Research Methods: Chapter 5
Terms
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- acquiescent response set
- The tendency of individuals to go along with any request or attitudinal statement.
- behavioral diaries
- Data collection method in which the research participant keeps a record of events at the time they occur.
- big five factors (OCEAN)
- The collective name for five broaad domains of individual personality: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
- bipolar rating scales
- Rating scales in which the ends of the scales are exreme opposites.
- ceiling effect
- Situation in which the amount of change that can be produced is limited by the upper boundar of the measure.
- central tendency bias
- A type of response set in which the respondent is reluctant to give extreme ratings and instead rates in the direction of the mean of the total group.
- critical incident technique
- Open-ended method that instructs the respondent to describe an observable action the purpose of which is fairly clear to the respondent and the consequences of which are sufficiently definite to leave little doubt about its effects.
- cue words
- Guiding labels that define particualr points or categories of response.
- evaluation, potenct, and activity
- Three primary dimensions of connotative meaning, which are typically measured by a semantic differetial.
- face-to-face interview (structured ) measures
- An interview in which the interviewer and the respondent directly interact with one another face to face.
- forced-choice scales
- Measures that use an item format requiring the respondent to select a single item (or a specified number of items) from a presented set of choices, even when the respondent finds acceptable no choice or more than one of the choices.
- graphic scales
- Rating scales in the form of a straight line with cue words attached.
- halo effect
- A response set in which the bias results from the judge's overextending a favorable impression of someone, based on some central trait, to the person's other characteristics.
- interview schedule
- A script that contains the questionms the interviewer will ask.
- leading questions
- Questions that can constrain responses and produce biased answers.
- leniency bias
- A type of rating error in which the ratings are consistently more positive than they should be.
- Lie (L) Scale
- A set of items in the MMPI that were designed to identify resposdents who are deliberately trying to appear "better" than they believe they are.
- Likert scales
- Attitude scales construced by the method of summated ratings, developed by Renses Likert.
- logical error in rating
- A type of response set in which the judge gives similar ratings for variables or traits that are only intuitivly related.
- method of equal-appearing intervals
- An attitude-scaling technique, developed by L. L. Thurstone, in which values are obtained for items on the assumption that the underlying intervals are equidistant; also called a Thurstone Scale.
- Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
- A structured personality test containing hundreds of statements that reflect general health, sexual attitudes, religious attitudes, emotional state, and so on.
- norm-referenced
- Indicates that a standardized test has norms (typical values), so that a person's score can be compared with those of a reference group.
- numerical scales
- Rating scales in which the respondent works with a sequence of defined numbers.
- open-ended measures
- Questions or items that offer the respondent an opportunity ti express feelings, motives, or behaviors spontaneously.
- pilot testing
- The evaluation of some aspect of the research before the the study is implemented.
- projective test
- A psychological measure that operates on the principle that the subject will project some unconscious aspect of his or her life experience and emotions onto ambiguous stimuli in the spontaneous responses that come to mind (The Rorschach test and the Thematic Apperception Test).
- rater biases
- Another name for rating errors or response biases.
- rating errors
- Systematic errors in responses on rating scales.
- rating scales
- The common name for a variety of measuring instruments on which the observer or judge gives a numerical value (either explicitly or implicitly) to certain judgments or assessments.
- Rorschach test
- A projective test that consists of a set of inkblots on pieces of cardboard.
- segmented graphic scale
- A rating scale in the form of a line that is broken into segments.
- method of self-report
- The procedure of having the research participants describe their own behavior or state of mind (used in interviews, questionnaires, and behavioral diaries).
- semantic differential method
- A type of rating procedure in which connotative (or subjective) meaning is judged in terms of several dimensions, usually evaluation, potency, and activity.
- standardized measure
- A measurement (of ability, personality, judgement, and attitude) that requires that certain rules be followed in the development, administration, and scoring of the measuring instruments.
- summated ratings method
- A method of attitude scaling, developed by Rensis Likert, that uses item analysis to selcet the best items.
- telephone interview
- An interview that is conducted by phone rather than face to face.
- Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
- A projective test that consistsds of a set of pictures, usually of people in various life contexts.
- yea-sayers
- Respondents who answer questions consistently in the affirmative.