A researcher studies the effect upon dental caries formation of a ...

[Marty]

A researcher studies the effect upon dental caries formation of a year-long regimen of daily rinsing with a particularly noxious-flavored oral solution,
 
  only to discover than 285 of the 300 subjects in the study have withdrawn from it by the end of the first month. Which step in the research process was not properly undertaken?
  a. Defining the purpose
  b. Conducting the literature review
  c. Selecting study variables
  d. Performing a pilot study

Question 2

What is the research question?
 
  a. This study was undertaken to explore the effect of massage on total hours of sleep per 24-hour day, in persons averaging fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night, attributable to insomnia.
  b. It was posited that provision of daily late-morning massage would affect total hours of sleep per 24-hour day.
  c. Does massage increase the total number of hours of daily sleep?
  d. Presumably by increasing endorphin levels, massage seems to provide an immediate relaxation and an ability to sleep immediately following the session, but it is unclear whether these benefits actually extend to total sleep, despite anecdotal support.

[duke02]

Answer to Question 1

ANS: D
A pilot study is commonly defined as a smaller version of a proposed study conducted to refine the methodology. It is developed much like the proposed study, using similar subjects, the same setting, the same treatment, and the same data collection and analysis techniques. Some of the reasons for conducting pilot studies are to determine feasibility, to develop a treatment or intervention, to develop an implementation protocol, to identify problems with the design, to evaluate the sampling method, to examine instrument reliability or validity, to refine instruments, to refine plans for data collection and analysis, to provide research experience, and to evaluate data analysis techniques.

Answer to Question 2

ANS: C
Research objectives, questions, and hypotheses bridge the gap between the more abstractly stated research problem and purpose and the study design and plan for data collection and analysis. Objectives, questions, and hypotheses are narrower in focus than the research purpose and often (1) specify only one or two research variables, (2) identify the relationship between the variables, and (3) indicate the population to be studied. A research question is a concise, interrogative statement that is worded in the present tense and includes one or more variables (or concepts).