NBCE Research and Development 5

Question 1

In a double-blind randomized controlled trial, blinding applies to:

Accepted Answer

Both the participants and the investigators administering treatment

Answer

Double-blind means neither the participants nor the clinicians/assessors know group allocation, reducing performance and detection bias.

Question 2

Which study design is most suitable for investigating a rare adverse event potentially associated with spinal manipulation?

Accepted Answer

Case-control study

Answer

Case-control studies are efficient for rare outcomes because they start with cases who already have the outcome and compare them to controls.

Question 3

Forest plots in meta-analyses display:

Accepted Answer

Effect estimates and confidence intervals from individual studies alongside a pooled estimate

Answer

Forest plots graphically show each study's effect estimate with its CI and a weighted summary (diamond) representing the pooled result.

Question 4

Randomization in clinical trials primarily serves to:

Accepted Answer

Balance known and unknown confounders between treatment groups

Answer

Randomization distributes both measured and unmeasured confounders evenly across groups, supporting causal inference.

Question 5

The Belmont Report established three core ethical principles for human research. Which combination is correct?

Accepted Answer

Respect for persons, beneficence, and justice

Answer

The Belmont Report (1979) identified respect for persons, beneficence, and justice as the foundational principles of research ethics.

(NBCE) National Board of Chiropractic Examiners Practice Test