Research & Evidence-Based Practice Flashcards
7 cards from real Communication Skills 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 & Evidence-Based Practice flashcards as text
A practitioner adopts a new presentation technique because a colleague says it worked well for them. This approach is best described as:
Answer: Anecdotal evidence
Anecdotal evidence is based on personal accounts rather than systematic research, making it a weak basis for professional practice decisions.
Which measure of central tendency is most affected by extreme outliers in a data set?
Answer: Mean
The mean is calculated using all values, so a single extreme outlier can pull it significantly away from the typical value.
In qualitative communication research, member checking involves:
Answer: Having participants review and confirm the researcher's interpretations
Member checking is a credibility strategy in which participants validate the researcher's interpretations to ensure they accurately reflect participants' experiences.
A meta-analysis in communication research is best described as:
Answer: A statistical synthesis of findings across multiple independent studies
A meta-analysis pools quantitative results from multiple studies on the same topic to estimate an overall effect size with greater statistical power.
Which of the following is an example of a PRIMARY source in communication research?
Answer: A journal article reporting original experimental data
Primary sources present original data or firsthand accounts; a journal article reporting the researcher's own experimental findings is a primary source.
Researcher bias in qualitative communication studies is best minimized through:
Answer: Reflexivity — the researcher's ongoing critical self-examination of their assumptions
Reflexivity requires researchers to consciously acknowledge and critically examine how their own background and assumptions may shape data collection and interpretation.
When a communication training program is described as 'evidence-based,' it should mean:
Answer: Its effectiveness is supported by peer-reviewed empirical research
Evidence-based practice requires that interventions be grounded in rigorous, peer-reviewed empirical studies demonstrating effectiveness.