Learning Objectives for Chapter
Five – Beyond Reliability and Validity: Choosing the Best Measure for Your Study
Pages 123-129
1. Define1 sensitive. Explain2 the value of having a sensitive
measure.
2. Explain2 why a more valid
measure is likely to be a more sensitive measure. List1 two steps
that can increase a measure’s validity and sensitivity.
3. Explain 2why a more
reliable measure is likely to be a more sensitive measure. Describe2
one strategy you could use to determine whether a measure was reliable.
4. Explain2 why a measure
that produces a wide range of scores is more likely to be sensitive than one
that does not. Then, describe2 three strategies you could use to
maximize the chances that your measure will produce a wide range of scores.
5. Explain2 why pilot
testing is important in determining whether your measure is sensitive (use the
terms floor effect and ceiling effect in your answer).
Pages 130-138
6. Define1 nominal,
ordinal, interval, and ratio scales. Distinguish4 between the four scales of measurement
(in making distinctions, be sure to rank the scales in terms of the
informativeness of the numbers they produce). State1 the minimum
scale of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio) needed to make each
of the following types of comparisons:
a. finding differences between
conditions,
b. determining which conditions have
more of a quality,
c.
determining how much more of a quality
one condition has than another, and
d. determining how many times more of a
quality one condition has than another)
7. Explain2 why a ratio
scale measure of behavior might not be a ratio measure of a construct.
Pages 138-139
8. Define1 face
validity.
Contrast4 face validity with construct validity. Explain2
why a measure with face validity might be low in construct validity.