chapter 5-6 vocab terms

Question 1

self report measure

Answer 1

method of measuring a variable in which people answer questions about themselves in a questionnaire or interview

Question 2

observational measure

Answer 2

method of measuring a variable by recording observable behaviors

Question 3

physiological measure

Answer 3

method of measuring variable by recording biological data

Question 4

categorical variable

Answer 4

variable whose levels are categories

Question 5

quantitative variable

Answer 5

variables whose values can be recorded in numbers

Question 6

ordinal scale

Answer 6

quantitative measurement scale whose levels represent a RANKED order

Question 7

interval scale

Answer 7

a quantitative measurement scale that has no true zero meaning there’s equal intervals (distances) between levels

Question 8

ration scale

Answer 8

quantitative measurement scale in which numerals have equal intervals and value of zero

Question 9

reliability

Answer 9

consistency of the results of a measure

Question 10

test-retest reliablity

Answer 10

consistency in results every time a measure is used

Question 11

interrater reliability

Answer 11

degree to which two or more coders or observers give consistent ratings of a set of targets

Question 12

internal reliability

Answer 12

degree to which two or more coders or observers give consistent ratings of a set of targets

Question 13

correlation coefficient (r)

Answer 13

single number ranging from -1.0 to 1.0 that indicates the strength and direction of an association between two variables

Question 14

cronbach’s alpha

Answer 14

a correlation-based statistic that measures a scale’s internal reliability

Question 15

face validity

Answer 15

the extent to which a measure is subjectively considered a plausible operationalization of the conceptual variable in question

Question 16

criterion validity

Answer 16

an empirical form of measurement validity that establishes the extent to which a measure is associated with a behavioral outcome with which it should be associated

Question 17

convergent validity

Answer 17

empirical test of the extent to which a self report measure correlates with other measures of a theoretically similar construct

Question 18

discriminant validity

Answer 18

an empirical test of the extent to which a self-report measure does not correlate strongly with measures of theoretically different constructs

Question 19

content validity

Answer 19

extent to which a measure captures all parts of a defined construct

Question 20

leading question

Answer 20

a type of question in a survey that is problematic because its wording encourages one response more than others weakening its construct validity

Question 21

double-barreled question

Answer 21

a type of question in a survey or poll that is problematic because it asks two questions in one weakening the construct validity

Question 22

negatively worded question

Answer 22

a question in a survey or poll that contains negatively phrased statements, making its wording complicated or confusing and potentially weakening construct validity

Question 23

observational research

Answer 23

process of watching people or animals and systematically recording how they behave or what they’re doing

Question 24

observer bias

Answer 24

bias that occurs when observer expectations influence the interpretation of participant behaviors or the outcome of the study

Question 25

observer effect

Answer 25

a change in behavior of study participants in the direction of observer expectations

Question 26

masked design

Answer 26

a study design in which the observers are unaware of the experimental conditions to which participants have been assigned