Ch. 3 - The Measurement of Behaviour

Question 1

What are the three types of measures used in behavioural research?

Answer 1

Observational measures, physiological measures, and self-report measures.

Question 2

What are observational measures?

Answer 2

Direct observation of behaviour.

Question 3

When are physiological measures used?

Answer 3

When interested in the relation between bodily processes and behaviour.

Question 4

What do self-report measures involve?

Answer 4

The replies people give to questionnaires and interviews.

Question 5

What are the three categories of self-report measures?

Answer 5

Cognitive self-reports (think), affective self-reports (feel), and behavioural self-reports (act).

Question 6

What are psychometrics?

Answer 6

The specialty dedicated to the study of psychological measurement.

Question 7

What are converging operations (AKA triangulation)?

Answer 7

When different kinds of measures provide the same results.

Question 8

What are the 4 scales of measurement from lowest to highest?

Answer 8

Nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.

Question 9

What is a nominal scale of measurement?

Answer 9

Numbers that are assigned as labels. i.e., not real numbers, only to indicate attributes of participants.

Question 10

What is an ordinal scale of measurement?

Answer 10

Involves the rank ordering of a set of behaviours or characteristics. i.e., tells us the relative order of participants on a particular dimension, does not indicate the distance between them.

Question 11

What is an interval scale of measurement?

Answer 11

Equal differences between the numbers reflect equal differences between participants in the characteristics being measured.

Question 12

What is a ratio scale of measurement?

Answer 12

A scale involving a true zero point and real numbers that can be added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided.

Question 13

How is the scale of measurement determined?

Answer 13

It depends on the characteristic being assessed.

Question 14

Given a choice, what scale of measurement do people prefer?

Answer 14

The highest level available.

Question 15

What is reliability?

Answer 15

The consistency or dependability of a measuring technique.

Question 16

What is true score?

Answer 16

The score that the participant would have obtained if our measure were perfect.

Question 17

What is measurement error the result of?

Answer 17

Multiple factors that distort the observed score.

Question 18

What ar the five major categories of factors that contribute to measurement error?

Answer 18

Transient states of the participant, stable attributes of the participant, situational factors in the research setting, characteristics of the measure itself.

Question 19

At what percentage of systematic variance is a measure considered sufficiently reliable?

Answer 19

70% of total variance is systematic.

Question 20

What are the three types of reliability?

Answer 20

Test-retest, interitem, and interrater.

Question 21

What is test-retest reliability?

Answer 21

The consistency of participants’ responses over time.

Question 22

What is the minimum correlation necessary to determine good test-retest reliability?

Answer 22

0.70

Question 23

What does inter-item reliability assess?

Answer 23

The degree of consistency among the items on a scale.

Question 24

When is inter-item reliability assessed?

Answer 24

When a measure contains multiple items measuring the same construct.

Question 25

What is the minimum correlation necessary for each item in an inter-item reliability measure?

Answer 25

0.30 each.

Question 26

What is the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient?

Answer 26

A measure equivalent to the average of all possible split-half reliabilities.

Question 27

When is inter-item reliability adequate?

Answer 27

When it is greater than 0.70

Question 28

What is inter-rater reliability?

Answer 28

Involves the consistency among two or more researchers who observe and record participants’ behaviour.

Question 29

What is validity?

Answer 29

The extent to which a measurement procedure actually measures what it is intended to measure.

Question 30

What are the three main types of validity?

Answer 30

Face, construct, and criterion related.

Question 31

What is face validity?

Answer 31

The extent to which a measure appears to measure what it’s supposed to measure.

Question 32

What effect does high face validity have on the public?

Answer 32

It increases confidence in the findings.

Question 33

Is face validity necessary for actual validity?

Answer 33

No. Not necessarily.

Question 34

What is construct validity?

Answer 34

How much a measure relates as it should to other measures. E.g., correlations between measures in question.

Question 35

What is convergent validity?

Answer 35

When measures correlate with measures that they should correlate with.

Question 36

What is discriminant validity?

Answer 36

When measures do not correlate (or correlate weakly) with measures that it should not correlate with.

Question 37

What is criterion-related validity?

Answer 37

The extent to which a measure allows us to distinguish among participants on the basis of a particular behavioural criterion.

Question 38

What are the two types of criterion-related validity?

Answer 38

Concurrent validity and predictive validity.

Question 39

What is concurrent validity?

Answer 39

The two measures are administered at roughly the same time.

Question 40

What is predictive validity?

Answer 40

A measure’s ability to distinguish between people on a relevant behavioural criterion at some time in the future.