Exercise 2: Reliability and Validity 

For this exercise, your task is to estimate the reliability and validity of a measure of Need for Cognition (nCog; Cacioppo & Petty, 1982; Cacioppo, Petty, & Kao, 1984).  

An SPSS data file is included in the assignment folder, with responses from 294 college students. Within the data file you will find raw scores for nCog items, as well as composite scores for several other variables (see page 2 for descriptions).  

Your tasks for this assignment are described below. To answer each of these questions, run the analyses using SPSS and report relevant information in your write-up (i.e., the reliability or validity coefficient). Write a report explaining your findings for each of the questions above. Provide an interpretation of what the results mean. In other words, explain your findings in sufficient detail so that another person could understand what you examined and why.  

Reliability  Estimate Coefficient Alpha for nCog using the items in the data set.   Estimate test-retest reliability for nCog – data were collected 2 weeks after the original nCog data (NCOG_T2). 

Criterion-Related Validity   Report the criterion-related validity estimate for nCog using College GPA (CollegeGPA).  Report the criterion-related validity estimate for nCog using Student Satisfaction (StudentSat).  Report the incremental validity estimate of nCog above and beyond High School GPA (HS_GPA) and ACT Scores (ACT) in predicting College GPA (CollegeGPA).   Report the incremental validity estimate of nCog above and beyond High School GPA (HS_GPA) and ACT Scores (ACT) in predicting Student Satisfaction (StudentSat).  

Construct-Related Validity   Report convergent validity evidence using Intrinsic Motivation (IntMot) and Mastery Goal Orientation (MGO).   Report discriminant validity evidence using Extrinsic Motivation (ExtMot), Performance Approach Goal Orientation (AppGO), Performance Avoid Goal Orientation (AvdGO), and Social Desirability (SocDes).    

Variables in Data Set/Assignment 

Need for Cognition –described as a drive to understand situations and the world around us (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982; Cacioppo et al., 1984). People with a high need for cognition tend to enjoy problem solving, abstract reasoning, and enjoy complex situations/problems. Items were rated on a 5-point scale (1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree), and higher scores indicate higher levels of the construct. Items were taken from Cacioppo et al. (1984), in the attached article.  Note that several of these items are reverse-scored. You will need to re-code them prior to running the analyses.  

High School GPA – is cumulative, high school grade point average, on a 4.0 scale. Scores were taken from admissions records.  

ACT Scores – ACT scores were gathered from university records.  

College GPA – is cumulative, college grade point average on a 4.0 scale. This was taken from university records. In this study College GPA was collected one year after Need for Cognition was measured. 

Student Satisfaction – is the extent that students are satisfied with their experiences at the university. Six items were written for the purpose of conducting this study. Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was .90. In this study student satisfaction was collected one year after Need for Cognition was measured.  

Academic Motivation focuses on the reasons that students go to college. This is based on Deci and Ryan’s (1985) self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000). For the purposes of this data collection ten items were written to measure intrinsic motivation and ten items were written to measure extrinsic motivation.   Intrinsic Motivation – is based on a drive to learn and accumulate knowledge. The process of learning itself is internally motivating for individuals with a high level of intrinsic motivation. Coefficient alpha for this scale was .92.  Extrinsic Motivation – is based on the anticipation of some other, external reward, Individuals with a high level of intrinsic motivation are less interested in learning itself, but motivated because with a college degree they are more likely to obtain a high-paying job or promotion at work. Coefficient alpha for this scale was .87. 

Goal Orientation – reflects the purpose, or type of goal that a person aims to achieve when pursuing a particular task (Elliot et al., 1999). This can be composed of mastery goal orientation, performance approach goal orientation, and performance avoid goal orientation. Seven items were written to measure each of the three dimensions below.   Mastery Goal Orientation – has a focus on improving oneself as a function of task pursuit, and is often associated with deep-level processing and drive to learn and understand material (e.g., expanding one’s knowledge). Coefficient alpha for this scale was .90.  Performance Approach Goal Orientation – is associated with achieving positive outcomes and successful task accomplishment. However, this is more often associated with surface-level processing, with a focus on simply obtaining task outcomes (e.g., getting a good grade). Coefficient alpha for this scale was .83.  Performance Avoid Goal Orientation – is also focused on achieving outcomes, but specifically on avoiding failure or negative outcomes. Instead of focusing on learning material or getting a favorable grade or expanding one’s knowledge, the focus remains on not failing a class, for example.   Coefficient alpha for this scale was .89. 

Social Desirability – involves providing what would be perceived as favorable, or socially desirable, responses (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960). The KR20 internal consistency estimate for this scale was .87.  
 

References 

Cacioppo, J. T., & Petty, R. E. (1982). The need for cognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 116-131.  

Cacioppo, J. T., Petty, R. E., & Kao, C. F. (1984). The efficient assessment of need for cognition. Journal of Personality Assessment, 3, 306-307.  

Crowne, D.P., & Marlowe, D. (1960). A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24, 349–354. 

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Plenum. 

Elliott, A. J., McGregor, H. A., & Gable, S. (1999). Achievement goals, study strategies, and exam performance: A mediational analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 549-563.  

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68-78.  

1. Find a research idea (3 topics)

    select a topic and search the literature to find an unanswered question.  

2. Form a hypothesis.

3. Determine how you will define and measure your variables.

4. Identify the participants or subjects for the study, decide how they will be selected,

    and plan for their ethical treatment.

5. Select a research strategy

  Basic ANOVA Study

Background

During this week you will identify a research question created in Week 1 that would utilize one of the following: one-way ANOVA or repeated measures ANOVA. This discussion will help you work towards your “Week 4 Assignment 1”. If there are no research questions that fit any of these types of statistical analyses, you will need to decide on a new question before moving forward with the assignment.

Discussion Assignment Requirements

Initial Posting – In your initial posting for this assignment, include the following: Identify an appropriate research question that would require the use of a one-way or repeated measures ANOVA to answer. Pick the question from the list created in Week 1 or identify a new question if there are no appropriate ones from Week 1. Describe why this question is appropriate for the selected statistical test. Identify the variables in this study and each of their attributes: discrete or continuous, quantitative or categorical, scale of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio), and independent or dependent. Do the variables fit the qualifications for the selected statistical test? Explain. List the statistical notation and written explanation for the null and alternative hypotheses. Describe the types of errors that could occur. ——————————————————————————————————————————————-  

MY—-Research Questions—FROM WEEK-1

1. How does the employees’ motivation affect the organization Productivity?

In this research, there are two main variables that are an independent variable which in this case are the motivational factors for employees which include favorable working environment, compensation strategy, business culture, and the management strategy. The dependent variable in this study is the organization productivity. The best effective scale for measuring these variables is an ordinal scale basically because some variables have more impacts than the others.

2. What are the factors that affect the patient’s reaction to treatment?

The variables in these case include the type of medication, the lifestyle of the patient and the degree of the effect of the health condition has affected the patient. These variables have a different effect on the patient’s reaction to treatment, the variables are categorical in nature. In this case, the most effective measurement scale is the ordinal scale as well (Celli, Decramer, Wedzicha, Wilson, Agustí, Criner & Vogelmeier, 2015).

3. Does the increase in gun ownership affect the crime level in the society?

This question has several variables that increase in criminal-related deaths, criminal activities, assault cases. A rational scale level of measurement can be used in this research because of the nature of these variables. The variables depict some categorical characteristics they have different degrees of impact on the dependent variable in the question.

4. How does the school environment affect the student performance?

The security level in the school, the type of rules and the consequences of going against the rules and the level of strictness of the teacher in the school are the main variables in the research question. The rules and regulations are can be grouped into some category as well as the level of strictness of the teachers another subordinate staff, in this case, the best scale of measurement to be used is the ordinal scale. The variables also have some categorical characteristics they are not numerical.

5. What is the probability that randomly selected teenager watches movie over three times in a week?

The possibility or the variables, in this case, is that the student watches three times, less, or even more in a week. In this case, the main scales of measurement will be internal level, this is basically because they can be quantified but the decimal or rather the zero point is not relevant to the study or rather is meaningless (Pratt, 2015).

6. Is there any relationship between the traffic congestion and the price of fuel? 

The research questions in this have only one variable of interest which is the fuel prices which may or may not affect the traffic congestion. This is a question that is meant towards finding the if there is a relationship between the variables in the study. The level of measurement, in this case, is, therefore, an ordinal scale. The data, in this case, may have some continuous characteristics.

7. Is there any relationship between gender and student performance in statistics and science subjects?

The variables, in this case, will be the average performance of the students in the subjects of focus, they will be categorized according to their gender. These variables can actually be measured using the ratio level of measurements by some mathematical operations. In this case, an average will be calculated of both genders performance on the subjects being studied. The data in this study will depict some continuous characteristics. 

8. How does the training frequency affect muscle growth for bodybuilders?

The variables, in this case, are time, the intensity of training and the diet. These are the three basic factors that affect muscle growth. These variables can be measured using some interval level of scale because they affect muscle growth differently in bodybuilders. This scale will be giving some difference in categories in the manner they affect the dependent variable here which is muscle growth. The data, in this case, will be analyzed mathematically and so will give some discrete results (Sahin, Serdar, Serteser, Unsal & Ozpinar, 2018).

9. What is the relationship between mortality rates and poverty level?

This research question is intended to establish the existence of any relationship between the mortality rates within a population and the poverty level of that population. The variables in these case will be poverty and death rate which will be measured using the ordinal level scale because it will be giving the degree to which these variables affect each other. The variables, in this case, will be having some continuous characteristics because they rise and fall at some level.

10. How does technological development impact learning in schools?

This research question has two directions, that is, the dependent variable may affect the independent in two ways either positively or negatively. The variables, in this case, will include the teaching techniques used by the teachers, the accessibility of the learning materials and so on this will have some positive impact on the learning processes. These variables will be measured using the ordinal level scale because they will be categorized and rated on the impact they have on the subject of study.

References

Pratt, M. G. (2015). Crafting and Selecting Research Questions and Contexts in Qualitative Research. Handbook of Qualitative Organizational Research: Innovative Pathways and Methods, 177.

Celli, B. R., Decramer, M., Wedzicha, J. A., Wilson, K. C., Agustí, A., Criner, G. J., … & Vogelmeier, C. (2015). An official American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society statement: research questions in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 191(7), e4-e27.

Sahin, O. N., Serdar, M., Serteser, M., Unsal, I., & Ozpinar, A. (2018). Vitamin D levels and parathyroid hormone variations of children living in a subtropical climate: a data mining study. Italian Journal of Pediatrics, 44(1), 40.

Mental Health Care

Copy and paste either the link or title and watch this video. Write two paragraph on the video? Include your point of view and how you feel about this Mental Health Care.

Untreated mental illness an imminent danger? 60 Minutes

The Main question is #5

APA format. 500 words