Validity Essays (Examples)

Validity
When conducting a research study, the researcher needs to pay particular attention to the reliability and validity of his or her research instruments. These concepts form the basis of the academic acceptability and even excellence in a study. Hence, any researcher should be concerned with maximizing especially the validity of his or her work. In addition to internal consistency, various forms of validity can be identified, including face validity, content validity, criterion validity, and construct validity. All these validity forms form an important component of ensuring the strength of a research project.

Internal consistency refers to the homogeneity of a measure. When a questionnaire is offered to sports apparel customers in one of the countries (United States or Kenya) represented in the study, for example, it should be ensured that all the questions would produce valid scores for specific populations. This can be done by comparing half the items…

Finally, internal consistency reliability looks at items in the same test, to see if they measure the same construct in the same way (Cherry, 2011, eliability). However, all of these measures of reliability are useless if a test does not measure what it purports to measure.
Validity looks at whether a test measures what it claims to measure. Only valid tests can be used to be accurately applied or interpreted (Cherry, 2011, Validity). There are three different types of validity: content validity, criterion-related validity, and construct validity. Content validity means that "the items on the test represent the entire range of possible items the test should cover" (Cherry, 2011, Validity). Criterion-related validity means that the test can predict criterion or indicators of a construct. Concurrent validity means that the "test scores accurately estimate an individual's current state with regards to the criterion" (Cherry, 2011, Validity). Predictive validity means that a…

This may occur when populations show wide variations in their responses to particular hypotheses, which are in violation of the expected response.
Construct validity may be compromised when alternative correspondences are achieved between a construct and an unexpected concept found within the actual environment being studied. In other words, when the construct does not correspond with the original hypothesis, its validity would be compromised.

In cloud computing and determining inside threats, various elements may need to be taken into account before taking action. One potential compromise to such an investigation might be the lack of validity when estimating potential threats. In other words, insider threats might be considered higher among employees who are knowledgeable in computer technology and spend more time at the company than other employees. However, such employees can be to the detriment of a full investigation, which might reveal a threat from another source, which might be…

Validity and Reliability
Types of Validity

According to Trochim (2007), there are six different types of construct validity. Construct validity pertains to the accurate reflection of the operationalization's construct within the conclusion. Of the six types, Trochim (2007) divides them up to translation validity -- which depends on the definition of the construct and the checks against it -- and criterion-related validity -- which applies one's theory of construct and examines the proper behavior of the operationalization. The two translation validity types are thus: face validity, which views an operationalization solely on its face value; and content validity, which juxtaposes operationalization with the content domain of the construct. The four criterion-related validity types are thus: predictive validity, which uses prediction to evaluate operationalization; concurrent validity, where operationalization is gauged in its being able to distinguish between two similar groups; convergent validity, a gauging of how similar an operationalization is to…

Techniques for testing reliability, on the other hand, can be achieved through the test-retest, alternative-forms, and internal consistency methods. Test-retest method administers an instrument to the same population in two different periods/occasions, and the difference between the scores of the first and second administration determines the reliability of the construct under study. Alternative-forms is similar to test-retest method; only, the flow of the instrument in the second administration is reversed, and the difference of the results of the 1st and 2nd tests determines the instrument's reliability score. Lastly, the internal consistency method looks at the construct's consistency when the instrument is tested itself -- that is, if the instrument will be deconstructed, would it still generate reliability scores at par or higher than the scores generated from other test/techniques? (Smith, 1988:46-47).
Under the qualitative research design, reliability and validity are determined differently. Ultimately, data validity and reliability in qualitative researches…

Validity Coefficient
It is important to consider several important factors when interpreting the meaning of a validity coefficient, especially as it applies to various practical situations. For example, a relatively low validity coefficient might be alright in certain situations. If a branch of the armed forces needed to recruit large numbers of new members in a short period of time, it would be flexible in interpreting the meaning of a particular study's validity coefficient. On the other hand, situations might demand a narrow interpretation of the validity coefficient. Using a similar example, if individuals were being screened for entry into a specialized division of the secret services, the factors related to the validity coefficient would be far more meaningful. The factors that impact the validity coefficient are generally related to the cost-benefit ratio.

The above examples of military recruitment illustrate the various factors affecting the validity coefficient. In situations in…

Presumably, the reliability of the responses between a monitored study and an unmonitored study could be validated by consistent reportage from the peer and the incumbent. This method was also used to control for the study's overall validity: the study would be a more valid measure of counterproductive work actions and their relationship to work stressors if an outside source validated the incumbent's responses.
The study's authors still acknowledge a contradiction: self-reports may be inaccurate or self-serving, yet peer reports may overemphasize the importance of publically observed stressors. Interpersonal conflict is easier to recognize than daydreaming or covert productivity slowdowns, for example. But by soliciting peers and self-reported surveys and classifying different types of stressors, the study's authors hoped to control for such a bias through diversity of responses. Additionally, to reduce fear of reprisals, the surveys were submitted in a completely anonymous fashion, to ensure greater reliability between the…

Validity
The problem discussed in the case is whether or not the government should manage health care in the United States. The authors identify several problems with the current health care system, including costs that are rising faster than inflation, that health care coverage costs are rising even faster than that, and there are millions of uninsured. The problem can be tackled by using any of a number of logical approaches. Arguably, none of them were used by the articles, whose arguments would not cut muster at a decent high school, let alone in a journal.

Causal thinking seeks to understand the causes of the problem, as a means of identifying the areas where remedy should be applied. There are several causes of the problems. Costs are escalating in part because of innovation, which drives higher quality but also makes costs increase. Insurance companies also contribute to the cost, because…

Validity of the ACSM prediction equation to estimate submaximal
O2 during cycle ergometry in cyclists and aerobically-trained non-cyclists

Several methods have been developed to estimate oxygen consumption (

O2) during exercise. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) developed equations to predict the energy cost of various activities, including walking, running, and arm and cycle ergometry. The ACSM cycle ergometery equation uses pedal frequency (rpm), distance of flywheel travel (meters), applied resistance to the flywheel (kp), and an estimation of the resting metabolism to predict oxygen cost during submaximal cycle exercise between 50 and 200 watts (W). This equation appears as:

O2 = (kg•m•min-1 x 2 ml•kg•m-1) + (3.5 kg•m•min-1 x M)

where

O2 is in ml•min-1 and M. is the subject's body mass in kg (Franklin, 2000).

The variability in direct

O2 measures has been shown to have a standard error of the estimate of up to 7%; the…

Validity of Accountability Systems
Susan Fuhrman's policy brief entitled "Redesigning Accountability Systems for Education" investigates the effectiveness of existing educational accountability systems, and proposes changes to them for greater effectiveness. Educational accountability systems for American public schools need to be reworked in light of the growing numbers of minority students and awareness that the current system may be discriminatory. Accountability is, however, totally relevant and necessary given the low performance of most schools. The author states that accountability systems work on the principle that student performance is the top priority of all schools and that assessment instruments are one of the most effective means to measure student performance. Moreover, placing accountability systems in public schools promotes better performance because they work on a reward-consequence basis.

Fuhrman's article is balanced and objective, as the author analyses the validity and fairness of existing accountability systems and questions whether or not they are…

Validity & eliability eview
The author of this report has been asked to find and select an article with a specific purpose in mind. Namely, the author of the report is supposed to review the article for implications regarding validity and reliability. To be more precise, if there are gaps in either, the author of this report is to identify them and then identify what could be done to avoid such issues in future or different studies. A recent study about feedback interactions revealed some gaps that could be threats to reliability or validity.

To begin to evaluate the validity and reliability of the selected peer-reviewed journal, the author of this report shall first zone in on the sampling. As noted in the applicable section, the authors note "our overriding sampling logic was to find contexts that had shown a history of successfully using feedback in creative work, enabling us…

Instead of pretending that racism and its effects no longer exist, we need to strengthen affirmative action and devise a new set of policies that directly tackle the racial gap in wealth." (Derrity, 1).
That, in a nutshell, is the position of this paper. America has not given affirmative action enough time to act. Moving forward, we should continue our affirmative action policies, but with an end in mind. Economists and sociologists, along with help from America's captains of industry and human resources experts, should devise an ideal time frame whereby affirmative action will end, and set outside and inside goals for this time frame as well.

But for now, affirmative action must continue, and continue with gusto, to reverse the horrors that America's history has caused.

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW of RELATED LITERATURE

History of Affirmative Action review of the history associated with affirmative action is the first step to…

Validity
The types of reliability used consist of test-retest reliability and internal consistency where the types of validity that were used are construct validity and criterion validity (vmiman). The test-retest reliability is an assessment of the similarity of scores on a particular scale over two or more test occasions. The Pearson correlation coefficients are used to quantify the similarity between the scale scores over two or more occasions. Stability coefficients provide an important indicator of a test's likely usefulness of measurement.

Internal consistency is known as scale homogeneity and is an assessment of the ability of the items in a scale to measure the same construct or trait. A parameter can be computed that indexes how well the items in a scale contribute to the overall measurement. A scale is internally consistent if all the constituent item responses are positively associated with their scale score. The most common is Cronbach's…

It is also possible that voters could change their attitudes after having completed the questionnaire. This could affect the validity of the results for the experimental group. To handle this eventuality, several questionnaires can be delivered over time for the whole group before the experimental group is selected. A mean can then be determined to most accurately divide the group into a similar experimental and control group.

After the experimental group is determined, negative advertisements can be displayed. In order increase the validity of this experiment, a number of survey questionnaires over time can also be delivered in order to minimize non-visible influences such as an extreme reaction to a particular person in a particular advertisement. At the same time, the same number of questionnaires can be delivered to the control group.

A mean of all the questionnaires over the determined time can then provide relatively accurate data regarding whether…

p.). For the classroom teacher, an instrument with validity will satisfy these parameters.
Content-Based Assessments

1) What evidence should be provided that learners have mastered content?

When teachers give content-based assessments, they are measuring how much information students have retained from lectures, discussions, readings and other learning experiences (e.g., homework, projects). In creating a content-based assessment, the teacher must look at all the learning materials and experiences that have taken place during the unit or course of study. The questions that are asked must accurately reflect this content so mastery can be assessed. Teachers have to ask the right questions to give students an opportunity to give the right answers.

2) How would an instructor determine whether a content-based assessment reflects learner knowledge?

Instructors must design test instruments that allow students to demonstrate their content knowledge and also put that knowledge into practice. It is not enough for students to…

his is conveyed through the verb 'promote,' in other words students are given a positive sense about learning and the teacher tries to ensure that every aspect of the classroom, even the bulletin boards and the playtime activities, create a learning environment.
he emphasis on 'results' underlines the need for classroom interactions to meet certain standards and achieve certain goals, like the need for students to acquire very specific basic skills. Also, it underlines the fact that students will be judged by the results they show during a performance (like on a test or a paper). his is especially important given the greater role and importance of standardized exams in assessments of students and schools.

he definition highlights that lesson plans always have a goal, but the way this goal of meeting certain desired results must exhibit flexibility as well as design. his is the only way to empower students.…

validity of the two official U.S. government reasons: 1) military necessity and 2) protection of the Japanese-Americans, for the imprisonment of Japanese-American and Japanese Issei during orld ar II. Be specific in your reasoning and examples.
One of the most shocking decisions in the history of American injustices is the official, legalized internment of Japanese-Americans and Japanese Issei during orld ar II. hile Americans fought a war abroad for democracy, against the racist tyrant Adolph Hitler of Germany, back home Japanese-Americans and legal Japanese resident aliens were deprived of their liberty and property, simply because of their racial and ethnic heritage. The official reasons given for the internment were military necessity and the protection of the Japanese-Americans. The first statement of 'military necessity,' or national security, as a justification for internment, implied that Japanese-American and Japanese Issei was more 'suspect' than other Americans. It was assumed these Asian-Americans had divided…

validity of the argument and the counterargument for corporal punishment on children and adolescents. The paper furthermore attempts to view this issue from the perspective of the adults administering and questioning this issues as well as from the perspective of the young people on the receiving end of punishment. In this way, the paper aims to provide holistic context by arguing for both sides of the issues from more than one perspective.
Corporal punishment is an issue that is debated often with respect to local and global issues. Corporal punishment is most often applied to children in the home and as part of their formal education. Corporal may be experienced in other institutions, including in situations where adults experience corporal punishment such as in the military, prison, fraternities, and in the home as part of domestic abuse. There is often a spectrum of perspective with regard to the issue of…

However, many times, viewing an object in relation to other objects does indeed transcend the permanence of the meaning and create new meaning. Therefore, our knowledge of what we are convinced is real can change, which highlights the question of whether or not our original knowledge was real before it changed; or if knowledge can ever be real. Socrates posed these questions initially, pondering the ability to agree that something "is" no matter what it might eventually be or not be.
Brumbaugh thus presents the following three principles that comprise this argument:

"1. e only contact these objects through subjective images. e never perceive them directly.

2. These objects contain a number of properties that are mixed together. Any description of the object that doesn't separate out these properties cannot explain what makes the object act the way it does. For example, if all you know about [an] & #8230;…

Validity, in essence, has got to do with the extent to which a given research study measures the accuracy of a specific concept – effectively meaning that a study can be said to have passed the validity test if it accurately mirrors that which the researchers set about to investigate. In quantitative research, as Polit and Beck (2012) point out, “researchers strive to design studies that are strong with respect to all four types of study validity” (p. 303). As the authors further point out, while an attempt to enhance one kind of validity may benefit another form of validity, efforts to ensure one kind of validity sometimes end up interfering with the achievement of other validity types. The four kinds of validity to be taken into consideration in the review of a research design are identified as external validity, internal validity, construct validity, and statistical conclusion validity (Balnaves and…

Further Briggs (2008)
adds weight to the argument saying although internal validity and the statistical conclusion adds weight to the causal effect, external validity and construct validity are essential for the causal effects and generalization purposes to many settings. To ensure concrete construct validity level on a study's dependent variable, re-examination for reliability is noteworthy not just the causal effect. Details on the sample and sampling procedures should be analyzed thoroughly for rigorous data Creswell, 2008()

Threats to external validity

Non-representative sampling

It implies a situation where sample picked to act as a representative of the population is insufficient to cover all facets of the population. In this case, the sample is inadequate to act as a representative and is expected to obscure generalization of research result.

Non-representative research context

It describes a situation where the research was set out of context. Example if the survey conducted tried to evaluate…

This prompts the recommendation that a tape recorder be used to ensure that data sets are accurately reported and that, additionally, the findings and analysis may be cross-checked against actual recorded evidence of the exchange and intonations thereby produced.
External validity is somewhat more complex, because it demands that the outcome of our research is not just illuminating of findings concerning the specific resource officer and district interviewed, but can also be applied to our broader understanding of the subject. The best way to accomplish this is to conduct an array of interviews all guided by a very similar line of questions, differentiated only by the individual directions into which individual subjects will tend to steer questions. The result should be multiple sets of data allowing for comparison and synthesis of qualitative findings.

This interest is also useful in achieving a better understanding of the reliability of the proposed study.…

internal validity and external validity are important when designing, implementing, and reviewing empirical research. Internal validity refers to the design of the research and its methodology. Issues like sampling, statistical analyses, robustness of the variables, survey instruments, and researcher bias can impact internal validity. With regards to my research question, internal validity is of the utmost importance. The independent variables in this case include two different types of interventions: bloodless cardiac surgeries and blood transfusions. However, it is important to operationalize these two independent variables so that the researchers are clear on what exactly constitutes a bloodless surgery and a blood transfusion. Moreover, issues like hospital setting must be taken into account as a potentially confounding variable. When, where, and how these procedures are implemented can all have a bearing on the internal validity of the research design.
Likewise, the dependent variables are morbidity and mortality in patients. It is…

Measurement and Concepts of Validity
"As you move up the ladder of measurement, the amount of information that is gained increases. At the lowest level, you have only categorization" (Measurement, n.d.: 21). The lowest level of measurement is the nominal scale which "simply places people, events, perceptions, etc. into categories based on some common trait" (Garger 2010). For example, a group of people deemed to be overweight in a medical study would be a nominal category. With every successive level of measurement "you add knowledge about the order of the categories included" (Measurement, n.d.: 21). Thus, with an ordinal scale, data is ranked from lowest to highest which makes the scale more information-rich than the nominal scale (Garger 2010). To use the above-cited example, this might include rankings of persons according to their weight in kilos. The next level above the ordinal scale, the interval scale classifies, orders, and also…

Internal Validity
Is maturation a possible threat to the internal validity of the study? Why or why not?

For measures of academic achievement, six months (which is the intended length of the study) is not a long enough period of time to be very concerned about maturation as a threat to internal validity. Most academic achievement tests have longer durations. Maturation is something to be considered because of the varying ages of the study participants, and the fact that we know children's brains mature at different rates and some mathematical concepts are not understood until the human brain does mature to certain levels. Moreover, since the boys will move in and out of residency, their exposure to other reading instructions methods and tutoring cannot be controlled.

Is history a possible threat to the internal validity of the study? Why or why not?

Yes. History is the occurrence of some unanticipated…

Measurement Validity and eliability
eliability and Validity

Gomez, D., Haas, B., Ahmed, N. Tien, H., & Nathens, A. (2011). Disaster preparedness of Canadian trauma centres: the perspective of medical directors of trauma.

Canadian Journal of Surgery, 54(1): 9-17.

The dependent variable examined in this study was the disaster preparedness of trauma centers. The dependent variable was measured using a questionnaire which was distributed to twenty-nine trauma centers in Canada. The medical director of each trauma center was invited to respond to the questions on the instrument. The researchers then employed descriptive statistics to describe the state of preparedness based on measures within the instrument.

The question of validity is essentially does the instrument measure what it purports to measure. The issue of validity in a study has several components that may be separated into categories of internal and external validity. Elements such as face validity, content and construct validity are…

b) Preexperimental design and quasi-experimental design- a Preexperimental design is a design that acts as a blueprint for the actual research and a quasi-experimental design is a design that resembles a quantitative or qualitative research design but lacks controls.

c) history and maturation -- history refers to events that take place outside of the experiment that may affect participants' responses to the experiment and maturation refers to the change that occurs during the course of an experiment.

d) random sampling, randomization, and matching - random sampling refers to the choosing subjects to participate in an experiment on a purely random basis in which all subjects have the same chance of being selected. Randomization is the process of making something random and matching is the reduction of bias when analyzing data.

e) environmental variables and extraneous variables -- environmental variables are variable that exist in the environment that can have an…

bias, internal validity, external validity, and reliability.
There are several important issues with the research conducted by this anonymous female student that impacts the reliability and validity of her findings. Firstly, it appears that the researcher formulated her hypothesis before she had gathered all the facts available regarding the topic which is a major issue. She has an opinion that lower income people vote less than those with higher incomes and seems to have looked for data to support the hypothesis rather than forming a hypothesis which accounts for the data. In addition, in the question regarding this hypothetical research it is stated that she searched the internet and library, but there is no information as to the quality or reliability of the sources that she used in her research which also calls her findings into question. I would also be concerned with the world almanac she is using as…

Because of this the results of the test may not be effective for what I am studying.
In a study done by ipley and Yuill, (2005), Patterns of language impairment and behavior in boys excluded from school, expressive and receptive language issues in boys barred from primary and secondary schools, to examine the degree of harm, the outline of associations between age, receptive and expressive language, and associations with dissimilar aspects of behavior was evaluated. The final sample consisted of nineteen excluded boys, fourteen from secondary schools, and five from primary schools and the same number of age-matched controls. Causes for exclusion included verbal and physical violence, failure to follow rules, and other behavior troubles including possession of a dangerous weapon, and for one child, running away from school.

In this study The Word Definitions (WD) task from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children was utilized to tap a child's…

Reliability and Validity of the Results
Accuracy

Precision

Validity

Reliability

Analyzing Internal Validity of the Research Design

Maturation

Testing

Statistical Regression

Selection

Experimental Mortality

Analyzing External Validity of the Research Design

Interaction

Pretesting

Multiple Treatments or Interventions

Recommendation of a Better Design

Evaluate the Reliability and Validity of the Results

In the ashington Post (2015), an article titled "How was Sexual Assault Measured," by Scott Clement, there are many factors needed to be evaluated in order to better test the true accuracy, precision, validity and reliability of the survey presented. This particular post outlines the research survey undertaken by Kaiser Family Foundation, which assessed the extent and prevalence of sexual assault. The results of the study brought about the conclusion that 20% of the prevailing and recent female students in college, that subside within the campus or near it have reported of being sexually assaulted during this time as they…

eliability and Validity in Psychological Testing
In any kind of academic and professional testing, it is important to obtain at least some degree of reliability and validity. Failing this, the tests cannot be applied for results that are consistent or usable in an academic setting, since they cannot be verified in terms of repeatability or in comparison to other results. In psychology, which is more often than not studied by qualitative rather than quantitative means, it is often difficult to establish reliability and validity, since the specific numbers to do so are lacking. However, there are means to ensure an optimal level of validity and reliability in this kind of testing

eliability

According to Kline (2013, p. 7), reliability comes in two distinct manifestations: eliability in terms of consistency over time, and reliability in terms of internal consistency. Overtime, reliability is determined by administering tests to the same individuals on…

Sociology -- Social Work
External validity is connected to generalizing. That's the key thing one needs to bear in mind when designing and conducting research. External validity refers to the expected truth of conclusion the connect generalizations. Put in more layman's terms, external validity is the amount to which the conclusions in ones study would grasp for other persons in further places and at additional times (Neuman, 2006).

External validity speaks to the capability to generalize ones study to further people and additional circumstances. In order to have sturdy external validity, one needs a likelihood sample of subjects or respondents put together utilizing random techniques from a plainly defined population. Preferably, one will have a good sample of groups. One will have a sample of dimensions and circumstances. When one has sturdy external validity, you can generalize to further people and circumstances with assurance. Public opinion surveys characteristically put substantial…

Adult Learning Assessment
Adult learners comprise one of the fastest-growing segments of students today, and adult learners typically have needs that differentiate them from the younger learner. There is already much scholarship devoted to how the adult student learns new information. This understanding of the different learning styles has been taken into consideration in the design of courses and curricula for adult learners.

However, teaching tools are only part of the equation. Educators must also be able to assess if the adult learner is indeed retaining the information at both a critical and analytical level. Thus, in addition to the development of curricula, Cooledge et al. (2000) discussed the need to develop proper assessment tools for adult learners. In particular, Cooledge et al. (2000) focuses on the validity and reliability of portfolio assessment, one of the most popular tools in adult education.

The first part of this article is a…

credibility, reliability, and/Or validity, and explain why. e specific, and provide examples.
Credibility, Reliability and Validity in Fiebert (2004)

The source provided by Fiebert (2004), published in Sexuality & Culture, 8(3-4) and entitled "References Examining Assaults y Women on Their Spouses Or Male Partners: An Annotated ibliography" offers a concise overview of a broad sampling of literature on the subject of female-on-male spousal assault. At its outset, the study indicates a sampling of 155 scholarly investigations, 126 empirical studies and 29 reviews and from this selection of literature which is outlined in brief qualitative passages concludes "that women are as physically aggressive, or more aggressive, than men in their relationships with their spouses or male partners." (Fiebert, p. 140)

Credibility:

It is not established with any certainty that the researcher delivering the report is in a position of authority on the subject. In fact, in the context of the report…

threats to validity in an experimental design. Your response should include an evaluation of the choice of design, the author's rationale for the design choice, the types of validity presented and the critical differences among them, the author's performance in explaining them, and how you would assess the study's validity and the information you would require to do so.
Choice of research design:

The efficacy of female condom skills training in HIV risk reduction among women

andomized clinical trials are often considered the 'gold standard' of good medical research. This is because randomized trials make use of an experimental and control group and the randomization process is designed to eliminate possible selection bias, which causes correlative rather than correlative factors to potentially skew results. In the case of Choi (et al. 2008) according to the study "The efficacy of female condom skills training in HIV risk reduction among women" a…

For example, a test that requires students to make use of vocabulary words only pertinent to certain areas of the country, whether rural or urban (a city child may have never seen a cow, or know that a cow and a bull are the same animal) might result in poorer assessment of that child than is warranted. A Caucasian child might not be asked to describe common Vietnamese foods, but a recent Vietnamese immigrant might be called to do so on an intelligence test.
This is hardly culturally fair in assessing intelligence, even if children who are immigrants or bilingual might benefit from additional resource room help. Remember, even though a bilingual child may need English help, this is not a reflection of his or her general intelligence quotient, even if poor English ability may result in a lower test score on an English-administered test. After all, an affluent child…

Slow
The Illusion of Validity.

In this chapter, Kahneman pursues the further implications of two principles described earlier in the book. One is WYSIATI, or What You See Is All There Is: this is the tendency to tell a coherent story based on the immediate visible evidence, without consideration that there might be significant additional evidence. The second is Confidence by Coherence: in Kahneman's account, a story that feels coherent gives a person an unwarranted sense of confidence. Confidence in a judgment usually means that an individual has constructed a coherent story about available evidence, not that the story is true. And feeling confident about one's judgments creates the illusion of validity and the illusion of skill in making those judgments, even when it is contradicted by the evidence. The average stock-trader on Wall Street actually performs a worse job than if the stocks were traded randomly -- what happens…

The critical task then is to evaluate through critical judgment how closely aligned or far removed the original goal that the secondary data was originally created to respond to. There is also the need to evaluate the credibility and biases of the authors and publishers of the secondary data. Answering this question is also critical to keep the correct context of the secondary data as well. Above all, when working with secondary data, the underlying unmet need that lead to its development in the first place, the methodologies that primary data integrated into the secondary data relied on, and any biases of the writers and publishers need to be taken into account. The bottom line is that secondary data, to have been created, was precisely aligned with an unmet information need. It is up to the researcher to ascertain how closely aligned or how far removed their specific objectives are…

Reliability a. Dependability means emphasis on the need for researchers to take into consideration, the ever-evolving context within research as it happens (Creswell & Miller, 2000). The responsibility of qualitative research is to describe the changes naturally occurring in the setting as well as how such changes researchers approach the study. To address dependability within a qualitative research study, a person can perform member checking of data interpretation, a pilot test, and a peer review. These techniques allow for accurate assessment of dependability regarding the information collected for the study.
When a person begins qualitative research, to determine reliability and dependability of the information collected, they may perform member checks. “Member checking, also known as participant or respondent validation, is a technique for exploring the credibility of results. Data or results are returned to participants to check for accuracy and resonance with their experiences” (Birt, Scott, Cavers, Campbell, & Walter,…

Validity in psychological research involves a thoroughness and precision when drafting a research study, truly considering all the strengths and weaknesses of the study before engaging in it, and how previous studies have failed before. "Validity is important because it tells you if the measure actually measures what it's supposed to measure and not something else (Goodwin, 2010). When structuring and executing a given psychological study, one needs to take into account the fact that all people are individuals and given to a certain deviation and uniqueness of thought and behavior. At the same time the study should be designed to attempt to capture a certain amount of the universality and trends of human behavior. Validity in psychological research protects the anonymity and privacy of all participants, treats all participants with dignity and respect and discloses all the details and aspects of the study to participants so that they can…

Accept This Conclusion?
This conclusion is spurious because there are too many potential intervening variables. For one, the students are enrolled and being taught at two different schools. There is no mention of their ages, grade levels, background, or any other pertinent data that could affect reading habits or scores on reading tests. Any number of factors could influence their literacy levels, including demographic issues and the reading resources available at their respective schools.

Second, there is no definition of terms or operational definitions that would be critical for clarifying issues related to literacy. Simply noting that the word method and phonics method were being used is not specific enough. The researchers need to indicate what tools and techniques are being used, in what manner, and in which classrooms, in order to classify one group as "word" and one as "phonics." Finally, the participants were not given a pre-assessment of…

xml.rels word/Document.xml
Definition and Description of Basic Concepts Error of measurement Measuring devices make approximate measurement(s). If an object is measured twice at different times, the two obtained measurements may not be accurate. This difference between the measurements is called error of measurement. This error, however, is not considered a mistake or the incorrect measurement. In fact, the error in measurement is a numerical method for showing that measurements are not certain. In simple words, error of measurement is the variation between the measurement result and the correct value of the object that is being measured. According to recent studies, "the measurement error affects the repeatability of MMN" (Paukkunen, Leminen & Sepponen, 2011, p. 2195) (mismatch negativity). Test-retest eliability Test-retest reliability is the estimate between scores from the similar respondents tested at dissimilar times (MacQuarrie, Applegate & Lacefield, 2008). It demonstrates the reliability and evenness of an instrument's score in…

Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) is a 21-item clinician administered and scored scale that is designed to measure a person's mood and symptoms related to depression. The BDI-II was designed to conform to the DSM-IV depression diagnostic criteria and represents a substantial improvement over its predecessor, the original Beck Depression Inventory. The BDI-II has been used both as a research measure (its primary intended use) and to assist with the clinical diagnosis of depression. The BDI-II has been subject to numerous empirical studies designed to measure its internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity, criterion validity, and construct validity and the test demonstrates acceptable psychometric qualities, but there have been some concerns with its use. This paper reviews the development of the BDI-II, its psychometric properties, uses, strengths, and weaknesses. Advantages and disadvantages of using the BDI-II and recommendations for future research regarding its use are also discussed.
Title of paper

The…

Predictive validity asks whether the variables in the instrument are associative of and predictive for the concepts with which they ought to be related. Concurrent validity measures whether the instrument allows for distinctions to be made between groups that should be separately identifiable. Convergent validity asks whether responses to items in the instrument which are conceptually related move in similar ways relative to each other. And divergent validity measures whether operationalized variables in the instrument are separately identifiable from other, unrelated concepts. The threats to construct validity include not clearly defining variables operationally before instrument construction, using a too-narrow concept for measurement or a too-narrow treatment for measurement that does not reflect the full nature of the concepts measured, improperly measuring the effects of multiple treatments related to the variable in ways that do not account for interaction of other variables, failure to account for the effects of such considerations…

Psychological Testing
Psychological tests are an important aspect of clinical psychology. Psychological tests are normally administered by professional psychologists as a way of learning fact on how people function or in predicting their future. The paper will look at the definition of the term test, give a description of the major categories of tests while identifying the major uses and users of these tests. There will also be comparing and contrasting the concepts of validity and reliability and a discussion of how they affect the psychological testing field.

Definition of tests

A test or examination is defined as an assessment aimed at measuring the knowledge, aptitude, skill, physical fitness or classification in other different topics. Tests can be administered orally, by use of a paper, computer or in the confinement of a specific area which requires the person taking the test to physically perform a specific set of skills. Tests…

Solution for Adverse Impact
The case analysis of a Federal agency and their selection process provides ample examples of why selection processes need to be periodically reviewed and analyzed to ensure they are still in compliance. In this specific case there are several violations of more recent laws and statutes that the selection process is out of compliance to given their definition over three decades ago. The following is a detailed analysis of the case that shows how, over time, selection processes can become skewed to a specific type of applicant and how the entire process often needs to be audited and updated to make the hiring process more equitable.

Case Analysis

There is ample evidence that the selection procedures used throughout the hiring process at the Federal government agency favor white males despite their lower scores on testing and cognitive skills relative to women. Pass rates on the interviews…

population identified and described? Are eligibility criteria specified? Are the sample selection procedures clearly delineated? Yes. The sample consisted of 350 college students at a Midwestern University. All the students were enrolled in a personal health class as a social science elective.
Do the sample and population specifications support an inference of construct validity with regard to the population construct? Of n=350, 86% were White, 5% African-American, 4% Asian-American, 3% Latino, and 2% Other. This is not representative of the collegiate population in general, nor is it representative of the baseline population breakdown for most of America. However, because the classes are a social science elective, the sample does serve as an adequate representation of a cross-section of this particular Midwestern University.

What type of sampling plan was used? Would an alternative sampling plan have been preferable? Was the sampling plan one that could be expected to yield a representative…

Their contributions might be as worthy if not worthier than the contributions of a stalwart organization that has survived decades of market vicissitudes but which has no concrete contributions or merit.
Not all is lost in the mire of Collins' masturbatory research, though. One of the most compelling sections of the book is the Hedgehog Concept, which can be applied to both personal and professional greatness. The Hedgehog Concept suggests that good to great organizations know what they are good at and cultivate a single unifying idea. Simplicity is the key. It is better to make the best widgets on the planet than to diversify for the sake of diversification. Simplifying a complex world means focusing, and focusing depends on the ability to be honest and self-aware. On an organizational level, this means evaluating core strengths and weaknesses, performing self-analysis and SWOT analyses regularly to understand what passions are driving…

Vitamin D in Controlling UTIs
In recent times, several experimental studies have been conducted in order to understand the impact of vitamin D on controlling Upper espiratory Tract Infections. This paper has selected by article "Effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on upper respiratory tract infections in healthy adults: the VIDAIS randomized controlled trial," a research study conducted by Murdoch et.al (2012). The goal of the article critique is to thoroughly analyze the article and to determine its validity and reliability. Furthermore, the critique would help in understanding the impact of Vitamin D on UTIs in healthy adults.

Experimental studies have reported that the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) and upper respiratory infections is inversely proportional. Murdoch et.al (2012) has reported that results of these experimental studies have been found to be inconclusive. The goal of Murdoch et.al (2012) was to study the impact of vitamin D on Upper respiratory…

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-II)
The MMPI-II Test is utilized in the assessment of the individual's personality characteristics that affect the individual's personal and social adjustment.

Test Publisher

The MMPI-II is authored by S.R. Hathaway and J.C. McKinely MMPI; J.N. utcher, J.R. Graham, W.G., Dahlstrom, A.M. Tellegren, and . Kaemmer and is published by the Psychological Corporation. (Fischer, 2001)

Cost of the Test

According to Lisa Rochford, Ph.D. The cost of having the MMPI-II administered is $150.00 which includes one to two hours hosting the client at the office with scoring and interpretation costs included. (2012)

Test Users Qualifications and Time To Administer the Test

Cherry (2012) states of the MMPI-II test that The MMPI-2 contains 567 test items and takes approximately 60 to 90 minutes to complete. The MMPI should be administered, scored, and interpreted by a professional, preferably a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist, who has received specific training…

business world, many strategies have been devised to gain and retain customers. Phenomena such as globalization, market saturation, and better information technology have driven strategies such as customer awareness and long-term customer relationships to be favored above relatively short-term strategies to gain new customers, such as product price and quality (Kinuthai et al., 2012, p. 223). Indeed, creating brand loyalty in order to retain customers in the long-term has played a key role in long-term business success. To accomplish this, brands such as those operating within sportswear have emphasized strategies to appeal to consumers responding to products at the individual level. As such, customer loyalty is a significant determinant in the amount of product being bought and the frequency of repeat purchases.
On the basis of this, the dissertation will aim to examine brand loyalty among the youth of a developing country (Kenya) as compared to the same phenomenon in…

Wal Mart Stats
Wal-Mart Survey Analysis

In order to begin addressing two key research questions, how can Wal-Mart ensure decent quality products and simultaneously keep consumers happy with prices and how would Wal-Mart keep the costs of its products down, a survey of Wal-Mart customers was taken. Attitudes towards prices, quality of products, and overall shopping experiences were collected and analyzed via in-person questionnaires/surveys to consumers exiting Wal-Mart stores after shopping. All responses were recorded on a Likert scale of 1-5, with 5 representing high satisfaction or strong agreement and 1 representing extreme dissatisfaction or strong disagreement. The following paragraphs assess the quality of this survey and its results in terms of addressing the research question.

Validity and eliability

The research questions themselves as detailed above are very valid questions to be asked of Wal-Mart, a company that built its business model on the ability to offer low-priced goods to…

group and the nature of the study population. Both may present limitations to the researcher that will be reflective in the study design. In a quasi-experimental study, for instance, the study design lacks a fundamental component of a customary experimental design, namely randomization of the participants into study groups. Geographic limitations or the specificity of the participation qualifications may hinder the researcher from randomizing the subjects. An ex post facto study investigates possible cause-and-effect relationships by observing an existing condition and looking back into the past for valid causal factors. A certain study bias, however, is inherent in this type of study design because the variables are separated by time. Meanwhile, a correlational study compares two or more variables concurrently in detailed bivariate regression analyses. A common objective of this type of study is to determine the correlation between certain defining characteristics of the subjects and the effectiveness of some…

child obesity, which has become an epidemic in the current epoch of technological advancements and innovations. Since obesity is escalating at an unprecedented rate specifically amongst the teenagers and children; thus, thus research proposal intends to carry out a comprehensive research to identify its causes. This paper highlights the plan of the research process in detail that include the aims and objectives of the study, methodology, data collection techniques, risks involved in carrying out the research, ethical and legal considerations, and strategies that can ensure the validity and effectiveness of the research.
esearch Design and Data Collection Techniques

esearch Timeline

Strategies to Ensure Validity and Efficacy of the Study

Ethical and Legal Considerations

Barriers to carry out the esearch Study

Conclusion

eferences

Introduction

By looking at the historical context, once can simply claim that being fat was considered a symbol of being healthy. However, this perception over time has changed…

Guidelines on oral and written communication with job applicants

One important guideline is that the human resources department is solely responsible for setting the policies and procedures regarding staffing and management of all aspects of the staffing process. herefore any written or oral communication to job applicants should come from the human resources department except where the management team may need to reply to an item that they are formally delegated for.

he second guideline is that all oral and written communication with job applicants should be clearly stated and in a conspicuous manner in the appropriate document. his is in order to prevent any misunderstandings or misinformation that comes from the job applicant not receiving or comprehending the message. he members of the organization should require the job applicants to acknowledge receipt or the message being passed and they should be given an opportunity to ask for clarification where…

oyal Dutch Shell PLC and Its Edge on the Global Market
The concept of financial analysis is a core indicator of the actual financial health of a given organization. The development of an accurate and dependable conceptual framework to be employed in the analysis of the global and corporate financial system has for quite a long time been an important issue in corporate accounting (Bodie & Merton,1990). An appropriate conceptual framework must be able to meet two main objectives: to effectively address the differences that exists in the institutional structures as well as to explain the main changes in the institutional structures over time. A review of extant literature has been dedicated to the concept of financial analysis. Most of these studies have dwelt on financial ratios. A study by Nenide, Pricer & Camp (2008) indicated that extant literature in accounting as well as finance indicate that the application of…

social world?
The effects of information technology on the society

The social capital framework

In this paper, we evaluate the validity of the statement that IT is radically changing the social world. We perform a critical analysis of the concept of social world and social capital and how it is influenced by information technology. This is carried against the backdrop of the concept of information technology as the conceptual framework. The paper concludes that indeed the statement that IT is radically changing the social world is true.

The contemporary society has witnessed a series of transformations which can directly be attributed to the concept of technological dynamism. Technological dynamism is a concept which was defined by Albu (2009) as the rate of exchange in the level of predictability of new technologies. The technological advancements that we witness today are largely as a result of the lack of knowledge that exists…

It is often easier to impose this sort of control in a laboratory setting. Thus, true experiments have often been erroneously identified as laboratory studies" (Woolf, 2012). True experiments rigidly control for validity by attempting to isolate variables so that only a single independent variable is studies. The independent variable "is the variable that the experimenter manipulates in a study. It can be any aspect of the environment that is empirically investigated for the purpose of examining its influence on the dependent variable" (Woolf, 2012). Furthermore in true experiments, the subjects are randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Finally, true experiments are double blind, which means that neither the experimenter nor the subjects know whether the subjects are in the experimental or control groups (Woolf, 2012).
True experiments differ from experimental designs in the level of control that exists in each different type of research. An experimental design,…

2006 Global Terrorism NIE
Like any intelligence product, the declassified Key Judgments of the 2006 National Intelligence Estimate "Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States" relies on certain explicit and implicit assumptions as a part of its analysis. Identifying these assumptions is crucial for evaluating the accuracy of any piece of analysis, and intelligence products in particular. Explicit assumptions may be identified by looking out for key words, while implicit assumptions require more in-depth consideration.

The explicit assumptions in the 2006 NIE are identified by certain key words which inform the reader that the following information is not verified fact, but rather based on an assumption, which itself may or may not be based on specific evidence. These key words include terms like "probably," "likely," "could," and "would," because all of these words signify that the statements being made are conditional, rather than definitive. In other instances, the…

This is achieved by forcing them to maintain a list of individuals who do not wish to be conducted about purchasing a variety of products and services. Furthermore, these protections were enacted to ensure that businesses are not engaging in tactics that are abusive by limiting the times when they can call and what they can say. (Caudill, 2000)
In contrast with the Consumer Privacy Bill of ights, the proposed regulations are designed to enhance protections. This is occurring over the Internet vs. On the telephone. These differences are showing how there is a loop hole in existing regulations as to how these laws are applied. The new guidelines are building upon the provisions from the Telephone Consumer Protections Act of 1991 by establishing procedures as to the way confidential information is used and collected from firms. This is occurring is through placing limits on an organization's online activities. ("Consumer…