Research Methods & Evidence-Based Practice Flashcards

A nanny reads a study showing children who attend music classes score higher on math tests. What type of research design does this most likely represent?

Answer: Correlational study

A correlational study identifies relationships between variables but cannot establish that music classes cause higher math scores.

Which source would be considered the MOST reliable for evidence-based childcare practices?

Answer: A peer-reviewed journal article

Peer-reviewed journal articles undergo expert evaluation before publication, making them the most reliable source of evidence.

When a researcher studies the same group of children annually from ages 2 to 10, this is called a:

Answer: Longitudinal study

A longitudinal study follows the same participants over an extended period to observe changes over time.

A nanny wants to find evidence on managing toddler tantrums. Which database would be MOST appropriate to search?

Answer: PubMed or ERIC

PubMed (medical/developmental research) and ERIC (education research) contain peer-reviewed studies relevant to child development.

A study on sleep training enrolled 500 children selected randomly from pediatric clinics. The term for this selection method is:

Answer: Random sampling

Random sampling gives every member of a population an equal chance of being selected, improving generalizability of findings.

The 'placebo effect' in a childcare intervention study refers to:

Answer: Improvement caused by expectation rather than the intervention itself

The placebo effect occurs when participants improve simply because they believe they are receiving an effective treatment.

A childcare guideline states it is based on 'Level I evidence.' This typically means the recommendation is supported by:

Answer: Systematic reviews or randomized controlled trials

Level I evidence, the highest quality, comes from systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials, which minimize bias most effectively.