Summary
Summary Ch5
- Course
- Institution
- Book
Summary of chapter 5 of Research Methods in Psychology by Beth Morling. It's very well-written and I passed the course by studying my own RMS summaries. It's written in English.
[Show more]
Connected book
Book Title:
Author(s):
- Edition:
- ISBN:
- Edition:
More summaries for
-
BETH MORLING RESEARCH METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY Third Edition
-
Summary Research Methods in Psychology/ Inleiding Methodenleer (424502-B-5) - Achieved an 8.5 myself!
-
Glossary for Introduction to Methodology
Seller
Follow
rosaliemn
Reviews received
Content preview
Research methods, chapter 5: identifying good measurement -SummaryMany of what psychologists are interested in -motivation, emotion, thinking, reasoning- are difficult
to measure directly. – construct validity: refers to how well a study’s variables are measured or
manipulated. (quality of the measurements/study)
Ways to measure variables
Three types of measures: self-report, observational, and physiological.
+ choose most appropriate scale of measurement for each variable they plan to investigate.
more about conceptual and operational variables
operationalization: process of turning a construct of interest into a measured or manipulated
variable.
Conceptual definition of Variable: researcher’s definition of the variable in question at a theoretical
level. Operational definition of Variable: represents researcher’s specific decision about how to
measure or manipulate the conceptual variable.
Process to study conceptual variables (such as happiness):
1. Stating a definition of their construct: the conceptual variable
2. Creating an operational definition.
Example: measure association between wealth and happiness
1. Wealth = conceptual
2. Salary in dollars, bank account balances, etc. = the operational definition
3 common types of measures
1. Self-report measures
operationalizes a variable by questionnaires or interviews
(research on children: self-reports might be replaces with parent reports or teacher reports)
2. Observational measures
also called behavioural measures, operationalizes by recording observable behaviour or
physicial traces of behaviours. (happiness: how many times does participant smile)
3. Physiological measures
operationalizes a variable by recording biological data (e.g. brain activity, heart rate)
Which operationalization is best?
It’s best when they all show similar patterns of results, they’re often used together.
Scales of measurement
1. Categorical vs. quantitative variables
Categorical: categories. Number of a category doesn’t have numerical meaning.
Quantitative: meaningful numbers. Centimetres, kilograms, IQ-score
3 types of quantitative variables(table 5.2, p.124):
1. Ordinal scale: represents a ranked order. ‘top 10 best-selling books’
intervals may be inequal, how much is in between numbers isn’t relevant.
2. Interval scale: equal intervals (distances) between levels, there’s no true zero. A
person can get 0, but it does not mean “nothing”. because of that
researcher can’t say things like ‘twice as’ or ‘three times…’ (e.g. IQ scores,
100-105-110)
3. Ratio scale: equal intervals, value of zero means none or nothing of the variable
being measured. Knowledge test: 0 means there were 0 answers correct.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller rosaliemn. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $3.26. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
75759 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now