A study is conducted to determine whether the implementation of a ...

[clippers!]

A study is conducted to determine whether the implementation of a new scheduling pattern has a positive effect on the job satisfaction of staff nurses. Nurses are randomly assigned to the experimental group (new scheduling pattern) or comparison group (usual scheduling pattern). This is an example of which type of study?
 
  1. Pre-experimental study
  2. Quasi-experimental study
  3. Comparative study
  4. Experimental study

Question 2

Experimental research is conducted to establish a cause-and-effect relationship. Rival explanations or competing hypotheses that might explain the study results indicate that a study has which situation?
 
  1. Threats to internal validity only
  2. Threats to internal and external validity
  3. Threats to external validity only
  4. Limited generalizability of results

[shewald78]

Answer to Question 1

4
Rationale 1: Pre-experimental designs are those experimental designs that are weak and in which the researcher has little control over the research. This is not the case in this study.
Rationale 2: Quasi-experimental designs are those in which there is either no comparison group or subjects are not randomly assigned to a group. That is not the case in this study.
Rationale 3: The difference between an experimental study and a comparative study lies in the researcher's ability to manipulate the independent variable. In comparative studies, there is no manipulation of the independent variable. That is not the case in this study.
Rationale 4: The study contains all three elements of experimental design: (1) manipulation of an independent variable, (2) control/comparison group, and (3) random assignment of subjects to groups.
Global Rationale:

Answer to Question 2

2
Rationale 1: These rival explanations would also have the potential to reduce generalizability of findings, which is a threat to external validity.
Rationale 2: Extraneous variables, or competing explanations for results in experimental studies, are labeled threats to internal and external validity. Limited generalizability of results would result from a threat to external validity.
Rationale 3: Rival explanations or competing hypotheses that might explain study results are a threat to internal validity.
Rationale 4: This limited generalizability is a threat to external validity. This study also has rival explanations or competing hypotheses that might explain study results. This is a threat to internal validity.
Global Rationale: