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Worldview Assessment- An Example

  Graphic from  Pewresearch 2021 Pew Researchers have a great deal of experience in asking people questions. Formulating a good question for a survey is an important place to begin. However, another lesson from Pew is the additional data they gather. I noticed a large graphic illustrating how people in different groups answered one question. When conducting survey research it is critical to consider what we need to know about the people responding to a question or item to understand the meaning of their response. Consider Pew's survey item with two choices: "most things in society...      Can be pretty clearly divided into good and evil      Are too complicated to be divided into good and evil The graphic shows how different groups responded and allows for comparisons on the two ways to respond. Later, in the article, they compare political affiliations, which in the US means Republican and Democrat. This is worth studying as well. The article is worth reading to learn more ab

Belief in Good Luck (BIGL) review

  S cale name: Belief in Good Luck (BIGL) Scale overview: The scale presents 12-items, which are rated based on degree of agreement. The authors wanted to reliably assess irrational beliefs about luck and examine the beliefs in relationship to expectations of success. Early psychometric properties support the scale as a useful assessment of luck. Authors: Peter R. Darke and Jonathan L. Freedman   Response Type: 4-point agree-disagree scale Subscales: None Sample items b) Some people are consistently lucky, and others are unlucky. o) Luck is nothing more than random chance. (reverse scored) Reliability: Factor analysis yielded one factor. Items were selected from the original list based on factor loadings. Alpha   values were .85 in studies 1 and 3; .78 in study 2. Validity: The article includes correlation values with other measures. Total BIGL score was significantly positively correlated with the chance subscale of the Locus of Control scale. Availability:

Average Intelligence

  The concept of average intelligence is sometimes difficult to appreciate because the two words, average and intelligence, are sometimes not defined. Average   To psychologists and counselors who administer tests of intelligence, a person who scores at the 50th Percentile has average intelligence as defined by the number of correct answers to test tasks compared to others in their age group. Many tests set the middle score at 100 thus, 100 = average intelligence on many tests. All test scores vary from time to time so, a person may earn more or less points on another day. This fluctuation is estimated and can range for example by plus or minus 3-5 IQ points depending on the test and age group.  If you retake the test in a month or so, you may score better because of the “practice effect”—you’ve seen the items recently so you will probably do better. There is an average range so examiners will not focus on the obtained score but consider a broader range. For example, some may consider

Spiritual Abuse Questionnaire (SAQ) by Kathryn Hope Keller

  Scale name: Spiritual Abuse Questionnaire (SAQ) Scale overview: The  Spiritual Abuse Questionnaire (SAQ)  is a 17-item self-report questionnaire that uses a 4-point Likert Type response format to measure two dimensions of abuse: Power-based affective wounding and Conditionality. Author: Kathryn Hope Keller   Response Type: 4-point Likert type. The choices are: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly agree. Subscales and Sample Items: There are two subscales. 1. Power-based Affective Wounding : “At times, I was scolded by my leader and made to feel ashamed and helpless” and “I now feel cynical about church/religious groups.”   2. Conditionality: “I believed I could be totally surrendered to God if I did everything perfectly according to the church/group’s instructions,” and “I believed God would punish me if I didn’t do what my church/group encouraged me to do.” Reliability: Alpha for the 17-item scale was .95 (Keller, 2016). The study sample was 271

Writing About Data in Psychology Papers and Reports

  Have you seen the data? The word data  is a plural noun and takes a plural verb. See the following two examples. Our data do not indicate why a discrepancy might exist, but the findings could be consistent with those of Kakhnovets (2011) who found that Extraversion was a factor for women but not men in seeking psychotherapy (Sutton et al., 2018, p.20). There are data suggesting that certain infants appear to actively suppress activation of the attachment system (i.e., have trouble seeking care). Cassidy, 2000, p. 116) We write: Data are not data is. Data were not data was. Data reveal not data reveals. Data show not data shows. If we wanted to write about one item from a data set, we could use the singular form, datum. One score in a set of scores is a datum. Datum is rarely used. Learn More about analyzing and writing about research in  Buy Creating Surveys  on GOOGLE BOOKS   AMAZON References Cassidy, J. (2000). Adult romantic attachments: A developmental perspective on indiv

Forgiveness Likelihood Scale (FLS)

  Scale name: Forgiveness Likelihood Scale (FLS) Scales overview:   The Forgiveness Likelihood Scale ( FLS) is a scenario-based 10-item scale. Respondents read the scenarios and decide how likely they would be to forgive the offender using a 5-point rating scale. Authors: Mark S. Rye et al. 2001 Response Type: A 5-point Likert-type response rating that ranges from 1 = Not at all likely to 5 = Extremely likely. Subscales: None Sample items: “One of your friends starts a nasty rumor about you that is not true. As a result, people begin treating you worse than they have in the past. What is the likelihood that you would choose to forgive your friend?”   “Your significant other has a ‘one night stand’ and becomes sexually involved with someone else. What is the likelihood that you would choose to forgive your significant other?”   Reliability The authors used factor analysis  and report the results in their article. Cronbach’s alpha was .85. Test-retest reliability w

Forgiveness Scale Rye 2001

  Scale name: Forgiveness Scale Scales overview This is a 15-item revision of an earlier version measuring how participants respond to wrongdoing. Authors: Mark S. Rye et al (2001) See below.   Response Type Likert-type 5 options ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree) Subscales: 2 factors reported as  AN = absence of negative responses and  PP = presence of positive responses toward the wrongdoer. Sample items “I spend time thinking about ways to get back at the person who wronged  me” “If I encountered the person who wronged me I would feel at peace.”  Reliability Cronbach alphas : AN =.86, PP = .85 Test retest : AN =.76, PP = .80 Validity ( see validity ) Significant positive correlations with the Forgiveness Likelihood Scale, Enright Forgiveness Inventory, and a Single Item Forgiveness rating. Availability: See the appendix in the article below (Rye et al., 2001). Permissions -- if identified   Scale Reference Rye, M. S., Loiacon

Presenting Data & Different Olympic Winners Stats

 Congratulations to Team USA for an outstanding performance at Tokyo 2020 in 2021 I enjoy sports. I used to follow player stats as a boy and kept track of my own even though I wasn't much of an athlete. The Olympic medals offer an opportunity to see how different presentations of data make a difference. You could even offer more perspectives if you consider many other countries than the top winners.  ALL MEDALS : The USA easily wins overall. Great Britain beats Japan. USA WINS OVERALL GOLD :  Team USA just edges China. Japan beats Great Britain in Gold. POPULATION :  Team GB wins among the top 4. The odds of having top athletes increase with population size. China's population is huge compared to most nations so they don't do so well. You can find countries with smaller populations who did extremely well like Australia. There are of course other factors to consider. Perhaps you thought of some? Wealth. Importance of Sport. The unique problems of COVID-19 infections of some