Chapter #3 - 09/16/24 Flashcards
measurements, mistakes, and misunderstandings
what information do you need to know about a survey or poll in order to correctly interpret the results ?
how do you determine whether open or closed questions were used in a study, and how the form might affect the results ?
what type of concepts are hard to measure and which methods are used to try to measure them?
- concepts regarding emotions and feelings are hard to measure and gain a genuine real results.
- the methods we use to try and measure them include surveys created by researchers to self examine and create conclusions
explain the different types of measyrement variables :
define validity in a study :
define reliability in a study :
define bias in a study :
what is the reason for natural variability ?
what is an open question ?
what is a closed question ?
TRUE OR FALSE
simple changes of words can lead to big changes in answers ?
TRUE
how many pitfalls are there when asking questions ?
7
what are the 7 pitfalls when asking questions ?
- deliberate bias
- unintentional bias
- desire to please
- asking the uninformed
- unnecessary complexity
- ordering of questions
7.confidentality and anonymity
define “deliberate bias” :
questions can be purposely worded to support a certain cause
define “unintentional bias” :
questions are worded such that the meaning is misinterpreted by many
define “desire to please” :
most respondents have a desire to please the person who is asking the question
define “asking the uninformed” :
people do not like to admit they don’t know what you are talking about
define “unnecessary complexity” :
if questions are to be understood they must be kept simple
define “ordering of questions” :
the order in which questions are presented can change the results
define “confidentiality and anonymity” :
people answere differently based on degree to which they are anonymous
for deliberate bias what makes the wording of the question appropriate ?
appropriate wording should not indicate a desired answer
why do we experience unintentional bias ?
because the same word can have multiple meanings
give an example of unintentional bias ….
“do you use drugs?” — need to specify if you mean prescription drugs, illegal drugs, etc
TRUE OR FALSE
the same word can have multiple meanings ?
TRUE
why do we experinece desire to please ?
people tend to understand responses about undesirable social habits, and vice versa
what are some things we may witness during unnecessary complexity ?
- too confusing
- asking more than one question at once
explain how the following is an example of “ordering of questions” :
- to what extent do you think teenagers today worry about peer pressure related to drinking alcohol ?
- name the top five pressures you think face teenagers today.
it is likely that respondents will name peer presure related to drinking alcohol as one of the 5 choices
define “confidentiality” :
researcher promises not to release identifying information about respondents
define “anonymity” :
researchers doesn’t know identuty of respondents
why do we witness confidentiality and anonymity ?
- certain topics can be more private, self considered as “embarrassing” or even scary to share
- based off whether ur identity is more unknown, a participant may be way more willing to share openly and honestly
what are some topics where we may witness confidentiality and anonymity ?
- sexual assault
- abuse
- rape
- eating disorders
here is a potential survey question “do you support cutting the lunch period from 60 minutes to 40 minutes, so that teachers have more time to spend teaching”
which two of the seven pitfalls applies to this question?
deliberate bias and unnecessary bias
how would you reqord thw follwoing question to avoid pitfalls ?
“do you support cutting the lunch period from 60 minutes to 40 minutes, so that teachers have more time to spend teaching”
“do you support or not support shortneing the lunch period from 60 minutes to 40 minutes ?
define an open question :
respondents allowed to answer in own wordsw
what is an advantage to open questions ?
no limit options
what is a disadvantage to open questions ?
responses are difficult to summarize; wording of the questions may exclude answers
define closed questions :
rspondents given list of alternatives from which to choose answer. often an ‘other’ choice is provided. Often an ‘other’ choice is provided
what is an advantage of closed questions ?
easier to administer and analyze than open questions
what is an disadvantage of closed questions ?
options are limited; respondents will rarely volunteer a choice using ‘other’
what type of questions can you use their own words, as much as they’d like ?
open questions
what type of questions can allow individuals to give the options that people can chose ?
closed questions
what are pilot surveys ?
asks open questions first to some individuals to gather the top 5 answers … after that we apply these questions into a questionnaire and set it up as a closed question and ask to a larger sample population
why is defining what is being measured important ?
- to help specific what the item, time of day, month, year, period , etc may be
TRUE OR FALSE
not all concepts are the same level of difficulty to grasp, some are harder to define precisely
TRUE
what is an example of a very personal and subjectvie topic in a survey/questionnaire ?
stress / anxiety in kids (make sure to specify what specifically in regards to stress and anxiety)
how to measure self esteem or happiness ?
what is a common method ?
respondents read statements and determine extent to which they agree with statement
is this a good or bad example of a question measuring attitudes and emotions ?
“i generally feel optimistic when i get up in the morning” … indicate your leeel of agreement from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’
yes it is a good exmaples
define categorical variable :
those you can place into a category
what are those categorical variables whose categories have natural ordering called ?
ordinal
what are those categorical variables whose categories do not have a natural ordering called ?
nominal
define measurement variables :
those for which we can record a numerical value and then order respondents according to those values
what is another name for measurement variables ?
quantitative variables
what are the four levels of measurement ?
nominal
ordinal
interval
ration
define “nominal” :
the data can only be categorized
define “ordinal” :
the data can be categorized and ranked
define “interval” :
the data can be categorized and ranked, and evenly spaced
define “ratio” :
the data can be categorized, ranked, evenly spaced and has a natural zero
define independent variables :
the variable being manipulated
define dependent variables :
the variable being measured
what level of measurement is defined by the following ?
- categorial data with no implicit ordering
- cannot be added, subtracted, multiplied or divided
- can be summarized using mode only
nominal
what level of measurement is defined by the following ?
- continuous (equal distance between points)
- no meaningful zero
- can be added or subtracted
- cannot be multiplied or divided
- can be summarized with mean, median or mode
interval
what level of measurement is defined by the following ?
- continuous (equal distance between points)
- meaningful zero
- can be added, subtracted, multiplied and divided
- can be summarized with mean, median, or mode
ratio
what level of measurement is defined by the following ?
- categorial data with implicit (or explicit) ordering
- unequal distance between points
- cannot be added, subtracted, multiplied or divided
- can be summarized with median or mode
ordinal
the following is an examplen of which level of measurement ?
“positions in a race : 1st, 2nd, 3rd”
ordinal
the following is an examplen of which level of measurement ?
temperature in celcius
interval
the following is an examplen of which level of measurement ?
“25 animals” (10 dogs and 15 cats)
nominal
the following is an examplen of which level of measurement ?
give an example of ratio data :
ratio
which level of measurement has no meaningful zero ?
interval data
which level of measurement has a meaningful zero ?
ratio data
describe discrete variables :
you can count the possible responses
what is the key to recognize discrete variables ?
“number of”
the following is an example of what type of variable ?
“number of car accidents on a stretch of highway”
“number of books”
discrete variables
define continuous variables :
fall on a continuum, can be anything within a given range/interval (measured)
what is the key to recognize discrete variables ?
“amount of”
what’s an example of a continous variable?
age
age, weight and height are all exmaples of discrete or continouus variables ?
continous varibles
which of the following are categorical ? chose all that apply.
a) gender of a person
b) number of midterm exams in a course
c) level of education
d) weight of a person
e) height of a person
a) gender of a person
c) level of education
which of the following are discrete quantitative (measurement) variables ? imput all that apply.
a) number of floors in a building
b) number of words in a book
c) height of a building
d) weight of a book
e) a person’s IQ
a) number of floors in a building
b) number of words in a book
define “valid measurement” :
actually measures what it claims to measure
what is the ‘key’ to a valid measurement ?
need to know exactly what was measured
define “reliable measurement” :
will give you or anyone else approximately the same result time after time, when taken on the same object or individual
what is the ‘key’ to a reliable measurement ?
watch for degree of precision being reported
define “biased measurement” :
systematically off the mark in the same direction
the following is an example of which measurement ?
“time on clock that’s fast”
biased measurement
the following is an exmaple of which measurement ?
“IQ test not valid measure of happiness”
valid measurement
the following is an exmaple of which measurement ?
“physicla measurements with precise instrument”
reliable measurement
the term “underestimate” would be used to define which term between validity, reliability or bias ?
biased measurement
define “variability” :
used when we talk about 2 or more measuremnets in relation to eachother
define natural variability :
results from changes across time in the individual or system being measured… example blood pressure & height
what is a measurement error ?
amount by which each measurement differs from the true value
the following is an example of what ?
“measuring a large diatnce with a ruler”
measurement error
TRUE OR FALSE
we want to see measuremnet errors
FALSE
we do not want measurement errors, instead we want reliable measurements
what are the three reasons variability occurs ?
- measurement error
- natural variability across individuals at any given time
- natural variability in a characteristic of the same individual across time
what would happen if there were no variability within two groups ?
it would be easy to detect differences between the two groups
the more variability there is within each group, what does this mean?
the more difficult is it so detect differences between groups
TRUE OR FALSE
we want differences in statistics
FALSE
we dont want too many differences as that can make it too hard to measure (we want just enough to give us diverse answers)
TRUE OR FALSE
wording and ordering of questions and type of questions can make a difference in the outcome of the study ?
TRUE
TRUE OR FALSE
valid measurements do not accurately reflect what are trying to measure ?
FALSE
valid measurements accurately reflect what are trying to measure
TRUE OR FALSE
reliable measurements are consistent when repeayed ?
TRUE
TRUE OR FALSE
biased measurements are systematically in the same direction ?
TRUE
TRUE OR FALSE
comparing natural person-person variability and variation die to different group of memberships is not the key to making new discoveries in statistics
FALSE
comparing natural person-person variability and variation die to different group of memberships IS the key to making new discoveries in statistics
