Chapter 2- Methods and Statistics in I-O Psychology

Question 1

Research Design

Answer 1

Provides the overall structure or architecture for the research study: allows investigators to conduct scientific research on a phenomenon of interest.

Question 2

Experimental Design

Answer 2

Participants are randomly assigned to different conditions

Question 3

Quasi-experimental Design

Answer 3

Participants are assigned to different conditions, but random assignment to conditions is not possible

Question 4

Non-experimental design

Answer 4

Does not include any “treatment” or assignment to different conditions.

Question 5

Observational Design

Answer 5

The researcher observes employee behavior and systematically records what is observed.

Question 6

Survey Design

Answer 6

Research strategy in which participants are asked to complete a questionnaire or survey

Question 7

Quantitative methods

Answer 7

Rely on tests, rating scales, questionnaires, and physiological measures, and yield numerical results.

Question 8

Qualitative Methods

Answer 8

Rely on observation, interview, case study, and analysis of diaries or written documents and produce flow diagrams and narrative descriptions of events or processes

Question 9

Introspection

Answer 9

Early scientific method in which the participant was also the experimenter, recording his or her experiences in completing an experimental task; considered very subjective by modern standards

Question 10

Triangulation

Answer 10

Approach in which researchers seek converging information from different sources.

Question 11

Generalize

Answer 11

To apply the results from one study or sample to other participants or situations

Question 12

Experimental Control

Answer 12

Characteristic of research in which possible confounding influences that might make results less reliable or harder to interpret are eliminated: often easier to establish in laboratory studies that in field studies.

Question 13

Statistical Control

Answer 13

Using statistical techniques to control for the influence of certain variables. Such control allows researchers to concentrate exclusively on the primary relationships of interest.

Question 14

Descriptive Statistics

Answer 14

Summarize, organize, and describe a sample of data.

Question 15

Measure of Central Tendency

Answer 15

Statistic that indicates where the center of a distribution is located. Mean, median, mode are measures of this

Question 16

Variability

Answer 16

The extent to which scores in a distribution vary

Question 17

Skew

Answer 17

The extent to which scores in a distribution are lopsided or tend to fall on the left or right side of the distribution

Question 18

Mean

Answer 18

The arithmetic average of the scores in a distribution; obtained by summing all of the scores in a distribution and dividing by the sample size

Question 19

Mode

Answer 19

The most common or frequently occurring score in a distribution

Question 20

Median

Answer 20

The middle score in a distribution

Question 21

Inferential Statistics

Answer 21

Used to aid the researcher in testing hypothesis and making inferences from sample data to a larger sample or population

Question 22

Statistical significance

Answer 22

Indicates that the probability of the observed statistic is less than the stated significance level adopted by the researcher (commonly p<_ .05). This finding indicates that, if the null hypothesis were true, the results found are unlikely to occur by chance, and the null hypothesis is rejected

Question 23

Statistical Power

Answer 23

The likelihood of finding a statistically significant difference when a true difference exists

Question 24

Measurement

Answer 24

Assigning numbers to characteristics of individuals or objects according to rules

Question 25

Correlation coefficient

Answer 25

Statistic assessing the bivariate, linear association between two variables. Provides information about both the magnitude (numerical value) and the direction (+ or -) of the relationship between two variables.

Question 26

Scatterplot

Answer 26

Graph used to plot the scatter of scores on two variables: used to display the correlational relationship between two variables

Question 27

Regression Line

Answer 27

Straight line that best “fits” the scatterplot and describes the relationship between variables in the graph: can also be presented as an equation that specifies where the line intersects the vertical axis and what the angle or slope of the line is.

Question 28

Linear

Answer 28

Relationship between two variables that can be depicted by a straight line

Question 29

Nonlinear

Answer 29

Relationship between two variables that cannot be depicted by a straight line sometimes called “curvilinear” and most easily identified by examining a scatterplot

Question 30

Multiple Correlation Coefficient

Answer 30

Statistic that represents the overall linear association between several variables (e.g. cognitive ability, personality, experience) on the one hand, and a single variable (e.g. job performance) on the other hand.

Question 31

Meta-analysis

Answer 31

Statistical method for combining and analyzing the results from many studies to draw a general conclusion about relationships among variables

Question 32

Statistical artifacts

Answer 32

Characteristics (e.g.- small sample size, unreliable measures) of a particular study that distort the observed results. Researchers can correct for artifacts to arrive at a statistic that represents the “true” relationship between the variables of interest

Question 33

Micro-research

Answer 33

The study of individual behavior

Question 34

Macro-research

Answer 34

The study of collective behavior

Question 35

Meso-research

Answer 35

The study of the interaction of individual and collective behavior

Question 36

Reliability

Answer 36

Consistency or stability of a measure

Question 37

Validity

Answer 37

The accurateness of inferences made based on test or performance data; also addresses whether a measure accurately and completely represents what was intended to be measured

Question 38

Test-retest Reliability

Answer 38

Calculated by correlating measurements taken at time one with measurements take time two

Question 39

Equivalent forms reliability

Answer 39

Calculated by correlating measurements from a sample of individuals who complete two different forms of the same test

Question 40

Internal consistency

Answer 40

form of reliability that assesses how consistently the items of a test measure a single construct: affected by the number of items in the test and the correlations among the test items

Question 41

Generalizability theory

Answer 41

A sophisticated approach to the question of reliability that simultaneously considers all types of error in reliability estimates (e.g. test-retest, equivalent forms and internal consistency)

Question 42

Predictor

Answer 42

The test chosen or developed to assess attributes (e.g. abilities) identified as important for successful job performance

Question 43

Criterion

Answer 43

An outcome variable that describes important aspects or demands of the job: the variable that we predict when evaluating that validity of a predictor

Question 44

Criterion-related validity

Answer 44

validity approach that is demonstrated by correlating a test score with a performance measure: improves researcher’s confidence in the inference that people with higher test scores have higher performance

Question 45

Validity coefficient

Answer 45

Correlation coefficient between a test score (predictor) and a performance measure (criterion)

Question 46

Predictive validity design

Answer 46

Criterion-related validity design in which there is a time lag between collection of the test data and the criterion data

Question 47

Concurrent validity design

Answer 47

Criterion- related validity design in which there is no tome lag between gathering the test scores and the performance data

Question 48

Content-related validation design

Answer 48

Demonstrates that the content of the selection procedure represents an adequate sample of important work behaviors and activities and/or worker KSAOs defined by the job analysis

Question 49

Construct Validity

Answer 49

Validity approach in which investigators gather evidence to support decisions or inferences about psychological constructs: often begins with investigators demonstrating that a test designed to measure a particular construct correlates with other tests in the predicted manner

Question 50

Construct

Answer 50

Psychological concept or characteristic that a predictor is intended to measure: examples are intelligence, personality, and leadership