3. What is C in the equation Ax + By = C? A. coefficient
B. constant
C. slope
D. variable

The lee family is looking to buy a house in one of two suburban areas just outside of a major city, and air quality is a top priority for them. overall air quality is calculated by taking measures in 100 locations within each suburb and then calculating a measure of central tendency. in one suburb, there is a major bus station that creates very poor air quality at its location but has no impact in the surrounding parts of the suburb. in this situation, which measure of overall suburb air quality would be most useful?

Reliability and validity reliability and validity are two important considerations that must be made with any type of data collection. reliability refers to the ability to consistently produce a given result. in the context of psychological research, this would mean that any instruments or tools used to collect data do so in consistent, reproducible ways. unfortunately, being consistent in measurement does not necessarily mean that you have measured something correctly. to illustrate this concept, consider a kitchen scale that would be used to measure the weight of cereal that you eat in the morning. if the scale is not properly calibrated, it may consistently under- or overestimate the amount of cereal that’s being measured. while the scale is highly reliable in producing consistent results (e.g., the same amount of cereal poured onto the scale produces the same reading each time), those results are incorrect. this is where validity comes into play. validity refers to the extent to which a given instrument or tool accurately measures what it’s supposed to measure. while any valid measure is by necessity reliable, the reverse is not necessarily true. researchers strive to use instruments that are both highly reliable and valid.

Shawn received an e-mail offering a great deal on music, movie, and game downloads. he has never heard of the company, and the e-mail address and company name do not match. what should shawn do?