Chapter 2 Flashcards
What is S data?
self-report data; information a person reveals about themselves
What are the 3 forms of administering self-report data questions?
- unstructured (open ended) questions
- structured (response provided) questions
- Likert rating scale (participants indicate the degree to which they are)
What are some limitations to S data? (5)
- respondents must be willing and able to answer the questions
- resp. must be honest
- people may lack self-knowledge
- reactivity (changing when aware being watched)
- positive impression management
- malingering
What is O data?
observer-report data; when other people observe a subject
What are some pros of having O data?
- can provide unique info
- can help avoid reactivity
- different points of view to gain big picture
- can evaluate degree of agreement among observers
What are the 2 types of observers in O data?
- trained observer who does know know participant
- friends and family
What are the 2 types of observation environments?
naturalistic and artificial
what is an artificial environment? what is the advantages of testing here? disadvantages?
- controlled environment, usually in a lab
- PRO: elicits relevant behaviour
- CON: may not generalize to real world
What is test data?
data collected through standardized testing
What was the main finding in the Megargee dominance study?
women express their dominance differently than men
What are some limitations of test data?
- participants may try to guess what they are being tested on and alter their responses
- participants may misinterpret situation & distort responses
- experimenter effects
What is life outcome data?
information from the events, activities, & outcomes in a person’s life that are available to the public
What are some examples of life outcome data?
marriages, clubs joined, gun licence, divorces, speeding tickets
How is personality related to life outcome data?
personality characteristics measured in early life are often linked to important life outcomes several decades later (eg. childhood temper tantrums and unsuccessful marriages)
What are some issues in personality assessment?
the more difficult it is to observe, the easier it is to test
What is triangulation?
gathering data from multiple sources and hopefully getting some results
Define reliability
the degree to which an obtained measure represents the true level of the trait being measured
What are some ways to estimate reliability?
- repeated measurements (test retest reliability)
- internal consistency reliability
- inter-rater reliability (multiple observers agree)
Define response sets
the tendency of some people to respond to the question on a basis that is unrelated to the question content
What is acquiescence
tendency to agree with the questionnaire items regardless of the content
What is extreme responding
tendency to give end point responses and avoid the middle of scales
What is social desirability
tendency to answer items in such a way to come across as socially attractive
Define validity
the extent to which a test measures what its supposed to measure
Define generalizability
the degree to which the measure retains its validity across various contexts (people and conditions)
What is experimental research typically used to determine?
causality
What are the 2 requirements of a good experimental design?
- manipulation of 1 or more variables
2. ensuring the participants in each condition are equivalent to each other at the beginning
What is correlational research?
statistical procedure used for determining whether there is a relationship between two variables
What is the correlation coefficient range? What does the - and + mean?
-1.00 to 1.00 (0.0 means unrelated)
+ means positively related (as A increases, B increases)
- means negatively related (as A increases, B decreases)
What is the directionality problem?
We do not know if A causes B or B causes A
What is the third variable problem?
2 variables may be correlated because a 3rd, unknown variable is causing both
