Deck 5: The Building Blocks of Social Scientific Research: Measurement

Question 1

The ____________ method of measuring reliability also involves measuring the same attribute more than once, but it uses two different measures of the same concept rather than the same measure.

A) Test-retest
B) Alternate-form
C) Discriminant
D) Split-halves

Answer 1

B

Question 2

A variable that measures education on a scale that includes (0) none, (1) less than college, (2) college, (3) more than college, is an example of the _________ level of measurement.

A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The results of interitem association tests are often displayed in a ________. Such a display shows how strongly related each of the items in the measurement scheme is to all the other items.

A) Frequency distribution
B) Correlation matrix
C) Summation index
D) Likert scale

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Imagine that you were to test a variable of your own design measuring ideology for validity. What tests might you use, how would each test confirm validity, and what problems might you encounter in establishing validity?

Question 5

________ validity involves determining the full domain or meaning of a particular concept and then making sure that measures of all portions of this domain are included in the measurement technique.

A) Content

Question 6

A variable that measures education in number of years is an example of the _________ level of measurement.

A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio

Question 7

A ____________ measure is one that yields the same results on repeated trials.

A) Reliable
B) Valid
C) Operational
D) Ordinal

Question 8

Deciding how to measure the presence, absence, or amount of concepts in the real world for use in an empirical investigation is the process of providing a(n) ________________ definition.

A) Operational

Question 9

A __________ is a method of accumulating scores on individual items to form a composite measure of a complex phenomenon.

A) Summation index
B) Likert scale
C) Guttman scale
D) Factor analysis

Question 10

A ___________ is a multi-item measure in which respondents are presented with increasingly difficult measures of approval for an attitude

A) Summation index
B) Likert scale
C) Guttman scale
D) Factor analysis

Question 11

The __________ method of measuring reliability involves two measures of the same concept, with both measures applied at the same time. The results of the two measures are then compared.

A) Test-retest
B) Alternate-form
C) Discriminant
D) Split-halves

Question 12

A(n) ___________ measurement assumes that a comparison can be made on which observations have more or less of a particular attribute.

A) Ordinal (level)

Question 13

Which level of measurement below best describes a variable for which the assigned values represent only different categories or classifications for that variable?

A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio

Question 14

Which type of validity involves two measures which theoretically are expected not to be related and thus the correlation between them is expected to be low or weak?

A) Face
B) Content
C) Construct
D) Discriminant

Question 15

______ is a type of measurement error that results in systematically over- or under-measuring the value of a concept.

A) Bias
B) Operationalization
C) Standard error
D) Systematic validity

Question 16

A __________ score is calculated from the scores obtained on individual items. Each item generally asks a respondent to indicate a degree of agreement or disagreement with the item.

A) Summation index
B) Likert scale
C) Political analysis
D) Factor analysis

Question 17

Which type of validity is demonstrated when a measure of a concept is related to a measure of another concept with which the original concept is thought to be related?

A) Face
B) Content
C) Construct
D) Discriminant

Question 18

_______________ tests validity by relying on the similarity of outcomes of more than one measure of a concept to demonstrate the validity of the entire measurement scheme.

A) Interitem association

Question 19

A(n) ____________ variable has only two categories.

A) Dichotomous

Question 20

Why are reliability and validity threats to the accuracy of measures? In your answer please define both terms.

Question 21

What is the difference between a Likert scale and a Guttman scale?

Question 22

Generally speaking, political scientists prefer more precision in measurement to less. But, how can too much precision be a bad thing when it comes to measurement?

Question 23

What does the level of measurement tell us about a variable?

Question 24

Please identify and define the four levels of measurement. In your answer please provide an example variable for each level of measurement.

Question 25

Please define a summation index and give a detailed example of how you would use a summation scale to create a variable of your choice.