Practical Problems in Research Methods A Casebook with Questions for Discussion

SECTION I: Short Cases

Part A: Sampling

Case 1: Sampling Hispanic Adults by Telephone

Case 2: Using a Sample of Convenience

Case 3: Using Quota Sampling

Case 4: Using an Incentive to Increase Response Rate

Case 5: Obtaining a Sample of Psychotherapy Clients

Part B: Measurement

Case 6: Measuring the Attractiveness of Participants

Case 7: Measuring Social Desirability

Case 8: Measuring Students’ Distant Memories

Case 9: Evaluating an Acculturation Scale

Case 10: Determining the Validity of Self-Reports

Part C: Operational Definitions

Case 11: Defining “Physical Abuse” of Children

Case 12: Defining “Economic Well-Being”

Case 13: Defining “Substance Abuse” Among Pregnant Women

Case 14: Defining a “Social Interaction”

Case 15: Defining “Sex” in a National Survey

Part D: Procedures

Case 16: Controlling the Distribution of a Questionnaire in a Nutrition Study

Case 17: Identifying Duplicate Responses to an Anonymous Questionnaire

Case 18: Using a Simulated Setting to Evaluate Disciplinary Fairness Training

Case 19: Using Confederates in an Experiment

Case 20: Working with Severely Angry Participants

Part E: Experimental/Causal Comparative Designs

Case 21: Selecting Participants for a Comparison of Asian and White Americans

Case 22: Forming Experimental and Control Groups in a Study of Drug Prevention

Case 23: Forming Comparison Groups in Classroom Research on Reading

Case 24: Forming Comparison Groups for a Study of Postpartum Disorders

Case 25: Identifying Comparison Groups for a Study of Childhood Abuse

Part F: Protecting the Rights of Participants/Ethical Considerations

Case 26: Using Deception in a Study of Social Interactions

Case 27: Prescreening Adolescents for Stress

Case 28: Estimating HIV Rates Among Young Men

Case 29: Soliciting Professors for a Study of Their Intellect

Case 30: Hiding the Purpose of a Study from Employees

Part G: Interpretation of Results

Case 31: Interpreting Cause-and-Effect: Health Risk Behaviors of Adolescents

Case 32: Interpreting Results in Light of Social Desirability

Case 33: Evaluating Attrition in a Study on Hypnosis

Case 34: Interpreting Differences in Physical Victimization

Case 35: Interpreting Reported Differences in Husbands’ Marital Aggression

SECTION II: LONGER CASES

Case 36: Using Interviews to Measure Mothers’ Use of Physical Discipline
Descriptor: Measurement

Case 37: Defining Group Therapy Used with Elementary School Children
Descriptor: Operational Definition

Case 38: Getting Informed Consent for Research During an Emergency
 Descriptor: Ethics

Case 39: Interpreting Data on Cigarette Smoking by Seventh Graders
 Descriptor: Interpretation 

Case 40: Encouraging Responses to a Mailed Survey
Descriptors: Sampling, Interpretation

Case 41: Interpreting Limitations in a Study of Childhood Cancer and Stress
Descriptors: Sampling, Interpretation 

Case 42: Studying the Sale of Alcoholic Beverages to Minors
Descriptors: Sampling, Procedures, Ethics

Case 43: Identifying Heroin Addicts Who Falsify Information
 Descriptors: Sampling, Measurement, Ethics

Case 44: Observing Children’s Aggressiveness on the Playground
 Descriptors: Measurement, Ethics, Interpretation

Case 45: Introducing Participants to a Study on Lie Telling
Descriptors: Measurement, Operational Definitions, Procedures

Case 46: Measuring Sex-Role Stereotyping Among Children
Descriptors: Measurement, Ethics 

Case 47: Studying Suicide Ideation and Acculturation Among Adolescents
Descriptors: Measurement, Ethics 

Case 48: Encouraging Truthfulness in Telephone Interviews
 Descriptors: Measurement, Interpretation 

Case 49: Estimating the Credibility of Young Children’s Reports
 Descriptors: Measurement, Ethics, Interpretation 

Case 50: Designing an Experiment on Cross-Cultural Training
Descriptors: Measurement, Experimental Design, Ethics, Interpretation

Case 51: Designing an Experiment on Worrying Among the Elderly
 Descriptors: Operational Definition, Experimental Design, Interpretation

Case 52: Designing an Experiment on Reducing the Risk of Bulimia
Descriptors: Operational Definition, Experimental Design

Case 53: Interpreting a “Natural Experiment” on Anonymous Testing for HIV
 Descriptors: Causal Comparative Design, Interpretation

Biography

Estabrook Verdugo