Socw 460 Chapter 13 Study Guide

Which of the following scales involves procedures in its construction that help ensure its unidimensionality?

Guttman scales

A scale in which a person's scale score is determined by summing the number of questions answered in a particular way is called:

a summated rating scale.

A scale whose items measure only one variable is called:

a unidimensional scale.

An advantage of the semantic differential (SD) over Likert or Thurstone scales is:

adequate reliability and validity can be achieved with a smaller number of items.

Which of the following are mentioned as possible sources for items for multiple-item measuring devices?

all of the answers are mentioned as sources

Which of the following is NOT identified in the text as a source of response bias?

all of the answers represent sources of response bias

Each item in a Likert scale can be considered to be:

an ordinal measure.

In developing a Thurstone scale, judges are used to:

assess how favorable an item is toward the variable being measured.

Multiple‑item measures are more capable of producing data that are _____________ than are single‑item measures.

at the interval level of measurement

A scale in which there is a series of statements, each followed by five ordered response alternatives, is called:

a Likert scale.

A "scale" would be best defined as:

a number of items that are combined to form a composite score on a variable.

In a semantic differential, a determination of which of the three dimensions a given pair of adjectives measures can best be made by:

a statistical procedure called factor analysis.

Which of the following would be the best illustration of "response bias"?

A person chooses answers in an interview that he thinks the interviewer would like him to give.

Which of the following is a (are) danger(s) of the uninformed use of scales?

All of the answers represent such dangers.

The concept of "reproducibility" relates to which type of scaling technique?

Guttman scales

What should be done if two items in a scale correlate nearly perfectly with one another?

Drop one of them from the scale because they are redundant.

Which of the following is one of the disadvantages of Likert scales?

It can be hard to interpret a single Likert score because it summarizes so many responses.

Which of the following is a disadvantage of semantic differential scales?

They generate ordinal, but not interval, level data.

The assumptions of which of the following scaling techniques can enable the researcher to assume that the resulting data are at the interval level of measurement?

Thurstone scaling

In looking at agency screening for alcohol-related problems in Research in Practice 13.2, research showed that the short assessment scales used by agencies during the brief intake screening could accomplish which of the following?

detect a potential alcohol problem.

In the development of a scale for measuring intimate justice in couple relationships, described in Research in Practice 13.1, which of these steps occurs before the others:

develop possible items for the scale.

In assessing items for a Likert scale, a discriminatory power score would be calculated on:

every item of the preliminary Likert scale.

In assessing items for a Likert scale, a negative discriminatory power score on an item means that:

high scorers on the overall scale scored lower on this item than did the low scorers on the overall scale.

In Likert scales, a discriminatory power score for each item:

indicates the degree to which each item discriminates between high scorers and low scorers on the overall scale.

One of the advantages of using scales over single‑item measures is that:

multiple‑item measures are generally more valid.

An advantage of a Thurstone scale over a Likert scale is:

people can respond to the items in Thurstone scales more quickly.

According to the developers of the semantic differential, which of the following is NOT one of the dimensions of a concept that is commonly measured by a semantic differential scale?

reliability

"Funneling" is a technique that helps to reduce:

response bias.

"The tendency for people's answers to questions to be influenced by things other than their true feelings, beliefs, and behaviors" is called:

response bias.

The term "rapid assessment instrument" refers to:

short scales used in the evaluation of human service practice.

A Likert scale can also be referred to as a:

summated rating scale.

One of the advantages of a Likert scale is that:

the data are considered to be ordinal level, permitting the use of more powerful statistical procedures.

In selecting items for scales, one would want to make sure that:

the items cover the actual range of variation on the variable.

In a Guttman scale, the "easiest" items are the ones that:

the most people are likely to agree with.

The upper quartile (Q3) can be defined as:

the point in a distribution above which the highest 25 percent of the scores in the distribution are located.

The scale type that is based on presenting respondents with a series of polar opposite adjectives is:

the semantic differential.

In the administration of multiple‑item scales, "response set" refers to:

the tendency for some people to agree or disagree with statements regardless of their content.

One of the advantages of using existing items or scales in research rather than developing new ones is:

the validity and reliability of existing scales have usually already been established.

In developing a Thurstone scale, items would be good candidates for inclusion in the scale if:

there is high agreement about them among the judges.

In developing a Likert scale, the best items for inclusion are:

those with the highest DP scores.