PSCLearn 7 Unit 2
A reliable measure a. measures what the researcher intends for it to measure. b. produces similar results every time it is used. c. predicts future outcomes associated with a construct. d. predicts behaviors associated with a construct.
B
Indicates that a measure accurately predicts a concurrent outcome or behavior that is associated with a construct. Which type of validity does this statement depict? The choices are: Choice A: Predictive validity Choice B: Concurrent validity Choice C: Convergent validity Choice D: Discriminant validity
B
Which of the following variables are measured in correlational research? a. Independent and dependent variables b. Predictor and outcome variables c. Outcome variable alone d. Predictor variable alone
B
A researcher designs a correlational study using college freshmen to examine the relationship between final exam grade and hours of sleep the night before the exam. Which variables would be measured as part of this study design? a. Final exam grade, hours of sleep, and rank in college b. Rank in college and final exam grade c. Final exam grade and hours of sleep d. Rank in college and hours of sleep
C
A researcher wanted to observe student participation during a typical class, but was concerned the students might behave differently if they noticed her presence. She decided to attend class for 10 days before collecting any data so as to habituate students to her presence and avoid ______. a. being confused by the class topics b. collecting unreliable data c. the Hawthorne effect d. the observer-expectancy effect
C
A researcher wishes to study how well new immigrants adapt to the culture of their new country. To do this, she records how frequently members smile at strangers, whether members adopt new words, phrases, or slang, or how much time members spend socializing with people outside their home culture. What the researcher is doing is best described as _______ a construct. a. measuring b. developing c. estimating d. operationalizing
C
Assess the relationship between one measure of a construct and another, similar measure of the same construct. Which type of validity does this statement depict? The choices are: Choice A: Predictive validity Choice B: Concurrent validity Choice C: Convergent validity Choice D: Discriminant validity
C
Determining what variable or variables approximate a construct is called a. developing. b. estimating. c. operationalizing. d. measuring.
C
Dr. Bonenfant is testing the hypothesis that males and females react differently to group pressure. When observing their behaviors, Dr. Bonenfant notices more instances that confirm the hypothesis than refute it. If Dr. Bonenfant's knowledge of the hypothesis influenced how he rated the reactions of males and females, the threat to construct validity would be ______. a. low face validity b. low interrater reliability c. the observer-expectancy effect d. the Hawthorne effect
C
Imagine that a new test is designed to measure emotional intelligence. The test provides consistent results when participants take it multiple times over a 6-month period. However, experts have questioned whether all the aspects of emotional intelligence are included in the test. This test has ______. a. low reliability and low validity b. high reliability and high validity c. high reliability, but low validity d. low reliability, but high validity
C
Is there a relationship between self-report measures of spatial ability and performance on map navigation? Which type of validity does this statement depict? The choices are: Choice A: Predictive validity Choice B: Concurrent validity Choice C: Convergent validity Choice D: Discriminant validity
C
To establish high interrater reliability, ______. a. the value of Cohen's Kappa must be below 0.5 b. observer-expectancy effects must be eliminated c. there must be a high level of agreement between the scores of multiple raters d. raters must assign high scores to their observations
C
Which of the following would be the best way to measure the physiological state of anger? a. Self reports by individuals about their level of anger b. Observing people for signs of anger c. Measures of brain patterns, blood pressure, and heart rate as correlates of anger d. Newspaper articles about the level of anger among the populace
C
Which of these variables can be measured directly? a. Anger b. Happiness c. Visual acuity d. Intelligence
C
Which of these variables is a construct? a. Vocabulary b. Weight c. Depression d. Age
C
Explain the difference between convergent validity and discriminant validity
Convergent validity reflects the relationship between a measure of a construct of interest and another measure of the same construct. If the construct's measure is valid, it should converge with the scores from the other measure. Discriminant validity assesses the relationship between a measure of a construct and that of another distinct construct. In discriminant validity, measurements diverge from scores of a separate construct
A researcher developed an operational definition to measure the construct of athleticism among track and field athletes by assessing resting heart rate before an event, best distance in the shot put, and records for the last three track meets. Which aspect of construct validity may the researcher be attempting to address? a. Face validity b. Appropriate method of measurement c. Appropriate measurement procedure d. Content validity
D
As a practical joke, your roommate changes the adjustment every morning on the bathroom scales. Although you do not know this, it is randomly higher or lower than it should be. How would you characterize this scale? a. High reliability, but low validity b. High reliability and high validity c. Low reliability, but high validity d. Low reliability and low validity
D
Assess the relationship between a measure of a construct and a measure of a separate, distinct construct. Which type of validity does this statement depict? The choices are: Choice A: Predictive validity Choice B: Concurrent validity Choice C: Convergent validity Choice D: Discriminant validity
D
If high levels of the personality trait neuroticism are associated with more fights with friends and family in the week when the personality questionnaire was completed, the construct of neuroticism would have high _____ validity. a. discriminant b. predictive c. convergent d. concurrent
D
In which type of research would correlation analysis not be used? a. Archival research b. Surveys c. Naturalistic observations d. An experiment
D
Is there a weak relationship between a measure of curiosity and promiscuity? Which type of validity does this statement depict? The choices are: Choice A: Predictive validity Choice B: Concurrent validity Choice C: Convergent validity Choice D: Discriminant validity
D
Which of the following statements regarding constructs is false? a. A construct cannot be measured directly. b. It is important to consider whether a measured variable appropriately estimates the underlying construct. c. There are multiple ways to operationalize constructs, as each may estimate a different aspect of the construct. d. Constructs can only be operationalized in one way
D
Which of the following types of data would be best gathered through self-report measures? a. Physiological states b. Behaviors c. Knowledge or abilities d. Feelings, beliefs, or opinions
D
Which variable would be considered a construct? a. The number of correct answers on a quiz b. A participant's rating of their quality of sleep c. Heart rate d. Empathy
D
What kind of validity: An individual's extraversion score and assertiveness score have a strong, positive relationship
Discriminant
Which of the following aspects of construct validity is not measured in an objective manner? a. Face validity b. Predictive validity c. Discriminant validity d. Content validity
Face validity
An experimenter is interested in investing which study strategy-mnemonics or self-testing is more effective for learning class content. She randomly assigns 30 freshmen to learn using mnemonic strategies and 30 freshmen to learn using a self-tesing strategy. In this experiment, which measurement best represents the dependent variable, learning of class content?
Give students a 10-item quiz assessing the material they studied
A researcher finds a strong correlation between participants' scores on the Big Five personality test and their social media use. This would indicate a. high predictive validity. b. low convergent validity. c. high discriminant validity. d. low concurrent validity.
High predictive validity
A grade school teacher administers a math placement test to her 6th grade class to help place students in the appropriate math class when they enter middle school. If this test is an accurate tool for placing students in the appropriate math class for the next year, then this exam has what kind of validity? a. Predictive validity b. Concurrent validity c. Convergent validity d. Divergent validity
Predictive validity
Explain the difference between predictive validity and concurrent validity
Predictive validity is a rating of how well a construct can predict a future behavior outcome, while concurrent validity is a rating of how strongly a construct is associated with a current behavior or outcome
measuring manual problem solving skills by solving skills by solving hand-held puzzles rather than pencil and paper puzzles
appropriate method for measuring the construct
What kind of validity: Extraversion score in college and outgoing behaviors measured at the same time have a strong, positive relationship
concurrent
measuring athleticism with unique tests for speed, endurance, agility, strength, and grace
content validity
What kind of validity: An individual's extraversion score and assertiveness score have a strong, positive relationship
convergent
Measuring spatial ability by testing a participant's speed at mentally rotating block figures
face validity
Removing distracting objects from the room when attempting to measure a child's ability to focus on a task
measurement procedure
What method should be used: You have been hired to evaluate the user experience of a company's website. You recruit participants and ask them to accomplish three tasks on the website. You record how long it takes users to accomplish the tasks.
observation of behavior
what method should be used: college entrance exams such as the SAT or ACT involve
observation of performance
What kind of validity: Extraversion score in high school and outgoing behaviors during college have a strong, positive relationship
predictive
What method should be used: you have been hired to evaluate the user experience of a company's website. You add a pop-up box that appears when people are browsing the site; it ask the user to respond with a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down to indicate whether or not they enjoy using the site
self-report survey
is this weak or strong face validity: Variable is gender Gender was measured by asking participants to self-report their gender identity
strong
A researcher develops an experiment with an especially strong operational definition for her dependent measure of interest. What other practices might she employ to prevent the observer-expectancy effect?
train her observers on objective research practices
is this weak or strong face validity: Variable is gender Gender was measured by observing their hair length. If the hair was short, the participant was closed as male. If the hair was long, the participant was coded as female
weak
In what situations do researchers use correlational analysis instead of other methods?
when it is not possible to use other methods, when the data involve naturalistic observations, and when they wish to gain a preliminary understanding of a phenomenon.
A researcher is developing a measure for a construct and wishes to assess its relationship with another, distinct construct. What type of validity test should the researcher conduct? a. Discriminant validity b. Face validity c. Predictive validity d. Convergent validity
A
A researcher operationally defined "healthy eating" as consuming at least five servings of fruits and vegetables in a day. If experts in nutrition agree that this is an appropriate measure for the construct of healthy eating, this measure would have a. strong face validity. b. weak face validity. c. strong content validity. d. weak content validity.
A
Does the SAT accurately predict the success of high school students in their first year of college? Which type of validity does this statement depict? The choices are: Choice A: Predictive validity Choice B: Concurrent validity Choice C: Convergent validity Choice D: Discriminant validity
A
For middle school students, is their performance on the state math achievement test strongly related to their grades in Math? Which type of validity does this statement depict? The choices are: Choice A: Predictive validity Choice B: Concurrent validity Choice C: Convergent validity Choice D: Discriminant validity
A
In order to measure the construct of life satisfaction, a researcher designs a questionnaire with 75 true/false questions. To thoroughly measure the construct, many questions ask about similar things in different ways. If participants found the questions repetitive and became bored during testing, they might not respond to each question accurately. This indicates a problem with the ______. a. procedure of using many repetitive questions b. face validity c. content validity d. method of using self-report to measure life satisfaction
A
Indicates that a measure accurately predicts a future outcome or behavior that is associated with a construct. Which type of validity does this statement depict? The choices are: Choice A: Predictive validity Choice B: Concurrent validity Choice C: Convergent validity Choice D: Discriminant validity
A
To help prevent the observer-expectancy effect, a researcher could ______. a. conduct a double-blind study b. increase interaction between the researcher and participants c. ensure discriminant validity d. habituate participants to the presence of the researcher
A
Which method would be most appropriate for measuring helping behaviors? a. Observe participant behavior in various situations. b. Assign participants to a "helping" or "no helping" group. c. Analyze archival data from different countries on the World Kindness Index. d. Ask close friends of participants to report the participants' helping behaviors.
A
Which of the following would not be possible? a. A test that has high validity but low reliability b. A test that has low validity and low reliability c. A test that has low validity but high reliability d. A test that produces biased results but is reliable
A
Which of these conditions are required for a construct to be useful in research? a. High reliability and high construct validity b. Low reliability alone c. Low reliability and low construct validity d. High reliability alone
A
