The six chapter objectives listed in this module are the same as those found in the opening page of Chapter 8 in the textbook. Several learning objectives have been written and listed below to help you focus on specific material that is critical to your being able to demonstrate proficiency on the broader chapter objectives. In addition, multiple choice and essay/activity self-assessment items have been written for most of the learning objectives to help assess your knowledge of this material. You can access these items through the Multiple Choice and Essay/Activity modules.
- Briefly state the purpose of causal-comparative research.
| 1.1 | Identify the purpose of causal-comparative research. |
| 1.2 | Describe two methods (i.e., orientations) for conducting causal-comparative research. |
multiple choice questions for Objective 1
web links for Objective 1
- State the major differences between causal-comparative and correlational research.
| 2.1 | Identify the major similarity between causal-comparative and correlational research. |
| 2.2 | Identify four ways causal-comparative research differs from correlational research. |
multiple choice questions for Objective 2
web links for Objective 2
- State one major way in which causal-comparative and experimental research are the same and one major way in which they are different.
| 3.1 | Identify the major similarity and major difference between causal-comparative research and experimental research. |
| 3.2 | Identify three reasons why an independent variable is not manipulated in causal-comparative research. |
| 3.3 | List five possible variables that could be used as independent variables in causal-comparative research. |
| 3.4 | Explain how causal-comparative studies can be used to identify probable outcomes of an experimental study. |
multiple choice questions for Objective 3
essay/activity questions for Objective 3
web links for Objective 3
- Diagram and describe the basic causal-comparative design.
| 4.1 | Describe two basic causal-comparative designs. |
| 4.2 | Identify the main difference between an experimental control group design and a comparison group design. |
| 4.3 | Identify the preferred method for selecting subjects in a causal-comparative design, explain the procedures for doing so, and discuss the advantages of using this method. |
multiple choice questions for Objective 4
essay/activity questions for Objective 4
web links for Objective 4
- Identify and describe three types of control procedures that can be used in causal-comparative study.
| 5.1 | Discuss the reasons for controlling extraneous variables in causal-comparative research. |
| 5.2 | Identify three ways to control extraneous variables in causal-comparative research. |
| 5.3 | Describe the use of pair-wise matching of participants as a control for extraneous variables and identify the limitation associated with this method. |
| 5.4 | Describe the use of homogeneous grouping as a control for extraneous variables and identify the limitation associated with this method. |
| 5.5 | Discuss the advantage of using subgroups within each group to control for extraneous variables rather than using homogeneous grouping. |
| 5.6 | Explain the use of factorial analysis of variance in analyzing the data in a causal-comparative design using subgroups. |
| 5.7 | Describe the use of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) as a control for extraneous variables. |
| 5.8 | Identify the two most commonly used descriptive statistics in causal-comparative research. |
| 5.9 | Identify the three most commonly used inferential statistics in causal-comparative research. |
multiple choice questions for Objective 5
essay/activity questions for Objective 5
web links for Objective 5
- Explain why the results of causal-comparative studies must be interpreted very cautiously.
| 6.1 | Identify three reasons why the results of causal-comparative research should be interpreted extremely cautiously. |
| 6.2 | Define reversed causality. |
| 6.3 | Explain the way to determine the correct order of causality in causal-comparative research. |
multiple choice questions for Objective 6
web links for Objective 6
