CPT Research Methods & Evidence-Based Practice 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A tutor wants to determine whether a new vocabulary strategy is effective. Which research design best establishes cause and effect?
- Case study
- Randomized controlled trial (Correct answer)
- Naturalistic observation
- Cross-sectional survey
Correct answer: Randomized controlled trial
A randomized controlled trial randomly assigns participants to groups, allowing causal conclusions about the intervention's effect.
Question 2: Which term describes the extent to which a study's findings can be generalized to other students and settings?
- Internal validity
- Reliability
- External validity (Correct answer)
- Construct validity
Correct answer: External validity
External validity refers to how well study results apply beyond the specific sample and setting studied.
Question 3: A tutor reads a meta-analysis on reading fluency interventions. What is a key advantage of meta-analyses over single studies?
- They use larger, combined sample sizes for stronger conclusions (Correct answer)
- They eliminate the need for statistical analysis
- They focus exclusively on qualitative data
- They are faster to conduct than individual studies
Correct answer: They use larger, combined sample sizes for stronger conclusions
Meta-analyses pool data across multiple studies, increasing statistical power and yielding more reliable effect size estimates.
Question 4: When a measurement tool consistently produces similar scores across repeated administrations, it demonstrates:
- Content validity
- Test-retest reliability (Correct answer)
- Predictive validity
- Concurrent validity
Correct answer: Test-retest reliability
Test-retest reliability measures the consistency of scores obtained from the same instrument at different time points.
Question 5: A tutor notices that students who received phonics instruction outperformed controls, but the control group had less experienced teachers. This is an example of:
- Random error
- A confounding variable (Correct answer)
- Sampling bias
- Floor effect
Correct answer: A confounding variable
Teacher experience is a confounding variable that co-varies with the intervention and could explain the outcome independently.
Question 6: In evidence-based tutoring practice, the hierarchy of evidence places which source at the highest level of credibility?
- Expert opinion
- Anecdotal case reports
- Systematic reviews and meta-analyses (Correct answer)
- Single randomized controlled trials
Correct answer: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses synthesize the best available evidence and are considered the gold standard in evidence hierarchies.
Question 7: A researcher uses a Likert scale to measure student motivation. This is an example of collecting:
- Nominal data
- Ratio data
- Ordinal data (Correct answer)
- Interval data
Correct answer: Ordinal data
Likert scales produce ordinal data because response categories are ranked but intervals between them are not necessarily equal.
CPT Research Methods & Evidence-Based Practice 2
A tutor wants to determine whether a new vocabulary strategy is effective.
Which research design best establishes cause and effect?