Psych 103: Chapter 5

Identify an accurate statement about content validity.

It focuses on assessing whether a measure reflects the universe of knowledge about a construct.

In the context of test-retest reliability, it is difficult to say how high the correlation should be for one to accept the measurement as reliable. However, for most measures the reliability coefficient should be at least ______.

.80

A commonly used indicator of interrater reliability is called ______.

Cohen's kappa

______ is demonstrated by research that examines the relationship between a measure of behavior and a criterion behavior at the same time.

Concurrent validity

____________________ refers to the adequacy of the operational definition of variables.

Construct validity

___________________ is a type of validity that is based on comparing the content of a measure with the universe of content that defines the construct.

Content validity

Which of the following is the most commonly used indicator of reliability based on internal consistency and provides one with the average of all possible split-half reliability coefficients?

Cronbach's alpha

Identify an accurate statement about face validity.

Face validity is not sufficient to conclude that a measure is in fact valid.

True or false: There must be only one value or level of a particular variable.

False

______ is the extent to which raters agree in their observations.

Interrater reliability

________________________ correlations examine the correlation of each item score on a test with the total score based on all items and provide information about each individual item.

Item total

______ have no numerical or quantitative properties.

Nominal scales

______ allow one to rank order the levels of the variable being studied.

Ordinal scales

______ refers to the consistency or stability of a measure of behavior.

Reliability

Identify an accurate statement about items that do not correlate with the total score while assessing item-total correlations in a test.

The items measure a different variable.

The correlation coefficient most commonly referred to when discussing reliability is ______.

the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient

Researchers cannot use ______ to systematically study variables or the relationships among variables.

unreliable measures

In research, reliability is increased ______.

when the number of items increases

The extent to which scores on a particular measure are related to scores on other measures of the same construct or similar constructs is referred to as ______.

convergent validity

To calculate Cronbach's alpha, scores on each item are ______.

correlated with scores on every other item

The statistical stability of measures can be assessed using ______.

correlation coefficients

True or false: Studying how people who score either low or high on a given measure of behavior behave in different situations is an approach to concurrent validity.

True

True or false: Trying to study behavior using unreliable measures is a waste of time because the results will be unstable and unable to be replicated.

True

A difference between the reliability and accuracy of measures would lead to ______.

a consideration of the validity of measures

While assessing test-retest reliability, high reliability is indicated by ______.

a high correlation coefficient showing that two scores measuring the same individuals at two points in time are very similar

A true statement about convergent validity is that ______.

measures of similar constructs should converge

Research that uses a measure to predict some future behavior is using ______________________ validity.

predictive

The correlation of the total score on one half of a test with the total score on the other half is called ______.

split-half reliability

An accurate statement about face validity is that it involves ______.

only a judgment of whether the content of a given measure appears to actually measure the variable

Identify the accurate statements about measurement scales. (Check all that apply.)

- The conclusions one draws about the meaning of a particular score on a variable depend on which type of measurement scale is used. - The measurement scale used determines the types of statistics that are appropriate when results of a study are analyzed.

Identify the types of measurement scales. (Check all that apply.)

- interval scale - ratio scale - nominal scale - ordinal scale

Which of the following concepts are most likely associated with the reliability of a measure?

true score and measurement error

A measure is said to be reactive if ______.

awareness of being measured changes an individual's behavior

Unlike nominal scales, the categories in ordinal scales ______.

can be ordered from first to last

When a measure is not related to variables with which it should not be related, ______ validity is demonstrated.

discriminant

An accurate statement about interval scales is that the intervals between the numbers are ______.

equal in size

If a reliable measure of behavior fluctuates, there is ______.

error in the measurement device

In _______________________ , the evidence for validity is that a measure appears "on the face of it" to measure what it is supposed to measure.

face validity

The assessment of reliability using responses at only one point in time is referred to as ______.

internal consistency reliability

The difference between the numbers on a scale is meaningful in a(n) ______.

interval

Unlike accuracy of measures, the reliability of a test is not indicative of whether the test ______.

is a good measure of the test's variable of interest

The actual calculation of a split-half reliability coefficient of a test includes ______.

items from the two halves of the test

Predictive validity is clearly important when studying measures that are designed to improve our ability to ______.

make predictions

Using interval and ratio scales in a study, one can ______.

make quantitative distinctions that allow one to talk about amounts of a variable

The distance between a true score and an observed score is referred to as a ______.

measurement error

In an experiment, the independent variable is often a(n) ______.

nominal or categorical variable

A research study was conducted to analyze the correlation between watching sports and anxiety. The participants watched a baseball game with blood pressure cuffs attached to their arms to measure their anxiety levels. However, it was found that their behavior was affected by the fact that they were being observed. This problem when measuring behavior is referred to as ______.

reacitivity

The reliability of a test can be increased by ______.

reducing the difference between the true score and the measured score

In research, reliability is most likely to be achieved when ______.

researchers use careful measurement procedures

In internal consistency reliability, all items should yield ______ because they measure the same variable.

similar or consistent results

Face validity is not sufficient to conclude that a measure is in fact valid. This is proven by the fact that ______.

tests with face validity may not have empirical evidence to support their results

In the context of discriminant validity, a measure should discriminate between ______.

the construct being measured and other unrelated constructs

In terms of measurement, construct validity is a question of whether ______.

the measure that is employed actually measures the construct it is intended to measure