Research and Scientific Foundations Flashcards
7 cards from real HSP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Research and Scientific Foundations flashcards as text
A researcher wants to determine if a new CBT protocol causes greater symptom reduction than treatment-as-usual. Which design best establishes causality?
Answer: Randomized controlled trial with blinded outcome assessment
Randomized controlled trials with blinded assessment are the gold standard for establishing causal relationships between interventions and outcomes.
In a factor analysis of a new psychological measure, a scree plot shows a clear break after the second eigenvalue. What does this suggest?
Answer: Two factors best explain the variance in the data
A scree plot break after the second eigenvalue indicates that two factors account for meaningful variance, supporting a two-factor solution.
A health psychologist is reviewing a study reporting p = .049 for a primary outcome. Which statement best reflects current scientific standards?
Answer: Statistical significance alone does not confirm clinical meaningfulness
A p-value near the threshold indicates statistical significance but must be evaluated alongside effect size and clinical meaningfulness.
Which type of validity is assessed when a new depression scale correlates strongly with a well-established depression measure?
Answer: Concurrent criterion validity
Concurrent criterion validity is demonstrated when a new measure correlates with an established gold-standard measure administered at the same time.
A systematic review uses the GRADE framework. What does a 'low quality' GRADE rating primarily indicate?
Answer: There is little confidence that the evidence reflects the true effect
A 'low' GRADE rating means further research is very likely to change confidence in the estimate of effect.
A researcher uses snowball sampling to recruit participants with rare chronic conditions. The primary limitation of this approach is:
Answer: Participants may share network characteristics, limiting generalizability
Snowball sampling introduces network bias because recruits referred through social connections may share characteristics that limit generalizability.
Cohen's d of 0.80 is conventionally interpreted as:
Answer: Large effect
By Cohen's conventions, d = 0.20 is small, d = 0.50 is medium, and d = 0.80 is large.