Communication Skills Research & Evidence-Based Practice 3

Question 1

A practitioner adopts a new presentation technique because a colleague says it worked well for them. This approach is best described as:

Accepted Answer

Anecdotal evidence

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

Mean

Answer

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:

Accepted Answer

Having participants review and confirm the researcher's interpretations

Answer

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:

Accepted Answer

A statistical synthesis of findings across multiple independent studies

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

A journal article reporting original experimental data

Answer

Primary sources present original data or firsthand accounts; a journal article reporting the researcher's own experimental findings is a primary source.

Communication Skills Practice Test

Communication Skills Practice Test

Communication Skills Research & Evidence-Based Practice 3