Chapter 10 - Clarifying Measurement & Data Collection in Quantitative Research

Question 1

the process of assigning numbers or values to concepts , objects, events, or situations using a set of rules

Answer 1

measurement

Question 2

determining the value of concrete factors such as weight, waist circumference, temperature, heart rate, and BP

Answer 2

direct measurement

Question 2

what is used when an abstract idea, characteristic, or concept that cannot be directly measured (such as pain, coping, depression) needs to be assessed

Answer 2

indirect measurement

Question 3

lowest of the four measurement categories; used when data can be organized into categories of a defined property but the categories cannot be rank-ordered

names, not numbers

Answer 3

nominal-level measurement

Question 4

measurement category in which data are assigned to categories that can be ranked, but the data are considered to have unequal intervals

Answer 4

ordinal-level measurement

Question 5

measurement category that uses scales which have equal numerical distances between the intervals; therefore the magnitude of the attribute can be more precisely defined (ex: temperature)

Answer 5

interval-level measurement

Question 6

highest form of measurement; meets all the rules of other forms of measurement and data must have absolute zero (ex: weight, length, volume)

Answer 6

ratio-level measurement

Question 7

the difference between the true measure (the ideal perfect measure) and what is actually measured

Answer 7

measurement error

Question 8

a type of measurement error in which the difference between the measured value and the true value is without pattern or distinction (ex: keystrike error or typos)

Answer 8

random measurement error

Question 9

the variation in measurement values from the calculated average is primarily in the same direction (ex: an inaccurate weight scale that consistently shows 2 pounds over the true weight)

Answer 9

systematic measurement error

Question 10

the consistency of a measurement method

Answer 10

reliability

Question 11

type of reliability concerned with the reproducibility of scores with repeated measures of the same concept/attribute with a scale/instrument over time

Answer 11

stability reliability

Question 12

measure of reliability generally used with physical measures, technological measures, and scales; examines instrument stability

Answer 12

test-retest reliability

Question 13

the comparison of two versions of the same paper and pencil instrument or of two observers measuring the same event

Answer 13

equivalence

Question 14

comparison of two observers or two judges in a study

Answer 14

interrater reliability

Question 15

type of reliability testing used primarily with multi-item scales in which each item on a scale is correlated with all other items on the scale to determine consistency; each item should be consistently measuring a concept such as depression and therefore should be highly correlated with the other items on the scale

Answer 15

internal consistency

Question 16

a determination of how well the instrument measures the abstract concept being examined

Answer 16

validity

Question 17

comparable to validity in that it addresses the extent to which the instrument measures what it is supposed to measure in a study

Answer 17

accuracy

Question 18

comparable to reliability; the degree of consistency or reproducibility of measurements made with physiological instruments

Answer 18

precision

Question 19

most accurate means of currently diagnosing a particular disease or current best practice

Answer 19

criterion standard

Question 20

accurate identification of the presence of a disease

Answer 20

true-positive

Question 21

indicates that a disease is present when it is not

Answer 21

false-positive

Question 22

indicates that a disease is not present when it is

Answer 22

false negative

Question 23

indicates accurately that a disease is not present

Answer 23

true-negative

Question 24

proportion of patients with the disease who have a positive test result (true-positive rate)

–how good a test is at identifying the disease in a patient

Answer 24

sensitivity

Question 25

the proportion of patients without the disease who have a negative test result (true-negative rate)

–how good a test is at identifying the patients without a disease

Answer 25

specificity

Question 26

an interaction between the study participants and observer(s) in which the observer has the opportunity to watch the participant perform in a specific setting

Answer 26

observational measurement

Question 27

verbal communication between the researcher and the study participant during which information is provided to the researcher

Answer 27

interview

Question 28

interview approach in which the content is controlled by the study participant

Answer 28

unstructured interview

Question 29

interview approach in which the content is similar to that of a questionnaire, with the possible responses to questions carefully designed by the researcher

Answer 29

structured interview

Question 30

threats to validity in interview findings

Answer 30

participant bias
and
inconsistency in data collection

Question 31

a self-report form designed to elicit information through written, verbal, or electronic responses of the study participant

aka survey

consistent presentation means less opportunity for bias

Answer 31

questionnaire

Question 32

a form of self-report; more precise means of measuring phenomena that a questionnaire

most are developed to measure psychosocial variables; but may also be used for abstract physiological variables such as pain and nausea

Answer 32

scale

Question 33

crudest form of measurement involving scaling techniques (ex: 1-to-10 pain scale or FACES pain scale)

Answer 33

rating scales

Question 34

scale designed to determine the opinions or attitudes of study subjects

ex: agreement options may include statements such as “strongly disagree”, “disagree”, “neutral”, “somewhat agree”, and “strongly agree”

Answer 34

Likert scale

Question 35

data collected for a particular study

Answer 35

primary data

Question 36

data collected from previous research and stored in a database

Answer 36

secondary data

Question 37

data collected for reasons other than research

Answer 37

administrative data