Chapter 5 - Identifying Good Measurements

Question 1

define conceptual definition

Answer 1

researchers’ definition of a variable at the theoretical level, also known as a construct

Question 2

define operational definition

Answer 2

researchers specific decision about how to measure or manipulate the conceptual variable

Question 3

what is the process taken to conceptual variables?

Answer 3

1. stating a definition of the construct
2. create operational definition

Question 4

what are the 3 common types of measures?

Answer 4

self-report, observational and physiological

Question 5

define self-report measures

Answer 5

a method of measuring a variable in which people answer questions about themselves in a questionnaire or interview. collect all measures to create an average for the persons responses.

Question 6

define observational measures

Answer 6

a method of measuring a variable by recording observable behaviours or physical traces of behaviours

Question 7

define physiological measures

Answer 7

a method of measuring a variable by recording biological data

Question 8

what are the 2 levels of operational variables and how its measured?

Answer 8

categorical: a variable whose levels are categories (ex. male and female)

quantitative: a variable whose values can be recorded as meaningful numbers

Question 9

what are the 3 kinds of quantitative variables?

Answer 9

ordinal, interval and ratio scale

Question 10

define ordinal scale

Answer 10

a scale whose levels represent a ranked order and in which distances between levels are not equal

ex. order of when people finish a race

Question 11

define interval scale

Answer 11

scale that has no true zero and in which the numerals represent equal intervals between levels

ex. shoe size (no one can have a 0 shoe size)

Question 12

define ratio scale

Answer 12

scale in which the numerals have equal intervals and the value of zero means non of the variable being measured

ex. measuring how many people get items right on a test. zero means getting nothing right

Question 13

define reliability

Answer 13

consistency of the results of a measure

Question 14

define validity

Answer 14

appropriateness of a conclusion or decision

Question 15

what are the 3 types of reliability?

Answer 15

test-retest, interrater, and internal

Question 16

define test-retest reliability

Answer 16

consistency in results every time a measure is used. applies for all measures but works best when it is a theoretical construct.

ex. taking an IQ test. if levels increase, it should be relatively consistent.

Question 17

define interrater reliability

Answer 17

the degree to which two or more coders or observers give consistent ratings of a set of targets. most relevant for observational measures.

ex. counting how many times a child smiles in an hour. you and the other observer get the same number

Question 18

define internal reliability

Answer 18

in a measure that has several items, the consistency in a pattern of answers, no matter how a question is phrased.

ex. having a 5 item scale where each are worded differently but meant to measure the same thing, the results should correlate

Question 19

define correlation coefficient

Answer 19

r, ranged from -1.0 to +1.0 which indicates the strength and direction of an association between two variables.

Question 20

define average inter-item correlation

Answer 20

AIC, is a measure of internal reliability for a set of items. it is the mean of all possible correlations computed between each item and the others

Cronbach’s alpha reflects the average on the inter-item scale. (low = not consistent, high = reliability)

Question 21

define face validity

Answer 21

the extent to which a measure is subjectively considered a plausible operationalization of a conceptual variable in question.

appear to measure for someone who knows about the content

Question 22

define content validity

Answer 22

the extent to which a measure captures all parts of a defined construct

Question 23

define criterion validity

Answer 23

empirical form of measuring validity measuring association with a behavioural outcome. comparing when you already know a measure for a similar thing

ex. having goof high school grades should correlated with high grades at uni

Question 24

define know-group paradigms

Answer 24

method to make sure you have criterion validity, where a research test 2 or more groups (know to have different variables of interest) to ensure there is a difference within the variable.

Question 25

define convergent validity

Answer 25

empirical test of the extent to which a self-report measure correlates with other measures of a similar construct. what measure should correlate with it?

Question 26

define discriminant validity

Answer 26

test where self-report measure doesn’t correlate with a measure that is a dissimilar construct. what measure should not correlation with it?

Question 27

when is observational better than self-report and vice-versa?

Answer 27

Observational is better when participants are in situations when they would be influenced to change response by researcher.

Self-report is better when it comes to internal attributes that cannot be observed like self-esteen.

Question 28

what are teh two subjective validities?

Answer 28

face and content

Question 29

what are the 3 objective valdities?

Answer 29

criterion, convergent, discriminant

Question 30

is reliability necassary?

Answer 30

yes it is necassary but not sufficient for validity