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Flashcards in Measurement Deck (24)
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1
Q

measurement

A

systematic assigning of values to represent attributes of organisms, events, etc

2
Q

conceptual variable

A

researchers definition of their variable at an abstract level
- an idea they want to measure

3
Q

operational variable

A

specific decision about how to measure your conceptual variable in a given piece of research

4
Q

three types of measures

A
  1. self-report
  2. observational measures
  3. physiological measures
5
Q

self report

A

operationalizing variables by asking people stuff and assigning values of some sort to their answers

6
Q

what can self report measures be

A

surveys, polls, questionnaires, interviews

7
Q

how do you get self report measures from children

A

teacher reports or parent reports

8
Q

observational measures

A

operationalize variables by recording observable behaviours and physical traces of behaviour

9
Q

example of observable behaviours

A

happiness: looking at facial expressions

10
Q

physical traces

A

what’s left after the person has engaged in the physical behaviour
ex. manmade paths on campus

11
Q

physiological measures example

A

using electrodes to see what muscles are being activated when the person is happy

12
Q

two types of scales

A

categorical

quantitative

13
Q

nominal scales

A

qualitative differences between things, you are placing things into categories

14
Q

three types of quantitative scales

A
  1. ordinal
  2. interval
  3. ratio
15
Q

ordinal

A
  • put things in order
  • provide information on relative position in a rank order list
  • we don’t know the distance between two levels
16
Q

interval

A

two criteria:

  1. no true zero
  2. numbers represent equal intervals between levels
17
Q

ratio

A

two criteria:

  1. numbers represent equal intervals between levels
  2. the value of zero truly means nothing
18
Q

reliability

A

the extent to which you can rely on the scores of the measure, the consistency of your measure

19
Q

3 types of reliability

A
  1. test-retest
  2. inter-rater
  3. internal
20
Q

test retest reliability

A

give a survey and give the same survey at a later point to the same people
- they should answer the same as the first time

21
Q

inter-rater reliability

A

two or more independent observers collecting your data agree on the data you’ve collected

22
Q

internal reliability

A

the extent to which all of our items in our scale are tapping into the same construct

23
Q

why do you use so many items

A

measurement error

24
Q

what is measurement error

A

some items will overestimate where someone stands on a specific construct and some will underestimate