Ch 5 The process of measurement Flashcards by Kaitlin Chase

measurement

refers to the process of describing abstract concepts in terms of specific indicators by assigning numbers or other symbols to these indicators in accordance with rules

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

measurement is the process of moving from ____ to the ____

abstract (theoretical level)

concrete

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

measurement is essentially the process of ____ concepts

operationalizing

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Indicator

An observation that we assume is evidence of the attributes or properties of some phenomenon - ex, childs broken leg is an indicator that maybe there is child abuse

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Item

Used to refer to a single indicator of a variable

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Index or scale

a composite of multiple items

scales allow us to measure variables in a more precise and accurate fashion

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

3 techniques of measuring

verbal reports - most common. answering questions, interviews, etc

observation - watching people

archival records - using recorded information already done

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

logic of measurement equation

positivist view of science

X = T + E

x = observation/measurement
t = true phenomenon
e = error

we strive for measurement with no error so that x = t

ex. reading on a weight scale = your actual weight + clothing you are wearing; heavy things in pocket

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

non positivist view argue what 2 things?

argue that we haven’t examined a huge assumption which is that T exists objectively in the world and our measurement device is merely discovering it and its properties

argue that many social science concepts do not have such clear and objective referents in the world

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

level of measurement

the rules that define permissible mathematical operations that can be performed on a set of numbers produced by a measure

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

4 types (levels) of measurement

nominal

ordinal

interval

ratio

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

nominal measures (1st type)

classify observations into mutually exclusive and exhaustive categories

they are discrete variables

ex - variables like sex, ethnicity, religion, political preference

if we use religion and categorize them into one religion, they don’t go in the other religious groups, therefore are mutually exclusive.

exhaustive categories mean there is a category for every case, meaning you have other as an option AND no religion as an option too

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

ordinal measures (2nd type)

are of a higher level than nominal measures because in addition to having mutually exclusive and exhaustive categories, the categories have a fixed order, but not always equal spacing

they are discrete variables

ex. socioeconomic status - ranking the statuses

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

interval measures (3rd type)

share the characteristics of ordinal scales - mutually exclusive and exhaustive categories and an inherent order - but have equal spacing between categories

variables are often continuous

ex. Difference of 70 degrees and 80 degrees is the same as 30 degrees and 40 degrees difference

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

ratio measures (4th type)

has all the characteristics of interval measures, but the 0 point is absolute and meaningful rather than arbitrary

variables are often continuous

ex - no income at all is 0$

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

discrete variables

have a specific number of distinct and separate values

ex- sex, household size, number of days absent, number of arrests

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

continuous variables

can take on an infinite number of values

ex - age because we can measure by years, months, weeks, days, minutes, seconds

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

a variable is either ____ or ____

discrete or continuous

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

validity

refers to the accuracy of a measure

face validity

involves assessing whether a logical relationship exists between the variable and the proposed measure

it is subjective in nature

its the weakest demonstration of validity therefore should only be used as a starting point

content validity or sampling validity

has to do with whether a measuring device covers the full range of meanings or forms that are included in a variable to measure

somewhat subjective

contains a detailed analysis of the breadth of the measured concept and its relationship to the measuring device

determine full range or domain of the content of a variable
determine whether all those remains are represented among the items that constitute the measuring device

jury opinion

gather opinions of other investigators regarding whether particular operational definitions are logical measures of the variable

criterion validity

establishes validity by showing a correlation between a measurement device and some other criterion or standard that we know or believe accurately measures the variable under consideration

provides more objective evidence

concurrent validity

a type of criterion validity

compares the instrument under evaluation to some already existing criterion, such as the results of another measuring device

a weakness is the validity of the existing measure that is used for comparison

predictive validity

a form of criterion validity An instrument predicts some future state of affairs

construct validity

The most complex types of validity Involves relating an instrument to an overall theoretical framework to determine whether the instrument is correlated with all the concepts and propositions that comprise the theory

multitrait-multimethod approach

One form of construct validity 1. Two instruments that are valid measures of the same concept should correlate rather highly with each other even though they are different instruments 2. Two instruments, even if similar to each other, should not correlate highly if they measure different concepts

reliability

refers to a measure's ability to yield consistent results each time it is applied reliable measures only fluctuate because of variations in the variable being measured

test-retest

the first and most generally applicable assessment of reliability this technique involves applying a measure to a sample of people and then, somewhat later, applying the same measure to the same people again divide test group randomly into experimental group and test twice, and a control group and test once

a correlation coefficient of _____ or better normally is necessary for a measure to be considered reliable

0.80

a correlation of ___ means highly reliable

0.98

advantage of test-retest

we can use it with many measures

disadvantage of test-retest

slow and cumbersome to use with two required testing sessions and the desirability of a control group outcome may not be clear cannot use it on measures of variables whose value might have changed during the intervals between tests

multiple forms

type of reliability create 2 separate but equivalent versions made up of different items, like different questions. Administer the two forms to the same people during a single testing session. If the correlation is sufficiently high, we can assume that each scale is reliable

advantages to multiple forms

requiring only one testing session or a control group is impractical don’t need to worry about variables changing over time

disadvantages to multiple forms

the items on both forms will be quite similar, that people may realize they are responding to the same items twice the difficulty of developing two measures with different items that really are equivalent

internal consistency approaches (split half approach)

type of reliability use a single scale that is administered to one group of people to develop an estimate of reliability spearman-brown formula r = 2ri/1+ri ri = uncorrected correlation coefficient r = corrected correlation coefficient (reliability coefficient)

advantages to internal consistency approach

require only one testing session and no control group give the clearest indication of reliability

disadvantage to internal consistency approach

we cannot always use them

it is important to refine measuring instruments to assure they are valid and reliable measuring among ___

minorities

there is no such thing as ____ measurement

exact

random errors are essentially ____ errors that in the long run, tend to cancel themselves out

chance

____ error is consistent and patterned. errors do not cancel out

systematic

6 ways to improve validity and reliability

develop concepts more extensively improve training of those who will be applying the measuring devices interview subjects of research about measurement devices use higher level of measurement use more indicators of a variable conduct an item by item analysis

5 ways to choosing a measurement device

consider theoretical relevance to research emphasize proven reliability and validity opt for higher level of measurement minimize systematic and random error consider feasibility issues