Deck 3: Defining, measuring, and Manipulating Variables

Question 1

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A)A test is a measurement instrument used to assess individual differences in various content areas.
B)An aptitude test measures an individual's competence in an area.
C)An achievement test measures an individual's potential to do something.
D)All of these statements are true.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Political affiliation is to the _____ property of measurement and length measured in inches is to the _____ property of measurement.

A)magnitude; identity
B)equal unit size; magnitude
C)absolute zero; equal unit size
D)identity; absolute zero

Answer 2

D

Question 3

A property of measurement in which a difference of 1 is the same amount throughout the entire scale is

A)identity.
B)magnitude.
C)equal unit size.
D)absolute zero.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Arranging a group of individuals from tallest to shortest represents the _____ property of measurement.

A)identity
B)magnitude
C)equal unit size
D)absolute zero

Question 5

A scale of measurement in which the units of measurement between the numbers on the scale are all equal in size is a(n)_____ scale.

A)nominal
B)ordinal
C)interval
D)ratio

Question 6

Which of the following represents data arranged on an interval-ratio scale?

A)ranking of contestants in a beauty contest
B)reaction time in seconds to complete a task
C)categorizing subjects according to their gender
D)letter grade on an exam

Question 7

A definition of a variable in terms of the activities a researcher uses to measure or manipulate it is a(n)

A)operational definition.
B)functional definition.
C)well-defined variable.
D)measure definition.

Question 8

Discrete variables are to _____ and continuous variables are to _____.

A)whole units; whole units and/or fractional amounts
B)whole units and/or fractional amounts; whole units
C)usually nominal and ordinal scales; usually interval and ratio scales
D)whole units and usually nominal and ordinal scales; whole units and/or fractional amounts and usually interval and ratio scales

Question 9

A scale of measurement in which objects or individuals are assigned to categories that have no numerical properties is a(n)_____ scale.

A)nominal
B)ordinal
C)interval
D)ratio

Question 10

A scale of measurement in which,in addition to order and equal units of measurement,there is an absolute zero that indicates an absence of the variable being measured is a(n)_____ scale.

A)nominal
B)ordinal
C)interval
D)ratio

Question 11

A property of measurement in which objects that are different receive different scores is

A)identity.
B)magnitude.
C)equal unit size.
D)absolute zero.

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT a type of self-report measure?

A)behavioral self-report measure
B)physical self-report measure
C)cognitive self-report measure
D)affective self-report measure

Question 13

Which of the following represents the best operational definition of hunger?

A)that empty,gnawing feeling that you get in your stomach
B)not having eaten for 18 hours
C)the number of stomach growls reported in a ten-minute time interval
D)All of the options are equally good.

Question 14

A scale of measurement in which objects or individuals are categorized and the categories form a rank order along a continuum is a(n)_____ scale.

A)nominal
B)ordinal
C)interval
D)ratio

Question 15

A property of measurement in which the ordering of numbers reflects the ordering of the variable is

A)identity.
B)magnitude.
C)equal unit size.
D)absolute zero.

Question 16

A property of measurement in which assigning a score of zero indicates an absence of the variable being measured is

A)identity.
B)magnitude.
C)equal unit size.
D)absolute zero.

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT a type of measure?

A)a self-report measure
B)a test
C)an operational definition
D)a behavioral measure

Question 18

Time is to the _____ scale of measurement as ethnicity is to the _____ scale of measurement.

A)ratio; ordinal
B)ratio; nominal
C)interval; nominal
D)ordinal; ratio

Question 19

Number on a football jersey is to the _____ scale of measurement and temperature measured on the Fahrenheit scale is to the _____ scale of measurement.

A)ordinal; interval
B)interval; nominal
C)nominal; ratio
D)nominal; interval

Question 20

Class rank is to the _____ scale of measurement and weight is to the _____ scale of measurement.

A)ordinal; ratio
B)ordinal; nominal
C)nominal; interval
D)interval; ratio

Question 21

A blood pressure reading is to a _____ measure as observing how many patrons in a fast food restaurant take advantage of free drink refills is to a ______ measure.

A)physical; behavioral self-report
B)behavioral; physical
C)physical; behavioral
D)behavioral; cognitive self-report

Question 22

_____ reliability is determined by assessing the degree of relationship between scores on two equivalent tests.

A)Test/retest
B)Alternate-forms
C)Split-half
D)Interrater

Question 23

_____ reliability assesses the agreement of observations made by two or more raters or judges.

A)Test/retest
B)Alternate-forms
C)Split-half
D)Interrater

Question 24

Which of the following correlation coefficients represents the variables with the strongest degree of relationship?

A)?1.00
B)?.69
C)+.76
D)+.10

Question 25

An observed score is comprised of the

A)true score + measurement error (method error + trait error).
B)true score + method error only.
C)true score + trait error only.
D)measurement error (method error + trait error).

Question 26

Stability over time is to _____ reliability and equivalency of items is to _____ reliability.

A)test/retest; interrater
B)interrater; alternate-forms
C)split-half; test/retest
D)test/retest; split-half

Question 27

_____ is an indication of the consistency or stability of a measuring instrument.

A)Validity
B)Reliability
C)The true score
D)A correlation

Question 28

Which of the following is TRUE?

A)Behavioral measures are usually questionnaires or interviews that measure how people report that they act,think,or feel.
B)Self-report measures are measures taken by carefully observing and recording others' behavior(s).
C)Physical measures usually involve using an aptitude or achievement test.
D)Behavioral self-report measures ask people to report how often they do something.

Question 29

_____ reliability is determined by correlating scores on one half of a measure with scores on the other half of the measure.

A)Test/retest
B)Alternate-forms
C)Split-half
D)Interrater

Question 30

Sara decided to have participants in her study of the relationship between diet and weight keep a journal of everything they ate each day.The type of measurement that Sara is employing is known as a(n)

A)behavioral self-report measure.
B)cognitive self-report measure.
C)affective self-report measure.
D)aptitude test.

Question 31

If observers disagree 20 times out of 80,then the interrater reliability is

A).25.
B).75.
C)4.0.
D)not able to be determined.

Question 32

Which of the following is not a type of reliability?

A)criterion reliability
B)test/retest reliability
C)interrater reliability
D)alternate-forms reliability

Question 33

Correlation coefficients can vary between

A)?1.00 and +1.00.
B)?1.00 and 0.00.
C)0.00 and +1.00.
D)There are no restrictions on correlation coefficients.

Question 34

Which of the following correlation coefficients represents the variables with the weakest degree of relationship?

A)?1.00
B)?.69
C)+.76
D)+.10

Question 35

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A)Construct reliability is determined by assessing the degree of relationship between scores on two different,equivalent tests.
B)Split-half reliability is determined by assessing the degree of relationship between scores on the same test,administered on two different occasions.
C)Test/retest reliability is determined by assessing the degree of relationship between scores on the same test,administered on two different occasions.
D)Interrater reliability is determined by assessing the degree of relationship between scores on two different,equivalent tests.

Question 36

An inverse relationship between two variables in which an increase in one variable is related to a decrease in the other,and vice versa is

A)a positive correlation.
B)a negative correlation.
C)a correlation coefficient.
D)negative reliability.

Question 37

A direct relationship between two variables in which an increase in one is related to an increase in the other,and a decrease in one is related to a decrease in the other is

A)a positive correlation.
B)a negative correlation.
C)a correlation coefficient.
D)positive reliability.

Question 38

_____ reliability is determined by assessing the degree of relationship between scores on the same test administered on two different occasions.

A)Test/retest
B)Alternate-forms
C)Split-half
D)Interrater

Question 39

Which of the following correlation coefficients represents the highest (best)reliability score?

A)+.10
B)?.89
C)+.69
D)?.10

Question 40

If observers agree 40 times out of 60,then the interrater reliability is

A)1.5.
B).67.
C).33.
D)not able to be determined.

Question 41

Indicate for each of the types of reliability listed below whether it measures stability over time,equivalency of items,or both of these things.

Question 42

Identify and briefly describe two types of validity.

Question 43

_____ validity is the extent to which a measuring instrument accurately predicts behavior or ability in a given area.

A)Content
B)Face
C)Criterion
D)Construct

Question 44

Provide an example of a variable measured on a(n): nominal scale,ordinal scale,interval scale,and ratio scale.

Question 45

If observers in a study disagree 35 times out of 90,what is the interrater reliability? Interpret this interrater reliability coefficient.

Question 46

Identify the four scales of measurement noting the properties of measurement each scale has.

Question 47

Why would we expect the correlation coefficient for a measure of reliability to be positive?

Question 48

Truthfulness is to _____ as consistency is to _____.

A)positive correlation; negative correlation
B)negative correlation; positive correlation
C)reliability; validity
D)validity; reliability

Question 49

Identify and briefly describe two types of reliability.

Question 50

Identify the three types of self-report measures discussed in the text and briefly describe each.

Question 51

When applying for a part-time job at the local supermarket Bob was given a test to determine how well he would bag groceries.The next week Bob took the SAT in order to satisfy a college admissions requirement.The test at the supermarket was a measure of _____ validity whereas the SAT was a measure of _____ validity.

A)concurrent; predictive
B)predictive; concurrent
C)construct; predictive
D)content; concurrent

Question 52

_____ validity is the degree to which a measuring instrument accurately measures a theoretical construct or trait that is it designed to measure.

A)Content
B)Face
C)Criterion
D)Construct

Question 53

How do we establish split-half and alternate-forms reliability?

Question 54

What is reactivity and why is it a concern when using behavioral measures?

Question 55

Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A)Content validity is the extent to which a measuring instrument covers a representative sample of the domain of behaviors to be measured.
B)Criterion validity is the extent to which a measuring instrument accurately predicts behavior or ability in a given area.
C)Construct validity is the degree to which a measuring instrument accurately measures a theoretical construct or trait that it is designed to measure.
D)Face validity is a measure of the truthfulness of a measuring instrument.

Question 56

Explain the difference between discrete and continuous variables.

Question 57

Which of the following is not a type of validity?

A)content validity
B)split-half validity
C)criterion validity
D)construct validity

Question 58

What is an operational definition? Give an operational definition of intelligence.

Question 59

_____ validity is the extent to which a measuring instrument appears valid on its surface.

A)Content
B)Face
C)Criterion
D)Construct

Question 60

_____ validity is the extent to which a measuring instrument covers a representative sample of the domain of behaviors to be measured.

A)Content
B)Face
C)Criterion
D)Construct

Question 61

How do we establish content and construct validity?

Question 62

Name and briefly describe the two types of criterion validity.