Chapter 2: Research Methods

Question 1

Types of variables

Answer 1

1) independent - the measure / manipulated variable (predictors)

2) dependent - what you’re studying, the variable of interest. (criteria)
ex: what impact does the independent variable have on what we’re studying (the dependent variable)?

3) extraneous variable aka confounding - an outlying variable that can contaminate the results.
3a) control variables - extraneous variables that need to be held constant on the study to not confusing results w/ impact if independent variables

Question 2

Characteristics of a Good Theory

Answer 2

parsimonious (explain a lot as simply as possible)

precision (specific and accurate conceptual statements)

testability (verifiable by experimentation)

useful (focused on important phenomenon)

generative (stimulate research that attempts to support or refute the theory)

Question 3

Inductive model of research

Answer 3

working from data to theory

Question 4

deductive model of research

Answer 4

theory to data -

working from theory and propositions and then collect data to test

Question 5

causal inference

Answer 5

a conclusion drawn about the likelihood of a causal relationship between variables

Question 6

experimental research design

Answer 6

• Lab - control the environment

- Field / Quasi-experiments

Question 7

Observational research design

Answer 7

• Survey
• Archival research - the most common example of meta-analysis
• Naturalistic observation

Question 8

internal validity

Answer 8

confidence that result was from independent variable impacting dependent variable

Question 9

external validity

Answer 9

can the results be generalized

Question 10

hypothesis

Answer 10

tentative statement about relationship between two or more variables

Question 11

Data Collection Techniques

Answer 11

naturalistic observation (unobtrusive)
case studies
archival research
surveys
experience sampling methodology
social network analysis

Question 12

Validity

Answer 12

am I accurately measuring the construct I’m describing?

Question 13

Reliability

Answer 13

get consistent results / stable

Question 14

Test/retest reliability

Answer 14

same individual, group, sample etc.)and measure the difference between the two scores

Question 15

Parallel forms

Answer 15

common in standardized tests. I.e. Computerized adaptive testing. Different versions of the same test w/ consistent scores across both versions

Question 16

Interrater reliability

Answer 16

across different raters (panel, assessor)

Question 17

Internal consistency

Answer 17

multiple items that are meant to measure 1 thing, each item is behaving in a similar way, and accurately measuring what you want to measure, together.

Question 18

construct validity

Answer 18

extent to which a test measures the underlying construct (something not observable - intelligence)that it was intended to measure

Question 19

content validity

Answer 19

extent to which a test covers a representative sample of the quality being assessed

Question 20

predictive validity

Answer 20

scores obtained at one point can predict criteria in the future

Question 21

concurrent validity

Answer 21

test predicts a criterion that is measured at the same time the test os conducted. i.e. measure job attitudes and performance at the same time - gives us concurrent validity of job attitudes to predict performance

Question 22

convergent validity

Answer 22

the degree to which the measure of the construct we’re interested in, is related to measures of similar constructs

Question 23

divergent validity

Answer 23

the degree to which the measure of the construct we’re interested in, is unrelated to measures of dissimilar constructs

Question 24

correlation coefficient

Answer 24

stat that measures the strength and direction (pos/neg) of a relationship between 2 variables

Question 25

correlation

Answer 25

relevant because they are intimately involved in prediction in IO

Question 26

regression

Answer 26

allows us to predict one variable from another = r