TEST BANK
Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to
Evidence-Based Practice
Leslie G. Portney
4th Edition
,Table of Contents
Chapter 01 Frameworks for Generating and Applying Evidence 1
Chapter 02 On the Road to Translational Research 5
Chapter 03 Defining the Research Question 8
Chapter 04 The Role of Theory in Research and Practice 12
Chapter 05 Understanding Evidence-Based Practice 15
Chapter 06 Searching the Literature 19
Chapter 07 Ethical Issues in Clinical Research 23
Chapter 08 Principles of Measurement 27
Chapter 09 Concepts of Measurement Reliability 31
Chapter 10 Concepts of Measurement Validity 35
Chapter 11 Designing Surveys and Questionnaires 39
Chapter 12 Understanding Health Measurement Scales 42
Chapter 13 Choosing a Sample 45
Chapter 14 Principles of Clinical Trials 48
Chapter 15 Design Validity 52
Chapter 16 Experimental Designs 56
Chapter 17 Quasi-Experimental Designs 60
Chapter 18 Single Subject Designs 64
Chapter 19 Exploratory Research: Observational Designs 68
Chapter 20 Descriptive Research 71
Chapter 21 Qualitative Research 74
Chapter 22 Descriptive Statistics 78
Chapter 23 Foundations of Statistical Inference 84
Chapter 24 Comparing Two Means: The t-test 92
Chapter 25 Comparing More Than Two Means: Analysis of Variance 99
Chapter 26 Multiple Comparison Tests 105
Chapter 27 Nonparametric Tests for Group Comparisons 110
Chapter 28 Measuring Association for Categorical Variables: Chi-Square 113
Chapter 29 Correlation 118
Chapter 30 Regression 123
Chapter 31 Multivariate Analysis 131
Chapter 32 Measurement Revisited: Reliability and Validity Statistics 137
Chapter 33 Diagnostic and Screening Procedures 143
Chapter 34 Epidemiology: Measuring Risk 148
Chapter 35 Writing a Research Proposal 153
Chapter 36 Critical Appraisal: Evaluating Research Reports 156
Chapter 37 Synthesizing Literature: Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 161
Chapter 38 Disseminating Research 167
,______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
Chapter 01 Frameworks for Generating and Applying Evidence
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. What type of research is defined as a structured process of investigating facts and theories
and exploring connections, with the purpose of improving individual and public health?
a. Basic research
b. Clinical research
c. Qualitative research
d. Evidence-based practice
ANS: B
Rationale: Clinical research is a structured process of investigating facts and theories and
exploring connections. The purpose of clinical research is related to improving individual
and population health.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 1
2. Another name for clinical research is?
a. Applied research
b. Basic research
c. Evidence-based practice
d. Animal studies
ANS: A
Rationale: Clinical research is also known as applied research as it has an application to
clinical practice. Basic research and animal studies primarily focus on the study of theories
and mechanisms of disease and treatment. Evidence-based practice utilizes clinical research
but is not a form of research.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 1
3. Qualitative research is based on which of the following?
a. Social constructivism
b. Logical positivism
c. The scientific method
d. Measurement under standardized conditions
ANS: A
Rationale: Social constructivism is focused on the belief that all reality is fundamentally
social, and therefore the only way to understand it is through an individual’s experience.
Qualitative research focuses on the investigation of these socially constructed realities
through immersion, interviews and observation.
DIF: [Difficulty level] OBJ: 2
4. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) definition of clinical research includes all of the
following EXCEPT?
a. Patient-oriented research
______________________________________________________________________________________________
1|Page
,______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
b. Health services research
c. Epidemiological studies
d. Bench research
ANS: D
Rationale: Bench research is also known as basic or preclinical research and includes
research focused on theories and understanding mechanism of disease or treatment. The
three-part definition of clinical research from the NIH includes patient-oriented research,
epidemiological and behavioral studies, and outcomes research and health sciences research.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 1
5. The first step of the scientific method is?
a. Designing the study
b. Analyzing the data
c. Implementing the study
d. Identifying the research question
ANS: D
Rationale: The research question needs to be identified through a review of the literature to
provide a rationale of the study to justify why the study needs to be conducted prior to data
collection. The other steps follow the development of the research question.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 3
6. Evidence-based practice relates to which steps of the research process?
a. identification of the research question and design of the study
b. design of the study and implementation of the study
c. implementation of the study and analysis of the data
d. dissemination of the findings and identification of the research question
ANS: D
Rationale: Evidence-based practice relates to the use of best evidence along with clinical
expertise and patient values in making clinical decisions. Therefore, evidence-based practice
utilizes research findings which have been disseminated. Utilization of evidence in practice
can also relate to the development of new research questions. The design of the study,
implementation of the study and analysis of the data are important steps in conducting
research studies.
DIF: Moderate OBJ: 3, 4
7. From a research perspective, one can describe the relationship between impairments in body
functions and activity limitations as?
a. Perfect
b. Partial
c. Absent
d. Not dependent of the health condition and contextual factors
ANS: B
______________________________________________________________________________________________
2|Page
,______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
Rationale: A relationship between impairments and activity limitations exists; however, it is
often much less than 100% and is not always a straight line. The strength of the relationship
will depend on the health condition, as well as personal and environmental factors.
DIF: Moderate OBJ: 5
8. Members of different professions working together in an integrative fashion is considered
what type of research?
a. Intraprofessional
b. Interprofessional
c. Multiprofessional
d. Transprofessional
ANS: B
Rationale: Interprofessional research has persons from different professions working
together in an integrative fashion. Multiprofessional research also incorporates persons from
different professions but their work is generally in parallel where each group stays in their
own boundaries and works separately on distinct aspects of the project. Transprofessional
research sees a blurring boundary where one professional may take on the role of a different
profession. Intraprofessional research only incorporates members of one profession.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 6
9. Which of the following study designs is primarily considered an example of exploratory
research?
a. Cohort studies
b. Randomized controlled trials
c. Descriptive surveys
d. Normative research
ANS: A
Rationale: Exploratory research is observational in nature and is not used to demonstrate
cause and effect. A cohort study follows a group of participants over time and observes the
occurrence of different outcomes. Surveys and normative studies attempt to describe
characteristics of a population, whereas randomized trials are explanatory or experimental in
nature. Randomized trials attempt to control extraneous variables in order to demonstrate
cause and effect.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 7
10. Pragmatic clinical trials are classified as which of the following types of research?
a. Descriptive research
b. Explanatory research
c. Exploratory research
d. Methodological research
ANS: B
Rationale: Pragmatic trials can be used to demonstrate cause and effect in real world
situations. They are used to demonstrate effectiveness and there is less control as in a
randomized trial.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
3|Page
,______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
DIF: Easy OBJ: 7
______________________________________________________________________________________________
4|Page
,______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
Chapter 02 On the Road to Translational Research
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Research that directly takes knowledge from bench to bedside is known as?
a. The scientific method
b. Basic research
c. Evidence-based practice
d. Translational research
ANS: D
Rationale: Translational research refers to the direct application of scientific discoveries into
clinical practice.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 1
2. A study that attempts to be more generalizable to practice than research settings is known as
a(n):
a. Efficacy study
b. Effectiveness study
c. Randomized trial
d. Translational research
ANS: B
Rationale: Effectiveness studies are conducted in real-world conditions as compared to the
ideal conditions of efficacy studies, such as randomized trials. This makes them more
generalizable to clinical practice. Translational research may include both efficacy and
effectiveness studies.
DIF: [Difficulty level] OBJ: 2
3. Efficacy research utilizes all of the following except?
a. Human subjects
b. Random assignment to groups
c. Broad treatment protocols
d. Strict inclusion and exclusion criteria
ANS: C
Rationale: Efficacy research will have specific well-defined treatment protocols in order to
investigate a cause and effect relationship. Broad treatment protocols are found more
frequently in effectiveness studies. Although broad treatment protocols may be more
reflective of clinical practice, they may introduce bias in determining if the treatment caused
the outcome.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 2,3
4. Which of the following is an example of an efficacy study?
a. Randomized controlled trial
b. Observational research
______________________________________________________________________________________________
5|Page
,______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
c. Clinical effectiveness research
d. Outcomes research
ANS: A
Rationale: A randomized trial attempts to minimize potential sources of bias and is
considered an efficacy study. The other options are examples of effectiveness studies.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 2
5. A translational research study that translates research evidence to practice is classified in
which translation block?
a. T1
b. T2
c. T3
d. T4
ANS: C
Rationale: T3 studies translate evidence to practice to asses if a treatment will work in
real-world conditions. See figure 2-1 for more information.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 4
6. A T2 translational study focuses on translation to which of the following blocks?
a. Humans
b. Populations
c. Patients
d. Practice
ANS: C
Rationale: A T2 study frequently utilized randomized controlled trials to demonstrate a
treatment can work with patients under ideal-conditions. T1 focuses on translation to
humans to show a treatment can work. A T3 study is concerned with translation to practice
and the focus of a T4 study is populations.
DIF: Moderate OBJ: 4
7. Comparative effectiveness studies generally include all of the following except?
a. A control group
b. Few exclusion criteria
c. Flexible protocols
d. Diverse treatment settings
ANS: A
Rationale: A control group is a hallmark of a randomized trial to demonstrate the efficacy of
an intervention. In contrast, comparative effectiveness studies focus on comparing two or
more treatments directly. Comparative effectiveness studies utilize few exclusion criteria,
flexible protocols and diverse treatment settings to make them more generalizable to
real-world practice settings.
DIF: Moderate OBJ: 5
______________________________________________________________________________________________
6|Page
,______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
8. Studies that focus on the impact of results of health care practices and interventions are
known as?
a. Implementation research
b. Outcomes research
c. Efficacy research
d. Translational research
ANS: B
Rationale: Outcomes research is an umbrella term to describe studies that focus on the
impact of results of health care practices and interventions.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 6
9. Which of the following is concerned with studying the methods of how research evidence is
adopted into clinical practice?
a. Implementation research
b. Outcomes research
c. Efficacy research
d. Translational research
ANS: A
Rationale: Implementation science is the next step beyond effectiveness research. This type
of research is concerned about how to make things happen in practice by better
understanding the influences of the environment and resources on the uptake of the research
into practice.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 7
10. Which of the following best describes the use of patient-reported outcome measures
(PROM) in pragmatic trials?
a. They do not correlate with movement
b. They measure things that a patient may care about
c. They are not reliable
d. They measure changes in the disease-status
ANS: B
Rationale: Pragmatic trials frequently use patient reported outcome measures because they
measure things a patient would care about such as quality of life and function. These
outcomes come directly from the patient and not from the clinician or a laboratory test. They
can have good psychometric properties and can correlate with objective measures of
movement and function.
DIF: Moderate OBJ: 6, 2, 3
______________________________________________________________________________________________
7|Page
, ______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
Chapter 03 Defining the Research Question
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following is the first step in developing a research question?
a. Identifying the problem
b. Identifying the rationale
c. Identifying the type of research
d. Identifying the statistical test
ANS: A
Rationale: A researcher should identify the problem before identifying the rationale, the
type of research, or the statistical test. These other options follow from the research
question.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 1
2. Which of the following is NOT true about research questions?
a. Research questions arise from clinical experience
b. Research questions examine existing theories of practice
c. Research questions address conflicts in the existing literature
d. Research questions begin with a narrow concern and are then broaden as they are
formulated
ANS: D
Rationale: Generally, research questions begin with a broad concern and are then refined to
a more specific question over time. Sources of research questions may include clinical
experience, clinical theories and the existing literature.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 2
3. A study investigated the effect of resistance exercise compared to flexibility exercise to
improve activity for persons with knee pain. Participants are assigned randomly, by a
masked research assistant, to one of the two exercise intervention groups. The participants
are recruited from a group of volunteers and provide informed consent to participate in the
study. Activity is measured at baseline and after the study by the six-minute walk test. In
this study, the dependent variable is:
a. Activity as measured by six-minute walk test
b. The informed consent form
c. The number of months since the participants were diagnosed with knee pain
d. The type of exercise (resistance or flexibility)
ANS: A
Rationale: The dependent variable is an outcome measure of the study.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 4
______________________________________________________________________________________________
8|Page
Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to
Evidence-Based Practice
Leslie G. Portney
4th Edition
,Table of Contents
Chapter 01 Frameworks for Generating and Applying Evidence 1
Chapter 02 On the Road to Translational Research 5
Chapter 03 Defining the Research Question 8
Chapter 04 The Role of Theory in Research and Practice 12
Chapter 05 Understanding Evidence-Based Practice 15
Chapter 06 Searching the Literature 19
Chapter 07 Ethical Issues in Clinical Research 23
Chapter 08 Principles of Measurement 27
Chapter 09 Concepts of Measurement Reliability 31
Chapter 10 Concepts of Measurement Validity 35
Chapter 11 Designing Surveys and Questionnaires 39
Chapter 12 Understanding Health Measurement Scales 42
Chapter 13 Choosing a Sample 45
Chapter 14 Principles of Clinical Trials 48
Chapter 15 Design Validity 52
Chapter 16 Experimental Designs 56
Chapter 17 Quasi-Experimental Designs 60
Chapter 18 Single Subject Designs 64
Chapter 19 Exploratory Research: Observational Designs 68
Chapter 20 Descriptive Research 71
Chapter 21 Qualitative Research 74
Chapter 22 Descriptive Statistics 78
Chapter 23 Foundations of Statistical Inference 84
Chapter 24 Comparing Two Means: The t-test 92
Chapter 25 Comparing More Than Two Means: Analysis of Variance 99
Chapter 26 Multiple Comparison Tests 105
Chapter 27 Nonparametric Tests for Group Comparisons 110
Chapter 28 Measuring Association for Categorical Variables: Chi-Square 113
Chapter 29 Correlation 118
Chapter 30 Regression 123
Chapter 31 Multivariate Analysis 131
Chapter 32 Measurement Revisited: Reliability and Validity Statistics 137
Chapter 33 Diagnostic and Screening Procedures 143
Chapter 34 Epidemiology: Measuring Risk 148
Chapter 35 Writing a Research Proposal 153
Chapter 36 Critical Appraisal: Evaluating Research Reports 156
Chapter 37 Synthesizing Literature: Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 161
Chapter 38 Disseminating Research 167
,______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
Chapter 01 Frameworks for Generating and Applying Evidence
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. What type of research is defined as a structured process of investigating facts and theories
and exploring connections, with the purpose of improving individual and public health?
a. Basic research
b. Clinical research
c. Qualitative research
d. Evidence-based practice
ANS: B
Rationale: Clinical research is a structured process of investigating facts and theories and
exploring connections. The purpose of clinical research is related to improving individual
and population health.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 1
2. Another name for clinical research is?
a. Applied research
b. Basic research
c. Evidence-based practice
d. Animal studies
ANS: A
Rationale: Clinical research is also known as applied research as it has an application to
clinical practice. Basic research and animal studies primarily focus on the study of theories
and mechanisms of disease and treatment. Evidence-based practice utilizes clinical research
but is not a form of research.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 1
3. Qualitative research is based on which of the following?
a. Social constructivism
b. Logical positivism
c. The scientific method
d. Measurement under standardized conditions
ANS: A
Rationale: Social constructivism is focused on the belief that all reality is fundamentally
social, and therefore the only way to understand it is through an individual’s experience.
Qualitative research focuses on the investigation of these socially constructed realities
through immersion, interviews and observation.
DIF: [Difficulty level] OBJ: 2
4. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) definition of clinical research includes all of the
following EXCEPT?
a. Patient-oriented research
______________________________________________________________________________________________
1|Page
,______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
b. Health services research
c. Epidemiological studies
d. Bench research
ANS: D
Rationale: Bench research is also known as basic or preclinical research and includes
research focused on theories and understanding mechanism of disease or treatment. The
three-part definition of clinical research from the NIH includes patient-oriented research,
epidemiological and behavioral studies, and outcomes research and health sciences research.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 1
5. The first step of the scientific method is?
a. Designing the study
b. Analyzing the data
c. Implementing the study
d. Identifying the research question
ANS: D
Rationale: The research question needs to be identified through a review of the literature to
provide a rationale of the study to justify why the study needs to be conducted prior to data
collection. The other steps follow the development of the research question.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 3
6. Evidence-based practice relates to which steps of the research process?
a. identification of the research question and design of the study
b. design of the study and implementation of the study
c. implementation of the study and analysis of the data
d. dissemination of the findings and identification of the research question
ANS: D
Rationale: Evidence-based practice relates to the use of best evidence along with clinical
expertise and patient values in making clinical decisions. Therefore, evidence-based practice
utilizes research findings which have been disseminated. Utilization of evidence in practice
can also relate to the development of new research questions. The design of the study,
implementation of the study and analysis of the data are important steps in conducting
research studies.
DIF: Moderate OBJ: 3, 4
7. From a research perspective, one can describe the relationship between impairments in body
functions and activity limitations as?
a. Perfect
b. Partial
c. Absent
d. Not dependent of the health condition and contextual factors
ANS: B
______________________________________________________________________________________________
2|Page
,______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
Rationale: A relationship between impairments and activity limitations exists; however, it is
often much less than 100% and is not always a straight line. The strength of the relationship
will depend on the health condition, as well as personal and environmental factors.
DIF: Moderate OBJ: 5
8. Members of different professions working together in an integrative fashion is considered
what type of research?
a. Intraprofessional
b. Interprofessional
c. Multiprofessional
d. Transprofessional
ANS: B
Rationale: Interprofessional research has persons from different professions working
together in an integrative fashion. Multiprofessional research also incorporates persons from
different professions but their work is generally in parallel where each group stays in their
own boundaries and works separately on distinct aspects of the project. Transprofessional
research sees a blurring boundary where one professional may take on the role of a different
profession. Intraprofessional research only incorporates members of one profession.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 6
9. Which of the following study designs is primarily considered an example of exploratory
research?
a. Cohort studies
b. Randomized controlled trials
c. Descriptive surveys
d. Normative research
ANS: A
Rationale: Exploratory research is observational in nature and is not used to demonstrate
cause and effect. A cohort study follows a group of participants over time and observes the
occurrence of different outcomes. Surveys and normative studies attempt to describe
characteristics of a population, whereas randomized trials are explanatory or experimental in
nature. Randomized trials attempt to control extraneous variables in order to demonstrate
cause and effect.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 7
10. Pragmatic clinical trials are classified as which of the following types of research?
a. Descriptive research
b. Explanatory research
c. Exploratory research
d. Methodological research
ANS: B
Rationale: Pragmatic trials can be used to demonstrate cause and effect in real world
situations. They are used to demonstrate effectiveness and there is less control as in a
randomized trial.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
3|Page
,______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
DIF: Easy OBJ: 7
______________________________________________________________________________________________
4|Page
,______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
Chapter 02 On the Road to Translational Research
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Research that directly takes knowledge from bench to bedside is known as?
a. The scientific method
b. Basic research
c. Evidence-based practice
d. Translational research
ANS: D
Rationale: Translational research refers to the direct application of scientific discoveries into
clinical practice.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 1
2. A study that attempts to be more generalizable to practice than research settings is known as
a(n):
a. Efficacy study
b. Effectiveness study
c. Randomized trial
d. Translational research
ANS: B
Rationale: Effectiveness studies are conducted in real-world conditions as compared to the
ideal conditions of efficacy studies, such as randomized trials. This makes them more
generalizable to clinical practice. Translational research may include both efficacy and
effectiveness studies.
DIF: [Difficulty level] OBJ: 2
3. Efficacy research utilizes all of the following except?
a. Human subjects
b. Random assignment to groups
c. Broad treatment protocols
d. Strict inclusion and exclusion criteria
ANS: C
Rationale: Efficacy research will have specific well-defined treatment protocols in order to
investigate a cause and effect relationship. Broad treatment protocols are found more
frequently in effectiveness studies. Although broad treatment protocols may be more
reflective of clinical practice, they may introduce bias in determining if the treatment caused
the outcome.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 2,3
4. Which of the following is an example of an efficacy study?
a. Randomized controlled trial
b. Observational research
______________________________________________________________________________________________
5|Page
,______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
c. Clinical effectiveness research
d. Outcomes research
ANS: A
Rationale: A randomized trial attempts to minimize potential sources of bias and is
considered an efficacy study. The other options are examples of effectiveness studies.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 2
5. A translational research study that translates research evidence to practice is classified in
which translation block?
a. T1
b. T2
c. T3
d. T4
ANS: C
Rationale: T3 studies translate evidence to practice to asses if a treatment will work in
real-world conditions. See figure 2-1 for more information.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 4
6. A T2 translational study focuses on translation to which of the following blocks?
a. Humans
b. Populations
c. Patients
d. Practice
ANS: C
Rationale: A T2 study frequently utilized randomized controlled trials to demonstrate a
treatment can work with patients under ideal-conditions. T1 focuses on translation to
humans to show a treatment can work. A T3 study is concerned with translation to practice
and the focus of a T4 study is populations.
DIF: Moderate OBJ: 4
7. Comparative effectiveness studies generally include all of the following except?
a. A control group
b. Few exclusion criteria
c. Flexible protocols
d. Diverse treatment settings
ANS: A
Rationale: A control group is a hallmark of a randomized trial to demonstrate the efficacy of
an intervention. In contrast, comparative effectiveness studies focus on comparing two or
more treatments directly. Comparative effectiveness studies utilize few exclusion criteria,
flexible protocols and diverse treatment settings to make them more generalizable to
real-world practice settings.
DIF: Moderate OBJ: 5
______________________________________________________________________________________________
6|Page
,______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
8. Studies that focus on the impact of results of health care practices and interventions are
known as?
a. Implementation research
b. Outcomes research
c. Efficacy research
d. Translational research
ANS: B
Rationale: Outcomes research is an umbrella term to describe studies that focus on the
impact of results of health care practices and interventions.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 6
9. Which of the following is concerned with studying the methods of how research evidence is
adopted into clinical practice?
a. Implementation research
b. Outcomes research
c. Efficacy research
d. Translational research
ANS: A
Rationale: Implementation science is the next step beyond effectiveness research. This type
of research is concerned about how to make things happen in practice by better
understanding the influences of the environment and resources on the uptake of the research
into practice.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 7
10. Which of the following best describes the use of patient-reported outcome measures
(PROM) in pragmatic trials?
a. They do not correlate with movement
b. They measure things that a patient may care about
c. They are not reliable
d. They measure changes in the disease-status
ANS: B
Rationale: Pragmatic trials frequently use patient reported outcome measures because they
measure things a patient would care about such as quality of life and function. These
outcomes come directly from the patient and not from the clinician or a laboratory test. They
can have good psychometric properties and can correlate with objective measures of
movement and function.
DIF: Moderate OBJ: 6, 2, 3
______________________________________________________________________________________________
7|Page
, ______________________________________________________________________________________________
Test Bank - Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Evidence-Based Practice, 4th Edition (Portney, 2020)
Chapter 03 Defining the Research Question
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following is the first step in developing a research question?
a. Identifying the problem
b. Identifying the rationale
c. Identifying the type of research
d. Identifying the statistical test
ANS: A
Rationale: A researcher should identify the problem before identifying the rationale, the
type of research, or the statistical test. These other options follow from the research
question.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 1
2. Which of the following is NOT true about research questions?
a. Research questions arise from clinical experience
b. Research questions examine existing theories of practice
c. Research questions address conflicts in the existing literature
d. Research questions begin with a narrow concern and are then broaden as they are
formulated
ANS: D
Rationale: Generally, research questions begin with a broad concern and are then refined to
a more specific question over time. Sources of research questions may include clinical
experience, clinical theories and the existing literature.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 2
3. A study investigated the effect of resistance exercise compared to flexibility exercise to
improve activity for persons with knee pain. Participants are assigned randomly, by a
masked research assistant, to one of the two exercise intervention groups. The participants
are recruited from a group of volunteers and provide informed consent to participate in the
study. Activity is measured at baseline and after the study by the six-minute walk test. In
this study, the dependent variable is:
a. Activity as measured by six-minute walk test
b. The informed consent form
c. The number of months since the participants were diagnosed with knee pain
d. The type of exercise (resistance or flexibility)
ANS: A
Rationale: The dependent variable is an outcome measure of the study.
DIF: Easy OBJ: 4
______________________________________________________________________________________________
8|Page
