LSA Research Methods and Evidence-Based Practice 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following is an example of a PICO question format used in evidence-based practice?
- Why do clients with depression fail to improve?
- In adults with depression (P), does cognitive behavioral therapy (I) compared to medication alone (C) improve depressive symptoms (O)? (Correct answer)
- What are the general characteristics of depressed clients?
- How many clients have depression in our agency?
Correct answer: In adults with depression (P), does cognitive behavioral therapy (I) compared to medication alone (C) improve depressive symptoms (O)?
The PICO format structures clinical questions around Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome for focused and searchable evidence queries.
Question 2: What is the primary advantage of using a standardized assessment tool over an informal clinical interview?
- Standardized tools are always more culturally appropriate
- Standardized tools provide consistent, normed measurements that allow comparison across clients (Correct answer)
- Standardized tools eliminate the need for clinical judgment
- Standardized tools are faster to administer in all settings
Correct answer: Standardized tools provide consistent, normed measurements that allow comparison across clients
Standardized tools offer established reliability, validity data, and normative comparisons, providing more consistent and comparable measurements than unstructured interviews.
Question 3: A social worker notices that clients from minority backgrounds consistently score lower on a particular assessment tool than the clinical presentation seems to warrant. This concern most likely relates to which measurement issue?
- Social desirability bias
- Test-retest reliability
- Cultural bias in the assessment instrument (Correct answer)
- Sampling error
Correct answer: Cultural bias in the assessment instrument
Cultural bias occurs when an assessment tool systematically disadvantages certain cultural groups, producing inaccurate scores unrelated to the actual condition being measured.
Question 4: In research terminology, 'external validity' refers to which of the following?
- Whether the study measures what it claims to measure
- The degree to which findings can be generalized to other populations and settings (Correct answer)
- Whether the study was conducted without researcher bias
- The consistency of the research instrument over time
Correct answer: The degree to which findings can be generalized to other populations and settings
External validity concerns the generalizability of research findings beyond the specific sample and setting to other populations and real-world contexts.
Question 5: Which sampling method would provide the most representative sample of all social work clients served by a large agency?
- Convenience sampling
- Snowball sampling
- Random sampling (Correct answer)
- Purposive sampling
Correct answer: Random sampling
Random sampling gives every member of the population an equal chance of selection, producing the most representative and unbiased sample.
Question 6: A meta-analysis differs from a systematic review primarily in that it:
- Focuses only on qualitative studies
- Statistically combines results from multiple studies to produce an overall effect size (Correct answer)
- Reviews only studies conducted in clinical inpatient settings
- Relies on expert opinion rather than empirical data
Correct answer: Statistically combines results from multiple studies to produce an overall effect size
A meta-analysis statistically pools data from multiple studies to calculate an overall effect size, providing a quantitative synthesis of the available evidence.
Question 7: Which research design is best suited for studying the natural progression of a social problem over time within a specific community?
- Experimental study
- Cross-sectional survey
- Longitudinal study (Correct answer)
- Single-subject design
Correct answer: Longitudinal study
Longitudinal studies follow the same participants or phenomena over extended periods, making them ideal for tracking changes and the progression of social problems.
LSA Research Methods and Evidence-Based Practice 2
Which of the following is an example of a PICO question format used in evidence-based practice?