CHAPTER 2

Question 1

science

Answer 1

Approach that
involves the understanding, prediction, and control of some phenomenon
of interest.

Question 2

hypothesis

Answer 2

Prediction
about relationship(s)
among variables
of interest.

Question 3

disinterestedness

Answer 3

Characteristic of scientists, who
should be objective and
uninfluenced by biases or
prejudices when conducting research

Question 4

expert witness

Answer 4

Witness in
a lawsuit who is permitted
to voice opinions about
organizational practices.

Question 5

research design

Answer 5

Provides
the overall structure
or architecture for the
research study; allows
investigators to conduct
scientific research on a
phenomenon of interest.

Question 6

experimental design

Answer 6

Participants are randomly
assigned to different
conditions

Question 7

quasi-experimental
design

Answer 7

Participants are
assigned to different
conditions, but random
assignment to conditions
is not possible.

Question 8

nonexperimental design

Answer 8

Does not include any
“treatment” or assignment
to different conditions

Question 9

observational design

Answer 9

The researcher observes
employee behavior and
systematically records what
is observed.

Question 10

survey design

Answer 10

Research
strategy in which participants are asked to
complete a questionnaire
or survey

Question 11

quantitative methods

Answer 11

Rely
on tests, rating scales,
questionnaires, and physiological measures and
yield numerical results.

Question 12

qualitative methods

Answer 12

Rely
on observations, inter
views, case studies, and
analysis of diaries or
written documents and
produce flow diagrams
and narrative descriptions
of events or processes.

Question 13

introspection

Answer 13

Early scientific method in which the
participant was also the
experimenter, recording
his or her experiences
in completing an experimental task; considered
very subjective by modern
standards

Question 14

triangulation

Answer 14

Approach
in which researchers seek
converging information
from different sources.

Question 15

generalize

Answer 15

To apply the
results from one study or
sample to other participants or situations.

Question 16

experimental control

Answer 16

Characteristic of research
in which possible con
founding influences that
might make results less
reliable or harder to
interpret are eliminated;
often easier to establish in
laboratory studies than in
field studies

Question 17

statistical control

Answer 17

Using
statistical techniques to
control for the influence
of certain variables. Such
control allows researchers
to concentrate exclusively
on the primary relationships of interest.

Question 18

descriptive statistics

Answer 18

Statistics that summarize,
organize, and describe a
sample of data.

Question 19

measure of central
tendency

Answer 19

Statistic that
indicates where the center
of a distribution is located.
Mean, median, and mode
are measures of central tendency.

Question 20

variability

Answer 20

The extent to
which scores in a distribution vary

Question 21

skew

Answer 21

The extent to which
scores in a distribution are
lopsided or tend to fall on
the left or right side of the
distribution.

Question 22

mean

Answer 22

The arithmetic
average of the scores in a
distribution; obtained by
summing all of the scores
in a distribution and dividing by the sample size.

Question 23

mode

Answer 23

The most common
or frequently occurring
score in a distribution.

Question 24

median

Answer 24

The middle score
in a distribution.

Question 25

inferential statistics

Answer 25

Statistics used to aid the researcher in testing hypotheses and making inferences from sample data to a larger sample or population.

Question 26

statistical significance

Answer 26

Indicates that the prob ability of the observed statistic is less than the stated significance level adopted by the researcher (commonly p < .05). A statistically significant finding indicates that the results found are unlikely to have occurred by chance, and thus the null hypothesis (i.e., hypothesis of no effect) is rejected.

Question 27

statistical power

Answer 27

The likelihood of finding a statistically significant difference when a true difference exists.

Question 28

measurement

Answer 28

Assigning numbers to characteristics of individuals or objects according to rules.

Question 29

correlation coefficient

Answer 29

Statistic assessing the bivariate, linear associa tion between two variables. Provides information about both the magnitude (numerical value) and the direction (1 or 2) of the relationship between two variables.

Question 30

scatterplot

Answer 30

Graph used to plot the scatter of scores on two variables; used to display the correlational relationship between two variables.

Question 31

regression line

Answer 31

Straight line that best “fits” the scatterplot and describes the relationship between the variables in the graph; can also be presented as an equation that specifies where the line intersects the vertical axis and what the angle or slope of the line is.

Question 32

linear

Answer 32

Relationship between two variables that can be depicted by a straight line.

Question 33

nonlinear

Answer 33

Relationship between two variables that cannot be depicted by a straight line; sometimes called “curvilinear” and most easily identified by examining a scatterplot.

Question 34

multiple correlation coefficient

Answer 34

Statistic that represents the overall linear association between several variables (e.g., cognitive ability, personality, experience) on the one hand and a single variable (e.g., job performance) on the other hand.

Question 35

meta-analysis

Answer 35

Statistical method for combining and analyzing the results from many studies to draw a general conclusion about relationships among variables

Question 36

statistical artifacts

Answer 36

Characteristics (e.g., small sample size, unreliable measures) of a particular study that distort the observed results. Researchers can correct for artifacts to arrive at a statistic that rep resents the “true” relation ship between the variables of interest

Question 37

micro-research

Answer 37

The study of individual behavior.

Question 38

macro-research

Answer 38

The study of collective behavior.

Question 39

meso-research

Answer 39

The study of the interaction of individual and collective behavior

Question 40

reliability

Answer 40

Consistency or stability of a measure.

Question 41

variability

Answer 41

The accuracy of inferences made based on test or performance data; also addresses whether a measure accurately and completely represents what was intended to be measured.

Question 42

test–retest reliability

Answer 42

A type of reliability calculated by correlating measurements taken at time 1 with measurements taken at time 2.

Question 43

equivalent forms reliability

Answer 43

A type of reliability calculated by correlating measurements from a sample of individuals who complete two different forms of the same test.

Question 44

internal consistency

Answer 44

Form of reliability that assesses how consistently the items of a test measure a single construct; affected by the number of items in the test and the correlations among the test items.

Question 45

generalizability theory

Answer 45

A sophisticated approach to the question of reliabil ity that simultaneously considers all types of error in reliability estimates (e.g., test–retest, equiva lent forms, and internal consistency)

Question 46

predictor

Answer 46

The test chosen or developed to assess attributes (e.g., abilities) identified as important for successful job performance.

Question 47

criterion

Answer 47

An outcome variable that describes important aspects or demands of the job; the variable that we predict when evaluating the validity of a predictor.

Question 48

criterion-related validity

Answer 48

Validity approach that is demonstrated by correlating a test score with a performance measure; improves researcher’s confidence in the inference that people with higher test scores have higher performance.

Question 49

validity coefficient

Answer 49

Correlation coefficient between a test score (predictor) and a performance measure (criterion).

Question 50

predictive validity design

Answer 50

Criterion-related validity design in which there is a time lag between collection of the test data and the criterion data

Question 51

concurrent validity design

Answer 51

Criterion-related validity design in which there is no time lag between gathering the test scores and the performance data

Question 52

content-related validation design

Answer 52

A design that demonstrates that the content of the selection procedure represents an adequate sample of important work behaviors and activities and/or worker KSAOs defined by the job analysis.

Question 53

construct validity

Answer 53

Validity approach in which inves tigators gather evidence to support decisions or inferences about psycho logical constructs; often begins with investigators demonstrating that a test designed to measure a particular construct correlates with other tests in the predicted manner.

Question 54

construct

Answer 54

Psychological concept or character istic that a predictor is intended to measure; examples are intelli gence, personality, and leadership.