PSY 302 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Operational Definition, Nominal Level, Predictive Validity
Document Summary
The assignment of scores that represent characteristics. Can"t be observed directly: usually represent tendencies, often involve internal processes. Conceptual definition: describes the behaviors and internal processes that made up that construct and how it relates to other variables, some constructs don"t have analogues in everyday language. Designed in terms of how it will be measured: self report measures, behavioral measures, psychological measures. Converging operations: multiple operational definitions are converging on the same construct, in one study or across studies. Nominal level: categorical variables, assign scores that are category labels. Interval level: scores represent that magnitude of the difference, score of zero does not actually represent the complete absence of the characteristic. Ratio level: assigned so there is a true zero. Test-retest reliability: consistency between testing sessions, test retest correlation, assessed by measuring the same individuals two points in time, but . Reliability indexes do not equal particular measure is an accurate measure of the variable of interest.
