WGU D514 OBJECTIVE
ASSESSMENT FINAL Practice guide
EXAM Questions and Accurate
Verified Answers (Latest Update
2026) 100% Pass
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 - Correct Ans-Time-series
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 - Correct Ans-Cross Sectional
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 - Correct Ans-Time-Series
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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
Using categorical variables with 0=no and 1=yes - Correct Ans-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
Introduces subjectivity to data collection - Correct Ans-Introduces subjectivity to data
collection
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 - Correct Ans-Cross-sectional
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 - Correct Ans-Meta-analysis
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 - Correct Ans-Pre/post-study
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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 - Correct Ans-Regression analysis
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 - Correct Ans-Regression analysis
A hospital researcher is interested in investigating the association between hospital
ownership (i.e., government, investor, and not-for-profit) on overall hospital quality
scores.Research MethodsA cross-sectional data set of all urban hospitals from eight
states is used in this study. The data were obtained from various administrative
databases: Medicare Hospital Cost Report Information System, the American Hospital
Association, and the Area Health Resource File. Descriptive statistics are used to
summarize the data. An ordinary least squares regression is used to test the
relationship between ownership status and hospital quality while controlling for hospital
and market characteristics.Which component is missing from these research methods?
Analysis plan
Data collection
Study population
Research design - Correct Ans-Research design
Assoc. between pt satisfaction & hospital market share. Researcher hypothesizes that
increased pt satisfaction will lead to increase in hosp. market share. Longitudinal study
of 7 years will be conducted to assess the change in hospital market share over time.
Urban hospitals from the U.S. that have > 100 beds will be included. The data set will
include hosp. characteristics and market characteristics. Admin. data will be obtained
from the Am. Hospital Association's Annual Survey of Hospitals, the Area Health
Resources File, and the Hosp. Compare website. The variables included in the data set
will control for other factors that may impact hospital pt satisfaction. Stat. significance
will be set at α = 0.05 for the analysis. The results of the analysis will be of interest to
hospital administrators and policy makers. Which component is missing? Analysis plan
Data collection Study population Research design - Correct Ans-Analysis plan
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