Category: Writing

What method would you use to investigate the following
research hypotheses?
a. High school students who work during the school year will
have lower grades and lower standardized test scores than students who do not
work.
b. First-grade students who are taught reading using phonics
will read at a higher level than fi rst-grade students taught by another
method.
c. Beginning teachers who are mentored will be more
effective and express more satisfaction with teaching than beginning teachers
who are not mentored.
d. Students who are in small classes (less than 15) in
grades kindergarten to 3 will perform at a higher level in grades 4 to 6 than
will students in regular-sized classes (more than 20)

A researcher wants to test the effectiveness of two
different computer-based instructional methods on teaching a unit on weather in
seventh-grade science. The researcher fi nds a teacher who will permit three of
his classes to participate: Two classes use the computer-based instruction, and
the third receives conventional classroom instruction. The researcher
administers a pretest to all students, each class has a different method of
instruction, and then a posttest is administered.
a. Specify the design of this study and represent it using
the notation system used in this chapter.
b. What statistics would you choose to analyze the data?

Design the ideal experiment to test the following
hypothesis: Children who view fi lms of harmonious racial interaction will show
a more positive attitude toward racial minorities than will children shown fi
lms that depict racial confl ict

Consider the following research question: Does teaching the
fi rst year of French through an oral–aural approach, rather than the
grammar-transformational method, alter pupil performance on a standardized
year-end test in grammar, reading, and vocabulary?
a. Identify the ideal experiment to answer this question,
assuming that there are no administrative or other restrictions.
b. Identify the experiment that would most likely be required
in the typical high school setting.
c. State the relative advantages of the ideal experimental
design compared with the design.

From a group of students enrolled in social
studies in a high school, a researcher randomly selected 60
students. The students
were then divided into two groups by
random assignment of 30 to group A, the
traditional social studies curriculum, and
30 to group B, a new program designed
to deal with the history of certain ethnic
groups. The two groups were compared at
the end of the semester on a scale designed
to measure attitudes toward ethnic groups.
In this study, identify the following:
a. Independent variable
b. Dependent variable
c. Control group
d. Experimental group
e. Method(s) used to control for differences
between the groups
f. Research design used
g. Any threats to internal validity

What are the threats to internal validity in the following
examples?
a. Very obese individuals who go to a weight control clinic
will likely show some loss of weight even if the weight control treatment has
no effect.
b. A longitudinal study of the effectiveness of a study
skills treatment followed a group of college students. The results showed that
the seniors had a fi nal mean grade point average higher than they had as
freshmen

Identify the threat to external validity in the following
examples:
a. A teacher read research reporting great results from
using a particular remedial reading program. She tried the program in her
classroom but did not get the same results.
b. A teacher read about a new method of instruction that was
very successful with regular classes. The method did not work when she tried it
with her special education students.
c. A research journal reported that a new antismoking fi lm
had brought about a signifi cant change in students’ attitudes. After viewing
the fi lm, students expressed many more negative attitudes toward smoking than
they had on a prefi lm measure. A teacher decided to use the fi lm with his
middle school students but did not want to take time to administer the
“pretest.” He administered an attitude scale following the fi lm but did not fi
nd marked negative attitudes toward smoking.