MCRS part A week 3

Question 1

What are the three building blocks of a hypothesis

Answer 1

1. Units of analysis (The subjects your researching, it is a constant, like ‘students’ or ‘women’)
2. Variables (Varying characteristics of the units of analysis)
3. Values (All the possible values or categories of your variables)

Question 2

What are the 4 steps of operationalisation?

Answer 2

1. Come up with a measurable definition of your concept
2. Choose indicators
3. Develop questions/statements to test your indicators
4. Assign measurement scales

Question 3

What is a ‘Likert-scale’

Answer 3

A multiple-point measurement scale, usually going from totally agree to totally disagree with a neutral point in the middle.

Question 4

What is a ‘semantic differential scale’

Answer 4

A measurement scale where you use two contrasting words and let people indicate which word best describes their opinion.

Question 5

What is operationalisation?

Answer 5

It is making your concepts measurable. It is important, because your research should be replicable and it should be able to be compared to other, similar, researches.

Question 6

What is a ‘manifest’ variable

Answer 6

A variable that is directly measurable (like sex, age and education)

Question 7

What is a ‘latent’ variable

Answer 7

A variable that is not directly measurable (like someone’s trust in something or someone’s attitude), it should be operationalised first

Question 8

Basic definition of ‘validity’

Answer 8

Degree to which our measure is free from systematic error (bias). So, do you measure what you want to measure?

Question 9

Basic definition of ‘reliability’

Answer 9

Degree to which our measure is free from random error (noise). Do you measure consistently?