Professor Simpkins designs a self-report measure to assess his students' perceptions of a lesson plan. In one section he lectures on the course material. In another section of the same course he supplements his lecture with a class activity. Then, his students rate the educational value of the class. Unfortunately, he doesn't learn anything about the distinction between lecturing and active learning, because both classes rated the education value as a three (very educational) on a scale from one to three. What is wrong with Professor Simpkins' research?
A) scorer bias
B) floor effect
C) ceiling effect
D) random error

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The ceiling effect occurs when the highest possible score on a measure is reached, resulting in a lack of variability in scores. In this case, all the classes rated the educational value as a three, indicating that the measure was not able to differentiate between the educational value of the lecture and active learning sections of the course. Therefore, the measure has a ceiling effect, and Professor Simpkins cannot learn anything about the distinction between lecturing and active learning.

Professor Simpkins Designs a Self-Report Measure to Assess His Students