Stats T4 Flashcards
Face Validity
basic form of validity demonstrated when a measurement procedure superficially appears to measure what it claims to measure
Concurrent Validity
demonstrated when scores obtained from a new measure are directly related to scores obtained from an established measure of the same variable.
Predictive Validity
demonstrated when scores obtained from a measure accurately predict behaviour according to a theory.
Construct Validity
requires that the scores obtained from a measurement procedure behave exactly the same as the variable itself.
What needs to be taken into consideration for construct validity
based on many research studies that use the same measurement procedure and grows gradually as each new study contributes more evidence.
Convergent Validity
demonstrated strong relationship between the scores obtained from two or more different methods
Divergent Validity
demonstrated by showing little or no relationship between the measurements and two constructs
Test-retest reliability
established by comparing the scores obtained from two successive measurements of the same individuals and calculating a correlation between the two sets of scores.
Inter-rater reliability
degree of agreement between two observers who simultaneously record
measurements of the behaviours
Split-half reliability
obtained by splitting the items on a questionnaire or test in half, computing a
separate score for each half, and then calculating the degree of consistency between the two scores for a
group of participants.
What are the two types of measures of reliability
Successive and simultaneous measurements
Construct
hypothetical attributes or mechanisms that help explain and predict behaviour in a
theory
What is naturalistic observation
A form of non-participant observation where a researcher is in a natural setting in which behaviur usually occurs without interupting
What is In participant observation
researcher engages in the same activities as the people being observed
in order to observe and record their behaviour.
What are naturalistic observation usually used for
used to describe non-human behaviour or children
What are the benefits and disadvantages of naturalistic observation (5)
external validity: real world setting behaviour is not manipulated overcoming ethical barriers –> instigating spanking vs. observing spanking time-consuming: having to wait till behaviour occurs research is prone to interruptions
When is participant observation needed
When simple observation is not possible. e.g. studying cults or gangs because their presence would alter the behaviour
What are advantages and disadvantages of participant observations (5)
access to information and observation unavailable to mere outside observation high external validity because of naturalistic setting time consuming observation potentially dangerous for researcher (sensitive nature) observers presence might alter participants’ experience –> objectivity?
What is Structured observation?
or contrived observation is the observation of behaviour in settings arranged
specifically to facilitate the occurrence of specific behaviours so they don’t have to wait for them to happen
Advantages and Disadvantages of structured observations
can be held in laboratory or other controlled settings to percipitate the behaviour that they want to observe –> good for developmental psych can be held in what is perceived a sa natural environment (field setting) less time consuming how natural is the behaviour?
During a study using observational methods, it is common to have two observers record behaviour
simultaneously. What is the purpose for this procedure?
objectivity of the measurements
In an observational study of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, you record how
much time each child spends playing alone during a 30-minute observation period. Which method
of quantifying behaviour is being used?
duration
When researchers use behavioural observation techniques to measure behaviours in movies, what
is the measurement process called?
content analysis
What are behavioural tasks
usually computer-controlled, structured tasks measured across multiple repeated trials that researchers use to collect behavioural measures such as
response times and task accuracy measures.
What are many behavioural tasks structured around?
human information processing like cognitive tasks assessing attention, memory, language and decision making
What can also be measured by behavioural tasks
attitudes, preferences aside from cognitions
What is the main measure of interest in behavioural tasks
not the usually correct answer but speed of the response (response or reaction time)
What is a task paradigm
task originally constructed to investigate a particular hypothesis is used and adapted to examine others subsequently providing a standard model for line of research
What are two prerequisites of behavioural observations
behaviour is not disturbed observations are based in subjective judgments and intepretations which pose a threat to reliability so need for more than one observer
Archival research
involves looking at pre-existing records (archives) to measure behaviours or events
that occurred in the past
Content analysis
measuring the occurrence of specific events, actions or statements in written
text (e.g., literature, press reports, transcripts) or film/video recordings (e.g., movies, television programmes) or similar media
How is the issue of interpretation in observational designs addressed (3)
well-defined categories of behaviour well-trained observers multiple observers or coders to assess inter-rater reliability
What are behaviour categories
well/defined sets of behaviour that is to be observed which helps isolating relevant behaviours
How are observations quantified (3)
frequency: how many times does something occur in the given time-frame duration: for how long does a behaviour occur interval: does a behaviour occur in a given interval
When are the three quantification methods most appropriate
first two techniques are often well suited for specific behaviours but can lead to distorted
measurements in some situations. For example, a bird that sings continuously for the entire 30-minute
observation period would get a frequency score of only 1. Another bird that sings 25 times with
each song lasting two seconds would get a duration score of only 50 seconds. In such situations, the interval method provides a way to balance frequency and duration to obtain a more representative
measurement
How do observers overcome issues of complex situations that cannot be watched multiple times
creating a recorded sample or taking a general sample
What are the 5 research strategies?
Descriptive (examining individual variables) Correlational (two variables for each individual) → numerical Experimental (cause-effect) Quasi-experimental (less control, assignment) Non-experimental
