Moving From Fact to Truth: Validity, Reliability, & Measurement
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Transcript Moving From Fact to Truth: Validity, Reliability, & Measurement
Chapter 3
Research Methods In Psychology
Validity
Relative accuracy or correctness of a psychological
statement.
Validity
Internal Validity- the extent to which a set of research
findings provides compelling information about
causality
Laboratory experiments tend to be high in internal
validity
They control for individual differences
They isolate independent variables from potential sources of
contamination
Three Requirements for Causality
Covariation
the principle of correlation, i.e., the co-occurrence of or association
between two events.
changes in one variable must correspond to changes in another
variable
Temporal Sequence
establishing that a potential cause of an outcome occurs prior to the
outcome in question.
changes in the first variable must precede changes in the second
Eliminating Confounds
ruling out other plausible causes of an event before concluding that
one thing is the cause of another.
Validity
External Validity- the extent to which a set of research
findings provides an accurate description of what
typically happens in the real world.
Generalizability of research findings- results can be
applied to other people and physical or social
environments.
Validity
Construct Validity- the extent to which the
independent and dependent variables in a study truly
represent the abstract, hypothetical variables of
interest to the researcher.
Whether or not the manipulated and/or measured
variables accurately reflect the variables the researcher
hoped to manipulate or measure.
A direct reflection of the quality of the operational
definitions
Validity
Conceptual Validity- how well a specific research
hypothesis maps onto the broader theory that it was
designed to test.
Reliability
The consistency or repeatability of a measure or
observation
Reliability
Test-retest Reliability
The degree to which a test continues to rank order
participants’ scores in a stable manner over time.
Ideally assessed by correlating participants’ scores on a
measure at time 1 with their scores on the same measure
from time 2.
Reliability
Internal Consistency
The degree to which the total set of items or
observations in a multiple-item measure behave in the
same way.
For example, the degree to which each item in a ten-item
self-esteem inventory rank orders participants in the
same manner.
Reliability
Interrater Reliability (interobserver agreement)
The degree to which different judges independently
agree upon a measurement, judgment or observation.
Intrarater Reliability
The consistency of a judge’s data across repeated scoring
of the same participant or observation (usual scored
from a videotape)
Measurement Scales
Four types of scales
Nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio
Each have increasing levels of measurement and
complexity
Each has a different mathematical attribute which is
expressed about the particular population
Nominal
Classification of objects and placing them into specific
categories (“Naming them”)
Tends to be more of a qualitative measure rather than a
quantitative
There is no way to measure between the categories
Nominal Scale – Religious affiliation
Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, etc.
Ordinal
Shows the magnitude of whether a particular variable
is present
Less than, Same as, more than
Rank ordering
Example – College Basketball rankings
1. Duke, 2. Kansas University, 3. Wake Forest, etc.
Interval Scale
Has the same properties as Ordinal scales, but also has
equal distance between the units
But does not have an absolute zero point
Temperature is an easy example
Movement of one degree is equal across the scale
Ratio
Contains all the properties of interval scales but does
contain an absolute zero point
Ratios allow for multiplication of factors on the scale
Scores may be twice or three times as high or lower than
other scores