Variables
The type of correlation found between the two variables exhibited in the following example:
"As time spent studying increases, test-anxiety decreases"
What is negative correlation?
The two big paradigms for social science research; one focuses on statistical analysis and generalizability while the other focuses on close, careful interpretation of a small number of cases
What are qualitative and quantitative designs?
The simplest of validity assessments, this check requires only that the researcher subjectively estimate whether a measure generally seems right
What is face validity?
Of the quantitative and qualitative research paradigms, this paradigm is generally regarded as having stronger reliability
What is quantitative research?
A form of knowledge based on the passing of time; claims are passed down from generation to generation
What is traditional knowledge?
The level of measurement for a variable assessing a person's hair color with the following possible response values:
"Red," "Brown," "Blonde," "Black," "Gray," and "Other".
What is nominal?
The research design regarded as most appropriate for causal analysis
What is an experimental design?
When a study makes causal claims that are well-aligned with the chosen research design, we would say that the study exhibits this
What is internal validity?
This form of reliability check assesses whether a measure is consistent across different measurement sessions
What is test-retest reliability?
A form of knowledge that characterizes our own personal experiences as generalizable and obvious
What is common sense?
A concept or mental abstraction that is not directly observable
What is a construct?
When we start with empirical data and our aim is to build upward toward new or adapted theory
What is inductive research?
This type of validity assessment involves comparing your measure to another comparable measure as a frame of reference; it contains two subtypes
What is criterion validity?
This form of reliability check assesses whether a measure is robust to different question wordings
What is multiple-forms reliability?
A type of knowledge centered on the use of logical entailments to deduce reasonable conclusions about reality
What is rationalism?
A variable that comes earlier in a causal sequence or chain, preceding both the independent and dependent variables.
What is an antecedent variable?
An approach to causal analysis that seeks the common factors responsible for a general class of events rather than the factors responsible for a single event
This type of validity check demonstrates the accuracy of a measure by showing it produces results consistent with theoretically based hypotheses or predictions
What is construct validity?
Say we have a composite measure with 8 questions designed to capture a particular construct.
If we split those 8 questions in two equal bins of 4 questions each and then assessed whether the questions in each bin are highly correlated with one another, we would be performing this reliability test.
What is the split-half test?
Your friend tells you that the Detroit Lions will win their next football game. When you ask how he knows this, he indicates that he "just has a good feeling about it."
Your friend is relying on this type of knowledge
What is intuition?
The level of measurement for a variable with the following characteristics:
Temperature in Celsius--example response values include: -2.5, -12, 56, 75.8, 98.6
What is an interval variable?
In some cases, we can have conflicting combinations of validity and reliability. For example, a measure can be reliable but invalid.
This combination of validity and reliability conditions is considered to be logically impossible.
What is "unreliable but valid"?