Counseling Research and Program Evaluation — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A counselor wants to know whether a new anxiety-reduction program causes lower anxiety scores. Participants will be randomly assigned to a treatment group or a waitlist control group. Which research design is this?
- Experimental design (Correct answer)
- Correlational design
- Case study design
- Ex post facto design
Correct answer: Experimental design
Random assignment to treatment and control conditions, with manipulation of an independent variable, defines a true experimental design. It is the strongest design for supporting causal claims.
Question 2: Which measure of central tendency is most appropriate for a distribution of income data that includes a few extremely high outliers?
- Mean
- Median (Correct answer)
- Range
- Standard deviation
Correct answer: Median
The median is resistant to outliers and better represents the center of a skewed distribution. The mean is pulled toward extreme values. Range and standard deviation measure variability, not central tendency.
Question 3: A researcher rejects the null hypothesis when it is actually true. What type of error is this?
- Type I error (Correct answer)
- Type II error
- Sampling error
- Measurement error
Correct answer: Type I error
A Type I error is a false positive: rejecting a true null hypothesis. Its probability is the alpha level. A Type II error is failing to reject a false null hypothesis.
Question 4: Which type of program evaluation is conducted while a program is still being implemented in order to improve it?
- Summative evaluation
- Formative evaluation (Correct answer)
- Longitudinal evaluation
- Retrospective evaluation
Correct answer: Formative evaluation
Formative evaluation provides ongoing feedback during program development or implementation so adjustments can be made. Summative evaluation judges overall effectiveness after the program is complete.
Question 5: A correlation coefficient of -.85 between hours of social media use and sleep quality indicates which of the following?
- A weak positive relationship
- A strong negative relationship (Correct answer)
- No relationship
- Proof that social media causes poor sleep
Correct answer: A strong negative relationship
The negative sign shows the variables move in opposite directions, and a magnitude of .85 is strong. Correlation does not establish causation.
Question 6: Which qualitative research approach focuses on understanding the lived experience of a phenomenon shared by several individuals?
- Grounded theory
- Ethnography
- Phenomenology (Correct answer)
- Meta-analysis
Correct answer: Phenomenology
Phenomenology explores the essence of participants' lived experiences of a phenomenon. Grounded theory builds theory from data, ethnography studies cultural groups, and meta-analysis is a quantitative synthesis.
