Why is triangulation important when measuring someone's personality?
What will be an ideal response?
A good answer would include the following key points:
- There are strengths and weaknesses associated with any measurement technique. For example, a self-report questionnaire might be lacking in reliability or validity, or archival sources containing a wealth of data might be inaccessible to a researcher. Physiological measures can't tap psychological processes, and projective techniques have been called into question.
- Using a variety of techniques, however, allows a researcher to triangulate on a question of interest.
- Triangulation involves using different methods to answer the same question in order to be more certain of the answer.
- If a researcher were to administer a self-report questionnaire, a set of informant ratings, and physiological measures, followed by a clinical interview, all those methods would hopefully converge (or triangulate) on the same conclusions about the person being studied.
You might also like to view...
Shirley is introduced to her friend's mother. While Shirley heard the woman's name, she had no idea what the woman's name was immediately after it was spoken. It is most accurate to say that the woman's name
a. never made it past Shirley's sensory register. b. is trapped in Shirley's short-term memory. c. is lost in Shirley's long-term memory. d. could be cued for recall later on if Shirley would relax a bit.
Axons of the lateral corticospinal tract extend to what area?
A. Cerebellum B. Cerebral cortex C. Spinal cord D. Thalamus
The capacity to feel pain begins ______.
A. before birth B. at birth C. by 3 days of age D. by 1 week of age
In Sternberg's triarchic theory, intelligent behavior involves balancing __________ intelligences
A) linguistic, emotional, and practical B) spatial, kinesthetic, and interpersonal C) creative, intrapersonal, and emotional D) analytical, creative, and practical