DrJohn Doe, a Research Microbiologist for a University Medical Center

question 29

Essay

Dr.John Doe, a research microbiologist for a university medical center, has been accused of sending Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, through the mail to the President.You, as a public health official with the CDC, have to determine if it is the same strain as the two strains of
A.Gram staining
B.Serological testing using agglutination
B.anthracis found cultured in his lab.Which method of identification would you use to compare these three bacterial samples?
C.Biochemical test identification
D.Pulse-field gel electrophoresis

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Definitions:

Focus Groups

Structured group discussions used to gather participants' attitudes, feelings, beliefs, and reactions to a specific subject or area of interest.

Experiments

Research procedures carried out under controlled conditions and based on the technique of manipulating one or more variables in hopes of observing an effect. Typically, an experimental condition is applied to one group, and the results are compared with those from another group (control group) that has had no experimental treatment.

Operationalization

The process of defining a fuzzy concept so as to make the concept measurable and to understand it in terms of empirical observations.

Hawthorne Effect

The effect that researchers themselves may have on an experimental group. The effect is named after an organizational study in which employees were found to be responding to the perceived interest of management rather than to the experimental condition itself.