Study Guide for Exam 1 COM 3050 Exam on October 2 with review on September 30 in class All content in the exam will be from the textbook only and the “cheat sheets” provided for the descriptive and inferential statistics content. 1. Chapter 1 a. Goals and results of research b. The idea of research driven by theory c. Difference between quantitative and qualitative methods d. The 5 steps of the research process 2. Chapter 2 a. Steps of theory development b. Uses of theory c. Difference between deductive and inductive research d. Be able to analyze a research question based on the list of evaluating questions 3. Chapter 3 a. Ethical principles beneficence, respect for person and justice: be able to describe, identify and critically analyze in a situation example b. What is the IRB and what is the purpose? c. Purpose and key elements of informed consent d. Pros and cons of deception 4. Chapter 4 a. Define quantitative research and describe what method of reasoning it usually relies on. b. Be able to define and describe the key concepts of concept, construct, variable, operationalization. c. Difference between direction and nondirectional hypotheses d. What is a null hypothesis? e. Describe the relationship between the independent variable and dependent variable, be able to define each f. Be able to give examples of operationalization. g. What can cause problems in reliability and validity – also see Chapter 5 5. Chapter 5 a. Describe and give example of discrete data b. Describe and give examples of continuous level data c. Describe and give examples of ordinal data d. Describe and give examples of interval data e. describe and give examples of Likert-type scales f. Be able to describe and identify examples of issues with face validity, content validity, criterion-related validity and construct validity g. Explain the reliability coefficient and its purpose h. What are some things that might cause internal reliability issues? i. What is the purpose of Cronbach’s alpha? j. Describe reliability and validity – be able to define and how they are related. 6. Chapter 6 a. What’s the difference between population and sample? b. What’s a sample frame? c. Define generalizability d. Be able to define probability sampling, random selection, sampling error, confidence level and confidence interval. e. Be able to identify the different types of sampling methods including simple random sampling, systematic sampling, stratified random sampling and cluster sampling f. Be able to describe nonprobability sampling and give an example. 7. Chapter 7 a. Be able to describe the three categories of research design b. What is the purpose of experimental research? c. What is the purpose of randomization? d. What is the purpose of a manipulation check? e. What are the differences between posttest-only, pretest-posttest and factorial design? f. What are quasi-experiments and field experiments? g. What is a descriptive design and what is its purpose? h. What is a benefit of online survey software 8. Chapter 8 a. Pros and cons of different types of surveys b. What are some (there are 8, be able to discuss at least 3) primary issues to consider when designing survey items? c. Difference between open and closed questions and purposes for each. 9. Chapter 9 a. What is the normal curve and skewed distribution? b. Be able to define the measures of central tendency including mean, median and mode. You will not be asked to calculate in this exam. c. What is the purpose of calculating standard deviation? d. What is the purpose in plotting frequency? e. What is significance level? f. What is the purpose of finding probability level? 10. Chapter 10 a. What is the purpose of inferential statistics? How is this different than descriptive statistics? b. What is the purpose of calculating degrees of freedom? c. What is the significance level and what is it typically set at? d. What are the typical four major steps to any inferential statistical analysis? e. What is the purpose of using a Chi-square? Be prepared to give an example. f. What is the purpose of using a t-test? Be prepared to give an example. g. What is the purpose of using ANOVA? Be prepared to give an example. 11. Chapter 11 a. What are the four analytical steps of testing of relationships? b. What is the purpose of correlation analysis? Be prepared to give an example. c. What is the purpose of regression analysis? Be prepared to give an example.
