The clinical method __________.

Correct Answer: D

Rationale: The clinical method yields richly detailed case narratives that offer valuable insights. This method involves in-depth interviews, direct observation, and structured interactions to gather detailed information about an individual's behavior and development. It focuses on understanding the unique aspects of an individual's experience and can provide rich insights into behavior and development.

Correct Answer: A

Rationale: The correct answer is A) moderate; positive. This is because a correlation coefficient of +.49 falls between the range of +0.30 to +0.49, indicating a moderate positive correlation. This means that as levels of illegal drug use increase, levels of adolescent delinquency also tend to increase, but not perfectly in sync. Option B) low; positive is incorrect because a correlation of +.49 is not considered low but falls within the moderate range. Option C) high; negative is incorrect as the correlation coefficient is positive, not negative. Option D) low; negative is incorrect because the correlation is positive, not negative. From an educational perspective, understanding correlation coefficients is crucial in pharmacology as it helps to analyze relationships between variables. Teaching students to interpret the strength and direction of correlations is essential for them to make informed decisions in research and clinical practice. In this case, knowing that a correlation of +.49 is moderate and positive can assist healthcare professionals in understanding the relationship between illegal drug use and adolescent delinquency.

Correct Answer: A

Rationale: In an experimental study, the independent variable is the factor being manipulated or controlled by the researcher. In this case, the frequency of read-alouds is the variable that researchers would intentionally change or vary to see its effect on the dependent variable, which is the children's vocabulary scores. The other options (B. type of books parents read, C. child's vocabulary score, and D. difficulty of vocabulary words) are not the independent variable in this study as they are either irrelevant or are the outcome being measured.

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: The correct answer is C) It is not plagued with dropout or practice effects. In a cross-sectional design, data is collected from different groups of participants at a single point in time, allowing researchers to compare different age groups. One of the strengths of this design is that it is not affected by dropout or practice effects. Dropout effects refer to participants leaving the study before it is completed, which can bias the results. Practice effects occur when participants change their behavior as a result of repeated testing, impacting the validity of the study. Option A is incorrect because a cross-sectional design does not provide evidence about individual trends since it looks at different groups at one point in time. Option B is incorrect because cohort effects can still influence the results of a cross-sectional study. Option D is incorrect because a cross-sectional design does not permit longitudinal comparisons, as it only captures data at a single time point. In an educational context, understanding the strengths and limitations of research designs like cross-sectional studies is crucial for pharmacology students. Being able to identify the appropriate design for a research question ensures the validity and reliability of study findings, which is essential in the field of pharmacology where accurate data can impact patient care and treatment outcomes.

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: Practice effects refer to the phenomenon where participants in a longitudinal study show improvement in test performance over time due to becoming familiar with the tasks or test materials. This can be considered a limitation as it may distort the results by showing an artificial improvement rather than a true developmental change.