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Concept Construct Variables RM
Concept Construct Variables RM
Research Process
The research process:
Characteristics of research: Proprietary vs. scholarly research Research is based on curiosity and asking questions (creativity) Research is a systematic process Research is potentially replicable Conceptualization, planning and designing research, methodologies for conducting research, analyzing and interpreting data, reconceptualization Research is reflexive and self critical Research is cumulative and self-corrective Research is cyclical Research paradigms: Physical sciences Humanities Social sciences
Question What is the nature of reality What is the relationship of the researcher to that being researched What is the role of values in the research process What is the process of research
Axiological assumption
Value-free Unbiased Deduction Search for cause and effect relationships between variables Static design Researcher-controlled setting Quantitative methods Context-free generalizations Goals of explanation, prediction and control
Value-laden Biased Induction Holistic understanding of patterns of behavior Emergent behavior Natural setting Qualitative methods Context-bound findings Goals of understanding and social change
Methodological assumption
Rhetorical assumption
Concept
An abstraction encompassing observed events; a word that represents the similarities or common aspects of objects or events that are otherwise quite different from one another. The purpose of a concept is to simplify thinking by including a number of events (or the common aspects of otherwise diverse things) under one general heading (Ary 1985). Chair, dog, tree, liquid, a doughnut, etc
Construct
Constructs are the highest highest-level abstractions of complicated objects and events, created by combining concepts and less complex constructs. used to account for observed regularities and relationships, and to summarize observations and explanations (Ary 1985). A concept with added meaning of having been deliberately and con consciously invented or seriously adopted for a special scientific purpose. 1) it enters into theoretical schemes and is theoretical related in various ways to other constructs. 2) it is defined and specified so that it may be observed or measured (Kerlinger 1986).
Construct
Scientists measure things in three classes: direct observables, indirect observables (not experienced or observed first hand), and constructs. These constructs are defined as constructs theoretical creations based on observations but cannot be observed directly or observed indirectly (Kaplan 1964). Motivation, visual acuity, justice, problem solving ability, not a doughnut, but hunger. problem-
Operational Definition
It describes meaning to a concept or construct by specifying the operations that must be performed in order to measure or manipulate the concept, as the data collected during research is in terms of observable events (Ary 1985). It defines or gives meaning to a variable by spelling out what the investigator must do to measure it (Kerlinger 1986). Operational definitions are essential to research because they permit investigators to measure abstract concepts and constructs and permit scientists to permit move from the level of constructs and theory to the level of observation (Ary 1985).
Operational Definition
Two Types of Operational Definitions:
Measured Operational Definition: Operations by which investigators may measure a concept. Experimental Operational Definition: Steps taken by a researcher to produce certain experimental conditions.
Operational Definition
Examples of an Operational Definition:
Measured Operational Definition: An actual (score) value from a test or questionnaire the researchers would develop to measure hunger. Experimental Operational Definition: A manipulated scenario to produce the condition of hunger. (such as preventing the subject from consuming anything for x number of hours) x-
Variable
Characteristics or attributes of an object, individual or organization that can be measured or observed, and that varies among those objects or individuals being studied (Creswell 2002). They possess values and levels (the dimensions on which they vary) (Sommery 1997). The concepts that are of interest in a study become the variable variables for s investigation (Ary 1985).
Concepts, Construct
Concepts are abstract ideas which have been "defined" according to particular characteristics or generalizations (constructs) about them. A construct is based on concepts, or can be thought of as a conceptual model that has measurable aspects. This will allow the researcher to "measure" the concept and have a common acceptable platform when other researches do a similar research.
Concepts, Construct
E.g Measuring advertising effectiveness is an construct, and concepts related would be brand awareness and consumer behavior. Pain is a concept, a theoretical model of pain would be a construct, and a pain assessment tool would give a measurable variable.
Concepts, Construct
An idea is a plan, suggestion, or possible course of action. ex...I really like the idea of helping people. A concept is an idea or abstract principle. ex....She added that the concept of arranged marriages is misunderstood in the West.
Science uses:
i. Concepts ii. Links concepts by propositions iii. Testing theory with observable evidence iv. Publication of definitions and procedures v. Control of alternative explanations vi. Unbiased selection of evidence vii. Reconciliation between theory and observation
Concepts, Construct
A concept is a verbal abstraction drawn from observation of a number of specific cases A theoretical definition explains what is meant by the concept. Operational definitions translate the verbal concepts into corresponding variables which can be measured. Operational definitions can be either: measured, or experimental. Also, a variable can be either measured (e.g., surveys) or manipulated (e.g., experiment).
Concepts, Construct
A construct serves the same function as a concept, but it is more abstract. It is not characterized by a direct link between the abstraction and its observed manifestations. For instance, source credibility is a construct which has been used in studying persuasion. This term can be used in the same way as a concept, but we should recognize that we cannot directly observe different levels of source credibility in individuals. However, we can observe the various parts which make up the construct individually, and then combine them to get some overall summary.
Concepts, Construct
Constructs are built from the logical combination of a number of more observable concepts. In the case of source credibility, we could define the construct as the combination of the concepts of expertise, objectivity, and status. Each of these concepts can be more directly observed in an individual. We might also consider some of these terms to be constructs themselves, and break them down into combinations of still more concrete concepts
What we see if we do this is a set of constructs at decreasing levels of abstraction. Only at the bottom of this hierarchy are directly observable concepts.
Concepts, Construct
A scientific concept really consists of three parts: a label, a theoretical definition, and an operational definition. The theoretical definition specifies the verbal meaning which is attached to the concept label. We call self-defining concepts like age primitive terms. Primitive terms are adequately defined by their attached concept labels. These are the labels which appear at the bottom of the level of abstraction hierarchy. RECOMMENDATION: explicitly specify the meaning associated with each concept, regardless of the extent to which we think the meaning is shared.
Concepts, Construct
An operational definition translates the verbal meaning provided by the theoretical definition into a prescription for measurement. Although they may be expressed verbally, operational definitions are fundamentally statements that describe measurement and mathematical operations. An operational definition describes the unit of measurement. Examples of units of measurement are minutes (to measure time), word counts (to measure newspaper coverage of a particular event), percent correct responses, etc.
An operational definition adds three things to the theoretical definition. Operationalization is to take a fuzzy concept, such as 'helping behavior', and try to measure it by specific observations, e.g. how likely are people to help a stranger with problems.
Concepts, Construct
An operational definition specifies the level of measurement. Levels of measurement can range from the simple nominal variables which only make distinctions between categories like present or absent or yes or no; to ordinal variables which contain some information about the quantity (more or less) of the concept present, but have no real measurement scales; to continuous variables which have real scale points which are equally spaced, and which can take on any value.
Concepts, Construct
The operational definition must be very closely associated with the theoretical definition. It must state clearly how observations will be made so they will reflect as fully as possible the meaning associated with the verbal concept or construct. The operational definition must tell us how to observe and quantify the concept in the real world. This connection between theoretical and operational definitions is quite critical. This connection establishes the validity of the measurement. The amount of validity in measurement is proportional to the extent to which we actually measure what we intend to measure, that is, the degree to which the operational definition and the theoretical definition correspond.
Variables
A variable is something that changes. It changes according to different factors. Some variables changes easily, like the stockexchange value, while other variables are almost constant, like the name of someone. Researchers are often seeking to measure variables. The variable can be a number, a name or anything where the value can change.
Variables
An example of a variable is temperature. The temperature varies according to other variable and factors. You can measure different temperature inside and outside. If it is a sunny day, chances are that the temperature will be higher than if it's cloudy. Another thing that can make the temperature change is whether something has been done to manipulate the temperature, like lighting a fire in the chimney.
Variables
A variable is any entity that can take on different values. Anything that can vary can be considered a variable. For instance, age can be considered a variable because age can take different values for different people or for the same person at different times.
Variables
Variables are not always 'quantitative' or numerical. The variable 'gender' consists of two text values: 'male' and 'female'. We can, if it is useful, assign quantitative values instead of (or in place of) the text values, but we don't have to assign numbers in order for something to be a variable. It's also important to realize that variables aren't only things that we measure in the traditional sense. For instance, in much social research and in program evaluation, we consider the treatment or program to be made up of one or more variables (i.e., the 'cause' can be considered a variable). An educational program can have varying amounts of 'time on task', 'classroom settings', 'student-teacher ratios', and so on.
Variables
Variables may have the following characteristics:
Period: When it starts and stops. Pattern: Daily, weekly, ad-hoc, etc. Detail: Overview through to 'in depth'. Latency: Time between measuring dependent and independent variable (some things take time to take effect).
Variables
In research, you typically define variables according to what you're measuring. The independent variable is the variable which the researcher would like to measure (the cause), while the dependent variable is the effect (or assumed effect), dependent on the independent variable. These variables are often stated in experimental research, in a hypothesis, e.g. "what is the effect of personality on helping behavior?
Variables
In explorative research methodology, e.g. in some qualitative research, the independent and the dependent variables might not be identified beforehand. They might not be stated because the researcher does not have a clear idea yet on what is really going on. The independent variable, also known as the manipulated variable, lies at the heart of any quantitative experimental design. A researcher manipulates an independent variable, to influence a dependent variable, or variables. There may be more than two dependent variables in any experiment.
Variables
The independent variable is what you (or nature) manipulates -- a treatment or program or cause. The dependent variable is what is affected by the independent variable -- your effects or outcomes. For example, if you are studying the effects of a new educational program on student achievement, the program is the independent variable and your measures of achievement are the dependent ones.
Variables
The independent variable (IV) is often thought of as our input variable. It is independent of everything that occurs during the experiment because once it is chosen it does not change. In our experiment on college performance, we chose two groups at the onset, namely, those with work experience and those without. This variable makes up our two independent groups and is therefore called the independent variable.
Variables
The dependent variable (DV), or outcome variable, is dependent on our independent variable or what we start with. In this study, college grades would be our dependent variable because it is dependent on work experience. If we chose to also look at men versus women, or older students versus younger students, then these variables would be other independent variables and the outcome, our dependent variable (college grades), would be dependent on them as well. Remember that whatever is the same between the two groups is considered a constant because they do not vary between groups but rather remain the same and therefore do not affect the outcome of each group differently
Variables
Descriptive variables are those that which will be reported on, without relating them to anything in particular. Categorical variables result from a selection from categories, such as 'agree' and 'disagree'. Nominal and ordinal variables are categorical. Numeric variables give a number, such as age. Discrete variables are numeric variables that come from a limited set of numbers. They may result from , answering questions such as 'how many', 'how often', etc. Continuous variables are numeric variables that can take any value, such as weight. Extraneous variables are additional variables which could provide alternative explanations or cast doubt on conclusions.
Variables
Researchers must be aware that variables outside of the independent variable(s) may confound or alter the results of a study. Confounding variables are variables with a significant effect on the dependent variable that the researcher failed to control or eliminate sometimes because the researcher is not aware of the effect of the confounding variable. The key is to identify possible confounding variables and somehow try to eliminate or control them.
Variables
A confounding variable, also known as a third variable or a mediator variable, can adversely affect the relationship between the independent variable and dependent variable. This may cause the researcher to analyze the results incorrectly. The results may show a false correlation between the dependent and independent variables, leading to an incorrect rejection of the null hypothesis.
Variables
If, for instance, we had two groups in the above mentioned study but did not control for age then age itself may be a confound. Imagine comparing students with work experience with a mean age of 40 with students without work experience and a mean age of 18. Could we reasonably say that work experience caused the student to receive higher grades? This extraneous variable can play havoc on our results as can any intervening variable such as motivation or attention. Addressing confounds before they alter the results of your study is always a wise decision
Variables
Stating the hypotheses and/or research questions: Describing the specific hypotheses being tested or questions being asked. Delimiting the research: Fully disclosing what the researcher intends to do and, conversely, does not intend to do. Defining the terms: Giving the meanings of all terms in the statements of the problem and subproblems that have any possibility of being misunderstood. Stating the assumptions: Presenting a clear statement of all assumptions on which the research will rest.
These matters facilitate understanding of the research called the setting of the problem
Accept/Reject Hypotheses
Hypotheses have nothing to do with proof Their acceptance or rejection is dependent on what the data and the data alone ultimately reveal Hypotheses may originate in the subproblem, could be 1 to 1 Hypothesis provides a position from which a researcher begins to initiate an exploration of problem and subproblems and checkpoints to test the findings that the data reveal
Accept/Reject Hypotheses
If the data do not support the research hypothesis, dont be disturbed it merely means that the educated guess about the outcome of the investigation was incorrect Frequently, rejected hypotheses are a source of genuine and gratifying surprise truly made unexpected discovery Another type of hypothesis is the null hypothesis
Null Hypothesis
It is an indicator only Reveals some influences, forces, or factors that have resulted in a statistical difference or no such difference Most researches stop at this point getting off at mezzanine instead down to the basement where the foundations are