Research Methods : Validity and Reliability Flashcards
What is reliability?
How consistent results are
• reliable methodologies produce the same/ similar results each time
What is test-retest reliability?
Measures test consistency/ reliability power time
• two tests get correlation 0.8+, results are reliable
What is inter-rater reliability?
The degree of agreement among raters
• height correlation (0.8+) = reliable
What is validity?
The extent to which something is measuring what it is claiming to measure (valid methodologies measure what they claim to)
What is internal validity?
The extent to which a study establishes a cause-and-effect relationship between IV and DV
What is external validity?
The extent to which a study can be generalised yo other settings (real life)
What is ecological validity?
Whether data is generalised to the real world
What is population validity?
How well the sample used can be generalised to a population as a whole
What is temporal validity?
Whether the results are still valid today
What is constrict validity?
Whether a test measures the intended theoretical construct
What is concurrent validity?
A test correlating well with other measures of the same construct
What is a predictive validity?
A test accurately predicting outcomes it should theoretically predict
What is face validity?
Whether a test measures what it clams to measure
Androcentric bias
When only male participants are used
Gynocentric bias
When only female participants are used
Nomothetic approach
Focusing on common, shared features
Idiographic approach
Focusing on what makes us unique
Ethnocentric
Cultural bias
Methodologies
specific procedures, techniques and processes researchers use
Generalisability
The extent to which results apply outside the specific study conditions
Improving reliability: Observations
Improve training given to raters to increase accuracy
Improving reliability: Interviews
Use structured rather than unstructed interviews
Improving reliability: Experiments
Use standards procedures/ established tests rather than new ones
Improving reliability: Questionnaires
Use closed rather than open questions
What is internal reliability?
The extent to which different parts of a measure are consistent with itself
What is external validity?
The extent to which a measure is reliable when repeated
