com 297 communication research methods
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: __________________________________