Communication Skills Research & Evidence-Based Practice 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A practitioner adopts a new presentation technique because a colleague says it worked well for them. This approach is best described as:
- Evidence-based practice
- Anecdotal evidence (Correct answer)
- Meta-analysis
- Peer review
Correct answer: Anecdotal evidence
Anecdotal evidence is based on personal accounts rather than systematic research, making it a weak basis for professional practice decisions.
Question 2: Which measure of central tendency is most affected by extreme outliers in a data set?
- Mode
- Median
- Mean (Correct answer)
- Range
Correct answer: Mean
The mean is calculated using all values, so a single extreme outlier can pull it significantly away from the typical value.
Question 3: In qualitative communication research, member checking involves:
- Having participants review and confirm the researcher's interpretations (Correct answer)
- Checking that all team members completed data entry
- Verifying that participants are dues-paying members of a professional organization
- Counting how many members participated in a focus group
Correct answer: Having participants review and confirm the researcher's interpretations
Member checking is a credibility strategy in which participants validate the researcher's interpretations to ensure they accurately reflect participants' experiences.
Question 4: A meta-analysis in communication research is best described as:
- An in-depth interview technique
- A statistical synthesis of findings across multiple independent studies (Correct answer)
- A single large-scale experimental study
- A type of case study focusing on online media
Correct answer: A statistical synthesis of findings across multiple independent studies
A meta-analysis pools quantitative results from multiple studies on the same topic to estimate an overall effect size with greater statistical power.
Question 5: Which of the following is an example of a PRIMARY source in communication research?
- A textbook chapter summarizing persuasion theories
- A journal article reporting original experimental data (Correct answer)
- A news summary of recent communication studies
- A Wikipedia entry on rhetoric
Correct answer: A journal article reporting original experimental data
Primary sources present original data or firsthand accounts; a journal article reporting the researcher's own experimental findings is a primary source.
Question 6: Researcher bias in qualitative communication studies is best minimized through:
- Using a larger font in the report
- Reflexivity — the researcher's ongoing critical self-examination of their assumptions (Correct answer)
- Interviewing only one participant to limit conflicting data
- Avoiding literature reviews before data collection
Correct answer: Reflexivity — the researcher's ongoing critical self-examination of their assumptions
Reflexivity requires researchers to consciously acknowledge and critically examine how their own background and assumptions may shape data collection and interpretation.
Question 7: When a communication training program is described as 'evidence-based,' it should mean:
- It was developed by a popular public speaker
- Its effectiveness is supported by peer-reviewed empirical research (Correct answer)
- It is widely used in Fortune 500 companies
- The trainer has more than ten years of experience
Correct answer: Its effectiveness is supported by peer-reviewed empirical research
Evidence-based practice requires that interventions be grounded in rigorous, peer-reviewed empirical studies demonstrating effectiveness.
Communication Skills Research & Evidence-Based Practice 3
A practitioner adopts a new presentation technique because a colleague says it worked well for them.
This approach is best described as: