WGU D514 EXAM 2025 2026 COMPLETE
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED
ANSWERS (VERIFIED ANSWERS)
The quality improvement team is reviewing quarterly incident
reports and evaluating the effect of Six Sigma strategies on the
quantity of medication errors over the past two years. The
team hypothesizes a continuous reduction in medical errors for
each quarter.The sample consists of patient clinical and
demographic characteristics. Unfortunately, causation cannot
be determined from the data available.Which research method
should be used to test the team's hypothesis?
Time-Series
Cross-Sectional
Pretest-posttest
,Randomized Control Trial - ✔✔ANSWER ✔✔-Time-series
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
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED
ANSWERS (VERIFIED ANSWERS)
The quality improvement team is reviewing quarterly incident
reports and evaluating the effect of Six Sigma strategies on the
quantity of medication errors over the past two years. The
team hypothesizes a continuous reduction in medical errors for
each quarter.The sample consists of patient clinical and
demographic characteristics. Unfortunately, causation cannot
be determined from the data available.Which research method
should be used to test the team's hypothesis?
Time-Series
Cross-Sectional
Pretest-posttest
,Randomized Control Trial - ✔✔ANSWER ✔✔-Time-series
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
