PSYC 217 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Operational Definition, Operationalization, Essentialism

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23 Nov 2017
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Operational definition: defining variables in terms of operations used to measure/manipulate them, necessary for them to be studied empirically. Types of variables: situational: characteristics of a situation/environment, e. g. number of bystanders to an emergency, response: responses of individuals, e. g. reaction time, participant: characteristics that individuals bring to a study, e. g. cultural background; intelligence. Confound variables: variables that are intertwined with iv & dv. Essentialism: there"s an unchanging, underlying essence of an entity that can be defined, focus is on the meaning of words, con: impossible for everyone to agree on single definition, conceptual variable: abstract understanding of what something is. Non-experimental method: observation/measurement of variables, shows correlation, doesn"t show causation, bi-directionality problem: a b or b a, third-variable problem: c a & b, causes illusory problems. Experimental method: direct manipulation & control of variables, shows if one variable causes another. Quasi-experimental method: halfway between experimental & non-experimental designs.

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