measurement

Question 1

what is measurement?

Answer 1

rules for assigning numbers to objects (concepts) in such a way as to represent quantities of attributions

Question 2

why is assigning measurement units important?

Answer 2

give numbers to the objects of our study, so that we can describe them and analyze them statistically

Question 3

what are the four processes that form a part of psychological measurement?

Answer 3

conceptualization, operationalization, reliability, validity

Question 4

what is the conceptualization process of psychological measurement?

Answer 4

defining what you want to study, - a good definition, lined up with theory, is really important, and must always be your starting point.

Question 5

what is the operationalization process of psychological measurement?

Answer 5

translate the concept into a plan for measurement - turning it into a sequence of operations that result in a measurement, going from this kind of abstract concept, to some sort of number that represents a certain level of our construct

Question 6

what is reliability?

Answer 6

the extent to which the measure gives the same answer on repeated trials

Question 7

what is the reliability process of psychological measurement?

Answer 7

all measurement contains some error - X= t + e
X - observed score (true score plus error)
t - true score, never able to know precisely
e - random errors or inconsistencies that occur during testing

Question 8

what is random error?

Answer 8

error we have no control over - unpredictable, averages out

Question 9

what is meant by random error being unpredictable?

Answer 9

Random errors fluctuate from one test administration to another. They can be positive or negative, meaning they can slightly inflate or deflate your observed score relative to your true score.

Question 10

what is meant by random error averaging out?

Answer 10

In a well-designed test with a large sample size, random errors tend to cancel each other out. This is because some errors might push your score up slightly, while others might pull it down slightly. Overall, their net effect on the average score of the group tends to be minimal

Question 11

what are some examples of random error?

Answer 11

Test anxiety, fatigue, momentary lapses in concentration, distractions in the testing environment

Question 12

what is systematic error?

Answer 12

consistent, repeatable inaccuracies that arise from flaws in the measurement process or instrument, rather than from random chance

Question 13

what are the outcomes of systematic error?

Answer 13

consistent bias, impacted reliability

Question 14

what is meant by consistent bias in systematic errors of sampling?

Answer 14

Systematic errors consistently affect your score in the same direction, either inflating or deflating it relative to your true score

Question 15

why does systematic error impact reliability in sampling?

Answer 15

Systematic errors can significantly impact the reliability of a test because they don’t cancel out and can lead to biased results

Question 16

what are examples of systematic error in sampling?

Answer 16

A faulty measuring scale that consistently reads 5kg too high, a test question with unclear wording that everyone misinterprets in the same way, a scoring bias by the marker who tends to be harsher on certain types of responses

Question 17

what are the types of reliability?

Answer 17

test-retest reliability, parallel forms reliability, split half reliability, internal consistency

Question 18

what is test-retest reliability?

Answer 18

administering the same test to the same person at two different points in time

Question 19

what does test-retest reliability measure?

Answer 19

It measures the consistency of scores over time

Question 20

how does test-retest reliability work?

Answer 20

assess the correlation between the two administrations of the tests, and you’d expect a high correlation (high correlation=high test-retest reliability)

Question 21

what is parallel forms reliability?

Answer 21

two versions of the same test that measure the same construct

Question 22

what does parallel forms reliability measure?

Answer 22

consistency of results between two equivalent versions of the same test. It assesses whether different versions of an assessment produce similar scores when administered to the same group of people under similar conditions.

Question 23

how does parallel forms reliability work?

Answer 23

assess the correlation between the scores on the two different measures, the higher the correlation, the better the reliability. (high correlation=high parallel forms reliability)

Question 24

what is split half reliability?

Answer 24

divide a test in half to see if the items on one half correlate to the items on the other half

Question 25

what does split half reliability measure?

Answer 25

measures the internal consistency of a test, assessing how well the items that compose the test yield consistent results

Question 26

how does split half reliability work?

Answer 26

The scores on both halves are compared to see if they are similar. High correlation between the halves indicates good reliability. (high correlation between test halves=high split half reliability)

Question 27

what is internal consistency for reliability?

Answer 27

the extent to which all items or components of a test measure the same construct and produce similar results

Question 28

what does internal consistency measure?

Answer 28

it’s a score that tells us the extent to which each item correlates with each other item. Most often we use Cronbach’s Alpha to assess this

Question 29

how does internal consistency work?

Answer 29

assessing how well the items within a test or measurement instrument correlate with each other, indicating that they are all measuring the same underlying construct

Question 30

what is validity?

Answer 30

the extent to which a measure does what it’s intended to do

Question 31

what are the types of validity?

Answer 31

criterion validity, construct validity, content validity

Question 32

what is criterion validity?

Answer 32

Criterion validity assesses how well a test or measure relates to an external outcome, essentially gauging its usefulness in real-world scenarios.

Question 33

what are the types of criterion validity?

Answer 33

predictive and concurrent

Question 34

what is predictive criterion validity?

Answer 34

how well a test predicts a future outcome

Question 35

what is concurrent criterion validity?

Answer 35

how well a test correlates with another measure of the same construct at the same time

Question 36

what is content validity?

Answer 36

how accurately a test measures what it’s designed to measure - It focuses on the test content itself and ensures it adequately covers the relevant aspects of the target construct

Question 37

what is construct validity?

Answer 37

assesses whether the test truly assesses the underlying concept it’s supposed to measure -

Question 38

what does convergent construct validity refer to?

Answer 38

the measure shows a relationship to things that theoretically are related

Question 39

what does divergent construct validity refer to?

Answer 39

the measure discriminates between things that are unrelated

Question 40

what are the levels of measurement?

Answer 40

nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio

Question 41

what is nominal data?

Answer 41

represents categories with no inherent order or ranking - the number is just a label for categories that are different from each other

Question 42

what is ordinal data?

Answer 42

ranking the categories in a specific order - It tells you which is higher or lower, but not by how much - number represents categories that are different to each other and order matters

Question 43

what is interval data?

Answer 43

equal intervals between each value on the scale, you can order the data and determine the difference between values - differences between numbers meaningful, numbers may be added or subtracted

Question 44

what is ratio data?

Answer 44

has all the characteristics of interval data (ordered, equal intervals), but with a true zero point - zero point represents a complete absence of the quantity being measured, you can add, subtract, multiply or divide