Chapter 3 Measurement in psychology

 Psychologists collect data from participants which becomes the evidence on which they rely to
draw conclusions (Empirical 经验 ) 
 Data may be quantitative or qualitative 
 Data may also be objective (quantitative & observation) or subjective (personal opinions,
quantitative/qualitative) 
 
Objective data : 
 Based on quantitative measurements that can be directly observed and verified by the researcher  
 Physical, real / can be demonstrated 
 Free from bias of researcher 
 Responses that are unconsciously available to participants 
 Example: counting the number of times a baby smiles 
(because it is observable and can be verified by others) 
 
Subjective data : 
 Based on self-reports (written, verbal or visual) provided by participants, responses that are
consciously available to participants 
 Information about thoughts, feelings / behaviour we cannot observe 
 Example:  
 drug use or criminal behaviour  
 Recording someone's responses in a clinical interview (because participant is giving
their personal opinions and feelings) 
 
Quantitative & Qualitative, Objective & Subjective 
 The term quantitative, qualitative, objective & subjective may be combined in three ways to
describe the three methods od assessing psychological responses. 
 Psychologists use several measures to access psychological construct. 
 Three main methods to assessing psychological response are: 
 Objective quantitative 
 Subjective quantitative 
 Subjective qualitative  
 Objective quantitative: 
 Standardized tests (eg. IQ test, aptitudes test) 
 Standardized: the test has been designed to be used in exactly the same
way on every occasion 
 
 Uniformity in content, instructions, test format, method of scoring 
 Reveal the individual's performance on the test relative to others 
 Standardized test are often employed for the purpose of diagnosis and
also to measure aptitude/ability 
 Physiological measures (eg. Heart rate, brain wave activity, skin conductivity
[perspire using GSR machine] ) 
 Some psychological states, especially those associated with emotions,
are often accompanied by physiological changes (increase in heart rate,
perspiration, blood pressure) 
 Limitation: This kind of physiological measure do not differentiate
between different kinds of emotional reaction 
 Examples, anxiety/fear/happiness may give similar readings 
 Behaviour counts (eg. Number of smiles [observational method, behind a two way
mirror and observed-reduced bias] use camera, video) 
 Observe a group of people or animal to record instances of particular
behaviours 
 Very specific: has to determines criteria for the behaviours 
 Usually participant isn't aware that they are being observed 
 Common of them act differently of they know that they are bring
observed. 
 Subjective quantitative: 
  Questionnaires with rating scale items(eg. many personality tests) 
 Provide us with a means of quantifying the constructs 
 It require us to choose from a limited number of response alternatives 
 It assign a numerical value to each possible response 

 
 Subjective qualitative 
 Questionnaires with open-ended items (Eg. Allow participants to respond freely) 
*Open-ended items :  
 = allow people to respond in any way they wish 
 = often ask people to state their opinions or describe their experiences 
 = example, What you think of politicians?  
 Verbal responses from discussions, focus group & interviews 
 Visual responses such as pictures drawn by a child 
 
 
Validity & Reliability  
 Validity 
 A measure of whether a test usually measures what it claims to measure (eg. Does the
questionnaire really determine what that person believes is socially acceptable? ) 
 Research techniques that do not have high validity are not particularly useful 
 It's important because for a research technique to be valid, the technique must
measure what it sets out to measure and not measure some other factor. 
 Reliability  
 A term used to describe the consistency of the results of a test or research technique. 
 Research technique hat do not have high validity and reliability are not particularly useful.