Chapter 3 - Three claims, four validities: interrogation tools for consumers of research Flashcards
What is the term for something that varies, it must have at least two levels or values?
A variable
What is something that could potentially vary, but that has only one level in the study in question?
A constant
What kind of variable is one whose levels are simple observed and recorded?
A measured variable
What is a variable a researcher controls, usually by assigning study participants to different levels of that variable?
A manipulated variable.
What are abstract concepts, such as “spending time socializing” and “school achievement”?
Conceptual variables
A conceptual variable is sometimes called _______
A construct
Conceptual variables must be carefully defined at the theoretical level, and these definitions are called _________ _________
Conceptual definitions
Operational definitions of variables are also known as?
______ ______
______
Operational variables
Operationalizations
To turn a concept of interest into a measured or manipulated variable.
Operationalize
An argument someone is trying to make.
A claim.
What kind of claim describes a particular rate or degree of a single variable?
Frequency claim.
What kind of claim mentions the percentage of a variable or the number of people who engage in some activity?
Frequency claims.
What kind of claim argues that one level of a variable is likely to be associated with a particular level of another variable?
An association claim.
Variables that are associated are sometimes said to correlate, or _________, meaning that when variable changes, the other variable tends to change too.
Covary
What kind of claim states a relationship between at least two variables.
An association claim.
When you unwrap an association claim, you should find a ____________ study supporting it.
Correlational
An association in which high goes with high and low goes with low.
A positive association, or positive correlation.
One way to represent an association (a graph in which one variable is plotted on the y axis and the other variable is plotted on the x axis.
Scatterplot.
An association in which high goes with low and low goes with high.
A negative association.
An association that shows no relation between the two variables.
Zero association.
How many variables are there in a frequency claim? An association claim? A causal claim?
Two variables.
Which parts of speech in a claim can help you differentiate between association and causal claims?
They say one thing causes another, rather than saying they are related.
What are the three criteria causal claims must satisfy?
- It must establish that the two variables are correlated.
- It must who that the causal variable came first and the outcome variable came later.
- It must establish that no other explanations exist for the relationship.
Term for the appropriateness of a conclusion or decision, and in general, a valid claim is reasonable, accurate and justifiable.
Validity.
Term - How well a conceptual variable is operationalized.
Construct validity.
Term - how well the results of a study generalize to, or represent, people or contexts besides those in the original study.
External validity.
Term - Also called statistical conclusion validity, is the extent to which a study’s statistical conclusions are accurate and reasonable.
Statistical validity.
This is a statistical figure, based on sample size for the study, that attempts to include the true value in the population.
Statistical validity.
A statistical figure, based on sample size, that attempts to include the true value in the population.
Margin of error of the estimate.
Term - meaning it comes first in time, before the other variable.
Temporal precedence.
The extent to which two variables are observed to go together, is determined by the results of the study.
Covariance
Term - an indication of a study’s ability to eliminate alternative explanations for the association.
Internal validity, or the third variable criterion.
In the context of an experiment, the manipulated variable is called the __________ variable.
Independent.
In the context of an experiment, the measured variable is called the __________.
Dependent
