Chapter #3 - 09/16/24 Flashcards
measurements, mistakes, and misunderstandings (101 cards)
1
Q
what information do you need to know about a survey or poll in order to correctly interpret the results ?
A
2
Q
how do you determine whether open or closed questions were used in a study, and how the form might affect the results ?
A
3
Q
what type of concepts are hard to measure and which methods are used to try to measure them?
A
- concepts regarding emotions and feelings are hard to measure and gain a genuine real results.
- the methods we use to try and measure them include surveys created by researchers to self examine and create conclusions
4
Q
explain the different types of measyrement variables :
A
5
Q
define validity in a study :
A
6
Q
define reliability in a study :
A
7
Q
define bias in a study :
A
8
Q
what is the reason for natural variability ?
A
9
Q
what is an open question ?
A
10
Q
what is a closed question ?
A
11
Q
TRUE OR FALSE
simple changes of words can lead to big changes in answers ?
A
TRUE
12
Q
how many pitfalls are there when asking questions ?
A
7
13
Q
what are the 7 pitfalls when asking questions ?
A
- deliberate bias
- unintentional bias
- desire to please
- asking the uninformed
- unnecessary complexity
- ordering of questions
7.confidentality and anonymity
14
Q
define “deliberate bias” :
A
questions can be purposely worded to support a certain cause
15
Q
define “unintentional bias” :
A
questions are worded such that the meaning is misinterpreted by many
16
Q
define “desire to please” :
A
most respondents have a desire to please the person who is asking the question
17
Q
define “asking the uninformed” :
A
people do not like to admit they don’t know what you are talking about
18
Q
define “unnecessary complexity” :
A
if questions are to be understood they must be kept simple
19
Q
define “ordering of questions” :
A
the order in which questions are presented can change the results
20
Q
define “confidentiality and anonymity” :
A
people answere differently based on degree to which they are anonymous
21
Q
for deliberate bias what makes the wording of the question appropriate ?
A
appropriate wording should not indicate a desired answer
22
Q
why do we experience unintentional bias ?
A
because the same word can have multiple meanings
23
Q
give an example of unintentional bias ….
A
“do you use drugs?” — need to specify if you mean prescription drugs, illegal drugs, etc
24
Q
TRUE OR FALSE
the same word can have multiple meanings ?
A
TRUE
25
why do we experinece desire to please ?
people tend to understand responses about undesirable social habits, and vice versa
26
what are some things we may witness during unnecessary complexity ?
- too confusing
- asking more than one question at once
27
explain how the following is an example of "ordering of questions" :
1. to what extent do you think teenagers today worry about peer pressure related to drinking alcohol ?
2. name the top five pressures you think face teenagers today.
it is likely that respondents will name peer presure related to drinking alcohol as one of the 5 choices
28
define "confidentiality" :
researcher promises not to release identifying information about respondents
29
define "anonymity" :
researchers doesn't know identuty of respondents
30
why do we witness confidentiality and anonymity ?
- certain topics can be more private, self considered as "embarrassing" or even scary to share
- based off whether ur identity is more unknown, a participant may be way more willing to share openly and honestly
31
what are some topics where we may witness confidentiality and anonymity ?
- sexual assault
- abuse
- rape
- eating disorders
32
here is a potential survey question "do you support cutting the lunch period from 60 minutes to 40 minutes, so that teachers have more time to spend teaching"
which two of the seven pitfalls applies to this question?
deliberate bias and unnecessary bias
33
how would you reqord thw follwoing question to avoid pitfalls ?
"do you support cutting the lunch period from 60 minutes to 40 minutes, so that teachers have more time to spend teaching"
"do you support or not support shortneing the lunch period from 60 minutes to 40 minutes ?
34
define an open question :
respondents allowed to answer in own wordsw
35
what is an advantage to open questions ?
no limit options
36
what is a disadvantage to open questions ?
responses are difficult to summarize; wording of the questions may exclude answers
37
define closed questions :
rspondents given list of alternatives from which to choose answer. often an 'other' choice is provided. Often an 'other' choice is provided
38
what is an advantage of closed questions ?
easier to administer and analyze than open questions
39
what is an disadvantage of closed questions ?
options are limited; respondents will rarely volunteer a choice using 'other'
40
what type of questions can you use their own words, as much as they'd like ?
open questions
41
what type of questions can allow individuals to give the options that people can chose ?
closed questions
42
what are pilot surveys ?
asks open questions first to some individuals to gather the top 5 answers ... after that we apply these questions into a questionnaire and set it up as a closed question and ask to a larger sample population
43
why is defining what is being measured important ?
- to help specific what the item, time of day, month, year, period , etc may be
44
TRUE OR FALSE
not all concepts are the same level of difficulty to grasp, some are harder to define precisely
TRUE
45
what is an example of a very personal and subjectvie topic in a survey/questionnaire ?
stress / anxiety in kids (make sure to specify what specifically in regards to stress and anxiety)
46
how to measure self esteem or happiness ?
what is a common method ?
respondents read statements and determine extent to which they agree with statement
47
is this a good or bad example of a question measuring attitudes and emotions ?
"i generally feel optimistic when i get up in the morning" ... indicate your leeel of agreement from 'strongly disagree' to 'strongly agree'
yes it is a good exmaples
48
define categorical variable :
those you can place into a category
49
what are those categorical variables whose categories have natural ordering called ?
ordinal
50
what are those categorical variables whose categories do not have a natural ordering called ?
nominal
51
define measurement variables :
those for which we can record a numerical value and then order respondents according to those values
52
what is another name for measurement variables ?
quantitative variables
53
what are the four levels of measurement ?
nominal
ordinal
interval
ration
54
define "nominal" :
the data can only be categorized
55
define "ordinal" :
the data can be categorized and ranked
56
define "interval" :
the data can be categorized and ranked, and evenly spaced
57
define "ratio" :
the data can be categorized, ranked, evenly spaced and has a natural zero
58
define independent variables :
the variable being manipulated
59
define dependent variables :
the variable being measured
60
what level of measurement is defined by the following ?
- categorial data with no implicit ordering
- cannot be added, subtracted, multiplied or divided
- can be summarized using mode only
nominal
61
what level of measurement is defined by the following ?
- continuous (equal distance between points)
- no meaningful zero
- can be added or subtracted
- cannot be multiplied or divided
- can be summarized with mean, median or mode
interval
62
what level of measurement is defined by the following ?
- continuous (equal distance between points)
- meaningful zero
- can be added, subtracted, multiplied and divided
- can be summarized with mean, median, or mode
ratio
63
what level of measurement is defined by the following ?
- categorial data with implicit (or explicit) ordering
- unequal distance between points
- cannot be added, subtracted, multiplied or divided
- can be summarized with median or mode
ordinal
64
the following is an examplen of which level of measurement ?
"positions in a race : 1st, 2nd, 3rd"
ordinal
65
the following is an examplen of which level of measurement ?
temperature in celcius
interval
66
the following is an examplen of which level of measurement ?
"25 animals" (10 dogs and 15 cats)
nominal
67
the following is an examplen of which level of measurement ?
give an example of ratio data :
ratio
68
which level of measurement has no meaningful zero ?
interval data
69
which level of measurement has a meaningful zero ?
ratio data
70
describe discrete variables :
you can count the possible responses
71
what is the key to recognize discrete variables ?
"number of"
72
the following is an example of what type of variable ?
"number of car accidents on a stretch of highway"
"number of books"
discrete variables
73
define continuous variables :
fall on a continuum, can be anything within a given range/interval (measured)
74
what is the key to recognize discrete variables ?
"amount of"
75
what's an example of a continous variable?
age
76
age, weight and height are all exmaples of discrete or continouus variables ?
continous varibles
77
which of the following are categorical ? chose all that apply.
a) gender of a person
b) number of midterm exams in a course
c) level of education
d) weight of a person
e) height of a person
a) gender of a person
c) level of education
78
which of the following are discrete quantitative (measurement) variables ? imput all that apply.
a) number of floors in a building
b) number of words in a book
c) height of a building
d) weight of a book
e) a person's IQ
a) number of floors in a building
b) number of words in a book
79
define "valid measurement" :
actually measures what it claims to measure
80
what is the 'key' to a valid measurement ?
need to know exactly what was measured
81
define "reliable measurement" :
will give you or anyone else approximately the same result time after time, when taken on the same object or individual
82
what is the 'key' to a reliable measurement ?
watch for degree of precision being reported
83
define "biased measurement" :
systematically off the mark in the same direction
84
the following is an example of which measurement ?
"time on clock that's fast"
biased measurement
85
the following is an exmaple of which measurement ?
"IQ test not valid measure of happiness"
valid measurement
86
the following is an exmaple of which measurement ?
"physicla measurements with precise instrument"
reliable measurement
87
the term "underestimate" would be used to define which term between validity, reliability or bias ?
biased measurement
88
define "variability" :
used when we talk about 2 or more measuremnets in relation to eachother
89
define natural variability :
results from changes across time in the individual or system being measured... example blood pressure & height
90
what is a measurement error ?
amount by which each measurement differs from the true value
91
the following is an example of what ?
"measuring a large diatnce with a ruler"
measurement error
92
TRUE OR FALSE
we want to see measuremnet errors
FALSE
we do not want measurement errors, instead we want reliable measurements
93
what are the three reasons variability occurs ?
1. measurement error
2. natural variability across individuals at any given time
3. natural variability in a characteristic of the same individual across time
94
what would happen if there were no variability within two groups ?
it would be easy to detect differences between the two groups
95
the more variability there is within each group, what does this mean?
the more difficult is it so detect differences between groups
96
TRUE OR FALSE
we want differences in statistics
FALSE
we dont want too many differences as that can make it too hard to measure (we want just enough to give us diverse answers)
97
TRUE OR FALSE
wording and ordering of questions and type of questions can make a difference in the outcome of the study ?
TRUE
98
TRUE OR FALSE
valid measurements do not accurately reflect what are trying to measure ?
FALSE
valid measurements accurately reflect what are trying to measure
99
TRUE OR FALSE
reliable measurements are consistent when repeayed ?
TRUE
100
TRUE OR FALSE
biased measurements are systematically in the same direction ?
TRUE
101
TRUE OR FALSE
comparing natural person-person variability and variation die to different group of memberships is not the key to making new discoveries in statistics
FALSE
comparing natural person-person variability and variation die to different group of memberships IS the key to making new discoveries in statistics
