RDSA Midterm

internal scale of measurement

(equal intervals between units but no meaningful zero) Temperature (ex. 0 degrees is cold, but so is 5 and -5). SAT scores (you can't score a 0)

three criteria for causal claim

1. covariance 2. temporal precedence 3. internal validity

Construct is wellbeing, give an example of ways to assess the three operationalizations ...

1. self report, 5 item scale 2. behavioral/observational, observing number of smiles 3. physiological, brain scan (looking at regions and how they light up)

(5) Three types of operationalization

1. self-report 2. observational 3. physiological

how do correlation coefficients determine reliability (2 ways)

1. slope direction (indicates, positive, negative, or zero correlation) 2. strength (determined by how close the r value is to 1 o -1.

average inter‐item correlation (AIC)

A measure of internal reliability for a set of items; it is the mean of all possible correlations computed between each item and the others.

ordinal scale

A scale of measurement using ranks rather than actual numbers. (unequal measurements), ex. times for gold vs. silver vs. bronze

Hypothesis

A statement of the specific result the researcher expects to observe from a particular study, if the theory is accurate.

ratio scale of measurement

All of the same in interval, except there is the addition of a true-zero point. Ex. height, weight, time on task, income, age

What is the difference between advice from an authority and that from a researcher?

Authorities often base their advice on intuition, while researchers rely on facts.

conceptual definition can also be called a...

Construct ( definition of variable at theoretical level).

A correlation‐based statistic that measures a scale's internal reliability. Also called coefficient alpha.

Cronbach's alpha

Type of validity that represents a test that has multiplication and division problems looks like an elementary school math test (face ability)

Face content validity

What type of reliability cannot be used with correlation coefficients? What is used to measure strength instead?

Internal, cronbach's alpha

covariance means

One variable cannot be said to cause another unless the two covary

3 kinds of Quantitative measures

Ordinal, ratio, and interval

Which of the following is a limitation of PsycINFO compared to Google Scholar?

PsycINFO is not free to use

present/present bias

The tendency to rely only on evidence that is present (e.g., instances in which both a treatment and a desired outcome are present) and ignore evidence that is absent (e.g., instances in which a treatment is absent or the desired outcome is absent) when evaluating the support for a conclusion.

Empiricism

The use of verifiable evidence as the basis for conclusions; collecting data systematically and using it to develop, support, or challenge a theory. Also called empirical method, empirical research.

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions

When researchers conduct an experiment comparing two different treatment conditions, they are likely to be more concerned with ________ validity than ________ validity.

a.internal; external

Research that uses knowledge derived from basic research to develop and test solutions to real-world problems.

applied

Research whose goal is to find a solution to a particular real-world problem.

applied research (direct application)

A bias in intuition, in which people incorrectly estimate the frequency of something, relying predominantly on instances that easily come to mind rather than using all possible evidence in evaluating a conclusion.

availability heuristic

Research whose goal is to enhance the general body of knowledge, without regard for direct application to practical problems.

basic

When reading an empirical journal article "with a purpose,"why should you read the abstract first?

because it provides an overview of the article

After reading the chapter, Cyril says to himself, "I am sure other people might engage in faulty thinking, but I never would." What is Cyril experiencing?

bias blind spot

scales of measurement (4)

categorical, interval, ratio, & ordinal

internal validity is higher with _________ claims

causal

temp precedence

change in manipulated before measured

One of Merton's four scientific norms, stating that scientific knowledge is created by a community, and its findings belong to the community. See also universalism, disinterestedness, organized skepticism.

communality

A group in an experiment whose levels on the independent variable differ from those of the treatment group in some intended and meaningful way. Also called comparison condition.

comparison group

An actor who is directed by the researcher to play a specific role in a research study

confederate

Asking questions to get the answers we want is known as

confirmation bias

The tendency to consider only the evidence that supports a hypothesis, including asking only the questions that will lead to the expected answer. (page 34)

confirmation bias

A general term for a potential alternative explanation for a research finding, a threat to internal validity

confound

conceptual definition aka

construct

Four Big Validities

construct validity, external validity, statistical validity, internal validity

Type of validity that represents looking deeper, how well does subject matter of a test apply to the population its given too

content validity

An empirical test of the extent to which a self‐report measure correlates with other measures of a theoretically similar construct.

convergent validity

correlational method example

correlation coefficient is stronger when examining correlation between sales ability test and car sales made then correlation coefficient examining IQ score and car sales made.

two ways to assess criterion validity

correlational method and known groups method

Three empirical ways to assess validity

criterion, convergent, and discriminant

measure internal validity via

cronbach's alpha

One of Merton's four scientific norms, stating that scientists strive to discover the truth whatever it is; they are not swayed by conviction, idealism, politics, or profit. See also universalism, communality, organized skepticism.

disinterestedness

known groups method tests...

do groups who are known to differ on the variable of interest score differently on your measure? (beck depression inventory can tell you the severity of depression, scores are different than psychologist trying to predict level of depression

The magnitude, or strength, of a relationship between two or more variables

effect size

motivated thinking

ex. smokers engage in motivated reasoning when they dispel scientific evidence that suggests that smoking is bad for one's health

internal validity

extent to which we can draw cause-and-effect inferences from a study

external validity

extent to which we can generalize findings to real-world settings

________ validity tends to be higher in experiments than in other types of studies.

external

Two subjective ways to assess validity

face validity and content validity

A feature of a scientific theory, in which it is possible to collect data that will indicate that the theoryis wrong.

falsifiable

Three Claims of Research

frequency, association, causal

Type of reliability important for self report

internal reliability

Type of reliability important for observation

interrater reliability

Four ways of knowing

intuition, research, authority, experience

face validity

it looks like what you want to measure

A way of mathematically averaging the effect sizes of all the studies that have tested the same variables to see what conclusion that whole body of evidence supports

meta-analysis

categorical variable aka

nominal

temporal precedence

one of three criteria for establishing a causal claim, stating that the proposed causal variable comes first in time, before the proposed outcome variable

One of Merton's four scientific norms, stating that scientists question everything, including their own theories, widely accepted ideas, and "ancient wisdom." See also universalism, communality, disinterestedness. (page 15)

organized skepticism

Term referring to a peer-reviewed academic journal that the general public must pay to access; only people who are members of subscribing institutions can access the content.

paywalled

internal reliability

people give consistent scores on every item of a questionnaire.

A term referring to a study in which, before collecting any data, the researcher has stated publicly what the study's outcome is expected to be.

preregistered

Describing the empirical method, stating that science is intended to explain a certain proportion (but not necessarily all) of the possible cases

probabilistic

Statistical validity is not telling you if the difference should be accepted, just ...

revealing the difference

measure re-test reliability via

scatter plots and correlation coefficients

Convergent validity example

similarity in scores of tests (ex. CSE-D and BDI similarity is high, both tests measure depression levels

construct validity is

subjective and empirical methods to assess validity

three things needed for a causal claim

temp precedence, covariance, & internal validity

A common finding in the study of aggression is that exposure to television is associated with increased aggressive behavior in children. You know this relationship may not be causal because you are not sure which occurred first: watching television or being aggressive. You are questioning which of the following rules of causation?

temporal precedence

test-retest reliability

the consistency in results every time a measure is used, ex. getting consistent scores every time you take the test. (important for all three types of operationalizations).

internal validity

the degree to which changes in the dependent variable are due to the manipulation of the independent variable (No alternative/causal explanation for your outcome)

statistical validity

the extent to which a study's statistical conclusions are accurate and reasonable (ex. mean, median, correlation, anova, chi square

covariance

the extent to which two variables are observed to go together

construct validity

the extent to which variables measure what they are supposed to measure (quality)

context validity

the measure contains all the parts that your theory says it should contain.

bias blind spot is

the tendency for people to think that compared to others, they are less likely to engage in biased reasoning

categorical measurement

the values of the variable represent discrete categories and not the amount of the characteristic of interest (ex. eye color)

internal validity

turning other variables into constants

interrater reliability

two coders ratings of a set of targets are consistent with each other. (two people watch the same thing, will they get the same result).

One of Merton's four scientific norms, stating that scientific claims are evaluated according to their merit, independent of the researcher's credentials or reputation. The same preestablished criteria apply to all scientists and all research. See also communality, disinterestedness, organized skepticism

universalism

citerion validity (kind of construct validity-empirical way to measure validity)

your measure is correlated with a relevant outcome. evaluates how accurately a test measures the outcome it was designed to measure.

discriminant validity (kind of construct validity-empirical way to measure validity)

your measure is less strongly associated with measures of dissimilar constructs.

converegent validity (kind of construct validity-empirical way to measure validity)

your measure is more strongly associated with measures of similar constructs