Assignment6-1-1



	EDR610 : The Class : Good Measurement : Part 1 : Assignment6-1-1

Mission (NOT) Impossible

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Ah, this'll sound like vintage T.V., but "your mission, should you choose to accept it" (and I hope it's not "impossible!"), is as follows.

I'd like for you to find two (2) research reports or articles (probably easiest to do out of a professional journal in your field; but these could also be papers which you've received as handouts at professional conferences, or as part of assignments for other courses you've taken) which contain and utilize some sort of "measurement." Remember, this could be anything from a written survey, administration of a standardized or researcher-developed test, or even qualitative (e.g., interviews, observations, journals and the like).

Specifically, I'd like you to please locate:

One (1) report or article which DIRECTLY addresses the issues of assessing the validity and reliability of the measurements used; AND
One (1) report or article which, in your estimation does NOT address reliability and validity (e.g., makes no mention of it whatsoever).

You will use these same articles for assignments in Topics 2 and 3 of this module.

Now, at this point, please don't worry about any specific validity or reliability terminology (e.g., "Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated to determine reliability."). As indicated in the lesson, we'll be getting more specifically into the "ways" of assessing validity and reliability in the last two topics. (And, you'll need and "use" the two articles you find as part of those last two related assignments, as well.)

For now, here's what I'd like you to do once you locate one "good" and one "poor" example:

1. Please identify for me the following information about this article or research report:

Its title;
Name(s) of author(s);
Source (e.g., name of journal or collection of conference proceedings where it was published);

2. Please provide me with a brief overview of the nature/topic of this research report in your own words. You might include its general purpose (i.e., what was the problem statement? research question? hypothesis? again, in your own words if you can't find it directly given); how the research was conducted (e.g., design and procedures); with whom or what (e.g., population and sample); and in your own words (no stat-speak! unless, of course, you want to!), how did the author(s) answer his/her/their research question(s)?

3. Finally, please tell me how/why you made the determination that the issues of validity and reliability were either DIRECTLY or NOT addressed. Since we haven't yet covered the specific ways or types to demonstrate validity and reliability, in the first case, you might wish to simply quote, verbatim, what the article said regarding validity and/or reliability (e.g., "Cronbach's alpha was calculated to assess the reliability of this scale and its value was 0.89."). For the 2nd case, you might indicate that it was not mentioned at all.

***: It is perfectly A-OK with me if you want to "hang on" and turn this in along with the related assignments in the next two topics. As indicated earlier, the three assignments will be strongly interrelated and you will be referring again to the articles that you find!

For grading purposes, please provide the following information:

Your Name:
Your Email address:

Once you have filled in all of the areas above, click the Send the assignment button below to send the assignment to the instructor.

Send Email to Walt Coker at Walter.Coker@nau.edu
Call Walt Coker at (623) 772-0305

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