ACI Research Methods & Evidence-Based Practice 2

Question 1

In educational research, what distinguishes a quasi-experimental design from a true experimental design?

Accepted Answer

Lack of random assignment to conditions

Answer

Quasi-experimental designs lack random assignment, making it harder to rule out confounding variables compared to true experiments.

Question 2

An AVID teacher collects pre- and post-test scores to measure student growth over one semester. This is best described as what type of research design?

Accepted Answer

Pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design

Answer

A one-group pretest-posttest design measures the same group before and after an intervention but lacks a control group.

Question 3

Which statistical measure is most appropriate for describing the average performance of a skewed distribution of student test scores?

Accepted Answer

Median

Answer

The median is resistant to outliers and is preferred over the mean when data distributions are skewed.

Question 4

When reviewing AVID program research, a teacher notices a study with a p-value of 0.03. What does this indicate?

Accepted Answer

There is a 3% probability the observed results occurred by chance if the null hypothesis is true

Answer

A p-value of 0.03 means there is a 3% probability of obtaining results this extreme if the null hypothesis were true.

Question 5

A school site team wants to evaluate whether WICOR implementation has improved student engagement. Which data source would be considered qualitative?

Accepted Answer

Student focus group transcripts

Answer

Focus group transcripts yield descriptive, non-numerical data and are a classic qualitative data source.

(ACI) Avid Certified Instructor Practice Test

(ACI) Avid Certified Instructor Practice Test

ACI Research Methods & Evidence-Based Practice 2