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Operationalizing Concepts: Issues in Operationally Defining Your Concepts, Validity, Reliability and Scales

This document discusses key concepts in operationalizing variables for research, including: - Operationalization is defining abstract concepts so they can be measured - It is important to consider validity, reliability, and different levels of measurement - Variables can be operationalized simply or complexly to fully capture the concept - Measurement error, such as random or systematic error, should be reduced through reliability and validity - Well-constructed measurement instruments are needed to fully cover complex constructs in research

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60 views

Operationalizing Concepts: Issues in Operationally Defining Your Concepts, Validity, Reliability and Scales

This document discusses key concepts in operationalizing variables for research, including: - Operationalization is defining abstract concepts so they can be measured - It is important to consider validity, reliability, and different levels of measurement - Variables can be operationalized simply or complexly to fully capture the concept - Measurement error, such as random or systematic error, should be reduced through reliability and validity - Well-constructed measurement instruments are needed to fully cover complex constructs in research

Uploaded by

Zaki
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Operationalizing Concepts

Issues in operationally defining


your concepts, validity,
reliability and scales
Review
 What is conceptualization?
 What is operationalization?
 Null Hypothesis construction: Ho (p. 605)
 Logical, Value-neutral
 Asserts no difference between dependent and
independent variables
 Alternative Hypothesis: Ha (p. 145)
 Hypotheses and research questions
Operationalization
 Can anything be operationalized?
 “Those who get to ask the questions get to
determine the context of answers.”
 Operationalization and social justice
 Avoiding bias (p. 152)
 Simple and complex operationalizations
 “covering the construct”
Operationalization in Action
 Try to operationalize these variables:
 Teen mother
 Elderly
 Male homosexual
 Person with dementia
 Drug-abusing adolescent
 Criminal
Operationalization in Action, cont.
 Try to operationalize these variables
 Love
 Peace
 Anxiety
 Insomnia
 Attachment
 Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Levels of Measurement (p. 172)
 Nominal
 Ordinal
 Interval
 Ratio
Measurement Error
 Random Error
 Systematic Error
How We Collect Data
 Direct self-report
 Indirect self-report
 Observation
 Archival records
Two Principles in Reducing
Measurement Error
 Reliability
 Definition: gives the same answer over time
and among different populations and
circumstances
 Types of reliability
 Interrater reliability
 Test-retest reliability
 Internal consistency reliability
 Inter-item correlations (p. 187)
Two Principles in Reducing
Measurement Error
 Validity (p. 194)
 Definition: Measures what it means to measure
 Face validity
 Content validity
 Criterion-related validity
 Concurrent validity
 Predictive validity
 Construct validity
Validity and Reliability, final
words
 P. 198, for permutations
 Valid, but not reliable
 Reliable, but not valid
 Valid and Reliable
Constructing Measurement Instruments
 Why construct measurement instruments?
 “Covering the construct”
 Complex constructs, subtle constructs
 Convergent and discriminant validity
 No-nos when constructing measurement
instruments (pp. 208 – 212)
 Tools:
 Likert scaling
 Semantic differential scaling (p. 226)
Single-Systems Design Experiment
 Consider a behavior you want to
extinguish or increase
 Consider a reward and/or punishment

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