5) Reliability and validity key terms

Question 1

What is meant by reliability?

Answer 1

Refers to the extent to which something is constant
-reliable effects are replicated across a number of different studies and individuals

Question 2

What is internal reliability?

Answer 2

Extent to which different parts of a measure are consistent with itself
(Measured using split half method)

Question 3

What is external reliability?

Answer 3

Extent to which a measure is reliable when repeated
(Measured using the test-retest method / inter-rater)

Question 4

What is inter-rater reliability?

Answer 4

The degree of agreement among raters
(E.g. two people do the same thing and then compare their ratings)

Question 5

In an inter-rater situation what does a high correlation between raters / observers mean? (0.8+)

Answer 5

The measure is reliable

Question 6

What is test-retest reliability?

Answer 6

Measures the test consistency; the reliability measured over time
(E.g. if a person completes the same test twice at different times)

Question 7

If the results of the two test in a test-retest situation achieve a correlation co-efficient of 0.8 or above, what does that mean?

Answer 7

The results are reliable

Question 8

What is meant by validity?

Answer 8

Refers to the extent which something is measuring what it is claiming to measure
(E.g. does your aggression questionnaire really measure aggression?)

Question 9

What is meant by internal validity?

Answer 9

Refers to the extent to which a study establishes how a cause-and-effect relationship between IV and the DV
-how much are the EV’s being controlled

Question 10

What is meant by external validity?

Answer 10

Refers to the extent the results can be generalised to other settings
(E.g. real life)

Question 11

What is meant by ecological validity?

Answer 11

Refers to whether the data is generalisable to the real world

Question 12

What is meant by population validity?

Answer 12

Describes how well the sample can be generalised to a population as a whole

Question 13

Which “type” of people are often used in experiments that reduce the population validity of the study?

Answer 13

‘Weird’ people
-white / educated / industrialised / rich / education

Question 14

What is meant by temporal validity?

Answer 14

Refers to whether the findings are still valid today
(E.g. changes in attitude towards gender roles over time could lower the temporal validity of data from the past studies about gender)

Question 15

What is meant by construct validity?

Answer 15

Refers to the degree to which a test measures what it claims, or purports to be measuring
(E.g. how effectively does a mood self-assessment for depression really measure the construct of depression?)

Question 16

What is meant by concurrent validity?

Answer 16

Asks whether a measure is in agreement with a pre-existing measure that is validated to test for the same (or very similar) concept

Question 17

What is meant by predictive validity?

Answer 17

The degree to which a trust accurately predicts a criterion that will occur in the future
(E.g. diagnostic test for schizophrenia has a low predictive validity as being diagnosed with sz can lead to very different outcomes - such as some may continue to live a ‘normal’ life yet others may start to suffer with homelessness and drug abuse)

Question 18

What is meant by face validity?

Answer 18

Where you apply a superficial and subjective assessment of whether or not your study or test measures what it is supposed to measure