The ordinal level of measurement involves assigning scores so that they represent the rank order of the individuals. Define measurement and give several examples of measurement in psychology. Researchers have also operationally defined stress in terms of several physiological variables including blood pressure and levels of the stress hormone cortisol. These included hitting the doll with a mallet, punching it, and kicking it. They let each of several children play for 20 minutes in a room that contained a clown-shaped punching bag called a Bobo doll. This is an extremely broad category that includes the observation of people’s behaviour both in highly structured laboratory tasks and in more natural settings. Measurement instruments for psychological attributes appear different from clocks, thermometers, sphygmomanometers, and Geiger–Müller counters. In others, researchers are still in the process of deciding which of various conceptual definitions is the best. Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). For example, when classifying people according to their favourite colour, there is no sense in which green is placed “ahead of” blue. Instead, it means that she has a general tendency to behave in extraverted ways (talking, laughing, etc.) Level of measurement used for categorical variables and involves assigning scores that act as category labels. Self-report measures are oral or written accounts from the subject themselves. Ranks communicate not only whether any two individuals are the same or different in terms of the variable being measured but also whether one individual is higher or lower on that variable. Statisticians express this point by saying that the differences between adjacent scale values do not necessarily represent equal intervals on the underlying scale giving rise to the measurements. … (Psychological measurement is often referred to as psychometrics.) Imagine, for example, that a cognitive psychologist wants to measure a person’s working memory capacity—his or her ability to hold in mind and think about several pieces of information all at the same time. The level of measurement affects the kinds of statistics you can use and conclusions you can draw from your data. She assigns the one on the bottom a score of 1, the one on top of that a 2, and so on. You can ask people how old they are and be reasonably sure that they know and will tell you. Measurement is the assignment of scores to individuals so that the scores represent some characteristic of the individuals The Big Five is a set of five broad dimensions that capture much of the variation in human personality. The psychologist S. S. Stevens suggested that scores can be assigned to individuals in a way that communicates more or less quantitative information about the variable of interest (Stevens, 1946). But researchers have operationally defined it in several ways. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 575–582. Variables that are not straightforward or simple to measure such as intelligence. Many variables studied by psychologists are straightforward and simple to measure. For any conceptual definition of a construct, there will be many different operational definitions or ways of measuring it. Behavioural measures are those in which some other aspect of participants’ behaviour is observed and recorded. For this reason, it does not make sense to say that 80 degrees is “twice as hot” as 40 degrees. He assigns the one on the bottom a score of 1, the one on top of that a 2, and so on. 4. In some cases, an older conceptual definition has been replaced by a newer one that fits and works better. Psychologists use tests and other assessment tools to measure and observe a client’s behavior to arrive at a diagnosis and guide treatment. The psychology test to measure anxiety (ISRA) allows psychologists to identify problematic anxiety factors. Measures in which some aspect of participants’ behaviour is observed and recorded. Responses are merely categorized. Psychology is the study of behavior. Their operational definition, then, was the number of these specifically defined acts that the child committed in the 20-minute period. Sometimes they throw them out altogether. I provide three examples. You can think of a ratio scale as the three earlier scales rolled up in one. (1961). Although people might not know or want to tell you how much they weigh, you can have them step onto a bathroom scale. Stages of Scale Development The American Psychological Association (1985, as quoted in Hinkin, 1995) established that sound measures must Psychological measurements are numbers assigned to represent and define the characteristics of a person. In particular, the difference between two levels of an ordinal scale cannot be assumed to be the same as the difference between two other levels (just like you cannot assume that the gap between the runners in first and second place is equal to the gap between the runners in second and third place). The Fahrenheit scale for temperature has an arbitrary zero point and is therefore not a ratio scale. Rating scales are used frequently in psychological research. For example, if you look at your research participants as they enter the room, decide whether each one is male or female, and type this information into a spreadsheet, you are engaged in nominal-level measurement. Research Methods in Psychology by Paul C. Price, Rajiv Jhangiani, & I-Chant A. Chiang is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Even if there is no change, he could still look at the correlation between students’ scores at the two times to assess the measure’s test-retest reliability. Variables can be measured at four different levels—nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio—that communicate increasing amounts of quantitative information. Psychological testing measures an individual’s performance at a specific point in time — right now. With each of these scales there is direct, measurable quantity with equality of units. The length of the longest list for which the person responds correctly is the score and represents his or her working memory capacity. Psychological constructs such as intelligence, self-esteem, and depression are variables that are not directly observable because they represent behavioural tendencies or complex patterns of behaviour and internal processes. You can often tell whether someone is male or female just by looking. The three examples clarify that psychological attributes are not directly observable through sensory detection but have to be inferred from the person’s responses to a set of problems or statements or other kinds of stimuli not discussed here, such as building blocks, mazes and games (used in child intelligence measurement) and ranking and sorting tasks (for … developing psychological measures. ), or they could time each runner to the nearest tenth of a second using a stopwatch (11.5 s, 12.1 s, etc.). The Social Readjustment Rating Scale is a self-report questionnaire on which people identify stressful events that they have experienced in the past year and assigns points for each one depending on its severity. Note that this is not how α is actually computed, but it is a correct way of interpreting the meaning of this … For example, a conceptual definition of neuroticism (another one of the Big Five) would be that it is people’s tendency to experience negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and sadness across a variety of situations. He administers the Beck Depression Inventory, which is a 21-item self-report questionnaire in which the person rates the extent to which he or she has felt sad, lost energy, and experienced other symptoms of depression over the past 2 weeks. In psychology, the intelligence quotient (IQ) is often considered to be measured at the interval level. Measurement of Sea Level is another example of an interval scale. The main research question is whether it is possible to develop a scale that truly measure expertise. Psychological Testing: A Practical Approach to Design and Evaluation by Theresa J. B. Kline is an easy-to-read, upper-level textbook covering topics related not only to basic psychological testing practices but also to methodological research components. With nominal-level measurement, for example, the only available measure of central tendency is the mode. Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). ), or they could time each runner to the nearest tenth of a second using a stopwatch (11.5 s, 12.1 s, etc.). (In our case, the underlying scale is the true feeling of satisfaction, which we are trying to measure.). Practice: Think of three operational definitions for sexual jealousy, decisiveness, and social anxiety. For example, a man who has been divorced (73 points), changed jobs (36 points), and had a change in sleeping habits (16 points) in the past year would have a total score of 125. As we will see, they do this by proposing conceptual definitions, testing them empirically, and revising them as necessary. Psychological stress and the human immune system: A meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry. Measurement used in the field of psychology. The Daily Hassles and Uplifts Scale is similar but focuses on everyday stressors like misplacing things and being concerned about one’s weight. This makes the Kelvin scale a ratio scale. To do this, she might use a backward digit span task, in which she reads a list of two digits to the person and asks him or her to repeat them in reverse order. A bone is broken or it isn't. These kinds of variables are called constructs (pronounced CON-structs) and include personality traits (e.g., extraversion), emotional states (e.g., fear), attitudes (e.g., toward taxes), and abilities (e.g., athleticism). An university instructor measures the time it takes her students to finish an exam by looking through the stack of exams at the end. The classifications are important because they determine the type of statistical analysis you can do with the survey data you collect. Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. Category labels communicate whether any two individuals are the same or different in terms of the variable being measured. When psychologists use multiple operational definitions of the same construct—either within a study or across studies—they are using converging operations. (Psychological measurement is often referred to as psychometrics .) Such an assertion reflects the first person’s use of a verbal label that comes later in the list than the label chosen by the second person. (Psychological measurement is often referred to as psychometrics.) Psychologist Stanley Smith Stevens developed the best-known classification with four levels, or scales, of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. Participants in a research study are asked whether they are right-handed or left-handed. Explain what a psychological construct is and give several examples. measurement is an interval scale. Each of the Big Five can even be defined in terms of six more specific constructs called “facets” (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Like a nominal scale, it provides a name or category for each object (the numbers serve as labels). However, zero on the Kelvin scale is absolute zero. Measures in which participants report on their own thoughts, feelings, and actions. For e.g. Since money has a true zero point, it makes sense to say that someone with 50 cents has twice as much money as someone with 25 cents. However, Physiological Measurement is a major area of the diagnostic service portfolio, providing a wide range of specialist investigations and Although people do not normally think of categorizing or ranking individuals as measurement, in fact they are as long as they are done so that they represent some characteristic of the individuals. Practice: For each of the following variables, decide which level of measurement is being used. Psychological testing may sound intimidating, but it's designed to help you. The Social Readjustment Rating Scale is a self-report questionnaire on which people identify stressful events that they have experienced in the past year and assigns points for each one depending on its severity. Practice: Think of three operational definitions for sexual jealousy, decisiveness, and social anxiety. Stress is a good example. A definition of a psychological construct that describes the behaviours and internal processes of that construct and how it relates to other variables. It does not require placing individuals or objects on bathroom scales, holding rulers up to them, or inserting thermometers into them. For example, a conceptual definition of neuroticism (another one of the Big Five) would be that it is people’s tendency to experience negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and sadness across a variety of situations. For example, to say that a particular college student is highly extroverted (see Note 5.6 “The Big Five”) does not necessarily mean that she is behaving in an extroverted way right now. They filmed each child and counted the number of acts of physical aggression he or she committed. When psychologists use multiple operational definitions of the same construct—either within a study or across studies—they are using converging operations. Perhaps the most common measure of internal consistency used by researchers in psychology is a statistic called Cronbachs α (the Greek letter alpha). When scores based on several different operational definitions are closely related to each other and produce similar patterns of results, this constitutes good evidence that the construct is being measured effectively and that it is useful. In psychology, the intelligence quotient (IQ) is often considered to be measured at the interval level. The most powerful statistical techniques are appropriate with interval measurement. It is also consistent with measurement in the other sciences. Other variables studied by psychologists—perhaps the majority—are not so straightforward or simple to measure. Notice also that neither extroversion nor fear “reduces to” any particular thought, feeling, act, or physiological structure or process. It does not require placing individuals or objects on bathroom scales, holding rulers up to them, or inserting thermometers into them. A college instructor measures the time it takes his students to finish an exam by looking through the stack of exams at the end. In fact, she might be sitting quietly by herself, reading a book. Notice also that neither extraversion nor fear “reduces to” any particular thought, feeling, act, or physiological structure or process. We cannot accurately assess people’s level of intelligence by looking at them, and we certainly cannot put their self-esteem on a bathroom scale. Also, ratio-level measurement is the only level that allows meaningful statements about ratios of scores. Zero degrees Fahrenheit does not represent the complete absence of temperature (the absence of any molecular kinetic energy). After all, if the “zero” label were applied at the temperature that Fahrenheit happens to label as 10 degrees, the two ratios would instead be 30 to 10 and 90 to 40, no longer the same! Stevens’s levels of measurement are important for at least two reasons. 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