Measurement
51. What are the four characteristics of mapping rules? Which of the four types of data
corresponds with the possible combinations of these characteristics? Provide an
example for each.
52. Name the four sources of error in measurement and provide an example for each.
11-1
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54. What are the three dimensions of reliability? For each dimension, explain its meaning.
What type of test can be used to assess each dimension?
11-2
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Chapter 11 Measurement Answer Key
A. events
B. objects
C. properties
D. activities
E. all of the above
Level: Easy
A. measurement tool
B. mapping rule
C. ruler
D. scale
E. property
Level: Easy
Level: Moderate
11-3
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4. A(n) _____ defines a variable in terms of specific measurement criteria.
A. operational definition
B. empirical definition
C. measurement rule
D. mapping rule
E. conceptual definition
Level: Moderate
A. Attitude
B. Furniture
C. Dog
D. Class affiliation
E. Weight
Level: Easy
A. objects
B. physical properties
C. psychological properties
D. constructs
E. mapping rules
Level: Moderate
A. object
B. physical property
C. psychological property
D. social property
E. mapping rule
Level: Easy
A. object
B. physical property
C. psychological property
D. social property
E. mapping rule
Level: Easy
11-4
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9. Which characteristic of mapping rules refers to the numbers used to group or sort
responses when no order to the numbers exists?
A. Classification
B. Order
C. Distance
D. Origin
E. Exclusivity
Level: Moderate
10. Which characteristic of mapping rules refers to ordered numbers in which one
number is greater than, less than, or equal to another number?
A. Classification
B. Order
C. Distance
D. Origin
E. Exclusivity
Level: Moderate
11. Order, one of the four characteristics of mapping rules, refers to _____.
A. the use of ordered numbers such that two is less than three but greater than
one
B. the use of numbers used to group or sort responses when no order to the
numbers exists
C. the use of a series of numbers in which each number is an equal distance from
the next
D. the use of a series of numbers with a unique origin indicated by the number
zero
E. the use of a number that is not used again
Level: Moderate
12. Which characteristic of mapping rules refers to a series of numbers in which each
number in the series is an equal distance from the next number?
A. Classification
B. Order
C. Distance
D. Origin
E. Exclusivity
Level: Moderate
11-5
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13. Distance, one of the four characteristics of mapping rules, refers to _____.
A. the use of ordered numbers such that two is less than three but greater than
one
B. the use of numbers used to group or sort responses when no order to the
numbers exists
C. the use of a series of numbers in which each number is an equal distance from
the next
D. the use of a series of numbers with a unique origin indicated by the number
zero
E. the use of a number that is not used again
Level: Moderate
14. Origin, one of the four characteristics of mapping rules, refers to _____.
A. the use of ordered numbers such that two is less than three but greater than
one
B. the use of numbers used to group or sort responses when no order to the
numbers exists
C. the use of a series of numbers in which each number is an equal distance from
the next
D. the use of a series of numbers with a unique origin indicated by the number
zero
E. the use of a number that is not used again
Level: Moderate
A. Classification only
B. Classification and order
C. Classification, order, and distance
D. Classification, order, distance, and origin
E. Classification, order, distance, origin, and exclusivity
Level: Moderate
16. LeBron James wears the number 23 on his jersey. Which of the following
characteristics is exhibited by this number?
A. Distance
B. Order
C. Classification
D. Origin
E. Exclusivity
Level: Moderate
11-6
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17. To ride the roller coaster ride at an amusement park, customers must report their
weight to the ride attendant. Which of the following characteristics are exhibited by
weight?
A. Classification only
B. Classification and order
C. Classification, order, and distance
D. Classification, order, distance, and origin
E. Classification, order, distance, origin, and exclusivity
Level: Moderate
18. Attendance at raceways most recent two races have hit attendance records with
60,000 present at one and 65,000 present at another. Which of the following
characteristics are exhibited by these attendance measures?
A. Classification only
B. Classification and order
C. Classification, order, and distance
D. Classification, order, distance, and origin
E. Classification, order, distance, origin, and exclusivity
Level: Moderate
19. The record low in Buffalo, New York for February 16 this 20 degrees below 0. Which
of the following characteristics are exhibited by this temperature?
A. Classification only
B. Classification and order
C. Classification, order, and distance
D. Classification, order, distance, and origin
E. Classification, order, distance, origin, and exclusivity
Level: Moderate
20. The New York Times Dining Section rates the restaurants it reviews using a system
such that one star means good, two stars means very good, three stars means
excellent, and four stars means extraordinary. Which of the following characteristics
are exhibited by this rating scheme?
A. Classification only
B. Classification and order
C. Classification, order, and distance
D. Classification, order, distance, and origin
E. Classification, order, distance, origin, and exclusivity
Level: Difficult
11-7
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21. A nominal scale contains _____.
Level: Easy
22. In a survey of football fans, each respondent is asked to indicate whether they have
ever attended an NFL game. This question can be categorized as a(n) _____ scale.
A. ratio
B. interval
C. ordinal
D. nominal
E. semantic differential
Level: Moderate
23. When the groups are mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive, nominal scales
must be limited to _____ groups.
A. two
B. three
C. five
D. ten
E. there is no limit
Level: Moderate
24. When analyzing nominal data, which measure of central tendency is appropriate?
A. mean
B. mode
C. median
D. range
E. dispersion
Level: Moderate
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25. _____ describes how scores cluster or scatter in a distribution.
A. Mode
B. Mean
C. Median
D. Dispersion
E. Range
Level: Easy
Level: Easy
27. The New York Times Dining Section rates the restaurants it reviews using a system
such that one star means good, two stars means very good, three stars means
excellent, and four stars means extraordinary. This is a type of _____ scale.
A. ratio
B. interval
C. ordinal
D. nominal
E. semantic differential
Level: Moderate
28. The appropriate measure of central tendency for an ordinal scale is the _____.
A. mode
B. mean
C. median
D. range
E. dispersion
Level: Moderate
11-9
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29. An interval scale contains _____.
Level: Easy
30. Calendar time is expressed on a(n) _____ scale while minutes, hours, and days are
expressed on a(n) _____ scale.
A. nominal; ordinal
B. ordinal; interval
C. interval; ratio
D. ordinal; ratio
E. nominal; interval
Level: Difficult
A. Mode
B. Mean
C. Median
D. Range
E. Dispersion
Level: Easy
A. mode
B. median
C. mean
D. range
E. dispersion
Level: Easy
In the results of the most recent exam taken in the business research class, the
average score was a 74.4. More students earned a 78 than any other score and half
the grades were above 72 and half the grades were below 72.
11-10
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33. What is the mode for the business research exam scores?
A. 74.4
B. 78
C. 72
D. 50
E. Between 50 and 100
Level: Easy
34. What is the median for the business research exam scores?
A. 74.4
B. 78
C. 72
D. 50
E. Between 50 and 100
Level: Easy
35. What is the arithmetic mean for the business research exam scores?
A. 74.4
B. 78
C. 72
D. 50
E. Between 50 and 100
Level: Easy
Level: Easy
11-11
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37. The population of a city is an example of _____ data.
A. ratio
B. interval
C. nominal
D. ordinal
E. dispersed
Level: Moderate
A. erratically
B. due to bias
C. systematically
D. due to sampling
E. none of the above
Level: Moderate
39. The effects of fatigue, boredom, and social class on the measurement of an object
are all errors originating from the _____.
A. situational factors
B. respondent
C. interviewer
D. instrument
E. sample
Level: Easy
40. Differences in respondent responses associated with where the interview took
place, such as at the mall, in a home, or over the telephone are errors originating
from the _____ associated with the study.
A. situational factors
B. respondent
C. interviewer
D. instrument
E. sample
Level: Easy
11-12
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41. _____ is the extent to which a measurement tool actually measures what we wish to
measure.
A. Reliability
B. Validity
C. Practicality
D. Significance
E. Standardization
Level: Moderate
A. Reliability
B. Validity
C. Practicality
D. Significance
E. Standardization
Level: Moderate
43. Which of the following types of validity refers to the extent to which measurement
scales provide adequate coverage of the investigative questions?
A. External
B. Content
C. Criterion-related
D. Construct
E. Discriminant
Level: Moderate
44. An attitude scale that correctly forecasts the outcome of a purchase decision has
_____ validity.
A. discriminant
B. content
C. face
D. concurrent
E. predictive
Level: Difficult
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45. Convergent validity and discriminant validity are components of _____ validity.
A. external
B. internal
C. criterion-related
D. construct
E. content
Level: Moderate
46. Which type of validity refers to the degree to which scores on one scale correlate
with scores on other scales designed to assess the same construct?
A. Predictive
B. Concurrent
C. Convergent
D. Discriminant
E. Content
Level: Moderate
The U.S. News and World Report is assessing the reliability of its measure of
academic reputation used in its annual ranking of colleges and universities. To do
so, it administers the same questions on academic reputation to its sample of
academic administrators in March and again in June.
47. Which type of test is used in the U.S. News and World Report example to assess
reliability?
A. Split-half
B. Test-retest
C. Cronbach's alpha
D. Parallel forms
E. None of the above
Level: Moderate
48. Which statistical technique listed below would be used to compare the results of
the March survey to the results of the June survey in the U.S. News and World
Report's assessment of reliability?
A. Mean
B. Dispersion
C. Correlation
D. Regression
E. ANOVA
Level: Difficult
11-14
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49. If the U.S. News and World Report seeks to assess equivalence of alternate forms of
measuring academic reputation, it should utilize a _____ type of test.
A. test-retest
B. Cronbach's alpha
C. parallel forms
D. split-half
E. KR20
Level: Moderate
50. In the U.S. News and World Report study of school rankings, academic reputation is
measured with five questions about each university. Which test will assess the
extent to which those five items reflect academic reputation?
A. Test-retest
B. Cronbach's alpha
C. Parallel forms
D. Split-half
E. KR20
Level: Moderate
Essay Questions
51. What are the four characteristics of mapping rules? Which of the four types of data
corresponds with the possible combinations of these characteristics? Provide an
example for each.
The four characteristics of mapping rules are classification, order, distance, and
origin. The four types of data are nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. Nominal data
have the characteristic of classification. Gender (male or female) is an example of
nominal data. Ordinal data have the characteristics of classification and order. The
ratings of restaurants is an example of ordinal data. Interval data have the
characteristics of classification, order, and distance. Temperature is an example of
interval data. Ratio data have the characteristics of classification, order, distance,
and origin. Age, in absolute terms, is an example of ratio data.
Level: Moderate
11-15
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52. Name the four sources of error in measurement and provide an example for each.
The four sources of error are the respondent, situational factors, the measurer and
the instrument. The respondent can create error due to stable characteristics like
personality and due to temporary factors such as boredom. The situation can also
affect measurement. For instance, one concern in conducting telephone interviews
with mobile telephones is that the location of the respondent cannot be controlled.
The interviewer can also distort responses by rewording, paraphrasing, or
reordering questions. Finally, the instrument itself may be defective.
Level: Moderate
The three characteristics of a good measurement tool are validity, reliability, and
practicality. Validity means that the test measures what we actually want to
measure. Reliability has to do with the accuracy and precision of the measurement
procedure. Practicality has to do with the economics, convenience, and
interpretability of the measurement tool.
Level: Easy
54. What are the three dimensions of reliability? For each dimension, explain its
meaning. What type of test can be used to assess each dimension?
Level: Difficult
11-16
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McGraw-Hill Education.