Deck 5: Measuring Variables and Sampling

Question 1

Eduardo decided to assess the reliability of the carbohydrate craving inventory he constructed. He had constructed two identical versions of the inventory and a group of 50 people took both versions. Then Eduardo compared the responses of these 50 people on the two versions of the craving inventory for his assessment of the reliability of the inventory. Eduardo used what method to assess reliability?

A) test-retest
B) equivalent forms
C) split-half
D) Cronbach's alpha

Answer 1

B

Question 2

In order to establish the reliability of a measure of intelligence, Kevin administers two forms of the test to a group of students. Which of the following reliability coefficient values would indicate the most reliability for the test?

A) 0.35
B) 0.85
C) -0.85
D) 2.20

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following would represent scores on a nominal scale?

A) Attractiveness ratings on a scale of 1-5
B) Coding religion as protestant = 1; catholic = 2, etc.
C) Temperature on a Celsius scale
D) Exam scores

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Tom wanted to assess the reliability of his measure of anxiety so he had a group of introductory psychology students complete the measure of anxiety on March 3^rd and again on March 25^th. He then compared the scores that the students made on the two testing occasions using a statistical technique called correlation. He used this quantitative index as his measure of reliability. Tom used what method to assess reliability?

A) test-retest
B) equivalent forms
C) split-half
D) Cronbach's alpha

Question 5

Jenna would like to establish the reliability of a new measure of self-esteem but she doesn't have enough time to administer her test more than once. Which of the following methods of establishing reliability would you suggest to Jenna?

A) Equivalent forms
B) Internal consistency
C) Multidimensional
D) Concurrent

Question 6

refers to the consistency of results and is the extent to which you are measuring what you think you are measuring.

A) Reliability; periodicity
B) Validity; reliability
C) Reliability; validity
D) Convergence; divergence

Question 7

Construct validity

A) is not needed if you use a good operational definition.
B) is supported when similar results are obtained from different operationalizations of the dependent variable.
C) is not needed if your measure if reliable.
D) is determined by replicating the results of your experiment.

Question 8

Which of the following is TRUE?

A) A reliable measure is always valid
B) A valid measure is never reliable.
C) A valid measure is always reliable.
D) A reliable measure is never valid.

Question 9

Temperature on a Kelvin scale is an example of

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

Question 10

is the assignment of symbols or numbers to something according to a set of rules.

A) Variable
B) Measurement
C) Validity
D) Reliability

Question 11

is the simplest scale of measurement.

A) Ordinal
B) Nominal
C) Ratio
D) Interval

Question 12

Suppose you have created a new method of diagnosing anxiety disorders. How could you demonstrate that your method is construct valid?

A) teach several licensed clinicians to use and evaluate your method.
B) use your method to diagnose the same group of participants repeatedly over the course of several years, and see if you consistently arrive at the same diagnosis for a given individual
C) have several specialists read about your new technique and invite their opinions
D) use your method to diagnose a group of participants, then see if your diagnoses match with diagnoses taken from other, established methods

Question 13

Which of the following illustrates reliability?

A) Dean takes an IQ test and scores at the 60th percentile.
B) Scores on a new test of reading comprehension correlate highly with scores on well established reading comprehension tests.
C) Fred scores poorly on one school's entrance exam but does better on another.
D) Jacquie takes three practice GRE verbal exams and scores 300, 299, and 301.

Question 14

A variable shows reliability when

A) enough experimenters decide to use it in their research.
B) it is accepted in the Encyclopedia of Psychology.
C) other researchers demonstrate that it does measure what it is supposed to measure.
D) similar results are obtained each time it is measured.

Question 15

The measurement of a variable has validity when

A) the same results are obtained each time it is measured.
B) it becomes an accepted variable in a given area of research.
C) it can be measured quantitatively.
D) the inferences that are made from the measurement are accurate.

Question 16

What differentiates interval from ratio scales of measurement?

A) Interval scales use rank order; ratio scales do not
B) In a ratio scale equal distance on the dimension represent equal distance on the dimension being measured; this is not true for interval
C) Scores of zero are not possible on interval scales
D) Ratio scales include an absolute zero point - indicating the absence of what is being measured

Question 17

When conducting psychological research we want the research to be valid. Reliability and validity are necessary ingredients of valid research. The relationship between validity and reliability is that

A) if the research is reliable you can be certain that it is valid.
B) reliability causes validity.
C) the research must be reliable for it to be valid but a reliable research measurement is not necessarily valid.
D) the research must be valid for it to be reliable

Question 18

In the context of an experiment, a variable is

A) any factor that can vary across participants or situations.
B) any phenomenon or characteristic that can be measured.
C) any phenomenon or characteristic of a participant or situation that has a specific value.
D) the unknown quantity that the experiment will determine.

Question 19

If we include items assessing memory, logic, and verbal comprehension on an intelligence test - as opposed to food preferences or shoe size - then we have satisfied which of the following types of validity?

A) Discriminant
B) Convergent
C) Face
D) Internal

Question 20

Which of the following measurement scales is accurately paired with an example?

A) Interval-rankings of tennis players
B) Ratio-zip codes
C) Nominal-test scores on an exam
D) Ordinal-a professor listing his students from the best to worst

Question 21

refers to any sampling method in which each individual has an equal chance of being selected for the sample.

A) Equal probability selection method EPSEM)
B) Convenience sampling
C) Stratified sampling
D) Homogeneous sampling selection

Question 22

Owen wanted to assess the internal consistency of his measure of anxiety so he measured reliability estimates by comparing items within his test. He reported a reliability estimate of .80. What measure of reliability is Owen using?

A) Cronbach's alpha
B) path analysis
C) factor analysis
D) Riesen's reliability estimate

Question 23

The publisher of the SAT can assess this type of reliability when individuals take the SAT more than one time with different versions of the SAT being given each time. Which type of reliability can be assessed?

A) equivalent forms reliability
B) internal consistency reliability
C) Cronbach's reliability
D) interrater reliability

Question 24

Some psychological tests are designed to measure more than one construct, they are multidimensional. is a statistical technique that can be used to determine the number of dimensions that a particular measure is testing.

A) Cronbach's alpha
C) Operationalization
C) Path analysis
D) Factor analysis

Question 25

validity is validity that is assessed by experts.

A) Predictive
B) Discriminant
C) internal
D) Content

Question 26

Discriminant validity refers to

A) the degree to which the measure does not correlate with measures of different constructs.
B) the strong correlation the measure has with measures of similar constructs.
C) the degree to which the measure discriminates between different components of the construct.
D) the degree to which the test measures a single construct.

Question 27

Gerald is developing a measure of shyness and he determines that students scoring high on the measure also score high for introversion on a well-known introversion-extraversion scale. The outcome best illustrates

A) face validity.
B) concurrent validity.
C) predictive validity.
D) discriminant validity.

Question 28

Students sometimes complain that scores on the Graduate Record Exam GRE) are not related to how well students perform in graduate school. Essentially the students are saying that the GRE does not have

A) reliability.
B) internal consistency.
C) predictive validity.
D) discriminant validity.

Question 29

Cronbach's alpha is a measure of

A) face validity.
B) internal consistency.
C) predictive validity.
D) concurrent validity.

Question 30

A study examines scores on an employment test and job performance six months later. This study is most likely attempting to establish

A) criterion validity.
B) face validity.
C) reliability.
D) construct validity.

Question 31

One way to assess construct validity is to establish that scores on the test in question do NOT correlate with established scales that are dissimilar or conceptually unrelated concepts.

A) concurrent validity.
B) convergent validity.
C) discriminant validity.
D) predictive validity.
E)g, a scale to measure depression would likely not correlate with scales designed to measure happiness). This type of validity is called

Question 32

Construct validity is most related to what other concept discussed in research methods?

A) reliability
B) operational definitions
C) falsifiability
D) measurement

Question 33

The extent to which groups that are known to diverge from one another actually differ on the construct being developed is known as

A) discriminant validity
B) predictive validity evidence
C) known groups validity evidence
D) criterion validity

Question 34

When evaluating reliability and validity information of a published measure, it is important to note the upon which the information was gathered.

A) predictive sample
B) norming group
C) estimate group
D) peer group

Question 35

Jacqueline wanted to assess the reliability of ratings made of children's aggressive behavior so she had two students rate the degree of aggression displayed by each of 50 children while engaged in play. She then compared the ratings made by these two students and computed the degree of agreement between them. Jacqueline used what method of assessing reliability?

A) split-half reliability
B) interrater reliability
C) internal consistency reliability
D) test-retest reliability

Question 36

The Mental Measurements Yearbook is a good place to find

A) unpublished but probably useful) tests.
B) established standardized tests.
C) biographies of important people in test development.
D) a list of journal articles that use psychological tests.

Question 37

Afiya wanted to assess the reliability of students' observations of children's aggressive behavior so she had two students observe 100 behaviors displayed by each of 50 children while engaged in play. After viewing each behavior the students recorded the behavior as being aggressive or nonaggresive. Afiya then computed the percentage of times the two students agreed on their assessment of each behavior. Afiya used what method of assessing reliability?

A) interobserver agreement
B) Cronbach's alpha
C) internal consistency reliability
D) test-retest reliability

Question 38

Convergent validity refers to

A) the degree to which the measure does not correlate with measures of different constructs.
B) the degree to which the measure does correlate with measures of similar constructs.
C) the degree to which the test measures multiple constructs.
D) the degree to which the test measures a single construct.

Question 39

Dr. Smarsh creates a new intelligence test and wants to assess its reliablility. She administers her test to the same sample of individuals on two separate occasions one week apart. What type of reliability is Dr. Smarsh using?

A) internal consistency reliability
B) equivalent forms reliability
C) test retest reliability
D) interrater reliability

Question 40

Interobserver agreement is assessed with nominal or ordinal variables by calculating

A) percentage of agreement
B) correlation coefficient
C) t-test
D) coefficient alpha

Question 41

A major advantage of randomly selecting participants from a population is that

A) it allows you to do your study with fewer participants and still find statistical significance in your results.
B) you can be more confident that it was the manipulation of the independent variable that caused the changes observed in the dependent variable.
C) you can be more confident that your sample is representative of the population.
D) it is more likely that your sample will have the characteristics you need it to have.

Question 42

A is the full set of all individuals of interest and is typically hard to assess fully.

A) sample
B) population
C) sampling error
D) statistic

Question 43

In a truly random sample from a population,

A) all participants will be matched on important characteristics.
B) all members of the population have an equal chance of being selected.
C) gender distribution should be 50% male and 50% female.
D) every member of the population has a 50:50 chance of being selected.

Question 44

Which of the following is NOT a nonrandom sampling technique?

A) convenience
B) cluster
C) snowball
D) quota

Question 45

An) is a list of all members of a population.

A) parameter
B) norming group
C) sampling frame
D) equal probability selection method

Question 46

Although statistics are calculated to represent parameters, we know that there can be a difference between the calculated statistic and population parameters. This difference is called

A) sampling error
B) sampling frame
C) sampling difference
D) parameter difference

Question 47

When using simple random sampling it is suggested that you because it will lead to a more representative sample.

A) sample with replacement
B) sample without replacement
C) sample half with replacement and half without replacement
D) use a larger sample than if using a nonrandom method

Question 48

Non-random sampling techniques typically produce samples.

A) random
B) representative
C) biased
D) systematic

Question 49

Dr. Konrad contacts the registrar at his university to get a complete list of students enrolled. He wants to draw a simple random sample from the entire population. He does this to make sure he is creating a

A) framed sample
B) representative sample
C) stratified sample
D) cluster sample

Question 50

To study career aspirations among high school students in Alabama, a researcher randomly selects 5% of the state's school districts and gives all the students in each district a survey designed to measure career goals. What sampling procedure is being used here?

A) quota
B) stratified
C) cluster
D) EPSEM

Question 51

Random assignment of participants to the various groups in an experiment

A) makes it more likely that extraneous variables will impact the experiment.
B) increases the probability that the groups are equivalent.
C) is essential if you want to generalize your results to the population.
D) is very difficult to do and is therefore not commonly done.

Question 52

is to as population is to parameter.

A) Sample; statistic
B) Statistic; sample
C) Sample; element
D) Random sampling; nonrandom sampling

Question 53

If you are interested in participants in your study with very specific characteristics

A) snowball; purposive
B) matched; snowball
C) random; non-random
D) purposive; snowball
E)g. English as a second language) you may conduct sampling and once you contact some individuals who want to participate, you may then conduct sampling in which participants identify other potential participants.

Question 54

Dr. Monroe is interested in surveying college students at her university who are first generation college students. She contacts the registrar's office and finds out that there are 3500 first generation college students total. She wants to include 350 of those students in her sample. She then divided the population by the sample size and gets k = 10. She then picks a random number between 1 and 10 which is 8. This determines that every 8^th person in the population will be included in the sample. What type of sampling method is this?

A) cluster sampling.
B) stratified sampling
C) random sampling
D) systematic sampling

Question 55

A subset of data drawn from the larger population of interest is a

A) population.
B) sample.
C) parameter.
D) quota.

Question 56

Which of the following nonrandom sampling techniques would be most similar to stratified random sampling?

A) convenience
B) quota
C) cluster
D) purposive

Question 57

of participants is done to obtain a representative sample, and of the participants is done to improve the experimental design of the study.

A) Random selection; random assignment
B) Random selection; random sampling
C) Random assignment; random selection
D) Random assignment; matching

Question 58

Dr. Saucer is in the process of drawing individuals from a population to be included in a sample. This process is called

A) sampling frame
B) parameter
C) sampling
D) proximal similarity

Question 59

Jim is conducting a survey to learn about student attitudes toward abortion. He passes out his survey to the first 100 students that enter the cafeteria. What sampling method is Jim using?

A) convenience
B) cluster
C) stratified
D) EPSEM

Question 60

Suppose you wish to test a representative sample of people in your psychology class on attitudes toward on-line courses. There are 40 people in the class, 30 females and 10 males. What would be the most efficient strategy to ensure that your sample reflects the distribution of males and females in the classroom population?

A) simple random sample
B) cluster sample
C) proportional stratified sample
D) convenience sample

Question 61

Your textbook authors suggest that if your population has fewer than 100 people you should

A) use a stratified sampling method.
B) use simple random selection.
C) find a larger population
D) test everyone in the population.

Question 62

Which of the following situations would NOT necessitate a larger sample size?

A) if your population is heterogeneous
B) if you plan to use multiple categories
C) if you expect a weak effect
D) if you use proportional stratified sampling