CPN Research Methods & Evidence-Based Practice 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: 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?
- Randomized controlled trial
- Correlational study (Correct answer)
- Case study
- Meta-analysis
Correct answer: Correlational study
A correlational study identifies relationships between variables but cannot establish that music classes cause higher math scores.
Question 2: Which source would be considered the MOST reliable for evidence-based childcare practices?
- A parenting blog with 1 million followers
- A peer-reviewed journal article (Correct answer)
- A bestselling parenting book
- Advice from an experienced neighbor
Correct answer: A peer-reviewed journal article
Peer-reviewed journal articles undergo expert evaluation before publication, making them the most reliable source of evidence.
Question 3: When a researcher studies the same group of children annually from ages 2 to 10, this is called a:
- Cross-sectional study
- Longitudinal study (Correct answer)
- Retrospective study
- Case-control study
Correct answer: Longitudinal study
A longitudinal study follows the same participants over an extended period to observe changes over time.
Question 4: A nanny wants to find evidence on managing toddler tantrums. Which database would be MOST appropriate to search?
- Wikipedia
- PubMed or ERIC (Correct answer)
- Reddit parenting forums
- Pinterest boards
Correct answer: PubMed or ERIC
PubMed (medical/developmental research) and ERIC (education research) contain peer-reviewed studies relevant to child development.
Question 5: A study on sleep training enrolled 500 children selected randomly from pediatric clinics. The term for this selection method is:
- Convenience sampling
- Random sampling (Correct answer)
- Purposive sampling
- Snowball sampling
Correct answer: Random sampling
Random sampling gives every member of a population an equal chance of being selected, improving generalizability of findings.
Question 6: The 'placebo effect' in a childcare intervention study refers to:
- Participants deliberately lying to researchers
- Improvement caused by expectation rather than the intervention itself (Correct answer)
- Random errors in data collection
- The intervention having no measurable effect
Correct 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.
Question 7: A childcare guideline states it is based on 'Level I evidence.' This typically means the recommendation is supported by:
- Expert opinion alone
- A single case report
- Systematic reviews or randomized controlled trials (Correct answer)
- Observational studies only
Correct 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.
CPN Research Methods & Evidence-Based Practice 2
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?