Chapter 10 - Clarifying Measurement & Data Collection in Quantitative Research Flashcards
the process of assigning numbers or values to concepts , objects, events, or situations using a set of rules
measurement
determining the value of concrete factors such as weight, waist circumference, temperature, heart rate, and BP
direct measurement
what is used when an abstract idea, characteristic, or concept that cannot be directly measured (such as pain, coping, depression) needs to be assessed
indirect measurement
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
nominal-level measurement
measurement category in which data are assigned to categories that can be ranked, but the data are considered to have unequal intervals
ordinal-level measurement
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)
interval-level measurement
highest form of measurement; meets all the rules of other forms of measurement and data must have absolute zero (ex: weight, length, volume)
ratio-level measurement
the difference between the true measure (the ideal perfect measure) and what is actually measured
measurement error
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)
random measurement error
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)
systematic measurement error
the consistency of a measurement method
reliability
type of reliability concerned with the reproducibility of scores with repeated measures of the same concept/attribute with a scale/instrument over time
stability reliability
measure of reliability generally used with physical measures, technological measures, and scales; examines instrument stability
test-retest reliability
the comparison of two versions of the same paper and pencil instrument or of two observers measuring the same event
equivalence
comparison of two observers or two judges in a study
interrater reliability
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
internal consistency
a determination of how well the instrument measures the abstract concept being examined
validity
comparable to validity in that it addresses the extent to which the instrument measures what it is supposed to measure in a study
accuracy
comparable to reliability; the degree of consistency or reproducibility of measurements made with physiological instruments
precision
most accurate means of currently diagnosing a particular disease or current best practice
criterion standard
accurate identification of the presence of a disease
true-positive
indicates that a disease is present when it is not
false-positive
indicates that a disease is not present when it is
false negative
indicates accurately that a disease is not present
true-negative
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
sensitivity
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
specificity
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
observational measurement
verbal communication between the researcher and the study participant during which information is provided to the researcher
interview
interview approach in which the content is controlled by the study participant
unstructured interview
interview approach in which the content is similar to that of a questionnaire, with the possible responses to questions carefully designed by the researcher
structured interview
threats to validity in interview findings
participant bias
and
inconsistency in data collection
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
questionnaire
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
scale
crudest form of measurement involving scaling techniques (ex: 1-to-10 pain scale or FACES pain scale)
rating scales
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”
Likert scale
data collected for a particular study
primary data
data collected from previous research and stored in a database
secondary data
data collected for reasons other than research
administrative data
