4.2.3.1.6 Reliability and validity Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 2

The 20 questions

1. Reliability in psychological research refers to:

   • The extent to which a measure reflects real-world behaviour in everyday life settings
   • The degree to which a measure is accepted by the public as a fair assessment of people
   • The ability of a study to be published in a journal after it has been peer reviewed
   • The consistency of a measure, so that it gives similar results on repeated use

2. Test-retest reliability is assessed by:

   • Giving the same test to the same participants on two separate occasions and comparing the scores
   • Asking two observers to record the same behaviour and checking how far their records agree
   • Comparing the scores of two different groups of participants who completed the test once each
   • Comparing the test to an established measure that was given to the same participants in a previous published study

3. Inter-observer reliability is the degree to which:

   • The same observer records the same behaviour twice
   • Different observers agree on what they have recorded
   • Behaviour remains the same across different settings
   • The test results match an established measure

4. Face validity is:

   • The consistency of a measure over time, checked by repeating the test on the same people
   • The extent to which findings apply to everyday life, judged by the researcher afterwards
   • The extent to which a measure appears, on the surface, to measure what it claims to measure
   • The statistical strength of a correlation between two measures taken from the same sample

5. Concurrent validity is assessed by:

   • Asking participants to repeat the test a month later and comparing their two scores
   • Checking whether the measure looks valid to participants who have completed the test
   • Comparing a new measure with an established measure taken at the same time
   • Recording behaviour in a natural setting and comparing it with the test scores later

6. Ecological validity refers to:

   • The extent to which findings can be generalised to real-life settings
   • The measure's appearance to participants, judged by how natural the test seems to them
   • The agreement between two observers who recorded the same behaviour at the same time
   • The consistency of the results over repeated trials carried out in the same laboratory

7. Temporal validity refers to:

   • The agreement between two raters on the same behaviour
   • The extent to which a test is consistent across repeated trials
   • The public appearance of a measure
   • The extent to which findings remain applicable over time

8. A researcher gives an IQ test to the same participants two weeks apart and finds very similar scores. What does this show?

   • High test-retest reliability
   • High inter-observer reliability
   • Low ecological validity
   • High face validity

9. Two observers independently record aggression in a classroom and agree in 90% of cases. What does this indicate?

   • High inter-observer reliability
   • Low test-retest reliability in the study
   • High temporal validity across the years
   • Low concurrent validity with the measure

10. A new anxiety scale correlates strongly with an established anxiety measure taken at the same time. What type of validity does this support?

    • Temporal validity
    • Concurrent validity
    • Face validity
    • Ecological validity

11. A study of social attitudes conducted in the 1950s is used to make claims about attitudes today. Which problem is most relevant?

    • Inter-observer reliability
    • Temporal validity
    • Concurrent validity
    • Test-retest reliability

12. A laboratory memory test uses artificial word lists that people rarely encounter in daily life. What validity problem does this raise?

    • Low ecological validity
    • Low test-retest reliability
    • Low inter-observer reliability
    • High temporal validity

13. Which action would most improve the reliability of an observational study?

    • Using a larger number of unclear categories so that observers can record more behaviour
    • Allowing observers to use their own categories, so that each person records what they see
    • Training observers using clear behavioural categories and standardised instructions
    • Recording behaviour only once in the session, so that the observers do not get tired

14. Which action would most improve the validity of a questionnaire?

    • Removing all questions about the topic, so that the questionnaire focuses only on wording
    • Piloting the questionnaire and checking that items measure the intended construct
    • Asking participants to guess what the questionnaire measures, so they understand its aim
    • Increasing the number of questions without checking them, so that more data are collected

15. Why does high reliability not guarantee high validity?

    • A measure can be consistent but still measure something other than what it is intended to measure
    • Validity depends only on the sample size used, so a larger group always gives a valid measure
    • Reliability is a measure of how well the study was published and reviewed, so it depends mainly on the journal chosen
    • Reliable measures always produce invalid results, because consistency always hides the true score

16. Evaluate the relationship between reliability and validity. Which statement is most accurate?

    • Validity and reliability are the same concept, so the two terms can be used interchangeably in research
    • A measure must be reliable to be valid, but reliability alone does not establish validity
    • A measure can be valid without being reliable, since the measure may be correct on some occasions
    • Reliability is only relevant to qualitative methods, where consistency across coders matters most

17. A test is consistent across repeated use but measures something other than the intended construct. Which problem is present?

    • High temporal validity
    • Low validity
    • Low reliability
    • High inter-observer reliability

18. Test-retest scores correlate at r = 0.92 across two occasions. What does this indicate?

    • The test is highly reliable over time
    • The test has low ecological validity in everyday settings
    • The test lacks concurrent validity with the standard
    • The test has no face validity for participants

19. Why is face validity considered the weakest type of validity?

    • It is not related to the appearance of the measure, which is judged only by experts later
    • It is a superficial judgement and does not show that the measure actually measures the concept
    • It can only be measured in laboratory settings, where the appearance of the test is controlled
    • It is always determined by statistical tests that compare the measure with other data sets collected in the same study

20. Why can clear behavioural categories improve inter-observer reliability?

    • Observers record more behaviours because the categories are vague, so each one fits many events
    • Observers are less likely to notice behaviour when the categories are precise and well defined
    • Categories remove the need for observers altogether, since the coding can be done by machine
    • Observers have a shared, precise definition of what to record, so they are more likely to agree

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