Deck 16: Quantitative Measurement Concepts

Question 1

A student finds a tool that measures adaptability and wants to use it for the student's master's thesis. The tool has 25 items, and they are all of the ordinal level, scaled 0 through 5. The authors of the tool, all pragmatists, are most likely to identify which level of measurement for this tool?

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

Answer 1

Interval level

Question 2

What is the purpose of determining an instrument's internal consistency?

A)It establishes face validity.
B)It demonstrates that the instrument is measuring exactly what the researcher thinks it is measuring.c.It decreases measurement error.
D)It is a way of establishing test-retest reliability.

Answer 2

It is a way of establishing test-retest reliability.

Question 3

Specificity of an instrument used for diagnosis refers to what?

A)Its ability to detect error
B)Its ability to detect the presence of a condition or illness
C)Its ability to detect the absence of a condition or illness
D)Its true positives minus its false negatives

Answer 3

Its ability to detect the absence of a condition or illness

Question 4

Inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria in sample selection are mutually exclusive and mutually exhaustive. A researcher has a list of all of the study's inclusion and exclusion criteria. These then must be sorted into an inclusion list and an exclusion list. How is this method of sorting best classified?

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

Question 5

Which statements are true, relative to systematic error?

A)If the amount of the systematic error is known, true scores can be retrieved.
B)Systematic error may be decreased by proper instrument calibration.
C)Systematic error results in values that vary in one direction from the true scores.
D)Systematic error results from researcher fatigue or inattention.
E)Systematic error changes the mean but not the relative magnitude of the variance.

Question 6

What kind of reliability testing involves examining the consistency of scores between two forms of the same measure or instrument or two observers measuring the same event?

A)Equivalence reliability
B)Stability reliability
C)External consistency
D)Internal consistency

Question 7

Which is the highest form of measurement?

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

Question 8

A new and very short survey instrument is developed. It is to be used instead of a previously validated instrument that is very long to administer. What kind of validity concept will be used for testing this new tool?

A)Divergent validity
B)Convergent validity
C)Discriminant analysis
D)Concept validity

Question 9

Which items are examples of indirect measurement?

A)Self-report of physical activity
B)Level of consciousness
C)Height
D)Hope
E)Depression

Question 10

A shepherd in the wilds of eastern Nevada is counting the sheep, at the end of a work day. What is another term for what the shepherd is doing?

A)Estimating random error
B)Measuring
C)Using an interval level of measurement
D)Calculating risk ratios

Question 11

Which one of these instructions to the research subject will provide the highest possible level of measurement?

A)Indicate whether your income is above $20,000 a year or not.
B)What was your income last year: 0 to $20,000; $20,000 to $60,000; $60,000 to $100,000; or more than $100,000?
C)What was your total income last year, before taxes? Enter amount: _______
D)Did you earn money last year?

Question 12

Depression is measured by the Beck Depression Inventory, which adds up scores from 21 items to provide a total value ranging from 0 to 63. What level of measurement is this?

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

Question 13

Why would interrater reliability be measured in research?

A)A verbal quantitative questionnaire is filled out.
B)Behavior is observed and classified.
C)Phenomenology is the research method.
D)Distances are measured.

Question 14

A band is in on a multicity tour, and souvenir shirts are ordered from a factory. The shirts are shipped without the size labels. The vendor must then sort them into sizes-apparently they are small, medium, large, extra-large, and extra-extra-large. What level of measurement is this?

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

Question 15

Tests of stability reliability, such as test-retest, can reveal random measurement error. Why is systematic measurement error not revealed when stability reliability determinations are made?

A)Actually, reliability testing does not reveal the type of error: differences on test-retest can indicate problems with both random and systematic measurement error.
B)Tests of stability reliability are not powerful enough to pick up systematic measurement error because of its subtlety.
C)If an instrument systematically measures all blood pressures 10 points high, it will do so both at baseline and on retesting.d.The direction of the systematic measurement error is reversed on retesting, so it is not visible in the statistical analysis.

Question 16

A secretary in a veterinarian's office keeps track of how many animals come in for care in a week's time and what types of animals they are: cat, dog, horse, gerbil, duck, snake, and so forth. What level of measurement is this?

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

Question 17

Which of the statements is true, relative to error?

A)True score plus error score equals observed score.
B)Random error of measurement increases the mean.
C)The mean of the true measurements is equal to the mean of the observed measurements when there is no systematic error.
D)No measurement of anything is ever correct.
E)Measurement error always exists, if a straightforward measurement like counting is made often enough and by enough people.

Question 18

Mark is in third grade and has just learned how to use a ruler to measure. He has become a measuring fool. He measures everything in the house, writing down all the measurements, and gaily announcing to his mom, "Hey, Mom. Guess what? The salt shaker is four and a quarter inches tall." What level of measurement is this?

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

Question 19

A researcher is developing a tool to measure predelinquent behaviors in preadolescence. The researcher has already reviewed the literature, gathered qualitative data from experts, pilot-tested hundreds of predelinquent preadolescents, and analyzed the findings. It is clear that the tool actually measures what it is supposed to measure. This reflects the tool's:

A)validity.
B)measurement error.
C)reliability.
D)sensitivity.

Question 20

Interval scales of measurement (IQ tests, anxiety inventories, mental status examinations) are products of man's invention how frequently?

A)Never
B)Sometimes
C)Frequently
D)Always

Question 21

For a multimethod measure, a researcher measures anxiety using a 0- to 10-point verbal scale, the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (0 to 40 points), and systolic blood pressure readings (80 to 300 points). What are logical strategies for using these three pieces of information gathered from each subject?

A)Add up all three numbers for a total score.
B)Rank all three measures as 1-high, 2-medium, and 3-low, and sum the result.
C)Determine the most accurate measurement, and give it more weight than the others in a ranking.
D)Determine the most accurate measurement in the first few subjects, and then use it exclusively.
E)Report the numbers individually without summing them.

Question 22

A researcher administers a test of hopelessness to 50 teen mothers in a continuation high school, in order to norm it for a study planned for the subsequent semester. This norming process is part of the protocol approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Retesting in 2 weeks reveals different values for many of the subjects' paired tests. What should the researcher do now, and why?

A)Administer the test a third time and see whether there is a trend. The subjects may be becoming more/less hopeless because of an external factor or a Hawthorne effect.
B)Calculate statistical tests to determine whether there are about the same amounts of positive change and negative change for the pooled sample, and whether the means are very similar for the two measurements. If so, this represents normal fluctuation of mood.
C)After obtaining IRB approval for study revision, ask several of the 50 subjects with large changes about their recent experiences and discover whether there is an underlying reason for the change.
D)Use the second value, not the first, for all data analysis. The subjects have evidently reexamined their feelings and discovered new insights.
E)Consider the multitrait-multimethod technique for this complex concept. A single measurement doesn't seem to be capturing the concept very well.

Question 23

What is the true statement, related to stability reliability?

A)It is useful for establishing the validity of a physiological measure.
B)It establishes the consistency of repeated measures of the same attribute with the use of the same scale or instrument over time.
C)It reveals random error but not systematic error.
D)It is sometimes referred to as test-retest reliability.
E)It may be difficult to interpret whether a measurement has unacceptable stability reliability or whether maturation has affected subjects' responses.

Question 24

A laboratory scientist is attempting to develop a screening tool that will detect leukemia before children show any symptoms of the disease, because it is most curable in its early stages. The scientist wants a test that will detect all children, whether or not it produces some false positives. What does the researcher want, in terms of that new screening tool?

A)Maximum sensitivity
B)A high LR⁺
C)Maximum specificity
D)A high LR^-
E)High interrater reliability

Question 25

A researcher administers a 40-item instrument that measures anxiety to 30 mothers of 9-month-old triplets, repeating it in 2 weeks. Over half of the scores are higher. Why?

A)The mothers are more anxious. The babies are becoming more mobile, and the mothers' anxiety is well founded.
B)There may have been random error of measurement. The researcher should compare the group means; if they are the same, it's only random error.
C)This may represent systematic error of measurement.
D)This may have poor validity for this population and concept.
E)This test may have poor reliability for this population and concept.