Deck 5: Conceptualization, operationalization, and Measurement

Question 1

The specification of concepts in a scientific inquiry depends on

A)nominal, operational, and real definitions.
B)real definitions.
C)nominal and operational definitions.
D)nominal and real definitions.
E)operational and real definitions.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

A measurement that is inaccurate,but consistently reports the same results is

A)valid.
B)both valid and precise.
C)not valid but precise.
D)not precise but valid.
E)neither valid nor precise.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Professor Spence decided to define socioeconomic status as a combination of income and education.Spence then determined the questions to be asked and the categories of responses.Spence was assigning socioeconomic status

A)a nominal and an operational definition.
B)an operational and a real definition.
C)a real definition only.
D)a nominal and a real definition.
E)a nominal definition only.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

When the variable religious affiliation is classified as Protestant,Catholic,and Jewish,this variable has the important quality of being

A)mutually exclusive.
B)exhaustive.
C)interchangeable.
D)mutually exclusive and exhaustive.
E)ordinal scale.

Question 5

Measuring a respondent's age on an online survey would be considered a(n):

A) direct observable..
B) indirect observable.
C) construct.
D) nominal variable.
E) none of these choices are correct.

Question 6

Which of the following statements is FALSE?

A)The conclusions reached in a descriptive study depend directly on the specific operational definitions employed.
B)Changing definitions often results in different descriptive conclusions.
C)Explanatory research is more dependent upon patterns of relationships, and these are more consistent than definitions.
D)Definitions are more problematic for explanatory research than descriptive research.
E)Definitions are more problematic for descriptive research than for explanatory research.

Question 7

A measurement of fear of crime,ranked from 1 to 10 with 10 being "most fearful" and 1 being "not fearful at all" would be an example of:

A)direct observable.
B)indirect observable.
C)a definition.
D)a nominal variable.
E)validity.

Question 8

In terms of specification,which of the following statements about nominal definitions is FALSE?

A)Nominal definitions do not claim that the definition represents a "real" entity.
B)Nominal definitions typically represent some consensus about how a term is used.
C)Nominal definitions specify precisely how a concept will be measured.
D)Nominal definitions assign a definition to a concept.
E)Nominal definitions are arbitrary.

Question 9

Which of the following is a nominal variable?

A)education
B)employment status
C)age
D)occupational prestige
E)not enough information to know

Question 10

Techniques used to create reliable measures include

A)asking about anything of interest, regardless of respondents.
B)making up new measures.
C)being vague, to allow a wider variation of response.
D)asking about things relevant to respondents.
E)creating a new measure each time you conduct research.

Question 11

When we fall into the trap of believing that terms have real meanings,we are guilty of

A)reification.
B)measurements that lack reliability.
C)measurements that lack validity.
D)confusing reliability with validity.
E)confusing conceptions with conceptualization.

Question 12

Professor Miller argues that there are three aspects to the quality of a relationship: 1)belonging/affirmation,2)interdependence,and 3)intimacy.These "aspects" of quality of a relationship are called

A)variables.
B)dimensions.
C)constructs.
D)indicators.
E)conceptions.

Question 13

In assessing a measure of sexual attitudes Troiden and Jendrek examined the link between the measure of sexual attitudes and sexual experience.They reasoned that people expressing liberal sexual attitudes would have a wider range of sexual experiences than those expressing conservative attitudes.They were concerned with examining the ______ of the sexual attitude measurements.

A)split-half validity
B)face validity
C)criterion-related validity
D)content validity
E)construct validity

Question 14

After noting that there are three aspects to the quality of a relationship (belonging/affirmation,interdependence,and intimacy)Professor Miller designed an instrument to measure the quality of a relationship.In looking at her questionnaire,she noticed that there were no items tapping intimacy.Her measure lacks

A)reliability.
B)content validity.
C)predictive validity.
D)construct validity.
E)internal consistency.

Question 15

A measurement of religion in which the indicators include Christian,Muslim,Judaism,and Other would be at what level?

A)nominal.
B)interval.
C)ordinal.
D)ratio.
E)quantitative.

Question 16

Which of the following sequences illustrates the progression of measurement steps?

A)conceptualization, nominal definition, operational definition, and measurement in the real world
B)nominal definition, conceptualization, operational definition, and measurement in the real world
C)operational definition, conceptualization, nominal definition, and measurement in the real world
D)nominal definition, operationalization, conceptualization, and real-world measurement
E)conceptualization, operationalization, nominal definition, and real-world measurement

Question 17

Professor Myth asked respondents whether they had ever been divorced.One year later Professor Myth asked the same respondents the same question.Myth found that with repeated applications of the measure,different responses were obtained for the same respondent.This means that the measuring instrument was

A)unreliable.
B)invalid.
C)unreliable or the value on the variable had changed.
D)lacking face validity.
E)inaccurate.

Question 18

In testing a new survey that he developed,Marcus asked his introduction to sociology class to fill out the survey for extra credit,and then a week later asked the same class to take the survey again.Marcus was testing the exam's

A) validity.
B) face validity.
C) conceptualization.
D) precision.
E) reliability.

Question 19

Because low marital adjustment should lead to divorce,Professor Rogers checked his measure of marital adjustment by examining whether couples with low marital adjustment scores were more likely than couples with high marital adjustment scores to later obtain a divorce.This illustrates the use of

A)criterion-related validity.
B)face validity.
C)content validity.
D)construct validity.
E)test-retest validity.

Question 20

Hudson et al.(1983,Journal of Sex Research)developed a series of questions to examine sexual attitudes (SAS).The SAS scores of religious fundamentalists,a group believed to be conservative regarding sexual expression,were compared with the scores of social work graduate students,a group believed to be liberal regarding sexual expression.The researchers were examining the instrument's

A)split-half reliability.
B)split-half validity.
C)criterion validity.
D)criterion reliability.
E)construct validity.

Question 21

Elmer worked hard to establish the meaning of the term "prejudice" for his study on police officers.He consulted the literature and consulted with colleagues who have studied prejudice in order to come to an agreement about what the term means.Elmer engaged in

A)reification.
B)dimensionalization.
C)conceptualization.
D)validity.
E)observation.

Question 22

Measuring how people feel about proposed income tax hikes when you really want to know how well informed they are on the proposal is a problem of operationalization concerning

A)the use of single or multiple indicators.
B)how observations are going to be made.
C)the specific dimensions of the variable to be studied.
D)the relevant range of variations.
E)the degree of precision needed between extremes.

Question 23

Nominal definitions most closely parallel which type of validity measure?

A)face validity
B)criterion-related validity
C)construct validity
D)split-half validity
E)divergent validity

Question 24

Which method for establishing reliability does not depend on using the measure itself?

A)test-retest reliability
B)split-half reliability
C)face reliability
D)research worker reliability
E)conceptualization of feelings

Question 25

Theoretical creations that are based on observations but that cannot be observed directly or indirectly are known as

A)constructs.
B)dimensions.
C)indicators.
D)theories.
E)corroboration

Question 26

Professor Tilton measured the variable "feelings toward drafting women" with the categories strongly agree,agree,indifferent,disagree,and strongly disagree.Professor Tilton was using the _____ level of measurement.

A)nominal
B)interval
C)ratio
D)ordinal
E)not enough information to decide

Question 27

Marlinda developed three aspects for her concept love: communication,trust,and attraction.These aspects are known as

A)indicators.
B)real definitions.
C)interchangeability of indicators.
D)dimensions.
E)hypothesis

Question 28

Luke developed a measure of religious affiliation that included these attributes: Protestant,Baptist,Catholic,Jewish,Other,None.Which quality of measures does this measure lack?

A)must be exhaustive
B)must be mutually exclusive
C)must be ratio level
D)must be a real definition
E)must be corroborated by colleagues

Question 29

Ignatius wanted to be sure he covered the full range of meanings in his measurement of happiness among college students.Given this,he was particularly concerned with

A)construct validity.
B)content validity.
C)face validity.
D)criterion validity.
E)alternate test reliability

Question 30

A complete conceptualization involves

A)specifying dimensions only.
B)specifying indicators only.
C)specifying dimensions and identifying the various indicators of each dimension.
D)specifying indicators and identifying the various dimensions of each indicator.
E)specifying variables and their attributes.

Question 31

What is the lowest level of measurement in which there is an exact difference between attribute values?

A)nominal
B)interval
C)ratio
D)ordinal
E)categorical.

Question 32

Professor Twist created the categories of less than 20 hours,20 hours to 40 hours,40 hours to 60 hours,and 60 hours or more for the variable "number of hours employed outside the home." Salton's scheme is

A)a nominal variable.
B)mutually exclusive.
C)exhaustive.
D)an interval variable.
E)mutually exclusive and exhaustive.

Question 33

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)is a variable that is measured at which level?

A) nominal.
B) ordinal.
C) interval.
D) ratio.
E) not enough information to decide.

Question 34

Larry has developed ten indicators for the concept alienation.He's not yet sure exactly which ones are best.One approach he takes is to see if all the indicators behave the same way when related to Larry's independent variable,gender.Larry is employing

A)dimensionalization.
B)reliability.
C)validity.
D)interchangeability of indicators.
E)conceptualizations

Question 35

Chan created a composite measurement to determine how likely a child is to engage in delinquency from the age of 10 to 14.She tests the reliability for this instrument by performing a pilot study in which two groups each received five of the ten questions.She then compares the results,hoping they are similar.What method did Chan use?

A)split-half method
B)test-retest method
C)using established measures
D)reverse-verification method
E)matched-group method

Question 36

Lucinda established the validity of her religiosity measure by making sure it corresponded with our common agreements and our individual mental images concerning her concept.She did this by checking with other people,particularly those familiar with religious issues.Which measure of validity did she use?

A)face validity
B)criterion-related validity
C)construct validity
D)split-half validity
E)divergent validity

Question 37

When one defines a concept by specifying how it will be measured,what definition has he or she created?

A)literal definition
B)real definition
C)nominal definition
D)operational definition
E)specific definition

Question 38

Juan wanted to be particularly careful to represent all levels of feelings about how ethical members of Congress are.So,instead of just asking how much respondents agreed with a statement that "Members of Congress are ethical," he instead asked for responses ranging from "Members are completely unethical" to "Members are always very ethical." Juan was responding to which operationalization choice?

A)range of variation
B)variations beyond the extremes
C)multiple dimensions
D)level of measurement
E)mutually exclusive

Question 39

Professor Tyler believes that her measure of authoritarianism is valid after finding that it varies,as predicted by theory,with child rearing practices and voting behavior.Tyler is relying on a _____ approach to validity.

A)face validity
B)content validity
C)predictive validity
D)criterion-related validity
E)construct validity

Question 40

Professor Tyler wrote a proposal to study the impact of authoritarianism on child rearing practices.She began her research by reviewing the meaning of authoritarianism in the sociological and psychological literature.Based on this review,she formulated her own definition of authoritarianism.This process illustrates

A)operationalization.
B)the interchangeability of indicators.
C)conceptualization.
D)validity assessment.
E)reliability assessment.

Question 41

Monique developed a measure of religiosity and gave her instrument to her sample on two different occasions to see how reliable it was.Which type of reliability is reflected in this example?

A)test-retest
B)split-half
C)using established measures
D)research worker
E)others can also replicate your study

Question 42

Indicators can be interchanged with one another because:

A)by definition all indicators follow the same level of measurement.
B)indicators are the same as the "real" definition of a concept.
C)all indicators are standardized to be rated from 1 to 5.
D)if indicators measure the same concept, the results should be the same.
E)indicators are not interchangeable.

Question 43

In order to determine if his uncle is a psychopath,Jerry interviews his uncle,who has a long criminal record.He compares the interview with other corroborating information (e.g.police reports,interviews with other family members and friends,etc),and applies the information to the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (a well-known 20-item scale for measuring psychopathy developed by a criminologist).In using a scale to determine whether his uncle is a psychopath,Jerry is studying ____________.

A)direct observables
B)indirect observables
C)constructs
D)concepts
E)conceptualization

Question 44

Maurice is developing a new measure of psychopathy that he hopes to use in his research.His measure includes a series of psychiatric diagnoses and a well-thought out questionnaire.However,when compared to results of other proven measures of psychopathy,his results are incorrect.What kind of validity is lacking?

A)split-half validity.
B)construct validity.
C)face validity.
D)criterion-related validity.
E)content validity.

Question 45

A measurement that does not reflect the logical relationship between the variables lacks what kind of validity?

A)construct validity
B)face validity
C)criterion-related validity
D)content validity
E)split-half validity

Question 46

When you are worried about whether you will get the same results if you repeat your experiment again in the future,you are worried about _________.

A)internal validity
B)external validity
C)reliability
D)theory
E)content validity

Question 47

A weighing scale that consistently tells Susie that she is 115 pounds-5 pounds lighter than she really is-every time she stands on the scale is __________,but not _____________.

A)valid; reliable
B)not valid; reliable
C)not reliable; valid
D)reliable; valid
E)wrong; reliable

Question 48

A measure of recidivism risk for juveniles completing a diversionary program instead of a traditional residential sentence,which ranks their level of risk as low,medium,or high is using which level of measurement?

A)ratio
B)nominal
C)ordinal
D)interval
E)qualitative

Question 49

Predictive validity is another name for:

A)test-retest validity
B)criterion-related validity
C)face validity
D)construct validity.
E)content validity

Question 50

An example of an established measure would be:

A)Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Index.
B)fear of crime.
C)intelligence.
D)logic.
E)strength.

Question 51

Region (East,West,South,Midwest)is what level of measurement?

A)nominal
B)ordinal
C)interval
D)ratio
E)convergent definition

Question 52

Monty used his ten-item scale on love to see how separate sets of five indicators correlated with each other.Which type of reliability is reflected in this example?

A)test-retest
B)split-half
C)using established measures
D)research worker
E)alternate test reliability

Question 53

Sophie developed a measure of job satisfaction.She validated her measure by seeing if it related to other variables that she logically expected to be related to job satisfaction.Which type of validity does this example reflect?

A)face
B)content
C)criterion-related
D)construct
E)convergent

Question 54

A researcher who defines "elite families" as those with annual incomes larger than $250,000 has __________ this concept.

A)defined
B)operationalized
C)described
D)created a marker for
E)conceptualized

Question 55

Professor Rogers created two surveys,each containing five different indicators for his measure of student engagement.She asked students in the two different sections of her research methods course each to voluntarily answer the five indicators.Which type of reliability is she likely testing?

A) test-retest.
B) established measures.
C) alternate test reliability.
D) split-half.
E) face validity.

Question 56

The main reason you need to know the level of measurement for your variables is so that

A)you can impress your readers.
B)you can try to change the variables to higher levels of measurement.
C)you won't get confused.
D)you will know which statistics to use.
E)it can be any level

Question 57

When you are worried about whether you are actually measuring what you think you are measuring,you are worried about __________.

A)internal validity
B)external validity
C)reliability
D)theory
E)content reliability

Question 58

The definition of a phenomena that represents the objective,unquestionable "truth" of it,which is rarely used by sociologists is an example of a

A)nominal definition
B)operational definition
C)interval definition
D)observable definition
E)real definition.

Question 59

_______________ involves determining the extent to which a measure represents concepts it should represent and does not represent concepts it should not represent.

A)Face validity
B)Criterion validity
C)Divergent validity
D)Construct validity
E)Content validity

Question 60

Letter grades given at the end of the term are an example of ________ measurements; calculated GPAs are a type of _________ measurement.

A)ordinal; interval
B)ordinal; ratio
C)interval; ratio
D)nominal; ratio
E)nominal; interval

Question 61

Numerical values on a ratio scale can legitimately be added,multiplied,subtracted,and divided.

Question 62

Conceptions are mental images that summarize collections of seemingly related observations and experiences.

Question 63

Numerical values on an interval scale can legitimately be added,multiplied,subtracted,and divided.

Question 64

Precise measurement is more important than accurate measurement.

Question 65

Validity refers to the link between the operational and conceptual definitions.

Question 66

Which of the following would be an example of a ratio variable?

A) religious affiliation.
B) political affiliation.
C) age.
D) number of arrests.
E) sex.

Question 67

If a measure is reliable,it must also be valid.

Question 68

The test-retest method for assessing reliability assumes that the phenomena under study does not change.

Question 69

A particular variable can usually be measured in several distinct ways using different sources of information and various observation techniques.

Question 70

It is impossible to have several indicators of only one concept.

Question 71

The split-half technique for assessing reliability is closely linked to the concept of the interchangeability of indicators.

Question 72

Concepts have a single unambiguous meaning.

Question 73

The real definition of a phenomena is the most important for researchers to understand.

Question 74

A nominal measure can have only two categories.

Question 75

When one's research purposes aren't clear,it is advisable to choose the highest level of measurement possible.

Question 76

Predictive validity is another term for criterion-related validity.

Question 77

Precision and accuracy are synonyms.

Question 78

Conceptualization is the development of research procedures that will result in empirical observations representing those concepts in the real world.

Question 79

Changing definitions almost inevitably results in different descriptive conclusions.

Question 80

Numbers assigned to ranks on an ordinal scale can legitimately be added,multiplied,subtracted,and divided.