Research Methods Flashcards
7 cards from real STP 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 Methods flashcards as text
Which of the following best describes the intention-to-treat (ITT) principle in an RCT?
Answer: All randomized participants are analyzed in the group they were assigned to, regardless of protocol adherence
ITT analysis includes all randomized participants in their originally assigned groups, preserving the benefits of randomization and avoiding bias from dropout.
Specificity of a diagnostic test is defined as:
Answer: The proportion of non-diseased individuals correctly testing negative
Specificity is the true negative rate — the proportion of people without the disease who are correctly identified as negative by the test.
In research ethics, the principle of beneficence requires that researchers:
Answer: Maximize benefits and minimize harms to participants
Beneficence obligates researchers to promote the well-being of participants by maximizing potential benefits and minimizing potential harms.
A forest plot in a meta-analysis displays:
Answer: Effect estimates and confidence intervals for individual studies and a pooled summary
A forest plot shows each study's effect estimate and confidence interval as horizontal lines, with a diamond representing the pooled meta-analytic estimate.
Which of the following is an example of information bias in a case-control study?
Answer: Cases recall past exposures more vividly than controls (recall bias)
Recall bias is a form of information bias where cases, motivated by their disease, recall past exposures differently than controls, distorting exposure estimates.
In laboratory research, a positive control is used to:
Answer: Confirm that the assay is working correctly and capable of detecting a true positive result
A positive control contains a known positive result and confirms that the experimental assay is functioning correctly and can detect the expected signal.
Triangulation in qualitative research refers to:
Answer: Using multiple data sources, methods, or researchers to enhance credibility
Triangulation uses multiple sources of data, methods, investigators, or theoretical frameworks to cross-verify findings and strengthen the credibility of qualitative research.