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Chapter 9 Causal-comparative research
Suggested Activities
1. Chapter 9 content can be supplemented by having students read examples of causal-comparative
research. In addition, a class example, such as one that addresses gender differences, or aptitude
differences (high IQ, low IQ) groups are clear examples to illustrate the content of Chapter 9.
2. To support the learning outcomes of Chapter 9, one commonly discussed issue in education is
students’ attitudes and achievement in mathematics and science. Often, there are gender
differences in both. The TIMSS publication referenced below, Gender Differences in
Achievement, is a great resource to use to discuss not only Chapter 9 content, but also
international testing and extant database research. This also is of interest to and supports
engagement of my international students as the context is not only United States schooling.
Mullis, I.V.S., Martin, M.O., Fierros, E.G., Goldberg, A. L., & Stemler, S.E. (2000). Gender
differences in achievement. IEA’s Third Internatonal Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).
International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement: Boston, MA.
3. Chapter 22 includes specific criteria for evaluating causal-comparative studies, and suggests that
when reading causal-comparative studies one should specifically consider the following
concerns. Previewing these review criteria with Chapter 9 content and class examples of articles
or topics will provide an additional means to promote transfer. For each, too, the students can
identify which type of causal-comparative research, retroactive, or prospective as noted in the
text and below.
Is the independent variable clearly defined?
Are critical extraneous variables identified?
Were any control procedures applied to equate the groups on extraneous variables?
Are causal relationships found discussed with due caution?
Are plausible alternative hypothesis discussed?
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In the first case: Proactive
It is known that participants differ on some point, for example gender, and the researcher
addresses whether participants differ on dependent variables, for example interest in engineering
courses.
In the second case: Retroactive
It is known that participants differ on some dependent measure, for example, standardized test
scores, and the researcher is interested in testing hypothesis related to independent variables, for
example, ethnicity.
4. For a discussion about the distinctions between causal-comparative and correlational research
and the appropriateness of these distinctions, Burke Johnson’s posting at entitled It’s (Beyond)
Time to Drop the Terms Causal-Comparative and Correlational Research in Education, provides
alternative means to classify non-experimental studies. While the content in the paper overstates
5. Reading and discussing examples of causal-comparative research, of course, also assists the
students. One area where numerous causal-comparative studies are conducted is in racial and
ethnicity differences. Below is a reference for a paper that presents a causal-comparative study
that has broad appeal. For this activity it is not necessary to have students get the article, the
topic alone can serve as a basis for discussion. Some general guided questions follow that can
facilitate thinking about causal-comparative research. Introduce the topic and have the students
work in pairs to answer the following questions (10-15 minutes) and then discuss some of the
answers as a full group. Not all answers should have to focus on racial differences.
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For each question determine if the study is a prospective causal-comparative study or a
retrospective casual comparative study.
The following are example responses that you can use to begin the discussion.
Given the topic of seeking career services at a college or university, generate three causal–
comparative research questions.
Are there differences between the proportion of men versus women who seek career counseling?
Are there differences between African American and Caucasian students in frequency of
counseling sought?
Are there differences in satisfaction with career counseling among ethnic and racial groups of
students?
* Other avenues for additional causal comparative research question examples include
For each question provide the dependent variable and suggest one way you would measure that
dependent variable.
The dependent variable for this question is a proportion so it is measured as who seeks
counseling as a ratio of total number of students enrolled.
For each question provide the independent variable and levels of that variable.
Gender (two levels; male and female)
Race (two levels; African American and Caucasian)
Ethnic group (undetermined number of levels from the question but would likely include;
Hispanic, Asian American, African American, Native American, etc)
For each question determine if the study is a prospective causal-comparative study or a retrospective
casual comparative study.
Prospective
Prospective Prospective
6.
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I usually use this exercise either before or after Activity 5 above to either introduce or reinforce
thinking about causal-comparative research. For this activity, have students develop causal-
comparative research questions to examine differences in high school class attendance. This is a
fun topic for students to use to consider causal-comparative research. I usually have students
work in pairs or small groups.
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Handout 9.6
Generate two causal-comparative research questions that one could examine to address high
school class attendance. Work through all of the questions first and then follow up and do another
question. Try to generate one retrospective and one prospective question.
Is the question prospective or retrospective? How do you know? Is it harder to generate one
versus the other? If so, explain why.
What is the independent variable? Use Figure 9.1 in your text to label the independent variable.
Identify the levels of the independent variable.
What is the dependent variable? How will you measure the construct?
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Handout 9.6 (Sample answers)
Generate two causal-comparative research questions that one could examine to address high
school class attendance. Work through all of the questions first and then follow up and do another
question. Try to generate one retrospective and one prospective question.
Is the question prospective or retrospective? How do you know? Is it harder to generate one versus
the other? If so, explain why.
What is the independent variable? Use Figure 9.1 in your text to label the independent variable.
What is the dependent variable? How will you measure the construct?
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Chapter 9 Test Items
1. Ex post facto research is a term generally used to describe ________ research.
a. descriptive
b. correlational
c. causal-comparative
d. experimental
2. One similarity between causal-comparative and correlational research is that both
a. can determine causal events.
b. can be treated as a type of descriptive research.
c. attempt to establish causes.
d. rely on the same research procedures.
3. Causal comparative and experimental research both
a. examine differences between groups.
b. manipulate the independent variable(s) in the study.
c. assign participants to conditions.
d. have the same ethical considerations when considering independent variables.
4. In contrast to experimental research, causal-comparative studies generally
a. randomly assign participants.
b. can establish causation.
c. do not manipulate independent variables.
d. Examine relationships between two variables.
5. One similarity between causal-comparative and experimental research is that both
a. employ random assignment.
b. attempt to establish cause-effect relationships.
c. manipulate independent variables.
d. examine relationships after the events have occurred.
6. Of the following, which is most typical of an independent variable in a causal-
comparative study?
a. Mathematics achievement.
b. Time to complete a problem.
c. Amount of content learned from instructional materials.
d. Type of instructional treatment administered.
7. Of the following, which is most typical of an independent variable in a causal-
comparative study?
a. Discipline referrals
b. Attitudes about science
c. Country of origin
d. SAT scores
• 8. Laura is designing a study that examines difference in social skills between
children raised in a three-generation family household compared to those raised in a two-
generation family home. Laura is likely to study this research topic by use of
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a. causal-comparative research because it is an ex post facto design, the events have
already happened.
b. descriptive research because she will not attempt to explain any reasons for
differences in social skills.
c. experimental research because she wants to manipulate the independent variable, type
of home environment.
d. Correlational research because she will only address relationships and not levels of an
independent variable.
9. A causal-comparative study requires at least
a. one level of independent variable and one dependent variable.
b. two levels of independent variable and one dependent variable
c. two levels of independent variable and two dependent variables.
d. three or more levels of independent variable and one dependent variable.
10. Of the following, which is considered an organismic
variable?
a. Age
b. Marital status
c. Intelligence
d. Self-esteem
11. All of the following are relative weaknesses of causal-comparative research when
compared with other forms of quantitative research EXCEPT
a. lack of randomization.
b. manipulation of independent variables.
c. time to conduct the study.
d. control of research variables
• 12. Of the following which is an example of a prospective casual-comparative
approach?
a. Katie was interested in whether or not differences in university persistence are found
between students coming from large versus small high schools. She compared the
percentage of students who had dropped out of college that had attended either a large
or small high school.
b. Carrie compares college GPA of students who had either enrolled in high school AP
classes and those who had not.
c. Molly compares the amount of time spent independently reading between those who
were given phonics instruction in first grade and those who were given whole
language.
d. Jason wondered if assigning vocabulary homework for his high school history class
would help their performance on his final. He assigned one class weekly vocabulary
homework and then compared their final exam scores to those of another class to
which no weekly vocabulary homework was assigned.
• 13. Of the following, which is an example of a retrospective causal-comparative approach?
a. Allison believed allowing students open campus for lunch would promote better
school attendance so she allowed one high school in the district to have open campus
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while the maintained their closed campus. She then assessed differences in attendance
at the end of the semester.
b. Ben was interested in the benefits of outdoor recess on classroom behavior. One class
he had take year-round outdoor recess and the other he scheduled for indoor recess in
the gym. At the end of the school year he examined referrals for classroom
management for both classes.
c. James predicted that adults who were cub scouts as children would possess more
sophisticated environmental attitudes. He compared the environmental attitudes of
adults who were cub scouts to those of adults who were not scouts.
d. Lisa was curious if after-school snacks promoted healthier dinner eating habits so she
compared children from one day care setting that provided after school snacks to one
that did not. At the end of the semester she had parents rate dinner eating behaviors
for both groups of children.
14. One strength of causal-comparative studies, in comparison to experimental studies, is that
causal-comparative studies can examine _____________ while experimental studies can
not.
a. more than one dependent variable
b. causal relationships among variables
c. variables that should not be manipulated
d. variables that can be manipulated
• 15. Wendy is investigating differences in cardiovascular health between children
who are involved in extra-curricular activities and those who are not. She decides to
investigate only children who are average height and weight, with no existing heart
conditions and no family history of obesity. Wendy has employed which method for
controlling the extraneous variable in her study?
a. Matching
b. Comparing homogeneous subgroups
c. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA)
d. Manipulation of independent variable
• 16. Paula examined differences in college persistence between students who took the
SAT either before their junior year or during their junior year of high school. She
compared students with the same score and found that students had taken the SAT before
their junior year of high school were more likely to stay in college than those who had
taken the SAT during their junior year. Paula employed which method for controlling the
extraneous variable, performance, in her study?
a. Matching
a. Comparing homogeneous subgroups
b. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA)
c. Manipulation of independent variable
• 17. Stan’s study examined the differences in self-concept between children enrolled
in a summer outdoor adventure program and those who were not. The adventure group
children had slightly higher self-concept prior to the program than the comparison group,
so Stan took individual’s initial self-concept score into consideration when he examined
his data. Which of the following strategies for controlling extraneous variables did Stan
employ?
a. Matching
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b. Comparing homogeneous subgroups
c. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA)
d. Manipulation of independent variable
18. The most common descriptive statistic used in causal-comparative research as a measure
of central tendency is the
a. range.
b. mode.
c. mean.
d. median.
19. The most common descriptive statistic used in causal-comparative research as a measure
of variability is the
a. range.
b. standard deviation.
c. mean.
d. t-test.
20. Of the following, which is NOT a primary statistical procedure employed to analyze data
in a causal-comparative study?
a. Spearman rho
b. ANOVA
c. T-test
d. Chi Square
• 21. Of the following, which describes a likely causal-comparative study?
a. Typical management procedures used by experienced teachers in a child-care setting
b. Relationship between teacher job satisfaction and years of teaching
c. Differences in problem solving performance between children provided exposure to a
computer training program and those who were not given the same exposure
d. Differences in acclimation to high-school between children from small and large
middle schools
• 22. Given the following design, identify the most probable example of the study
descriptions below.
E X O
C O
a. Susan compares mathematics achievement scores between those students who were
given after school instruction and those who were not.
b. Susan compares number self-esteem levels of children who are in ability grouped
versus non-ability grouped classrooms.
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c. Susan examines the relationship between school violence incidences and number of
children in a typical class.
d. Susan describes how fathers and mothers feel about moral education curriculum
legislation.
• 23. Given the following design, identify the most probable example of the study
from the options below.
E X1 O
C X2 O
a. Susan compares mathematics achievement scores between those students who were
given after school instruction and those who were not.
b. Susan compares self-esteem levels between children who are in ability grouped versus
non-ability grouped classrooms.
c. Susan examines the relationship between school violence incidences and number of
children in a typical class.
d. Susan describes how fathers and mothers feel about moral education curriculum
legislation.
• 24. Ruth collected data on boys’ and girls’ self-esteem. Which statistical procedure
will Ruth employ to analyze differences between conditions?
a. Spearman’s rho
b. T-test
c. Chi Square
d. ANOVA
• 25. Gretchen is comparing second grade students’ spelling ability across three
existing groups. One group has had phonemic instruction, one group has used invented
spelling, and the final group has had weekly spelling activities with high frequency
words. Gretchen will likely use which of the following data analysis techniques to
examine differences between these groups on a spelling test?
a. Chi Square
b. T-test
c. Pearson r
d. ANOVA
• 26. Diana examines violence prevention programs. She is interested in the
differences in number of referrals for violent behavior between two schools. One school
has implemented a violence prevention program and the other has not. Diana is likely to
use which of the following statistical procedures to analyze her data?
a. Chi Square
b. T-test
c. Pearson r
d. ANOVA
• 27. Of the following, which likely describes a causal-comparative study?
a. The hygiene procedures followed during a day in a high school alternative schooling
environment.
b. The differences between mathematics learning outcomes in traditional and alternative
schooling.
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c. The relationship between alternative schooling and later youth criminal offenses in
urban youth offenders.
d. The qualifications or credentials of teachers in a typical alternative school located in
the southwest United States.
• 28. Given the following design, identify the most probable example of the study
from the options below.
E X1 O
C X2 O
a. Ned examines how fourth graders who were provided after school homework help and
those who were not on the end of year mathematics test.
b. Ned describes the typical mathematics standardized test that fourth graders are
required to take in his state.
c. Ned compares how fourth graders given either after school homework help via the
phone or the Internet perform on the end of year mathematics test.
d. Ned examines how the amount of homework help available after school relates to
performance on the end of year mathematics test.
• 29. Given the following design, identify the most probable example of the study
descriptions below.
E X O
C O
a. Ned examines how fourth graders who were provided after school homework help and
those who were not on the end of year mathematics test.
b. Ned describes the typical mathematics standardized test that fourth graders are
required to take in his state.
c. Ned compares how fourth graders given either after school homework help via the
phone or the Internet perform on the end of year mathematics test.
d. Ned examines how the amount of homework help available after school relates to
performance on the end of year mathematics test.
• 30. Alice’s study examined the benefits of early morning exercise on young
children’s attention during circle time. She had two groups of students, one who came to
circle time first and then had recess and a second group that had recess before circle time.
She is comparing the groups’ attention based upon a frequency of off-task behaviors by
group at circle. The likely measure of Alice’s dependent variable is
a. the range of off-task behavior by group.
b. the mode off-task behavior by group.
c. the mean off-task behavior by group.
d. the median off-task behavior by group.
• 31-33. Consider the following scenario as you answer these questions.
Nala wants to determine if providing awards for science fair winners increases or
decreases participation by average students. She thinks that by promoting science as a
competition some children may decide not to participate. To address this question, Nala
assigns schools in her district to two types, awarding or non-awarding schools and
compares the participation rate of students in her two groups.
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• 31. Given Nala’s study, what is the dependent variable?
a. School location
b. Student achievement
c. School type
d. Participation rate
• 32. Given Nala’s study, what is the independent variable?
a. School location
b. Student achievement
c. School type
d. Participation rate
• 33. Given Nala’s study, what is one extraneous variable she has considered?
a. School location
b. Student achievement
c. School type
d. Participation rate
34. Which is most typical of an independent variable in a causal-comparative study?
a. Achievement
b. Gender
c. Intelligence
d. Attitude
35. Which of the following is most likely a dependent variable in a causal-comparative
study?
a. Gender
b. Ethnicity
c. Interest
d. Grade level
• 36. Steve studies diet and endurance during extended swim practices. Which of the
following represents a causal-comparative research question he might examine?
a. Is there a relationship between calories consumed at breakfast and endurance during
after-school practice?
b. Are there differences between year-round swimmers’ versus summer swimmers’
endurance after 12 weeks of winter practice?
c. What is the typical fatigue response in ninth grade female swimmers?
d. How long does the typical competitive middle school swimmer train before he first
shows signs of fatigue?
• 37.-40. Katrina has conducted a study that examines entering children’s social skills.
She has first-grade teachers rate students’ social skills at the end of first grade. She then
compares the scores of students who attended formal Pre-Kindergarten programs with
those who did not.
• 37. What is the dependent variable in Katrina’s study?
a. First grade
b. Pre-Kindergarten programs
c. Social Skills
d. First grade teachers
• 38. What is the independent variable in Katrina’s study?
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a. Social Skills
b. First grade teachers
c. Pre-Kindergarten program
d. First grade
• 39. Of the following, which best describes Katrina’s study?
a. Correlational
b. Prospective causal-comparative
c. Retrospective causal-comparative
d. Experimental
• 40. Which of the following statistical procedures would Katrina use to analyze her data?
a. T-test
b. ANOVA
c. Chi-Square
d. Pearson r
•
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41-43. It is the beginning of the school year and Ms. Angelo, an eighth grade teacher, is
concerned about the students’ standardized reading achievement test scores. She knows
the current class did not do well the last time that they were tested. She decides to do a
study to examine if there are differences in students’ gain achievement scores from the
last administration based upon the nature of the out of class reading she assigns during
the school year. In two of her sections, she allows students to read seven books that they
want to read. In two of her other sections, she assigns seven texts. In her last two
sections she assigns four texts and allows students to select three.
• 41. What is the dependent measure in Ms. Angelo’s study?
a. Type of books read
b. Eighth grade students
c. Gain achievement scores
d. Number of books read
• 42. What is the independent measure in Ms. Angelo’s study?
a. Type of books read
b. Eighth grade students
c. Gain achievement scores
d. Number of books read
• 43. Which of the following best describes Ms. Angelo’s study?
a. Experimental
b. Correlational
c. Prospective causal-comparative
d. Retrospective causal-comparative
• 44. Which of the following statistical procedure will Ms. Angelo use to analyze her
data?
a. Chi Square
b. T-Test
c. Pearson r
d. ANOVA
45. Which of the following is considered an ability variable?
a. Scholastic aptitude
b. Self-concept
c. Social Economic Status
d. Sex
• 46.-48. Jon is a school director interested in the benefits of community service for
student self-esteem. He administers a self-esteem measure at the beginning of the school year
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and then assigns students to one of three types of community service activities. In one type
of service, the students complete 5 hours of community service of their choice. In the second
type, students conduct 5 hours of community service as a group painting and renovating a
shelter. In the third type, each child works for 5 hours when they are available at the local
soup kitchen. After the service is complete he again measures their self-esteem to see
differences.
• 46. What is the dependent variable in Jon’s study?
a. Self-esteem
b. Number of hours
c. Type of community service
d. Students’ choices
• 47. What is the independent variable in Jon’s study?
a. Self-esteem
b. Number of hours
c. Type of community service
d. Students’ choices
• 48. Which of the following might be a causal-comparative research question Jon first
posed prior to designing his study?
a. What types of community service do students say that they would like to complete?
b. Is 5 hours of community service enough for students to gain benefits in self-esteem?
c. Is there a relationship between self-esteem scores taken before and self-esteem scores
taken after community service?
d. Are there differences in students’ self-esteem after engagement in three types of
community service activities?
• 49. When he analyzes his data, Jon will use which of the following tests to examine
differences between groups?
a. Pearson r
b. ANOVA
c. Dependent T-test
d. Independent T-test
• 50-51. In an action research study, Katlyn examined attitudes about a new portfolio
assignment she included in her advanced graphics class. She felt this assignment might
result in more positive attitudes in her male students than in her female students.
• 50. Given Katlyn’s study, which of the following is the independent variable?
a. Gender
b. Portfolio assignment
c. Attitudes
d. Action research
• 51. Of the following, this study might best be described as
a. Experimental
b. Causal-comparative
c. Ethnongraphic
d. Narrative
• 52. Of the following, which best describes a causal-comparative study?
a. The typical number of hours spent studying mathematics in cyber-learning.
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b. The differences in mathematics learning outcomes between students enrolled in
traditional and cyber learning.
c. The relationship between cyber-learning and attitudes about utility of mathematics.
d. The most common personality profiles of those students who are not injured but
enrolled in cyber learning experiences.
Chapter 9 Answers