Research & Program Evaluation Flashcards
7 cards from real CPCE 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 & Program Evaluation flashcards as text
A counselor wants to determine whether a new career counseling intervention caused a reduction in client anxiety. Which research design best establishes causality?
Answer: Randomized controlled trial with a control group
A randomized controlled trial with random assignment to treatment and control groups is the gold standard for establishing causal relationships.
In program evaluation, 'formative evaluation' is best described as:
Answer: Ongoing assessment used to improve a program while it is running
Formative evaluation collects data during program implementation to guide ongoing improvements.
Which of the following is an example of a Type II error in counseling research?
Answer: Failing to detect a real treatment effect that exists
A Type II error (false negative) occurs when a researcher fails to reject a null hypothesis that is actually false.
A school counselor collects data on student grades, attendance, and disciplinary referrals before and after implementing a social-emotional learning program. This is an example of:
Answer: Summative evaluation using archival data
Using existing school records to assess outcomes after a program constitutes summative evaluation with archival (secondary) data.
When a researcher reports a statistically significant result with p < .05, this means:
Answer: The probability of obtaining results this extreme by chance alone is less than 5%
A p-value below .05 indicates there is less than a 5% probability that the observed results are due to random chance.
Which sampling method would be MOST appropriate for studying a rare population, such as counselors who have experienced vicarious trauma?
Answer: Snowball sampling
Snowball sampling uses referrals from identified participants to recruit others, making it ideal for hard-to-reach or rare populations.
A counselor evaluating a substance abuse prevention program finds it reduced use among participants but the effect did not generalize to the broader school population. This illustrates a threat to:
Answer: External validity (generalizability)
External validity refers to the degree to which findings can be generalized beyond the study sample to other populations or settings.