Author Question: Identify and describe the major potential sources of noise in research. What will be an ideal ... (Read 187 times)

fox

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 540
Identify and describe the major potential sources of noise in research.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

If an IQ test is correlated with future academic success, the test has
 
  a. subjective validity
  b. predictive validity
  c. test-retest reliability
  d. split-half reliability



vish98

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 326
Answer to Question 1

There are several important sources of noise, each of which can be considered a threat to conclusion validity. One important threat is low reliability of measures. This can be caused by many factors, including poor question wording, bad instrument design or layout, illegibility of field notes, and so on. In studies where you are evaluating a program, you can introduce noise through poor reliability of treatment implementation. If the program doesn't follow the prescribed procedures or is inconsistently carried out, it will be harder to see relationships between the program and other factors like the outcomes. Noise caused by random irrelevancies in the setting can also obscure your ability to see a relationship. For example, in a classroom context, the traffic outside the room, disturbances in the hallway, and countless other irrelevant events can distract the researcher or the participants. The types of people you have in your study can also make it harder to see relationships. The threat here is due to the random heterogeneity of respondents. If you have a diverse group of respondents, group members are likely to vary more widely on your measures or observations. Some of their variability may be related to the phenomenon you are looking at, but at least part of it is likely to constitute individual differences that are irrelevant to the relationship you observe. All of these threats add variability into the research context and contribute to the noise relative to the signal of the relationship you are looking for.

Answer to Question 2

B



Related Topics

Need homework help now?

Ask unlimited questions for free

Ask a Question
 

Did you know?

Side effects from substance abuse include nausea, dehydration, reduced productivitiy, and dependence. Though these effects usually worsen over time, the constant need for the substance often overcomes rational thinking.

Did you know?

Alcohol acts as a diuretic. Eight ounces of water is needed to metabolize just 1 ounce of alcohol.

Did you know?

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA was discovered in 1961 in the United Kingdom. It if often referred to as a superbug. MRSA infections cause more deaths in the United States every year than AIDS.

Methicilli ...
Did you know?

When Gabriel Fahrenheit invented the first mercury thermometer, he called "zero degrees" the lowest temperature he was able to attain with a mixture of ice and salt. For the upper point of his scale, he used 96°, which he measured as normal human body temperature (we know it to be 98.6° today because of more accurate thermometers).

Did you know?

Women are two-thirds more likely than men to develop irritable bowel syndrome. This may be attributable to hormonal changes related to their menstrual cycles.

For a complete list of videos, visit our video library