Chapter 2- Methods and Statistics in I-O Psychology Flashcards
Research Design
Provides the overall structure or architecture for the research study: allows investigators to conduct scientific research on a phenomenon of interest.
Experimental Design
Participants are randomly assigned to different conditions
Quasi-experimental Design
Participants are assigned to different conditions, but random assignment to conditions is not possible
Non-experimental design
Does not include any “treatment” or assignment to different conditions.
Observational Design
The researcher observes employee behavior and systematically records what is observed.
Survey Design
Research strategy in which participants are asked to complete a questionnaire or survey
Quantitative methods
Rely on tests, rating scales, questionnaires, and physiological measures, and yield numerical results.
Qualitative Methods
Rely on observation, interview, case study, and analysis of diaries or written documents and produce flow diagrams and narrative descriptions of events or processes
Introspection
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
Triangulation
Approach in which researchers seek converging information from different sources.
Generalize
To apply the results from one study or sample to other participants or situations
Experimental Control
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.
Statistical Control
Using statistical techniques to control for the influence of certain variables. Such control allows researchers to concentrate exclusively on the primary relationships of interest.
Descriptive Statistics
Summarize, organize, and describe a sample of data.
Measure of Central Tendency
Statistic that indicates where the center of a distribution is located. Mean, median, mode are measures of this
Variability
The extent to which scores in a distribution vary
Skew
The extent to which scores in a distribution are lopsided or tend to fall on the left or right side of the distribution
Mean
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
Mode
The most common or frequently occurring score in a distribution
Median
The middle score in a distribution
Inferential Statistics
Used to aid the researcher in testing hypothesis and making inferences from sample data to a larger sample or population
Statistical significance
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
Statistical Power
The likelihood of finding a statistically significant difference when a true difference exists
Measurement
Assigning numbers to characteristics of individuals or objects according to rules
Correlation coefficient
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.
Scatterplot
Graph used to plot the scatter of scores on two variables: used to display the correlational relationship between two variables
Regression Line
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.
Linear
Relationship between two variables that can be depicted by a straight line
Nonlinear
Relationship between two variables that cannot be depicted by a straight line sometimes called “curvilinear” and most easily identified by examining a scatterplot
Multiple Correlation Coefficient
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.
Meta-analysis
Statistical method for combining and analyzing the results from many studies to draw a general conclusion about relationships among variables
Statistical artifacts
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
Micro-research
The study of individual behavior
Macro-research
The study of collective behavior
Meso-research
The study of the interaction of individual and collective behavior
Reliability
Consistency or stability of a measure
Validity
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
Test-retest Reliability
Calculated by correlating measurements taken at time one with measurements take time two
Equivalent forms reliability
Calculated by correlating measurements from a sample of individuals who complete two different forms of the same test
Internal consistency
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
Generalizability theory
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)
Predictor
The test chosen or developed to assess attributes (e.g. abilities) identified as important for successful job performance
Criterion
An outcome variable that describes important aspects or demands of the job: the variable that we predict when evaluating that validity of a predictor
Criterion-related validity
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
Validity coefficient
Correlation coefficient between a test score (predictor) and a performance measure (criterion)
Predictive validity design
Criterion-related validity design in which there is a time lag between collection of the test data and the criterion data
Concurrent validity design
Criterion- related validity design in which there is no tome lag between gathering the test scores and the performance data
Content-related validation design
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
Construct Validity
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
Construct
Psychological concept or characteristic that a predictor is intended to measure: examples are intelligence, personality, and leadership
