercion, or limited physical abuse (68-71%), and highest when it involved severe physical abuse (76-81%). The odds of supporting intervention also were elevated when a weapon was involved, when the IPV occurred multiple times, and when the IPV involved gay men. Men and Vietnamese Americans had the lowest odds of favoring intervention. Conclusions: Public opinion assessed in this survey is aligned with that of professionals who believe that the potential impact of IPV on children should not be ignored and who have suggested that criteria should be developed to guide a graded intervention response for such cases.

Identify the:

  1. Independent Variable(s): ______
  1. Dependent Variable(s): ______
  1. Research Question: ______
  1. Research Design: ______
  1. Potential Threat to Validity: ______
  1. Ellis, A. A. & Shute, R. (2007). Impact of moral orientation as predictor in likelihood of teacher intervention in bullying incidents.

Background: Little research has focused on factors influencing teachers' decisions about whether and how to intervene in bullying incidents. Such factors have the potential to influence the role of teachers as agents in counteracting bullying. Aims: To examine the relationship between moral orientation and the teachers' responses to bullying, (b) the relationship of the role of perceived seriousness of an incident in moderating responses to bullying and (c) what factors that are important to teachers when deciding whether to intervene. Sample: Primary, middle and high school teachers (N = 127) were recruited during staff meetings at five schools. Methods: Each participant completed several measures. Moral Orientation was measured using a modified version of Caputo's (2000) Sanctioning Voice Index (SVI), Point of Intervening was measured by a questionnaire specifically designed for this study to assess the response style, and a Seriousness of Incident Continuum was employed to describe incidents from mildly to extremely serious. Analyses examining how moral orientation and seriousness appear to impact teachers' responses to bullying were performed. Results: As anticipated, care moral orientation showed a relationship in a problem-solving response, while justice orientation predicted a rules-sanctions response. Care and justice orientations also interacted to explain rules-sanctions, but not problem-solving responses. However, seriousness of an incident accounted for the majority of variance (46% for rules-sanctions and 40% for problem-solving responses). Seriousness did not moderate the relationship between moral orientation and responses to bullying. Conclusions: While teachers' moral orientation does impact upon the kinds of responses to bullying they choose, seriousness of the incident is more important. However, seriousness as perceived by teachers may not be consistent with impact on students. Implications for teacher education and policy are discussed.

Identify the:

  1. Independent Variable(s): ______
  1. Dependent Variable(s): ______
  1. Research Question: ______
  1. Research Design: ______
  1. Potential Threat to Validity: ______

6. Buckner, J.D. & Lang A.R. (2008). Specificityof social anxiety disorder as a risk factor for alcohol and cannabis dependence.

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is highly comorbid with alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and cannabis dependence. However, the temporal sequencing of these disorders has not been extensively studied to determine whether SAD serves as a specific risk factor for problematic substance use. The present study examined these interactions after controlling for theoretically-relevant variables (e.g., gender, other Axis I pathology) in a cohort over approximately 14 years. The sample of 58 participants was drawn from participants in the Oregon Adolescent Depression Project. After excluding those with substance use disorders at baseline, SAD was assessed as the study began. Data was collected from participants over the duration of the study and the final assessment of SAD and AUD was completed after 14 years. Results indicate that SAD at study entry was associated with 6.5 greater odds of cannabis dependence (but not abuse) and 4.5 greater odds of alcohol dependence (but not abuse) at follow-up after controlling for relevant variables (e.g., gender, depression, conduct disorder). The relationship between SAD and alcohol and cannabis dependence remained during the course of the study. Other anxiety disorders and mood disorders were not associated with subsequent cannabis or alcohol use disorder after controlling for relevant variables. Among the internalizing disorders, SAD appears to serve as a unique risk factor for the subsequent onset of cannabis and alcohol dependence.

Identify the:

  1. Independent Variable(s): ______
  1. Dependent Variable(s): ______
  1. Research Question: ______
  1. Research Design: ______
  1. Potential Threat to Validity: ______

  1. Research Design:(20 Points)

Choose ONE of the two scenarios and develop a BRIEF research design. Make sure you discuss how you would approach the situation and what your research question would be. Make sure you comment on how you would conduct your literature review. Identify your independent and dependent variable and what you choose as your research design. What will your measurement instrument be? How will you control for extraneous variables? There is no need to discuss proposed data analysis.

  1. You are working at a small community agency whose focus is on providing interventions for at risk youth. You have learned that a State Agency is accepting funding proposals for any new programs that can be designed to reduce the risk of adolescent pregnancy. Your boss gives you one week to develop an understanding of the relevant issues involved and develop an outline for an intervention. You will then need to write up your findings in a grant proposal where you will describe your understanding of the issues, your proposed intervention, and how you plan on determining the effectiveness of your intervention.
  1. You’ve been volunteered to develop a curriculum for a study skills course designed to introduce students the basic elements of study skills because your institution is the only program that doesn’t current have such a course. Every other educational institution in the area has such a course. No one course is the same as the each focus on different elements of study skills, but they all are evaluated by the students at the end of each semester. You decide to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing courses and develop your course eclectically choosing the best portions of each of the existing courses. How would you develop a research design. What is your research question and variables? How will you plan to determine the effectiveness of your course?
  1. Your Research Prospectus / Grant Proposal: (10 Points)

In an effort to encourage you to continue to opperationalize your thoughts about your research prospectus, answer the following questions:

  1. What is your research question for your project?
  1. Identify the Variables involved in your project (Identify the Independent and Dependent variables if relevant or the statement of the need)?