Deck 8: Tools of Research

Question 1

Exhibit 8-1: Inventories, situational tests, ratings, and projective techniques are four approaches to personality measurement.To which of the four approaches would each of the following questions most directly apply?
Refer to Exhibit 8-1.Depend upon the honesty and cooperation of the subject

A) inventories.
B) situational tests.
C) ratings.
D) projective techniques.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Exhibit 8-1: Inventories, situational tests, ratings, and projective techniques are four approaches to personality measurement.To which of the four approaches would each of the following questions most directly apply?
Refer to Exhibit 8-1.Give access to motives and feelings which are not realized or verbalized by the subject

A) inventories.
B) situational tests.
C) ratings.
D) projective techniques.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Intelligence tests are most valid for measuring

A) innate capacity.
B) creativity.
C) inherited ability.
D) scholastic aptitude.
E) problem-solving approaches.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Using the results of an item analysis, a researcher would most likely retain items for a Likert attitude scale if they

A) are judged to have content validity.
B) yield high split-half reliability.
C) have low correlation with the total scale score.
D) correlate highly with the total scale score.

Question 5

Projective techniques, as a group, differ from most other personality measures in their use of

A) situational tests.
B) trait assessment.
C) structured stimuli
D) unstructured stimuli.
E) theories of personality.

Question 6

Scholastic aptitude tests are useful in schools because they

A) can be used to predict achievement.
B) measure innate intelligence.
C) provide a measure of academic achievement.
D) provide a measure of ability uninfluenced by academic experience.
E) are not influenced by subject's motivation, home background, etc.

Question 7

"Standardized" as applied to tests means

A) covering what should be taught.
B) having objective-type items
C) a particular type of aptitude test.
D) uniform administration and established norms.
E) having an established level of expectation.

Question 8

A counselor has two adult subjects for whom he needs intelligence test scores.Which of the following tests would you recommend?

A) Wechsler Intelligence Scale
B) Stanford-Binet Test of Intelligence
C) California Test of Mental Maturity
D) CEEB Scholastic Aptitude Test

Question 9

Which of the following is the best example of a "halo effect"?

A) The extreme values of the scale are extensively used.
B) A student is assigned the highest rating on all traits rated.
C) All individuals in a group are rated low on the scale.
D) A cooperative student is rated high on nearly all traits.

Question 10

A researcher needs a measure of intelligence to use in research on children with reading difficulties.The test must be highly reliable and be given in a manner such that the children who are not used to taking standardized tests will not be at a disadvantage.Money is no object.The type of test that you would recommend for this researcher's purpose is one that is

A) individual, nonverbal, and objectively scored.
B) group, nonverbal, and subjectively scored.
C) group, nonverbal, and objectively scored.
D) group, verbal, and objectively scored.
E) individual, verbal, and subjectively scored.

Question 11

If a researcher wanted a predictor of how well students would benefit from a proposed special mathematics instructional program he/she would most likely use

A) a scholastic aptitude test.
B) a math achievement test.
C) direct observation.
D) teachers' recommendations.

Question 12

Consider the following graphic rating scale item:
How would you evaluate this item?

A) There are too few points on the rating scale.
B) There are too many points on the rating scale.
C) The rating points are not related to the topic.
D) The points are defined in terms of behaviors that require inference on the part of the rater.
E) The points do not represent the relevant extremes of the behavior.

Question 13

Which of the following illustrates the "halo effect" in ratings?

A) An individual is rated high on some traits and low on others.
B) There is little variation in the ratings made of individuals in a group.
C) An uncooperative student is rated low on all traits.
D) The extreme values on the scale are rarely used by the rater.
E) All students in a class are rated high on every trait included in the rating scale.

Question 14

Norms are best defined as

A) goals for low-achieving students.
B) the average scores received by a particular group.
C) standards for which all children should strive.
D) standards for children with the same educational backgrounds.

Question 15

A criterion-referenced achievement test would be least useful for

A) planning classroom instruction.
B) analyzing individual achievement.
C) comparing individuals' performance in a group.
D) determining minimum competency in a content area.

Question 16

Which of the following represents a major source of error in rating scales?

A) The large number of traits to be rated.
B) The variation in the type of traits to be considered.
C) The ambiguity of the trait names to the rater.
D) The familiarity of the rater with the subjects to be rated.

Question 17

To increase the validity of a rating scale, it is recommended that the points on the scale be identified by

A) numbers.
B) trait names.
C) descriptive phrases.
D) qualifying terms such as frequently, seldom, never, often.

Question 18

If an individual "strongly disagrees" with a positively stated item on a Likert attitude scale, that person will receive ____ point(s).

A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
E) 5

Question 19

Exhibit 8-1: Inventories, situational tests, ratings, and projective techniques are four approaches to personality measurement.To which of the four approaches would each of the following questions most directly apply?
Refer to Exhibit 8-1.May be biased by the "central tendency error"

A) inventories.
B) situational tests.
C) ratings.
D) projective techniques.

Question 20

Which of the following would provide the most useful information for critically evaluating a published test?

A) Journal of Educational Measurement
B) Tests in Print
C) Eighteenth Mental Measurements Yearbook
D) The test publisher's catalog
E) The manual accompanying the test

Question 21

The most important consideration when selecting an achievement test for use as the dependent variable measure in classroom research is whether the test

A) has sufficiently high reliability.
B) is easy to administer and score.
C) has sufficiently high criterion-related validity.
D) matches the content and objectives covered during the instructional period.
E) is based on a thorough sample of teaching practices throughout the country.

Question 22

_____ use deliberately vague or ambiguous stimulus material to which subjects respond.

A) Inventories
B) Projective techniques
C) Attitude scales
D) Situational tests
E) Rating scales

Question 23

Exhibit 8-3: Choose the contribution that each of the following men have made to methods of measurement.
Refer to Exhibit 8-3.A.Binet

A) devised an attitude scale based on extent of agreement or disagreement with statement.
B) developed a measure of adult intelligence.
C) developed the first intelligence scale for children.
D) studied the honesty of children through observation.

Question 24

Exhibit 8-2: Indicate to which of the five measuring devices each of the statements applies.
Refer to Exhibit 8-2.Arrangements for administration are complex.

A) self-report inventories
B) rating scales
C) attitude scales
D) direct observation
E) projective techniques

Question 25

It would be preferable to use the Stanford-Binet instead of an intelligence test such as the California Test of Mental Maturity in which of the following scenarios?

A) A researcher is interested in getting both verbal and nonverbal scores of intelligence from his sample.
B) The researcher suspects two of the subjects in the sample may be slow learners and would like to exclude them from the study.
C) A researcher wants intelligence measures for his sample of 100 high school students.
D) The Binet would be preferable in all of these situations.

Question 26

The "halo effect" is best illustrated in which example?

A) There is little variation in the ratings made of individuals in a group.
B) A disliked student is rated low on behavior but high on creativity.
C) The extreme values on the scale re rarely used by the rater.
D) All students in the class are rated high on every trait.
E) A popular student is rated high on every trait.

Question 27

The first widely used group test of intelligence was the

A) Army Alpha.
B) Binet Test of Intelligence.
C) Wechsler-Bellevue.
D) Terman Test of Intelligence.

Question 28

Assessing honesty of subjects by recording what they do when given an opportunity to cheat is an example of

A) inventories.
B) projective techniques.
C) attitude scales.
D) situational tests.
E) rating scales.

Question 29

Exhibit 8-3: Choose the contribution that each of the following men have made to methods of measurement.
Refer to Exhibit 8-3.R.Likert

A) devised an attitude scale based on extent of agreement or disagreement with statement.
B) developed a measure of adult intelligence.
C) developed the first intelligence scale for children.
D) studied the honesty of children through observation.

Question 30

A researcher wants to know what standardized algebra tests are available.The researcher should first consult the

A) test manuals issued by publishers.
B) Mental Measurements Yearbook.
C) Mathematics Teacher.
D) Journal of Educational Measurement.
E) Encyclopedia of Educational Research

Question 31

Which of the following represents the major difference between aptitude and achievement tests?

A) Aptitude tests are individual tests; achievement tests are group tests.
B) Aptitude tests attempt to measure general skills; achievement tests attempt to measure specific skills.
C) Aptitude tests measure inherited characteristics, while achievement tests measure acquired characteristics.
D) Aptitude test results are not influenced by a child's school experiences, while achievement tests are.

Question 32

Exhibit 8-2: Indicate to which of the five measuring devices each of the statements applies.
Refer to Exhibit 8-2.Are most influenced by errors of leniency.

A) self-report inventories
B) rating scales
C) attitude scales
D) direct observation
E) projective techniques

Question 33

By using _____ to analyze an individual's responses to a series of statements, one can assess the individual's general personal characteristics.

A) inventories
B) projective techniques
C) attitude scales
D) situational tests
E) rating scales

Question 34

Exhibit 8-3: Choose the contribution that each of the following men have made to methods of measurement.
Refer to Exhibit 8-3.D.Wechsler

A) devised an attitude scale based on extent of agreement or disagreement with statement.
B) developed a measure of adult intelligence.
C) developed the first intelligence scale for children.
D) studied the honesty of children through observation.

Question 35

_____ are most subjected to errors of central tendency.

A) Inventories
B) Projective techniques
C) Attitude scales
D) Situational tests
E) Rating scales

Question 36

In a test "objectivity" refers to

A) the extent to which the test samples the underlying variables.
B) the level of agreement observed among scorers.
C) the extent to which the questions are based on theoretically defined traits.
D) the extent to which multiple choice and true-false items are used.
E) how well the sample represents the population of interest.

Question 37

Exhibit 8-2: Indicate to which of the five measuring devices each of the statements applies.
Refer to Exhibit 8-2.Depends on the insight and honesty of the subject.

A) self-report inventories
B) rating scales
C) attitude scales
D) direct observation
E) projective techniques

Question 38

Standardized and researcher-made tests share some of the same characteristics.Which of the following is not usually characteristic of a researcher-made test?

A) The minimal influence of random errors of measurement
B) The use of objective-type items
C) The availability of norms for comparison
D) The availability of raw scores which can be converted to percentile rank

Question 39

Which of the following is true of measurement methods based on observation?

A) There is generally high interjudge reliability.
B) It is economical with respect to time and money.
C) No particular skill or training is necessary for the observers.
D) A sample of the individual's actual behavior is selected.

Question 40

Exhibit 8-2: Indicate to which of the five measuring devices each of the statements applies.
Refer to Exhibit 8-2.Interpretation should be done only by trained individual.

A) self-report inventories
B) rating scales
C) attitude scales
D) direct observation
E) projective techniques

Question 41

When using the _____, the subject indicates the extent to which he/she agrees or disagrees with a series of statements.

A) Likert scale
B) California F-Scale
C) Bipolar adjective scale
D) Thematic Apperception Test

Question 42

When rating study skills, communication skills, citizenship, and leadership Mrs.Jones gives Sally, her favorite student, high marks in all areas.The type of error involved in Mrs.Jones's rating is called the

A) logical error.
B) generosity error.
C) halo effect.
D) central tendency error.

Question 43

Test norms that appear with standardized achievement tests are best interpreted as

A) the average performance of specified groups.
B) standards of achievement for specified groups.
C) standards of evaluating the adequacy of a school's curriculum.
D) the average levels of achievement that should be attained at various grade levels.

Question 44

Probably the most effective way to study honesty among children in middle schools would be to use

A) an attitude scale asking the children's attitudes toward honesty in school.
B) self-report inventories asking middle school children whether they are honest in school.
C) a situational test in which children have the opportunity to be dishonest.
D) ratings by teachers on the extent that middle school children are honest in school situations.

Question 45

In rating, the "halo effect" refers to the

A) tendency to make ratings too high.
B) influence of one rater's results on another rater.
C) influence of a general impression of a person on the rating of specific characteristics.
D) tendency not to be too hard in rating people one doesn't like.
E) tendency to use the middle points on the scale for rating all characteristics.

Question 46

Which of the following is not one of the steps suggested in the text for improving the reliability and objectivity of direct observations of behavior?

A) Select limited aspects of behavior upon which to focus observations.
B) Train the observers in identifying and classifying the behavior to be observed.
C) Train the observers to remember the significant details of the behavior for recording at the end of the observation period.
D) Divide the observation into short segments for classifying and quantifying observations.

Question 47

One way to improve the validity of rating scales as measuring instruments is to

A) increase the number of points on each scale.
B) base the scale on carefully standardized situations.
C) have behaviorally anchored points on the scale.
D) have norms based on large, representative samples.

Question 48

A researcher would choose a bipolar adjective scale to measure mainly

A) interest.
B) attitudes.
C) values.
D) self-concept.
E) psychological traits.

Question 49

Scales that ask the rater to utilize a specific reference group when rating individuals are referred to as

A) graphic.
B) self-oriented.
C) other oriented.
D) comparative.

Question 50

The _____ uses subjects' responses to a series of items to measure personality traits such as authoritarianism.

A) Likert scale
B) California F-Scale
C) Bipolar adjective scale
D) Thematic Apperception Test

Question 51

When individuals score "at the norm" on a standardized achievement test, it means that they have

A) performed at the average.
B) scored at the expected level.
C) scored 50 percent correct.
D) scored at the highest possible level.

Question 52

A child is diagnosed as having a learning disability.A teacher wants both a verbal and nonverbal intelligence score for this child.The teacher should choose

A) Stanford-Binet-LM.
B) WISC-R
C) a group intelligence test.
D) Any of these.

Question 53

Which one of the following statements about the Stanford-Binet is false?

A) It has a heavily verbal orientation.
B) It must be administered to one person at a time.
C) It measures one's innate capacity to learn.
D) It gives a general measure of intelligence.

Question 54

Interpretation of scores on intelligence tests is based on the assumption that all subjects

A) are completely unfamiliar with the kinds of questions asked.
B) have had previous experience with intelligence tests.
C) have had similar backgrounds of experience.
D) None of these is true.

Question 55

One might expect which of the following types of ratings to be most reliable?

A) Ratings of adjustment
B) Ratings of performance
C) Ratings of attitudes toward an issue
D) Ratings of personality characteristics

Question 56

The basic assumption of the projective technique is that the responses a subject makes to the stimulus materials depend upon the

A) subject's personality structure.
B) structure of the stimulus presented.
C) subject's self-insight and willingness to give honest answers.
D) subject's prior experiences with the stimulus materials.

Question 57

If the subjects indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with the following statement: "The electoral college system should be abolished," they are taking which kind of attitude scale?

A) Edwards scale
B) Likert scale
C) Osgood scale
D) Thurstone scale

Question 58

Consider a Likert scale designed to measure attitude toward capital punishment.If a +5 is assigned the "strongly agree" position for the statement "I believe capital punishment is the best deterrent to violent crime in this country" , what value would be assigned to the "strongly disagree" position for the statement: "The U.S.should abolish capital punishment"?

A) 1
B) +5
C) -5
D) Either +5 or -5; it doesn't matter.

Question 59

Which of the following methods for defining the positions on a rating scale would involve the least amount of error in rating?

A) Numbers
B) Descriptions of observable behavior
C) Trait names
D) Ordered categories
E) Descriptions requiring inference on the part of the rater

Question 60

The _____ assesses a subject's attitude to an object by asking the subject to rate the object on a seven-point scale.

A) Likert scale
B) California F-Scale
C) Bipolar adjective scale
D) Thematic Apperception Test

Question 61

Which of the following is the best definition of a test as used in educational research?

A) A controlled observation of behavior
B) An objective/standardized measure of a representative behavior sample
C) A reliable measure of a trait in which individuals differ
D) A standardized set of stimuli eliciting qualitative responses.

Question 62

"Objectivity" as it refers to measuring instruments means

A) adequacy of sampling.
B) relationship to a criterion.
C) freedom from scorer opinions.
D) accuracy of prediction.
E) availability of norms.

Question 63

Intelligence tests can best be described as tests measuring

A) learning aptitude.
B) innate ability.
C) inherited capacity.
D) scholastic aptitude.

Question 64

Aptitude tests, as distinguished from achievement tests, are used mainly for

A) diagnosis.
B) description.
C) classification.
D) prediction.

Question 65

Consider two statements from a Likert attitude scale measuring attitudes toward medical use of marijuana: (1) Marijuana should be legal for medical use; (2) Marijuana should not be legalized even for medical use .A student marked "SA" to the first statement, and "SD" to the second statement.What is this student's score based on these two statements?

A) 2
B) 6
C) 8
D) 10

Question 66

Achievement tests measure ____ knowledge and skills; aptitude tests measure ____ abilities.

A) general, specific
B) specific, general

Question 67

If a researcher wishes to determine the connotative meaning of words, he/she could have the respondents rate the words on a series of seven-point scales.This method is called the

A) Q-Sort.
B) scalogram method.
C) Guttman technique.
D) Bipolar adjective procedure.

Question 68

Interpretation of scores from criterion-referenced tests is described as

A) a relative interpretation.
B) an absolute interpretation.
C) an interpretation in terms of percentile ranks.
D) an interpretation in terms of stanines.

Question 69

The most important question a researcher should ask when evaluating a standardized achievement test is:

A) how much does the test cost?
B) what skills and knowledge are measured by the test?
C) how reliable are the scores from the test?
D) what kinds of norms are reported for the test?
E) how much time does the test take to administer?

Question 70

The single characteristic that all rating scales have in common is that

A) the rater assigns a numerical value to the object, person, or thing being rated.
B) the rater places that which is being rated somewhere on a continuum.
C) the interval between any two points on the scale is always equal.

Question 71

An observer using a sign coding system would categorize behavior according to

A) critical incidents.
B) individual occurrences of the behavior.
C) occurrences during a specified time.
D) All of these are true.

Question 72

A rating procedure that requires raters to check the point on a continuum that best describes a person as, for example, Cooperation: Very cooperative .Very uncooperative, is called a

A) category scale.
B) forced-choice scale.
C) checklist.
D) graphic scale.

Question 73

"Standardization" of a test refers to

A) meeting standards of test developers.
B) use of standard score norms.
C) uniformity of testing procedures.
D) establishing validity and reliability.

Question 74

Jane is an excellent student, but does not take part in school activities.If the teacher rates Jane highly on the dimension of "leadership," the teacher is probably being influenced by

A) response set.
B) logical error.
C) halo effect.
D) generosity error.

Question 75

An advantage of the present revision of the Stanford-Binet is that an individual's performance may be reported as

A) a standard score.
B) mental age divided by chronological age.
C) simple number of correct responses.
D) a profile of separate abilities.

Question 76

When considering the use of the norms accompanying a published test, the most important question the researcher should ask is

A) are the norms based on a large and representative sample?
B) what population does the norm group represent?
C) what kinds of scores are used to report the norms?
D) how reliable are the norms?

Question 77

On a standardized math achievement test, the average for fourth graders is 68 and the average for sixth graders is 86.The scores 68 and 86 are

A) norms.
B) cutoff scores.
C) standard scores.
D) normalized raw scores.
E) ideal scores for fourth and sixth graders.

Question 78

A major problem with observational research is that

A) it cannot be used with young children.
B) only the simplest type of behavior can be observed.
C) the presence of the observer may change the subject's behavior.
D) no standardized instruments are available for use with observation.

Question 79

Which of the following is likely to increase a scale's reliability?

A) Well-trained raters
B) Several raters making independent ratings
C) Clearly defined categories
D) Adequate time to observe individual(s)
E) All of these are true.

Question 80

If individuals were asked to indicate whether school is "good" or "bad," "Pleasant" or "unpleasant," etc., they would be taking a

A) Thurstone attitude scale.
B) Likert attitude scale.
C) bipolar adjective scale.
D) forced-choice rating scale.