Deck 3: Getting to Know the Student

Question 1

How does design structure variables to allow for appropriate conclusions to be drawn from research?

Answer 1

Response should include the extent to which, and means by which, investigators exercise control over their independent, as well as other, variables that might be operating in the investigative context.

Question 2

What is a Type II error and under what conditions are researchers most likely to commit them when testing a null hypothesis?

Answer 2

Response should indicate that low power (often related to small sample sizes) and violation of a statistical test's assumptions are the primary conditions that lead researchers to falsely fail to reject a null hypothesis (i.e., commit a Type II error).

Question 3

Describe, with examples, two types of directional causal bias relevant to developmental science.

Answer 3

Response could indicate (1) the overemphasis of proximal effects (e.g., parenting) over distal effects (e.g., poverty), (2) the privileging of popular or conventional explanations, or (3) the preference for single or categorical explanations over more complex and dimensional ones.

Question 4

What is the difference between reliability as internal consistency and reliability as interobserver agreement?

Question 5

According to Hartmann, Pelzel, and Abbott, statistical conclusion validity refers to the _____:

A) Appropriateness of inferences made from statistical tests
B) Inferences about the causal connections of independent and dependent variables
C) Degree to which variables represent intended constructs
D) Generalizability of study results to other settings, populations, and contexts

Question 6

According to Hartmann, Pelzel, and Abbott, internal validity refers to the _____:

A) Inferences about the causal connections of independent and dependent variables
B) Appropriateness of inferences made from statistical tests
C) Degree to which variables represent intended constructs
D) Generalizability of study results to other settings, populations, and contexts

Question 7

According to Hartmann, Pelzel, and Abbott, construct validity refers to the _____:

A) Degree to which variables represent intended constructs
B) Appropriateness of inferences made from statistical tests
C) Inferences about the causal connections of independent and dependent variables
D) Generalizability of study results to other settings, populations, and contexts

Question 8

According to Hartmann, Pelzel, and Abbott, external validity refers to the _____:

A) Generalizability of study results to other settings, populations, and contexts
B) Appropriateness of inferences made from statistical tests
C) Inferences about the causal connections of independent and dependent variables
D) Degree to which variables represent intended constructs

Question 9

_____ is a particularly relevant design issue for developmental investigators conducting longitudinal research:

A) Attrition
B) Causal bias
C) Limited self-report
D) Social desirability

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT a measurement facet relevant to developmental research?

A) The degree to which a measurement provides numeric information
B) If a measurement reflects a stable trait or changing state
C) Whether a measurement is compared across individuals or within an individual
D) The interpretation of a measurement is norm referenced or criterion referenced

Question 11

_____ are employed to measure change, whereas _____ are employed to

A) measure growth: Two-wave data; multiwave data
B) Difference scores; age-adjusted scores
C) Q-sorts; grade-adjusted scores
D) Difference scores; two-wave data

Question 12

Which of the following types of measurement validity refers to the degree to which an instrument corresponds with an important and currently assessed criterion?

A) Concurrent validity
B) Face validity
C) Predictive validity
D) Construct validity

Question 13

A study of infant visual perception finds that increased errors in tracking a moving object are moderately correlated with cognitive ability of children entering kindergarten. This finding represents what kind of measurement validity?

A) Predictive validity
B) Construct validity
C) Concurrent validity
D) Factorial validity

Question 14

A child's verbal performance on a standardized intelligence test was reported to be at the 75th percentile. This would be an example of a/an _____ score:

A) Normative
B) Ipsative
C) Criterion-referenced
D) Grade-adjusted

Question 15

Pearsonian analyses are based upon _____ data, whereas Fisherian analyses are based upon _____ data:

A) Correlational; group-difference
B) Group-difference; correlational
C) Multivariate; univariate
D) Univariate; multivariate

Question 16

What are the four types of design validity and in what ways might each be particularly relevant to developmental scientists?

Question 17

What features distinguish true experiment, quasi-experiment, and nonexperimental designs? Please provide examples that illustrate these features.