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Personality Measurement: The language of research

Personality Measurement: The language of research. Definition Approaches to study The Role of Theory Methods to Study Personality The Purpose of Research Research Standards. Definition of Personality.

autumn-burke
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Personality Measurement: The language of research

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  1. Personality Measurement: The language of research Definition Approaches to study The Role of Theory Methods to Study Personality The Purpose of Research Research Standards

  2. Definition of Personality • “Those thoughts, feelings, desires, intentions, and action tendencies that contribute to important aspects of individuality.” (Brody & Ehrlichman, 1998) • “Set of psychological traits and mechanisms within the individual that are organized and relatively enduring and that influence his or her interactions with, and adaptations to, the environment (including intrapsychic, physical, and social environments; Larsen & Buss, 2002) UGH!

  3. Key Idea Dispositions, or traits, are potential behaviors!

  4. Approaches to Study • Idiographic: To study the unique individual. • Person-centered Ex. Case study (Monroe & Cobain) • Nomothetic: To seek general laws. • Variable-centered Ex. Factor analyze 200 MMPI-2 profiles of Bipolar patients. Meta-analysis of Bipolar studies.

  5. Methods to Study Personality • Sources of data. • Self-report (most common) • Observer report • Standardized tests • Advantage: Can compare a person to many! • Archival or life outcome • Other • Mechanical • Physiological • Projectives *Use multiple!

  6. Methods (Con’t) • First, what is your goal? • Depth: Use case study (idiographic) • Generality: Use multiple subjects (Nomothetic) • Anorexic & bulimic personality example. • Second, you need to think carefully about the purpose of your research! Determines: • Goal  data type  research design.

  7. Purpose of Research: Know this! #1 To establish relationships between variables. To do so……… • Use statistics: Numbers that summarize or indicate differences or patterns of differences in measurement. Three classes… • Descriptive: Concise ways of describing and summarizing properties of sets of numbers. 2) Inferential univariate statistics: Groups of tests used to determine if the differences found using a sample are true population differences or just chance variations. (anorexic and bulimic example)

  8. The third type (especially in personality research) 3) Inferential multivariate statistics: Techniques used for analyzing complicated data. You have many IV and DVs all correlated with each other to varying degrees. Examples: • Factor analysis (e.g. ADHD scale construction) • Uses intercorrelation: What groups together? • Multiple regression (e.g. Self-report of neuroticism predicts low self esteem)

  9. Use of Correlation: Factor Analysis • Factor analysis and principal components analysis: Statistical techniques applied to a single set of variables where the researcher is interested in which variables form coherent subsets. • Factors are thought to reflect underlying processes indicated by patterns of correlation! 

  10. MMPI-2 ADHD Scale • Inattention subscale • 31. I find it hard to keep my mind on a task or job. • 299. I cannot keep my mind on one thing. • 308. I forget right away what people say to me. • 325. I have more trouble concentrating than other seem to have. • 472. I am greatly bothered by forgetting where I put things. • 475. Often I get confused and forget what I want to say.

  11. MMPI-2 ADHD scale • Hyperactivity-Impulsivity subscale • 242. Once a week or oftener I become very excited. • 169. When I get bored I like to stir up some excitement. • 218. I have periods of such great restless that I cannot sit long in a chair. • 330. At times I am all full of energy. • 444. I am a high strung person. • 529. At times I can’t seem to stop talking.

  12. Factor Analyze: See how items inter-correlate!! III I299 .74 .10 I325 .72 .08 I31 .69 .05 I475 .60 .16 I308 .58 -.04 I472 .46 .19 I242 .09 .67 I169 -.06 .63 I529 .21 .50 I218 .42 .46 I330 -.33 .44 I444 .26 .42 N = 5913

  13. Example of Factor Analysis

  14. Design you learned about in intro. 2) Experimental design: To search for causality. • Manipulate an IV to effect a DV • Use experimental group and control group • Use random assignment Ex. Anticonvulsants and BPD

  15. Critical Thinking • So, how do you evaluate if those studies you are reading about in your textbook are really true? • There are standards to follow!

  16. Review • Personality measurement • Definition of personality • Key idea about traits • Approaches to study • One subject or many? • Methods • Data sources • Goal: Determines  • Statistics (correlation, regression, FA) • NEXT: Research Standards

  17. Reliability: Confidence in repeat measurements • Inter-rater: raters judgments correlate. • Internal consistency: The items of your scale intercorrelate. • Average correlation across each pair of items or split half. • Repeated measurement • Test-retest

  18. Validity • Predictive or criterion • Convergent • Discriminant: • ADHD vs. Mania • Face AND, THE BIG DEAL IS….

  19. Construct Validity • Construct validity - Is the “king” of all the validity types!!

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