PSY 005 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Kurt Lewin, Construct Validity, Operational Definition

• School: College of The Sequoias
• Department: Psychology (PSY)
• Course: PSY 005
• Professor: Hansen

Document Summary

Basic research: research designed to increase the understanding of human behavior, often by testing hypotheses based on a theory. Applied research: research designed to enlarge the understanding of naturally occurring events and to find solutions to practical problems. Despite the differences between the 2, they are closely linked in social psychology. Kurt lewin was a pioneer in both approaches and encouraged basic researchers to be concerned with complex social problems and urged applied researchers to see how important and practical good theories are. Refining ideas: defining and measuring social psychology variables. To test hypothesis, researchers must decide how they will define and measure variables. Conceptual variables and operational definitions: from abstract to specific. When a hypothesis is first developed, the variables are typically in abstract, general form. These are conceptual variables (i. e. prejudice, love, violence, social anxiety). To test a hypothesis, we must transform these abstract variables into variables that can actually be manipulated or measured in a study.