MOD 7: Correlational Design and Construct Validity

A researcher uses a correlational design to examine the relationship between final exam grade and hours of sleep the night before the exam in first-year college students. Which variable(s) would be measured as part of this study design?

Final exam grade and hours of sleep

Which scenario demonstrates using naturalistic observation to study helping behaviors?

Watch participant behavior in various situations

Researchers used the U.S. Census results to examine the relationship between years of education and average weekly hours spent watching television. This is an example of which type of correlational research?

Archival

A survey design was used to measure the relationship between hours spent studying and grade point average (GPA). Based on this research design, would a conclusion that studying hours causes a change in GPA be possible?

No, because both variables were measured

Which of the following are measured in correlational research?

Both predictor and outcome variables

Which of these variables would be considered a construct?

Empathy

A researcher wishes to study how well new members to a community adapt to the culture of their new country. To do this, she records several possible constructs, which include how frequently members smile at strangers, whether members adopt new words, phrases, or slang, or how much time members spend socializing with people outside their home culture. What the researcher is doing is best described as

estimating a construct

In order to measure the construct of life satisfaction, a researcher designs a questionnaire with 75 true/false questions. To thoroughly measure the construct, many questions ask about similar things in different ways. If participants found the questions repetitive and became bored during testing, they might not respond to each question accurately. This indicates a problem with the

procedure of using many repetitive questions

Which of the following types of data would be best gathered through self-report measures? 

Feelings, beliefs, or opinions

A researcher operationally defined “healthy eating” as consuming at least five servings of fruits and vegetables in a day. If experts in nutrition agree that this is an appropriate measure for the construct of healthy eating, this measure would have 

strong face validity

A researcher developed an operational definition to measure the construct of athleticism among track and field athletes by assessing resting heart rate before an event, best and worst performance on both the shot put and the high jump, and performance at three previous track meets. Which aspect of construct validity may the researcher be attempting to address by making sure all important parts of the construct are measured?

Content validity

A grade school teacher administers a math placement test to her 6th-grade class to help place students in the appropriate math class when they enter middle school. If this test is an accurate tool for placing students in the appropriate math class for the next year, then this exam has what kind of validity?   

Predictive validity

A researcher is developing a measure for a construct and wishes to assess its relationship with another, distinct construct. What type of validity test should the researcher conduct? 

Discriminant validity

Which of these variables can be measured directly?

Visual acuitiy

If high levels of the personality trait neuroticism are associated with more fights with friends and family in the week when the personality questionnaire was completed, the construct of neuroticism would have high

concurrent validity

To measure self-control, a researcher observes participants as they attempt to solve a difficult spatial puzzle. He records any distracted activities on the part of the participants, such as checking a cell phone or looking around the room. These are measurements of participant

behavior

Dr. Rivas visited a daycare center to observe sharing behaviors between 3-year-old children when a novel toy is introduced. The daycare teachers noted that the children were behaving differently than normal when Dr. Rivas was conducting the observation. This would be an example of

reactivity effects

A researcher is investigating non-verbal cueing among professional poker players at a tournament. She wishes to use a method that records performance rather than behavior as her observational data. Which method might she consider?

Is the time to make a decision related to the quality of a player’s hand?

Which of the following is not a challenge to maintaining construct validity with observational measures?

Obtaining direct measurements of participants’ behavior or ability

To measure automaticity in reading, Stroop presented congruent or incongruent word-color pairs (e.g., the word red printed in green lettering) to novice and expert readers, then measured both the number of correct and incorrect responses by participants and the reaction times for all responses. These are measurements of participants’

performance

A researcher wanted to observe student participation during a typical class, but was concerned the students might behave differently if they noticed her presence. She decided to attend class for 10 days before collecting any data so as to habituate students to her presence and avoid 

the Hawthorne effect

Dr. Bonenfant is testing the hypothesis that men and women react differently to group pressure. When observing their behaviors, Dr. Bonenfant notices more instances that confirm the hypothesis than refute it. If Dr. Bonenfant’s knowledge of the hypothesis influenced how he rated the reactions of men and women, the threat to construct validity would be

the observer-expectancy effect

To establish high interrater reliability,

there must be a high level of agreement between the scores of multiple raters.

A researcher develops an experiment with an especially strong operational definition for her dependent measure of interest. What other practices might she employ to prevent the observer-expectancy effect?

Train her observers on objective research practices.

To help prevent the observer-expectancy effect, a researcher could 

conduct a double-blind study