MMC 3420 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Operational Definition, Observational Error, Semantic Differential
Document Summary
Concept- an abstract idea: ex: message effectiveness, readability, source credibility, visual appeal, agenda settings, reputation, ect. Operational definition- procedures fro measuring/observing a concept: measured: how to measure a variable (ex: liking of a tv character measured via a 5-item instrument, experimental: how researcher manipulates a variable (ex: source credibility, visual complexity of ad) Independent- manipulated by researcher; expected to influence a change in the dv (in nonexperiemetnal research- called predictor/antecedent variable) Dependent- influence by the effects /influence of the independent variables (the variable that is predicted/affected by the predictor is the criterion variable: independent variable causes the dependent variable. Control- used to ensure results are due to the independent variable & not other factors (ex: control for age, income, etc) Nominal- categories; labels or classifications: ex: male/female, yes or no. Ordinal- ordered/ranked along some dimension (1 category has more of something : rank tv shows from most favorite to least favorite, no zero point.
