direct measures

concrete variables that can be measured objectively with a specific measurement strategy, such as using a scale to measure weight, height, temperature, elapsed time, space, movement, heart rate, and respiration

or indirect measures

the ideal, perfect measure

score that would be obtained if no measurement error occurred (but there is always some measurement error)

the difference between the true measure and what is actually measured

difference between what exists in reality and what is measured by a research instrument

the difference between the measured value and the true value is without pattern or direction, haphazardly (random)

measurement error that is not random, the variation in measurement values from the calculated average is primarily in the same direction

such as as a scale that inaccurately weighs subjects at 3 pounds heavier than their normal weight

organized set of rules for assigning numvers to objects so that a hierarchy in measurement from low to high is established

the levels of measurement are nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio

lowest of the four measurement categories

used when data can be organized into categories of a defined property but the categories cannot be compared

such as gender, race, marital status, and nursing diagnoses

the highest form of measurement and meets all of the rules of other forms of measurement: mutually exclusive categories, exhaustive categories, ordered ranks, equally spaced intervals, and a continuum of values, and an absolute zero

an example is measuremetn of weight

concerned with the consistency of the measurement technique

extent to which an instrument consistently measures a concept; thress types of reliability are stability, equivalence, and homogeneity

an instrument is a determination of how well the instrument reflects the abstract concept being examined

is not all-or-nothing phenomenon; it is measured on a continuum

the researcher carefully defines what is to be observed and how the observations are to be made, recorded, and coded

use of structured and unstructured obervation to measure study variable

involves structrued or unstructured verbal communication between the researcher and the subject during which information is provided to the researcher for the study

most common in qualitative and descriptive studies

interview that is initiated with a broad question; subjects usually are encouraged to elaborate further on particular dimensions of a topic and often control the content of the interview

"describe for me your experience with...."

the researcher uses strategies to control the content of the interview

questions the interviewer asks are designed by the researcher before the initiation of data collection, and the order of the questions is specified

used to study qualitative issues, analyze policy, assess consumer satisfaction, evaluate quality of care, examine the effectiveness of public health programs, make professional decisions, develop instruments, expore patient care problems, develop effective interventions and education programs, study various patient populations, and gather data for participartory research projects

printed self-report form designed to elicit information through written or verbal responses of the subject

sometimes referred to as a survey

a form of self-report, is more precise means of measuring phenomena than the questionnaire

the subject responds to each item on the contiuum or scale provided

most meausure psychosocial variables

are the crudest form of measure using scaling techniques

scale that lists an ordered series of catergories of a variable and is assumed to be based on an underlying continuum

which was designed to measure the opinion or attitude of a particular subject, contains a number of declarative statements with a scale after each statement

measures attitudes and beliefs

2 opposite adjectives with a seven-point scale between them; the subject selects a point on the scale that best describes his or her view of the concept being examined

the process of acquiring the subjects and collecting the data for the study

identification of subjects and the precise, systematic gathering of information (data) relevant to the research purpose or the specific objectives, questions, or hypotheses of a study

focuses on obtaining subjects, training data collectors, collecting data in a consistent way, maintaining research controls, protecting the integrity (or validity) of the study, and solving porblems that threaten to disrupt the study

addresses the extent to which a physiological instrument measures the concept defined in the study

comparable to validity