2 Reliability and Validity Flashcards
Define Reliability
The Consistency of measurements. We would expect any measurement to produce the same data if taken on successive occasions.q
Define Validity
Whether an observed effect is a genuine one
Define Co-Morbidity
The extent that two or more conditions or diseases occur simultaneously in a patient, ie schizophrenia and depression
Define Symptom overlap
Most people diagnosed with schizophrenia have sufficient symptoms of other disorders that they could also receive at least one other diagnosis.
Evaluation:
The consequence of co-morbidity
Weber looked at six million hospital discharge records, finding that many patients with schizophrenia also had medical problems including asthma, hypertension and diabetes but received a lower standard of care because of their primary psychiatric diagnosis, This suggests that the physical health outcomes from individuals with schizophrenia are less favorable than for non-schizophrenics.
Evaluation:
Lack of inter-rater reliability
Inter-rater reliability correlations in the diagnosis of schizophrenia are as low as 0.11. Psychiatrists asked to differentiate between bizarre and non bizarre delusions also disagreed in their judgement with inter-rater reliability for this aspect of diagnosis of just 0.40
Being Sane In Insane Places
Rosenhann got 8 sane and healthy individuals to become pseudo patients. They lie about hearing voices in their heads and got diagnosed with schizophrenia When the pseudo patients were eventually discharged, none of them were seen as normal, but all with “schizophrenia in remission. In a secondary study, a hospital was expecting some pseudo patients to be sent, and their staff identified 41 possible suspects whom they thought were not mentally ill. It turns out, the experimenter actually sent no pseudo patients that time.
Essay Plan
Reliability:
Reliability of Major classifications systems.
Validity:
Symptom Overlap
Co-Morbidity.
