Deck 8: Validity and Reliability in Psychological Research

Question 1

Construct validity permits one to:

A) generalize
B) attribute causality
C) have confidence in constructs
D) support hypotheses

Answer 1

have confidence in constructs

Question 2

A source of construct invalidity is:

A) bias
B) random error
C) carry-over effects
D) counterbalancing

Answer 2

random error

Question 3

Test reliability determined by a correlation between scores from two parts of a test is called ____ reliability

A) test-retest
B) parallel forms
C) split-half
D) predictive

Answer 3

split-half

Question 4

A replication of research helps to determine ____ validity.

A) construct
B) external
C) internal
D) predictive

Question 5

Protocols help insure ____ validity.

A) external
B) construct
C) predictive
D) internal

Question 6

Statistical reliability determines whether results:

A) will occur five percent of the time
B) occur because of chance
C) are internally valid
D) are produced by bias

Question 7

Which of the following scale properties is possessed by telephone area codes?

A) differences
B) magnitudes
C) equal intervals
D) ratios

Question 8

Your sadistic instructor has decided to administer a second exam (don't worry,this is only hypothetical).This second exam is of similar format and covers the same material as the original exam.However,different questions are used in order to minimize the effects of practice.If everyone obtained the same score on both exams,the tests would provide a good measure of ____.

A) test-retest reliability
B) parallel forms reliability
C) split-half reliability
D) criterion validity

Question 9

Theoretical constructs are essentially the same as:

A) operational definitions
B) intervening variables
C) hypotheses
D) hunches

Question 10

Internal validity allows one to:

A) generalize
B) attribute causality
C) have confidence in constructs
D) support hypotheses

Question 11

Of the following,which is the most appropriate test or precaution to maximize construct validity?

A) Increase the number of participants.
B) Operationally define all variables.
C) Give slightly different instructions to each participant.
D) Replicate the study with different materials.
E) Conduct a field study.

Question 12

A major threat to internal validity is:

A) confounding
B) deviant-case analysis
C) truncated range
D) dependent variables

Question 13

Random sampling means that each member of a particular population:

A) is assigned randomly to a condition
B) has an equal chance of being selected
C) contributes to invalidity
D) decreases statistical power

Question 14

Which of the following is likeliest to have the greatest internal validity?

A) surveys
B) case studies
C) relational research
D) experiments

Question 15

Which of the following is an example of a nominal scale of measurement?

A) class standing (i.e.,are you a freshman,sophomore,junior,or senior?)
B) ranking classmates from tallest to smallest
C) temperature in Kelvin
D) reaction time (in msec)
E) percent correct

Question 16

Which of the following is an example of stratified random sampling?

A) matching the percentages of males/females to the general population
B) having everyone in the world complete a survey
C) testing the first 20 students to enter the laboratory
D) relying on volunteers to complete a survey study

Question 17

If a study has external validity,one is entitled to:

A) generalize
B) attribute causality
C) have confidence in constructs
D) support hypotheses

Question 18

The type of validity that is specifically concerned with being able to make causal statements about relationships between variables is ____ validity.

A) external
B) internal
C) construct
D) predictive

Question 19

Let us assume that you decided to compare the procedures and results from the many studies of the Stroop phenomenon in the hope of resolving arguments in the literature regarding the cause of interference effects.This can most accurately be described as an example of which type of observational study?

A) meta-analysis
B) survey
C) case study
D) deviant-case analysis

Question 20

Test reliability determined by a correlation between scores from the same test taken at two different times is called:

A) test-retest reliability
B) parallel forms reliability
C) split-half reliability
D) predictive reliability

Question 21

A major problem with self-report methods is that they:

A) can't be used in psychophysics
B) are very limited in their applicability
C) can't be verified very easily
D) are usually long and tedious

Question 22

In a summated rating scale,the respondent:

A) replies Yes or No to a number of questions
B) agrees or disagrees to a number of statements
C) receives a number according to correct responding
D) is free to respond in any way to a question

Question 23

An experimenter can legitimately say that one person is twice as anxious as another if anxiety is measured on:

A) a nominal scale
B) an ordinal scale
C) an interval scale
D) a ratio scale

Question 24

The SAT test has very low predictive validity.

Question 25

The scale property that distinguishes an ordinal scale from a nominal scale is:

A) differences
B) magnitudes
C) equal intervals
D) ratios

Question 26

Internal validity refers to the extent to which one can generalize from the research setting and participant population to other settings and populations.

Question 27

The absolute threshold is:

A) when there is no sensation
B) when the stimulus has no strength
C) usually overestimated
D) operationally defined

Question 28

External validity refers to whether one can make causal statements about the relationship between variables.

Question 29

Reliability refers to the consistency of measures.

Question 30

According to Weber's law:

A) $\triangle$ I/I = K
B) $\triangle$ = KlogS
C) $\triangle$ = KSⁿ
D) $\triangle$ = KlogN

Question 31

The typical beauty contest measures beauty on an interval scale.

Question 32

In random sampling,each member of a population has an unbiased chance of being selected.

Question 33

As compared to psychophysical scales,psychometric ones:

A) are not as precisely defined on the input side
B) are more precisely defined on the output side
C) are more precisely defined on the input side
D) are less precisely defined on the output side

Question 34

Of the following dimensions,____ is the only one that can be measured using psychometric scaling procedures,but not psychophysical scaling procedures.

A) brightness
B) loudness
C) happiness
D) time estimation

Question 35

Psychophysical methods were formalized by:

A) Hardy
B) Weber
C) Fechner
D) Stevens

Question 36

Test reliability is usually measured as a correlation between a test score and some criterion measure.

Question 37

Construct validity refers to the degree to which independent and dependent variables accurately reflect or measure what they are intended to measure.

Question 38

Ordinal scales have the properties of difference and magnitude.

Question 39

Confounding is a major threat to internal validity.

Question 40

The Fahrenheit scale of temperature does not have which of these properties?

A) differences
B) magnitudes
C) equal intervals
D) true zero point

Question 41

If you measure people's hunger on an interval scale,you are not entitled to say that one person is three times as hungry as another.

Question 42

Of the four types of scales,only ratio scales have equal intervals.

Question 43

Psychophysics measures psychological reactions to events that lie along a physical dimension.

Question 44

Psychometric scales usually measure responses to stimuli whose underlying dimension is unknown.

Question 45

Ratio scales possess a true zero.