Causation and Research Design MCQs

Causation and Research Design MCQs

These Causation and Research Design multiple-choice questions and their answers will help you strengthen your grip on the subject of Causation and Research Design. You can prepare for an upcoming exam or job interview with these 100+ Causation and Research Design MCQs.
So scroll down and start answering.

1: In a longitudinal research design, all data are collected at one point in tim

A.   True

B.   False

2: In cross-sectional research design, data are collected that can be ordered in tim

A.   True

B.   False

3: A spurious relationship is one in which the association between two variables is explained through intervening variables.

A.   True

B.   False

4: A researcher who draws conclusions about group-level processes from individual-level data is making what is termed:

A.   Conclusion fallacy.

B.   Reductionist fallacy.

C.   Process fallacy.

D.   Ecological fallacy.

5: This type of fallacy notes can be misled into concluding from individual-level data that race has a causal effect on violence because there is an association at the individual level between race and the likelihood of arrest for violent crim

A.   Conclusion fallacy

B.   Reductionist fallacy

C.   Process fallacy

D.   Ecological fallacy

6: Which of the following is NOT considered a criterion in deciding causality?

A.   Nonspuriousness

B.   Context

C.   Association

D.   Content

7: In experiments, the technique used to establish nonspuriousness is:

A.   Statistical control

B.   Randomization

C.   Statistics

D.   Association

8: The technique of _____________ control allows researchers to determine whether the relationship between the independent and dependent variables still occurs while we hold constant the values of other variables.

A.   Value

B.   Statistical

C.   Relational

D.   Randomization

9: In a true experiment, time order is:

A.   Determined by the researcher.

B.   Retrospectiv

C.   Nomotheti

D.   Variabl

10: As a pre-schooler’s height increases, so does their ability to recite the alphabet. This statement is a violation of which criterion for causality?

A.   Association

B.   Nonspuriousness

C.   Context

D.   Time order

11: An idiographic causal explantion is one involving the belief that variation in an independent variable will be followed by variation in the dependent variable.

A.   True

B.   False

12: The conterfactual refers to the situation as it would have been in the absence of variation in the independent variable.

A.   True

B.   False

13: A nomothetic causal explantion is often also termed an individualist or a historicist explanation.

A.   True

B.   False

14: Empirical association, appropriate time order, and nonspuriousness are the conditions necessary for determining causality.

A.   True

B.   False

15: In order to establish appropriate time order, the researcher must demonstrate that the variation in the dependent variable occurred prior to the variation in the independent variable.

A.   True

B.   False

16: When a third variable is responsible for the association between an independent variable and the dependent variable, the relationship between the independent and dependent variable is considered spurious.

A.   True

B.   False

17: Contextual effects are reported when the relationship among variables are different across geographical contexts.

A.   True

B.   False

18: In a true experiment, outcomes are measured in a prettest.

A.   True

B.   False

19: A defining feature of quasi-experimental designs is random assignment.

A.   True

B.   False

20: Longitudinal research designs involve the collection of data at two or more points in time.

A.   True

B.   False

21: Repeated cross-sectional designs are also referred to as trend studies.

A.   True

B.   False

22: Attrition is a known problem in cross-sectional research.

A.   True

B.   False

23: All individuals born in 1990 would represent a cohort.

A.   True

B.   False

24: Units of analysis are always individuals.

A.   True

B.   False

25: An ecological fallacy is an error in reasoning in which incorrect conclusions about individual-level processes are drawn from group-level data.

A.   True

B.   False

26: _____ is known as key dates of important events, such as birthdays, that help trigger recall for respondents.

A.   Population parameter

B.   Between-subjects design

C.   None of these

D.   Anchors

27: Is arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) a U.S. monitoring program that uses standardized drug-testing methodologies and predictive models to measure the consequences of drug abuse within each state and across state boundaries?

A.   False

B.   True

A.   All of these

B.   Normal distribution

C.   Theoretical constructs

D.   Association

29: _____ is defined as when a series of concrete events, thoughts, or actions result in a particular event or individual outcome.

A.   Institutional review board (IRB)

B.   None of these

C.   Empirical generalizations

D.   Causal effect (idiographic perspective)

30: _____ is known as latin term meaning all other things being equal.

A.   Crime mapping

B.   Ceteris paribus

C.   Beneficence

D.   None of these

31: Is context a focus of causal explanation; a particular outcome is understood as part of a larger set of interrelated circumstances?

A.   False

B.   True

32: _____ is relationships between variables that vary between geographic units or other contexts.

A.   Contextual effect

B.   All of these

C.   Stanley Milgram’s experiments on obedience to authority

D.   Between-subjects design

33: _____ is defined as the group of subjects who are either exposed to a different treatment than the experimental group or who receive no treatment at all.

A.   Control or comparison group

B.   Dichotomy

C.   Index

D.   None of these

34: _____ is known as the outcome that would have occurred if the subjects who were exposed to the treatment actually were not exposed but otherwise had had identical experiences to those they underwent during the experiment.

A.   Counterfactual

B.   None of these

C.   Intensive interviewing

D.   Participatory action research

35: Is cross‑sectional research design a study in which data are collected at only one point in time?

A.   True

B.   False

36: _____ is an error in reasoning in which incorrect conclusions about individual-level processes are drawn from group-level data.

A.   Ecological fallacy

B.   All of these

C.   Belmont report

D.   Empirical generalizations

37: _____ is defined as a type of longitudinal study in which data are collected at two or more points in time from individuals in a cohort.

A.   Event‑based design (cohort study)

B.   Overgeneralization

C.   Deductive research

D.   All of these

38: _____ is known as in an experiment, the group of subjects that receives the treatment or experimental manipulation.

A.   Matched-groups design

B.   Experimental group

C.   Selective observation

D.   All of these

39: Is extraneous variable a variable that influences both the independent and dependent variables so as to create a spurious association between them that disappears when the extraneous variable is controlled?

A.   True

B.   False

40: _____ is a type of longitudinal study in which data are collected from the same individuals—the panel—at two or more points in time. In another type of panel design, panel members who leave are replaced with new members.

A.   Independent variable

B.   Fixed‑sample panel design (panel study)

C.   Concept

D.   All of these

41: _____ is defined as an explanation that identifies the concrete, individual sequence of events, thoughts, or actions that resulted in a particular outcome for a particular individual or that led to a particular event; may be termed an individualist or historicist explanation.

A.   Intersubjective agreement

B.   Between-subjects design

C.   None of these

D.   Idiographic causal explanation

42: _____ is known as variables that are influenced by an independent variable and, in turn, influence variation in a dependent variable, thus helping to explain the relationship between the independent and dependent variables.

A.   None of these

B.   Between-subjects design

C.   Idiographic causal explanation

D.   Intervening variables

43: Is life calendar an instrument that helps respondents recall events in their past by displaying each month of a given year alongside key dates noted within the calendar, such as birthdays, arrests, holidays, anniversaries, and so on?

A.   False

B.   True

44: _____ is a study in which data are collected that can be ordered in time; also defined as research in which data are collected at two or more points in time.

A.   Longitudinal research design

B.   Qualitative research methods

C.   All of these

D.   Inaccurate observation

45: _____ is defined as a discernible process that creates a causal connection between two variables.

A.   None of these

B.   Mechanism

C.   Inferential statistics

D.   Simple random sampling

46: _____ is known as a type of causal explanation involving the belief that variation in an independent variable will be followed by variation in the dependent variable, when all other things are equal.

A.   Nomothetic causal explanation

B.   None of these

C.   Intensive interviewing

D.   Participatory action research

47: Is nonspuriousness a relationship that exists between two variables that is not due to variation in a third variable?

A.   True

B.   False

48: _____ is a procedure by which each experimental and control group subject is placed in a group randomly.

A.   None of these

B.   Between-subjects design

C.   Random assignment

D.   Matched-groups design

49: _____ is defined as an error in reasoning that occurs when incorrect conclusions about group-level processes are based on individual-level data.

A.   None of these

B.   Interval level of measurement

C.   Periodicity

D.   Reductionist fallacy (reductionism)

50: _____ is known as a type of longitudinal study in which data are collected at two or more points in time from different samples of the same population.

A.   Crime mapping

B.   Repeated cross‑sectional design (trend study)

C.   Deception

D.   All of these