Chapter 1.

1
Class Activity

1. In your group, choose a group leader. Each person in the group

measures the length of the group leaders right arm. Each person
should record his own results. Do not watch or discuss the other
students measuring.
2. When you are all done, record your groups results.
3. The group leader measures the length of the right arm of all
the students in his
group and records the measurements.
GROUP LEADER

MEMBERS

MEASUREMENTS

MEMBERS

GROUP LEADER

MEASUREMENTS

VALIDITY: of a variable or measurement represents how close to

the true value the measurement is. In other words, a
measurement is valid if it measures what it is supposed to
measure. For example, if a student measured arm length from
shoulder to wrist and another student measured from the
shoulder to the tip of the middle finger, the variable is not valid.
How valid are the results obtained in part 1? What could have
been done by the group to increase the validity of the variable?

RELIABILITY: of a variable or measurement represents the

ability of different measurements of the same individual to yield
the same results. How reliable are the measurements obtained in
part 3? Why is it likely that the results from part 3 are valid but
may not be reliable?

Which set of data appears to have more variability, the data from
part 1 or the data from part 3? Why?

Compare the results from all the groups. Which group do you

think has the most valid results? Which group has the most
reliable results?