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Introduction to Health Services Research : A Self-Study Course
Module 5: Quality Filtering and Evidence-Based Medicine and Health (page 15 of 15)
Introduction | Sampling | Assignment | Assessment | Analysis | Interpretation | Extrapolation
Review Questions
Use these questions to review for the quiz for this module. After successfully taking the quiz and passing it with 80% accuracy, you can choose to get a Certificate of Success for the module.
The bolded text indicates the correct answer.
Take Quiz 5 (Module 5) without reviewing the questions.
Review Questions
1. The need for quality filtering has | has not increased as health researchers and policy makers produce clinical guidelines or conduct meta-analyses.
A. has increased
B. has not increased
The need for quality filtering has increased as health researchers and policy makers produce clinical guidelines or conduct meta-analyses. Having evidence to back up changes in practice or policy is very important.
2. Evidence-based medicine adds data to personal experiences and decreases reliance on expert opinion or custom.
A. True
B. False
Evidence-based practice does add data to personal experiences and it decreases reliance on expert opinion or custom.
3. Quality filtering ... (select the best answer).
A. remains a mystery to many librarians
B. is a study protocol used to assess health status
C. is a process that sifts the more substantial studies from the less informative ones
D. informs researchers when to stop a study
Quality filtering is a process that sifts the more substantial studies from the less informative ones. It does not remain a mystery to most librarians who have embraced the idea of helping researchers find the best research evidence when partnering with researchers.
4. Evidence-based medicine ... (select the best answer).
A. requires students and researchers to have competency in literature searching and critical appraisal skills
B. is used by researchers to systematically collect and analyze the best studies before combining them and drawing conclusions
C. has its detractors who believe evidence-based medicine adds nothing new to research
D. none of the above
E. all of the above
Evidence-based medicine requires students and researchers to have competency in literature searching and critical appraisal skills - or to have a trained librarian available to work with them; is used by researchers to systematically collect and analyze the best studies before combining them and drawing conclusions; and does have its detractors who believe evidence-based medicine adds nothing new to research. So, all of the above is the correct answer.
5. Even when you have millions of people in a group it is better to survey the entire population than to take a sample. True | False
Given the costs and difficulty of surveying an entire population, it is better to survey a sample.
6. It is _____________ for researchers to reduce variation in a sample. (Select the correct word).
A. possible
B. impossible
Researchers can reduce the variation in a sample through different means such as having a large sample size and selecting the right composition.
7. In most health services research questions, the investigators need data from huge groups of people; however there is no easy way to include all the eligible people in one study. Thus ________ is selected. (Select the correct words from the list).
A. a representative sample
B. an inclusive group
C. every third person irrespective of sex
D. a partial set of questions
A representative sample of the population is selected for study.
8. If you read the Methods section in a research article and see that the study groups appear very different in the study tables (AND you suspect that these differences could affect the study's results), should you question the conclusions of the study?
A. Yes, definitely
B. No, of course not
It is important that the study groups be similar. If they are too dissimilar you should question the conclusions of the study.
9. Three (or more) factors are used to describe the people in each group in a study. The factors can include: age, __________, and health characteristics. (Select the missing word or phrase from the list below).
A. blinding
B. random assignment
C. disassociation
D. socioeconomic status
Three (or more) factors are used to describe the people in each group in a study. The factors can include: age, socioeconomic status, and health characteristics.
10. The MRFIT Study ultimately turned out to be an example of what research problem?
A. not selecting a random sample
B. statistical anomalies
C. disassociation
D. confounding
The MRFIT Study was an example of confounding because it appeared that there were no differences between the groups and that the behavior changes had no effect on heart disease risk.
11. Measurement errors may occur in several ways. Which item below does NOT belong with the others in the list?
A. the instruments themselves are inaccurate
B. the study participants are neither blinded nor randomized
C. study participants change their behavior because they are under observation
D. the investigators question one group more thoroughly or more frequently than the other
E. people in the study drop out and cannot be followed (lost to follow-up)
The second item (the study participants are neither blinded nor randomized) does not belong in this list. Few clinical trials/research projects are undertaken where study participants are not blinded or at least randomized into control and study groups.
12. In a research project, the process that randomly assigns people to a group so that neither the researchers or the people in the groups know which group they are in is called _________ (what)?
A. oversight
B. methodology
C. blinding
D. statistical methods
When neither the researchers nor the people in the groups know which group they are in, the process is called blinding.
13. Complete this sentence. Relative risks of 5 are considered quite ... (what? Select the correct word or phrase).
A. formidable
B. too big to be believable
C. minimal
D. substantial
Relative risks of 5 are considered quite substantial. Many risks in epidemiological studies are usually much smaller (around 2), leading to much controversy in interpreting the risk as meaningful.
14. Researchers perform analysis to identify three major characteristics: a. Strength of the association; b. Adjustment; and c. (what? Select the correct answer).
A. Confounders
B. Statistical significance
C. P-value
D. Probability
Statistical significance is the correct answer in this case. Researchers perform analysis to identify three major characteristics: a. Strength of the association; b. Adjustment; and Statistical significance.
15. Interpretating the data or the drawing of conclusions from the data, is an important component of a research study. True | False
Interpretation concerns the conclusions made about the people in the study and is an important component of a research study.
16. Assessing the strength of the association between variables (indicated by the relative risk or other measures) and the cause and effect relationship between them is referred to as (what? Select correct phrase).
A. statistical analysis
B. research design
C. relative risk
D. causal relationship
Researchers assess the strength of the association between variables (indicated by the relative risk or other measures) and the cause and effect relationship between them.
17. Research results can always | sometimes be extrapolated to other groups.
Research results can be used for groups or in amounts different from the study but this should be done carefully to ensure that the results are extrapolated correctly.
18. Authors of research papers should be careful of generalizations as they write up their results. True | False
Authors or readers should not extend the data farther than the data can reach.
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