Least Two Example Items Psych 324 George Mason Un
For even more details of the assignment please check the attachments below!
(1) pick a personality concept and measure, (2) find and download the
original paper in which the scale was developed, (3) find an empirical paper that uses the
scale, and (4) respond to questions about these papers.
Questions 1 – 6 refer to the original scale development article. Questions 7 and 8 refer to
the empirical article that uses the scale.
- What aspect(s) of personality does this scale aim to measure? In other words, what is
the psychological construct that the researchers theorize about? How would you describe
it in about a sentence—clearly explain the concept to a non-expert. The authors likely
provide a definition of the construct in text that you can use for reference. Please
paraphrase this definition and provide the page number. (10 points)
For example: The construct grit reflects an individual’s tendency to maintain interest in
a goal and sustain effort towards a goal (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009, p. 166).
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Is this scale unidimensional or multidimensional [see paragraph at end of document
for more information on dimensionality]? In other words, is the construct composed of
multiple separable sub-scales or factors? If so, it is multidimensional. (5 points)
For example: The grit scale is multidimensional, composed of two dimensions or factors
labeled perseverance of effort and consistency of interest. Separate scales are computed
for each subdimension, as well as an overall grit score composed of both subdimensions
combined.
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How many items make up the scale? If multidimensional, how many items per
dimension? Provide at least two example items. If multidimensional, provide at least two
example items per dimension. (10 points)
For example: The scale is composed of eight items, with four items referring to
consistency of interest (e.g., “I often set a goal but later choose to pursue a different one”;
“I have been obsessed with a certain idea or project for a short time but later lost
interest.”) and four items referring to perseverance of effort (e.g., “I finish whatever I
begin”; “Setbacks don’t discourage me”).
- What is the response scale? Please describe how participants would respond to items,
including the number of response options, and the anchors (i.e., what a “1” refers to, what
a “5” or “7” refers to). (10 points)
For example: Participants indicated their agreement with the items on a 5-point likert
scale (1 = disagree strongly; 5 = agree strongly).
-
For two of the example items you provided above, what does a high score mean with
regard to the construct? That is, if a person answers “5” (or “7”), what does that mean
about them? (10 points)
For example: A high score on the item “I often set a goal but later choose to pursue a
different one”, indicating that a person strongly agrees with this item, would indicate that
the person is low in grit (that is, this item is reverse-scored [NOTE: your scale may not
have reverse-scored items, but keep an eye out for them]). A high score on the item “I
finish whatever I begin”, indicating that they strongly agree, would indicate that the
person is high in grit.
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Bonus: what is/are the Cronbach’s alpha(s)/reliability score for each part of this scale? (1
bonus mark) (2 points EC)
For example: For Study 1, which collected data from multiple samples, alphas ranged
from .73 to .79 on the Consistency of Interest subscale. Alphas ranged from .60 to .78 on
the Perseverance of Effort subscale.
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Compare the definition of the construct from the scale development paper to the
definition given in the empirical paper. Do the definitions match? In what ways do
they differ, if any? (5 points)
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In the empirical paper, what was one key finding using the scale? Describe and
explain to a non-expert with words—no numbers. You can use the results section or
discussion section for this. (10 points)
For example: Soldiers higher in grit were more likely to complete the Army Special
Operations Forces (ARSOF) selection course. Grit was positively related to age,
indicating that older people are higher in grit. Grit was unrelated to general intelligence.
