Exam 4: Conceptualization and Measurement

Asking the number of days someone convicted of a felony was sentenced to prison represents which level of measurement?

Which of the following is true about reliability and validity?

An index can increase both reliability and validity.

First provide a definition of an index or scale. Your book discussed ways in which indexes can be used in the development of research questions and their measurements. Identify at least two reasons why a multi-item index would be useful to improve validity and two reasons why it would useful to improve reliability.

What does it mean for a fixed-choice question to be both mutually exclusive and exhaustive? Then provide an example of a question, with response choices.

In ______ research, conceptualization is an important part of the process used to make sense of related observations, and in ______ conceptualization helps translate portions of an abstract theory into testable hypotheses involving specific variables.

Subconcepts are also known as dimensions.

In examining the measure of binge drinking, a researcher found that two groups of college students answered the questions in a consistent way. However, the researchers found that most college students did not answer truthfully. As such, this measure of binge drinking was ______ but not ______.

Define the four levels of measurement listed in your textbook. Then provide an example of each.

Asking age and providing the answer choices-under age 12, 12-15, 15-17, 17-20, 20-25, 25 and older-is not considered to be ______.

The variable "frequency of binge drinking," measured by the question "How many times in the past 30 days did you consume five drinks in on setting?" should be categorized under which level of measurement?

Which of the following refers to the process of evaluating the reliability and validity of measures about individuals?

Age could be asked as discrete categories (e.g., 12-17, 18-20, 21-25, 26 and older), or it could be asked as a ______ measure (e.g., How old are you?).

According to your text, which validation method provides the strongest evidence of measurement validity? Define this type of validation method. Then, using the example of a study that measures self-reports of committing theft, what are some challenges to obtaining this type of validity?

Ratings given by an observer, rather than ratings given by subjects themselves, is what differentiates between test-retest reliability and intraobserver reliability.

Define construct validity and criterion validity. Provide an example of how we can develop questions or procedures that would address each type of validity. Then highlight at least one disadvantage and advantage for each type of validity. Also provide a brief statement as to how these types of validity are related.

Which of the following is NOT an aspect of open-ended questions?

Operationalization is the process describing how a concept is connected to the way it is measured, and the ______ of a variable is the way it is measured.

What is one similarity between ordinal and nominal levels of measurement?

The process of specifying what we mean by a term is called conceptualization.