Chapter 4

Question 1

Any factor or attribute that can be measured

Answer 1

variable

Question 2

Variables that are an attribute and are descriptive

Answer 2

Categorical or qualitative variables

Question 3

Variables that can be numerically measured

Answer 3

Quantitative variable

Question 4

Variables that cannot have intermediate values. ex: 1, 2, 3…

Answer 4

Discrete variables

Question 5

Variables that can have any possible value

Answer 5

continuous variables

Question 6

The presumed cause in a cause-effect reaction

Answer 6

independent variable

Question 7

the presumed effect in a cause-effect reaction

Answer 7

dependant variable

Question 8

A characteristic that differs across environments or situations

Answer 8

situational variable

Question 9

A personal characteristic that differs across individuals

Answer 9

characteristic variable

Question 10

Can the same factor be independent or dependant?

Answer 10

yes

Question 11

Can an experiment have multiple dependant variables?

Answer 11

yes

Question 12

Can an experiment have multiple independent variables?

Answer 12

yes

Question 13

Underlying characteristics or processes that are not directly observed, but are inferred from behaviours or outcomes

Answer 13

hypothetical constructs

Question 14

A variable that provides a causal link for an independent and dependent variable

Answer 14

mediator variable

Question 15

A factor that alters the strength or direction of the relation between an independent and dependent variable

Answer 15

moderator variable

Question 16

Referring to defining a variable in a measurable or manipulatable way

Answer 16

operational definition

Question 17

The process of systematically assigning values to represent something

Answer 17

measurement

Question 18

rules for assigning scale values to measurements

Answer 18

scales of measurement

Question 19

A scale of values that only represent qualitative differences i.e. differences in college major or type of anxiety disorder

Answer 19

nominal scale

Question 20

Assumptions made about nominal scale

Answer 20

All values represent a categorical variable, all values are equal to each other, the numbers themselves are arbitrary when assigned to something (1=biology, 2=physics)

Question 21

Advantages of a nomial scale

Answer 21

able to find differences within a catagory

Question 22

Limitations of a nomial scale

Answer 22

Not compatible with statistics, no fixed scale

Question 23

Scale values represent relative differences of some attribute i.e. rank =1 (least populator) to rank = 25 (most popular)

Answer 23

ordinal scale

Question 24

Advantages of an ordinal scale

Answer 24

arrange groups, measure order of magnitude

Question 25

limitations of an ordinal scale

Answer 25

Not compatible with statistics

Question 26

A scale that has equal differences between values on the scale reflects equal differences in the attribute being measured i.e. temperature

Answer 26

interval scale

Question 27

Advantages of an interval scale

Answer 27

find differences between categories, analyze scores

Question 28

Limitations of interval scale

Answer 28

Not compatible with statistics

Question 29

When equal distances between values on the scale reflect equal differences in the amount of attribute being measured and has a true zero point

Answer 29

ratio scales

Question 30

Advantages of a ration scale

Answer 30

Has a true zero which represents the absence of an attribute, compatible with stats

Question 31

Represents the degree to which the measure yields results that agree with a known standard

Answer 31

accuracy

Question 32

A degree of constant error occurs with each measurement

Answer 32

systematic error

Question 33

The consistency of a measure

Answer 33

reliability

Question 34

Random fluctuations that occur during measurement and cause the obtained scores to deviate

Answer 34

random measurement error

Question 35

What can cause random measurement errors?

Answer 35

participants' characteristics, measurement setting or procedures, issues with measurement instruments, or mistakes in transcribing data

Question 36

Determining reliability by administering the same measure two or more times

Answer 36

Test-retest

Question 37

The degree to which the items on the test an interrelated

Answer 37

internal reliability

Question 38

A test is divided in two, so one half is correlated with the other

Answer 38

split-half reliability

Question 39

A statistic that reflects how strongly individual items on a test corrolate

Answer 39

Cronbach's alpha

Question 40

The degree to which independent observers show agreement in their observations

Answer 40

interobserver reliablity

Question 41

How accurate is an inference. It should be based on sound reasoning

Answer 41

validity

Question 42

The degree to which the items on a measure appear to be reasonable

Answer 42

face validity

Question 43

represents the degree to which items on a measure adequately represent the entire range of the content

Answer 43

content validity

Question 44

the degree to which the scores acurately measure the content

Answer 44

criterion validity

Question 45

The degree to which the measures accurately measure the construct it's supposed to

Answer 45

construct validity