Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing : Validity, Reliability, and Accuracy - Research Paper Example

?Outline 0. Introduction 2.0. ment of problem 3.0. Purpose of Research 3 Methodology 4.0. Literature review 4 Hypothetical assessment 4.2. How validity and reliability shall be promoted in the assessment 4.3. Promoting accuracy 5.0. Recommendation 6.0. Conclusion 1.0. Introduction. Abnormalities in psychological functioning and resulting behavior have become a common display in many genres of film and general media industry so that it is possible that there is exaggeration of facts and exceeded portrayals of such situations. The term abnormal psychology is used interchangeably with complex or extreme psychology to achieve a more realist approach as every one of us is only normal to some extent. Abnormal behavior includes a wide range of behaviors and behavioral disorders such is depression, obsession, criminal tendencies, sexual deviation, and many more. Abnormal is discerned from normal following that many human behaviors lie along the normal curve, with a majority of individuals concentrated in the average part of the curve. The few who fall in the two extreme ends are the ones said to possess abnormal behavior. Abnormality is not necessarily synonymous with good or bad or moral or immorality. One may, for instance fall on the highest side of the intelligence curve, meaning the person is abnormally intelligent, therefore, a genius. This paper shall, using the outcome on the perception of abnormal behavior through the media draft hypothetical assessment of the outcome and use the drafts to test the validity and reliability of the hypothetical assessment. It shall, and then test the accuracy of the assessment through testing the possible sources of errors. We shall conclude that it is quite essential for any inquiry, including social those in the social sciences, to achieve a scientific status, it is essential that the validity, reliability, and accuracy of the study are proven and verified beyond dispute. 2.0. Statement of Problem. A number of scholars engage in inquiries but fail to test their validity, reliability, and accuracy beyond human doubt. This is one of the requirements of any scientific inquiry in order for it to pass for a possible theory. Inquiries in the social sciences are particularly difficult to assess because they deal with humans and human behavior is highly unpredictable and it is impossible to test these behaviors in a controlled environment as in the case of inquiries in the pure sciences departments. Despite this, there are ways that social inquiries can be tested and verified to get a majority perception or tendency. 3.0. Purpose for Research. This research, therefore, seeks to test the validity, reliability, and accuracy of a learning outcome. it will also explain how validity and reliability can improved in the assessment and how sources of error in such an assessment can be appropriately dealt with in an effort to promote accuracy. 3.1. Methodology. Information for this study will be extracted from secondary sources of books and peer reviewed journals. These contain strategies for improving validity and reliability and testing accuracy in a research. 4.0. Literature Review. The airing of abnormal behavior in the media has gained prominence today more than it did in the past that the perception of such behavior has also changed a great deal. This perception has, to a large extent, been corrupted through exaggeration and complicated portrayals by the media as a marketing strategy to attract and keep the audience. One such example is the movie PSYCHO where Norman Bates who is the main character portrays the worst for mental illness, most of which is not necessarily true. It is for this and many reasons that we shall carry out a hypothetical assessment of the outcome above to verify the truth within. 4.1. Hypothetical Assessment. a. A number of media practitioners do not know the full meaning of abnormal psychology and many associate abnormal behavior with negative behavior, thus distorting the audience’s perception of abnormal psychology and behavior. b. The media’s most important agenda is profit making prior to informing adequately and educating the audience on important issues such as abnormal psychology. c. Movie ratings by both the audience and movie houses show a great disparity in the depiction of abnormal psychology in the media. While most of the audience feels that the issue is exaggerating in movie scenes, movie houses agree with the depiction as a true portrayal of the issue. d. With the proliferation of technology in today’s world, such imperfections by the media in portraying social aspects such as abnormal psychology go a long way in affecting and influencing perceptions and attitudes of the audience everywhere, thus distorting knowledge. 4.2. How Validity and Reliability shall be promoted in the Assessment. A good research should be credible in terms of validity and reliability of the findings. For a study to pass as reliable, it must be free from errors and capture the true sentiments of those being studied or interviewed. Secondly, and most importantly, it must provide results that are reputable and consistent with similar subsequent studies. Validity is the factualness of a study. A study of this nature should capture the objective truths leaving out any subjective sentiments that may not be factual. The two aspects reinforce each other in that a study cannot be reliable if it is not valid, and neither can it be valid if it is not reliable. This means that either one of the aspects is not sufficient to qualify a study as credible. For a study to be reliable does not mean that it is valid, and vice versa; it must contain the two qualifications (Shofer, 2005). In order to ensure reliability of these hypothetical assessment tasks, we shall assess the issue of abnormal psychology as portrayed by all major media houses in the country. To ensure that the results got are reliable, we shall use a very detailed questionnaire for the interviews that includes all aspects concerning the topic. For the audience, we shall send them as many questionnaires as possible and a trivia question asking them to send their views and perceptions of abnormal behavior as portrayed through the media. This shall air in all the major media houses taking part in the study. This is in an effort to increases our participation base so as to get as many responses and variations of the responses as possible so that the resultant answers shall be reliable as it capture the views of the majority (Shofer, 2005). For validity, we shall be seeking to promote both content, face, criterion-related, and construct validity. The questions to be included in the questionnaires and interviews shall be valid to the extent that they will be relevant to the topic under study and cover all the relevant content involved. Each question will adequately represent a significant part of the topic. The hypothetical assessments stated above will form the base of our prediction so that we assess the range within which responses by both the media and audience fall as a test of validity of the study (AERA, PA & NCME, 1999). We shall also test the divergence or convergence of the study with prior studies on the same topic to measure its validity. If this study converges with most of the findings of earlier studies, then we know it is highly valid. If it does not, we shall then know that it was not valid or take a deeper look into issues that could explain the disparity such as change of perception in the time intervals of the two studies (AERA, PA & NCME, 1999). 4.3. Promoting Accuracy. Accuracy is the level of exactness and minimal error during a study. This is determined by the precision of the tool and system of measurement so that the error margin is reduced as much as possible. For a measurement to be valid it must be both accurate and precise as the two do not work independently (Jablensky, 2003). Accuracy in such a study involves minimizing errors for the test takers, the test itself, administration of the test, and the process of analyzing scoring in the test. The test takers should have a comprehensive and critical understanding of the test study with clearly set objectives of the study. They should avoid bringing in their emotions and personal thoughts into the study to maintain objectivity. While interviewing the media personnel, they must avoid being bias and maintain professionalism by sticking to the relevant questions. They should be fast in recording responses in the exact form they are given so that they do not miss out on facts (Jablensky, 2003). The test should be formulated with clear objectives and all questions geared toward capturing the topic in question. They should be accurate as to what they ask and what kind of response they solicit. Open ended questions should be avoided as this is not a qualitative study so that respondents do not give irrelevant responses. The questions should be brief and concise, have a clear wording, avoid technical terms and jargon, avoid using double negatives, and not antagonize or embarrass the respondent (Shofer, 2005). After all the responses have been collected, they should be handled with care so that some are not lost or damaged. They should then be subjected to data analysis packages that will analyze the data in a clear way without altering any information. Data analysis software for social science studies should be used appropriately and the overall result presented in a manner that is easy to deduce and understand using presentational features such as graphs, charts, and others (JAblensky, 2003). 5.0. Recommendations. To increase reliability and validity of this study, more groups of respondents besides media practitioners and the audience should be included in the study. Persons such as psychologists and movie producers will provide the very important professional view that will increase the credibility of the study. I would also recommend that the study narrows down on the concept of abnormal behaviors as the topic as it is would be very wide and difficult for the respondents to understand what these behaviors would be. a specification of a few of the abnormal behaviors would help such as sexual deviation, use of drugs, or serial murders. 6.0. Conclusion. The media, besides promoting positive culture in its many programs has also managed to distort many an audience’s perception over a number of social issues such as abnormal behavior. The media loves and gives more prominence to stories that ‘bleed’, and a perfect way of achieving this is by exaggerating events and stories to attract more audience. The portrayal of abnormal psychology is one of the topics that have fallen prey to this behavior by the media. Through this study, we shall ascertain our claims on the amount and extent of distortion that the media has had on the perception of abnormal psychology upon its audience. Reference List. American Educational Research Association (AERA)., Psychological Association (PA)., & National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME). (1999). Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Washington DC: American Educational Research Association. Jablensky, R. (2003). Distinguishing between the Validity and Utility of Psychiatric Diagnoses. The American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 160(1): 4-12. Shofer, D., Murphy, K., & Charles, O. (2005). Psychological Testing: Principles and Applications. N. J: Pearson/ Prentice Hall. Read More