FSU POS 3713 EXAM 2 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
1. Why might comparisons between units NOT give us accurate causal infer- ences?-
Answers - Because there are other ditterences between units, besides our independent variable of interest; this could
mean a spurious relationship. Even when you think you know you might not actually know *shrug*
2. What are some threats to internal validity?- Answers - Threats- Answers - History, Maturation, Testing,
Selection bias
3. What makes experiments unique?- Answers - Random assignment to treatment and control variables
4. What are the different challenges to experimental design, and different types of
experiments?- Answers - Values of many IV's cannot be randomly assigned (Ex. Gender, religion, war);
Ditterence between lab and actual world (Ex. External validity); Convenience samples (Ex. Experiments on campus that
recruits
FSU undergrads)
5. What is external validity?- Answers - how confident you are that your findings can apply to other people's
findings
6. What are some threats to external validity?- Answers - The stimulus itself, the participants in the
study,
the study's artificial setting
7. What is Random Selection?- Answers - you randomly choose the units you will actually collect data on from
a pool of units (helps deal with external validity concerns)
8. Random Assignment- Answers - does not help with external validity concerns
9. Time Series- Answers - single unit sampled over many time periods
10. Cross-Sectional- Answers - many units sampled over a single time period
11. What's the primary tool we use to help ensure that the units in observational research
are comparable?- Answers - using control variables
12. What do we want from measurements?- Answers - validity, reliability, unbias
13. Measurement Validity- Answers - extent to which your operational approach accurately measures the
concept of
1/5
, interest
14. Face Validity- Answers - does an operational approach create a measure that appears to capture what it's
supposed to? Ex. What is your first reaction to the idea of an IQ test?
15. Content Validity- Answers - does an operational approach capture all the elements of a concept, or does it leave
some out? Ex. Does an IQ test have items covering all aspects of intelligence?
16. Construct Validity- Answers - the degree to which the measure is related to other measures that theory
requires it to be related to. Ex. Does a person's IQ test score correlate with things what we think intelligence is
associated with?
17. What is measurement reliability?- Answers - Extent to which re-application of a measurement
method produces identical values for a variable. Basically, if you applied the same rules to the same thing a bunch of
times, would you get the same results?
2/5
1. Why might comparisons between units NOT give us accurate causal infer- ences?-
Answers - Because there are other ditterences between units, besides our independent variable of interest; this could
mean a spurious relationship. Even when you think you know you might not actually know *shrug*
2. What are some threats to internal validity?- Answers - Threats- Answers - History, Maturation, Testing,
Selection bias
3. What makes experiments unique?- Answers - Random assignment to treatment and control variables
4. What are the different challenges to experimental design, and different types of
experiments?- Answers - Values of many IV's cannot be randomly assigned (Ex. Gender, religion, war);
Ditterence between lab and actual world (Ex. External validity); Convenience samples (Ex. Experiments on campus that
recruits
FSU undergrads)
5. What is external validity?- Answers - how confident you are that your findings can apply to other people's
findings
6. What are some threats to external validity?- Answers - The stimulus itself, the participants in the
study,
the study's artificial setting
7. What is Random Selection?- Answers - you randomly choose the units you will actually collect data on from
a pool of units (helps deal with external validity concerns)
8. Random Assignment- Answers - does not help with external validity concerns
9. Time Series- Answers - single unit sampled over many time periods
10. Cross-Sectional- Answers - many units sampled over a single time period
11. What's the primary tool we use to help ensure that the units in observational research
are comparable?- Answers - using control variables
12. What do we want from measurements?- Answers - validity, reliability, unbias
13. Measurement Validity- Answers - extent to which your operational approach accurately measures the
concept of
1/5
, interest
14. Face Validity- Answers - does an operational approach create a measure that appears to capture what it's
supposed to? Ex. What is your first reaction to the idea of an IQ test?
15. Content Validity- Answers - does an operational approach capture all the elements of a concept, or does it leave
some out? Ex. Does an IQ test have items covering all aspects of intelligence?
16. Construct Validity- Answers - the degree to which the measure is related to other measures that theory
requires it to be related to. Ex. Does a person's IQ test score correlate with things what we think intelligence is
associated with?
17. What is measurement reliability?- Answers - Extent to which re-application of a measurement
method produces identical values for a variable. Basically, if you applied the same rules to the same thing a bunch of
times, would you get the same results?
2/5
