CPCE RESEARCH AND PROGRAM EVALUATION -COUNSELOR
PREPERATION COMPREHENSIVE EXAM|QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS|GRADED A+|PASS ON FIRST AT-
TEMPT|BRAND NEW 2026/2027 UPDATE!!!!!
Research vs. Evidence Based Inquiry - ANSWER Research: the systematic process of col-
lecting and analyzing data for some purpose such as investigating a problem or answering a
question.
Evidence-based inquiry: the search for knowledge using empirical data which has been gath-
ered systematically.
Quantitative Research - ANSWER Assumes social facts have a single objective reality.
Tends to study samples or populations.
Researchers try not to influence collection of data (instruments).
Statistical methods comparing and contrasting groups occurs.
Researchers examine for causes and relationships.
Qualitative Research - ANSWER Assumes multiple realities socially constructed by individ-
uals and groups.
Tends to study individual units - person, family, community — in naturalistic setting.
Researchers may be primary instrument for collecting data (through observation).
1
,Researchers' impressions, judgments and feelings may be used.
Goal is to describe the nature of things.
Inductive vs. Deductive Research - ANSWER Inductive: this research begins at the real
world, practical level. It tends to be descriptive, correlational, or historical and leads to the
building of theory.
Deductive: this research springs from theory which is already established.
This research tries to determine what the relationships are between elements of the theory
and may be experimental in nature.
Quantitative (Non-Experimental Designs): Survey - ANSWER This may occur through
questionnaires, interviews, etc. and is used to measure attitudes, perceptions, etc. (For ex-
ample: Public Opinion Poll). Often the response rate of survey research is low, below 50 per-
cent. Unless you know that the characteristics of the non-
respondents are similar to the characteristics of the respondents, you must be cautious in
generalizing.
Quantitative (Non-Experimental Designs): Descriptive - ANSWER Descriptive: this re-
search simply describes an existing state of events.
Numbers may be used to characterize groups or individuals.
Quantitative (Non-Experimental Designs): Comparative - ANSWER This research method
investigates whether there are differences between two or more groups. There is no manip-
ulation of conditions experienced by each group.
Quantitative (Non-Experimental Designs): Correlational - ANSWER This research method
uses the correlation coefficient to determine the degree of relationship between two or
more variables or phenomena.
2
, Quantitative (Non-Experimental Designs): Ex Post Facto - ANSWER Also called causal-
comparative, this research design studies possible causal relationships among variables ex
post facto (after the fact). You do not manipulate any variables; the focus is on what has al-
ready happened (after the fact). You may generate 'several' reasons (causes) for the relation-
ships you discover.
For example: Two employment agencies conduct job dubs. In one agency, the job clubs are
member-initiated and run whereas in the other, employment counselors provide instruction
and guidance. In examining the job placement rates of members for the past year, you find
that the members of the professionally led groups had a higher placement rate.
Typical statistics used in ex post facto research are the t -test and analysis of variance,
Quantitative (Experimental Designs): True Experiment - ANSWER This research is charac-
terized by the use of experimental and control groups with random assignment to each. Ex-
perimental designs are used to determine cause-and-effect relationships.
For experiments, there are design variations such as:
a. Treatment and control group with posttest only.
b. Treatment and control group with pretest and posttest.
c. Two different treatment groups with control group and posttest, and many other combina-
tions.
For example: Sixty college freshmen are enrolled in an English class. Thirty are randomly as-
signed to a one-hour per week writing lab, the others comprise a control group. End-of-se-
mester essay examination results are analyzed to see if the lab was associated with better
writing skills.
Quantitative (Experimental Designs): Quasi-Experiment - ANSWER This research is similar
to experimental research except that randomization of subjects to treatment and control
3
PREPERATION COMPREHENSIVE EXAM|QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS|GRADED A+|PASS ON FIRST AT-
TEMPT|BRAND NEW 2026/2027 UPDATE!!!!!
Research vs. Evidence Based Inquiry - ANSWER Research: the systematic process of col-
lecting and analyzing data for some purpose such as investigating a problem or answering a
question.
Evidence-based inquiry: the search for knowledge using empirical data which has been gath-
ered systematically.
Quantitative Research - ANSWER Assumes social facts have a single objective reality.
Tends to study samples or populations.
Researchers try not to influence collection of data (instruments).
Statistical methods comparing and contrasting groups occurs.
Researchers examine for causes and relationships.
Qualitative Research - ANSWER Assumes multiple realities socially constructed by individ-
uals and groups.
Tends to study individual units - person, family, community — in naturalistic setting.
Researchers may be primary instrument for collecting data (through observation).
1
,Researchers' impressions, judgments and feelings may be used.
Goal is to describe the nature of things.
Inductive vs. Deductive Research - ANSWER Inductive: this research begins at the real
world, practical level. It tends to be descriptive, correlational, or historical and leads to the
building of theory.
Deductive: this research springs from theory which is already established.
This research tries to determine what the relationships are between elements of the theory
and may be experimental in nature.
Quantitative (Non-Experimental Designs): Survey - ANSWER This may occur through
questionnaires, interviews, etc. and is used to measure attitudes, perceptions, etc. (For ex-
ample: Public Opinion Poll). Often the response rate of survey research is low, below 50 per-
cent. Unless you know that the characteristics of the non-
respondents are similar to the characteristics of the respondents, you must be cautious in
generalizing.
Quantitative (Non-Experimental Designs): Descriptive - ANSWER Descriptive: this re-
search simply describes an existing state of events.
Numbers may be used to characterize groups or individuals.
Quantitative (Non-Experimental Designs): Comparative - ANSWER This research method
investigates whether there are differences between two or more groups. There is no manip-
ulation of conditions experienced by each group.
Quantitative (Non-Experimental Designs): Correlational - ANSWER This research method
uses the correlation coefficient to determine the degree of relationship between two or
more variables or phenomena.
2
, Quantitative (Non-Experimental Designs): Ex Post Facto - ANSWER Also called causal-
comparative, this research design studies possible causal relationships among variables ex
post facto (after the fact). You do not manipulate any variables; the focus is on what has al-
ready happened (after the fact). You may generate 'several' reasons (causes) for the relation-
ships you discover.
For example: Two employment agencies conduct job dubs. In one agency, the job clubs are
member-initiated and run whereas in the other, employment counselors provide instruction
and guidance. In examining the job placement rates of members for the past year, you find
that the members of the professionally led groups had a higher placement rate.
Typical statistics used in ex post facto research are the t -test and analysis of variance,
Quantitative (Experimental Designs): True Experiment - ANSWER This research is charac-
terized by the use of experimental and control groups with random assignment to each. Ex-
perimental designs are used to determine cause-and-effect relationships.
For experiments, there are design variations such as:
a. Treatment and control group with posttest only.
b. Treatment and control group with pretest and posttest.
c. Two different treatment groups with control group and posttest, and many other combina-
tions.
For example: Sixty college freshmen are enrolled in an English class. Thirty are randomly as-
signed to a one-hour per week writing lab, the others comprise a control group. End-of-se-
mester essay examination results are analyzed to see if the lab was associated with better
writing skills.
Quantitative (Experimental Designs): Quasi-Experiment - ANSWER This research is similar
to experimental research except that randomization of subjects to treatment and control
3
