Illinois State University Leonte on his Love for Privacy Discussion Paper

Reading: Chapter 5: Measurement: Research Using Number

Lecture Notes: Under ‘Resources,’ you will find ‘Lecture Notes B,’ pp. 2-9 & pp. 34-44.

Course Packet: Under ‘Resources,’ you will find ‘Course Packet,’ pp. 12-13,

Assignment 3:

From Book Chapter:

Chapter 5: Q1. What level of scales (measurements) describes each of the following variables?

Race (White, African America, Asian, and so on) ______ scale

Order of finish in a race (first, second, third, and so on) ______ scale

Number of children in the family ______ scale

Attitudes toward television violence (agree, neutral, disagree) ______ scale

People’s height ______ scale

People’s honesty (honest, dishonest) ______ scale

Q2: Quite often a college student’s grade point average (GPA) is taken as an

indicator of her or his intelligence relative to that of other students. Give

some reasons why GPA may NOT be (a) reliable and (b) valid as a

measure of the intelligence of college students.

From Lecture Notes:

Go to the course packet (pp. 12-13) and look up the survey questionnaire.

Q1: Identify six types of measurements (scales) of the questions from Q#1 to Q#26.

Are there any examples of questions measured on Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, Ratio,

Likert, and Semantic Differential type scales? Find them and list question numbers.

– Nominal: ____________________________________ (ex) Q#1, Q#2, Q#3, None, etc.

– Ordinal: _____________________________________

– Interval: ____________________________________

– Ratio: _______________________________________

– Likert: ______________________________________

– Semantic differential: _________________________

Q2: About 90% of variables (questions) used in the questionnaire violated ‘the guidelines

for asking questions’ (see Lecture Notes B, pp. 34-44). Identify those questions that

violated the guidelines (Guideline 3 to Guideline 10) and list question numbers.

Guideline 3: ___________________________________ (ex) Q#1, Q#2, Q#3, None, etc.

Guideline 4: ___________________________________

Guideline 5: ___________________________________

Guideline 6: ___________________________________

Guideline 7: ___________________________________

Guideline 8: ___________________________________

Guideline 9: ___________________________________

Guideline 10: __________________________________