crj research exam 2 part 2

focus

moving from vague ideas bout what we want to study to being able to recognize and measure it in the real world

measurement

making observations and assigning values

what is an example of measurement

aggressive behavior

when the measurement process begin

when a researcher starts formulating individual research questions and hypotheses

what are the two main steps in the measurement process

conceptualization and operationalization

what are examples of conceptualizations

misdemeanor crime and violent crime

what are concepts

words, phrases, or symbols used to represent these mental images

what are dimensions

specific aspects of your concept

______ represents the final step in the measurement process

indicators/operationalizations

what is indicators/operationalizations

An operational definition is a description of the research procedures required to measure a concept or variable

What are the levels of measurement

nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio

nominal

variable attributes are classified into two or more categories

example of nominal

political party

exhaustive

variable must have enough attributes so all persons, events, objects under study will fit into one of the categories provided

mutually exclusive

the attributes classifying persons, events, objects under study must not fit into more than one category

ordinal

second lowest level variable, attribute can logically rank order

what is the most common survey response

strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree

interval

more complex than nominal and ordinal have the same qualities

ratio

has a true zero point

indicators

questions that measure harm

what does the use of multiple indicators help with

prove a better overall representation and reduce error

reliability

whether a particular measurement technique repeatedly applied to the same object would yield the same result each time

what is another word for reliability

consistency

example of reliability

rating characteristics of individuals shown in photographs

what is the problem with reliability

even if the same result is obtained repeatedly, it may not be accurate findings

what are the two types of reliability assessment

test-retest method and inter-rater reliability

what is the test- retest method

administer the same questionnaire on two separate occasions

what is an example of the test-retest method

iq test

problems with test-retest method

subject may remember answers from the first administration of the assessment, the subject changes their response because their opinion changes, or the subject changes their response because of how they reacted to the first administration

what is inter-rater reliability

compare findings from different raters, used to verify or to seek corroboration of measurements

how do you increase reliability in your measures

increasing the number of different indicators of a concept

validity

the extent to which an empirical measure adequately reflects the meaning of the concept under consideration

what is another word for validity

accuracy

What are the three types of validity assessment

face validity, criterion-related validity, construct validity

what is face validity

on its face does seem valid, but does it correspond with our common agreement and mental images of that issue

what is an example of face validity

and an indicator for self-esteem

what is criterion-related validity

assessment that compares a measure to some single, external criteria

what is construct validity

searches for evidence that logical relationships/connections exist, an accumulation of research