5 Identifying Good Measurements

Question 1

Categorical variable

Answer 1

A variable whose levels are categories.

Question 2

Concurrent validity

Answer 2

An empirically supported type of measurement validity that represents the extent to which a measure is related to a concrete, simultaneous outcome that it should be related to.

Question 3

Content validity

Answer 3

The extent to which a measure captures all parts of a defined construct.

Question 4

Convergent validity

Answer 4

And empirically supported type of measurement for validity that represents the extent to which a measure is associated with other measures of a theoretical similar construct.

Question 5

Correlation coefficient

Answer 5

A single number, ranging from -1.0 to 1.0, used to indicate the strength and direction of an association.

Question 6

Cronbach’s alpha

Answer 6

Coefficient alpha. A correlation-based statistic that measures the scale’s internal reliability.

Question 7

Discriminant validity

Answer 7

Divergent validity. An empirically supported type of measurement validity that represents the extent to which a measure does not associate strongly with measures of other, theoretically different constructs.

Question 8

Face validity

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Internal reliability

Answer 9

In a measuring instrument that contains several items, the consistency in a pattern of answers, no matter how a question is phrased.

Question 10

Interrater reliability

Answer 10

The degree to which two or more coders or observers agree in their ratings of a set of targets.

Question 11

Interval scale

Answer 11

The quantitative measurement that has no “true zero” and it which the numerals represent equal intervals (distances) between levels (e.g. temperature in degrees).

Question 12

Observational measure

Answer 12

Behavioral measure. A variable measured by recording observable behaviors or physical traces of behaviors.

Question 13

Ordinal scale

Answer 13

A quantitative measurement scale whose levels represent arrange order, in which it is unclear whether the distances between levels are equivalents (e.g. a five-star rating scale).

Question 14

Physiological measure

Answer 14

A variable measured by recording biological data.

Question 15

Predictive validity

Answer 15

An empirically supported type of measurement validity that represents the extent to which a measure is related to a concrete, future outcome that it should be related to.

Question 16

Quantitative variable

Answer 16

A variable whose values can be recorded as meaningful numbers.

Question 17

Ratio scale

Answer 17

A quantitative scale of measurement in which the numerals have equal intervals and the value of zero truly means “nothing” (e.g. weight).

Question 18

Reliability

Answer 18

The consistency of a measure.

Question 19

Self-report measure

Answer 19

A method of measuring the variable in which people answer questions about themselves in a questionnaire or interview.

Question 20

Slope direction

Answer 20

The upward, downward, or neutral slope of the cloud of points in a scatterplot.

Question 21

Strength

Answer 21

A description of an association indicating how closely the data points in the scatterplot cluster along the line of best fit drawn through them.

Question 22

Test-retest reliability

Answer 22

The consistency in results every time a measure is used.