evaluation of research

Question 1

reliability

Answer 1

the measures used in an experiment must be consistent within themselves and over time

Question 2

validity

Answer 2

the extent to which the results of a study reflect what the measuring instrument says its measuring

Question 3

validity vs reliability

Answer 3

validity: the extent to which something measures what it intends to measure

reliability: the extent to which a one would get the same result if the same measure were to be given to the same person again under the same circumstances

Question 4

2 ways to measure reliability

Answer 4

internal consistency
test-retest reliability

Question 5

internal consistancy

Answer 5

evidence is provided by the split-half method. wthin the test/measures the variable should be tested more than once and yield a similar result each time

Question 6

example of internal consistency

Answer 6

in a questionnaire to assess someones happiness, their should be more than one question that related to happiness and on every question it should yield a similar result from the participant

Question 7

test-retest reliability

Answer 7

how people perform on a test at one time is similar how they perform on it at a later time.

Question 8

example of validity

Answer 8

in a questionnaire to asses someones personality. the personality type a person gets is the same as when they retake the test several weeks later

Question 9

4 ways of measuring validity

Answer 9

face validity
construct validity
concurrent validity
predictive validity

Question 10

face validity

Answer 10

does the test appear to be measuring what it claims? experts in the field judge whether the material in a measure (i.e. a survey) is appropriate

Question 11

construct validity

Answer 11

do the test items relate to the aspects/constructs of the theory being tested?

Question 12

concurrent validity

Answer 12

does the new test/scale that we are using as a measure yield the same results as a scale/test that we already know well?

Question 13

predictive validity

Answer 13

the extent to which the measure can predict other attributes thought to be related to the constructs being tested

Question 14

conclusion

Answer 14

a decision or judgement about the meaningfulness of a research result

Question 15

what does a conclusion address

Answer 15

supports of a hypothesis
final analysis of results
sample size vs population
sources of error and their improvements

Question 16

generalisation to population

Answer 16

generalisability refers to the extent to which results gathered from the sample research can be applied to other situations

Question 17

evaluating research

Answer 17

1. generalisation of sample to population
2. improvement to limitations in a study
3. ethical implications
4. link results to a range of scientific sources

Question 18

critical evaluation of information from a range of sources

Answer 18

scientific resourced from journal articles should be peer-reviewed - high validity

check for credibility of the source by reviewing qualifications of the author and their affilications

evaluate accuracy and reliability by making sure there are references that support the information provided

assess whether the information is subjective or objective - subjective information can be biased