WGU D514 Exam Questions and Answers with Verified Solutions |
Latest 2026 Update
Q: 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
Q: 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
Q: 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
Q: 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
Q: Introduces subjectivity to data collection
Answer:
Introduces subjectivity to data collection
Q: 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
Q: 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
Q: 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
Q: 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
Q: 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
Latest 2026 Update
Q: 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
Q: 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
Q: 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
Q: 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
Q: Introduces subjectivity to data collection
Answer:
Introduces subjectivity to data collection
Q: 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
Q: 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
Q: 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
Q: 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
Q: 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
