WGU D514 OA EXAMPREP REVIEW GUIDE
UPDATED 2026 WITH VERIFIED
QUESTIONS AND FULL SOLUTIONS
⩥ A hospital researcher has access to one year of hospital emergency
department claims data. The researcher is investigating the association of
race on the timeliness of delivery of care. The sample includes
information on patient demographics, insurance information, and
emergency department factors. Due to patient confidentiality, the sample
does not include patient clinical information and outcomes.Which
research method should be used?
Time-Series
Cross-Sectional
Pretest-posttest
Randomized Control Trial. Answer: Cross Sectional
⩥ A policy analyst is interested in determining if the prospective
payment system (PPS) has improved hospital efficiency over time
during the past ten years. The sample for analysis consists of ten years of
data after the introduction of the PPS and includes measures of
efficiency and other relevant control variables. The analyst hypothesizes
that hospital efficiency should have increased each year after the PPS
was implemented.Which research method should the analyst use?
Time-Series
Cross-Sectional
,Pretest-posttest
Randomized Control Trial. Answer: Time-Series
⩥ Which type of data analysis could be used in quantitative research?
Reporting the gender of participants
Ranking the severity order with 1 as the worst and 4 as the best
Reporting the distribution of results or outcomes
Using categorical variables with 0=no and 1=yes. Answer: Reporting the
distribution of results or outcomes
⩥ What is a characteristic of qualitative research methods?
Utilizes large sample sizes
Determines causal relationships
Generalizes results to the population
Introduces subjectivity to data collection. Answer: Introduces
subjectivity to data collection
⩥ Many physician practices now utilize an electronic health record
(EHR) system that includes a secure messaging feature. Some of these
practices have extended their contact with patients by conducting virtual
visits between people with diabetes and nurses who are certified diabetes
educators. The remote technology includes the ability to monitor blood
glucose data to determine if these values are within goal range. After six
months, the results of the blood glucose levels for the group
,participating in the virtual visits were evaluated.Which research method
was used?
Time-series
Clinical trial
Pretest-posttest
Cross-sectional. Answer: Cross-sectional
⩥ A researcher wants to determine whether continuity of care is
improved with the use of coordination of care documents among
primary care physicians and specialists. The researcher decides to review
various published studies to assess the clinical effectiveness of these
documents on patient outcomes.Which research method is being used?
Case study
Cohort study
Meta-analysis
Literature review. Answer: Meta-analysis
⩥ The state public health researcher wants to begin a five-year initiative
to coordinate immunizations for children in the foster care system. The
results will be compared to previous years to measure the effectiveness
of the initiative.Which research method should be used to study this
initiative?
Case study
Cohort study
, Longitudinal study
Pre/post-study. Answer: Pre/post-study
⩥ Using publicly reported data from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services, researchers want to examine the relationship between 30-day
readmissions and mortality rates for patients with heart failure at five
facilities. Before this can be done, researchers need to estimate mortality
rates and readmission rates from heart failure.Which statistical technique
should be used to calculate the estimated rates?
t-test
Analysis of variance
Regression analysis
Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. Answer: Regression
analysis
⩥ Researchers want to determine if a particular risk factor or risk factors
are associated with the frequency for nonelective readmission within 30
days among patients with diabetes in a metropolitan area. The variables
of interest include age, gender, race/ethnicity, and insurance
status.Which statistical technique should be used?
Mann-Whitney U test
Bayesian approach
Regression analysis
Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Answer: Regression analysis
UPDATED 2026 WITH VERIFIED
QUESTIONS AND FULL SOLUTIONS
⩥ A hospital researcher has access to one year of hospital emergency
department claims data. The researcher is investigating the association of
race on the timeliness of delivery of care. The sample includes
information on patient demographics, insurance information, and
emergency department factors. Due to patient confidentiality, the sample
does not include patient clinical information and outcomes.Which
research method should be used?
Time-Series
Cross-Sectional
Pretest-posttest
Randomized Control Trial. Answer: Cross Sectional
⩥ A policy analyst is interested in determining if the prospective
payment system (PPS) has improved hospital efficiency over time
during the past ten years. The sample for analysis consists of ten years of
data after the introduction of the PPS and includes measures of
efficiency and other relevant control variables. The analyst hypothesizes
that hospital efficiency should have increased each year after the PPS
was implemented.Which research method should the analyst use?
Time-Series
Cross-Sectional
,Pretest-posttest
Randomized Control Trial. Answer: Time-Series
⩥ Which type of data analysis could be used in quantitative research?
Reporting the gender of participants
Ranking the severity order with 1 as the worst and 4 as the best
Reporting the distribution of results or outcomes
Using categorical variables with 0=no and 1=yes. Answer: Reporting the
distribution of results or outcomes
⩥ What is a characteristic of qualitative research methods?
Utilizes large sample sizes
Determines causal relationships
Generalizes results to the population
Introduces subjectivity to data collection. Answer: Introduces
subjectivity to data collection
⩥ Many physician practices now utilize an electronic health record
(EHR) system that includes a secure messaging feature. Some of these
practices have extended their contact with patients by conducting virtual
visits between people with diabetes and nurses who are certified diabetes
educators. The remote technology includes the ability to monitor blood
glucose data to determine if these values are within goal range. After six
months, the results of the blood glucose levels for the group
,participating in the virtual visits were evaluated.Which research method
was used?
Time-series
Clinical trial
Pretest-posttest
Cross-sectional. Answer: Cross-sectional
⩥ A researcher wants to determine whether continuity of care is
improved with the use of coordination of care documents among
primary care physicians and specialists. The researcher decides to review
various published studies to assess the clinical effectiveness of these
documents on patient outcomes.Which research method is being used?
Case study
Cohort study
Meta-analysis
Literature review. Answer: Meta-analysis
⩥ The state public health researcher wants to begin a five-year initiative
to coordinate immunizations for children in the foster care system. The
results will be compared to previous years to measure the effectiveness
of the initiative.Which research method should be used to study this
initiative?
Case study
Cohort study
, Longitudinal study
Pre/post-study. Answer: Pre/post-study
⩥ Using publicly reported data from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services, researchers want to examine the relationship between 30-day
readmissions and mortality rates for patients with heart failure at five
facilities. Before this can be done, researchers need to estimate mortality
rates and readmission rates from heart failure.Which statistical technique
should be used to calculate the estimated rates?
t-test
Analysis of variance
Regression analysis
Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. Answer: Regression
analysis
⩥ Researchers want to determine if a particular risk factor or risk factors
are associated with the frequency for nonelective readmission within 30
days among patients with diabetes in a metropolitan area. The variables
of interest include age, gender, race/ethnicity, and insurance
status.Which statistical technique should be used?
Mann-Whitney U test
Bayesian approach
Regression analysis
Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Answer: Regression analysis
