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Review for Exam 1 PowerPoint lectures: Introduction Psychology as a science, other ways of knowing, pseudoscience, ethics, theory, and literature review Quantitative/qualitative approaches (deductive/inductive) Empiricism: Experimental vs. Non-experimental designs Basic or applied, lab or field setting, independent and dependent variables, causal vs. correlational Operational definitions Directional and non-directional hypotheses, conceptual and operational definitions, moving toward measurement Patten topics 1-15 Marshall (1996) article on quantitative vs. qualitative sampling
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Developing operational definitions PY257: Research I February 10, 2010 Dr. Leonard
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Scientific Method 1. Formulate theories √ 2. Develop testable hypotheses √ √ 3. Conduct research, gather data √ 4. Evaluate hypotheses based on data 5. Cautiously draw conclusions
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Directional hypotheses make specific predictions about the direction of the relationship between variables or the degree of difference between groups E.g., Children on Drug A will experience fewer hyperactive episodes than children on Drug B Non-directional hypotheses simply predicts that there will be some relationship or difference but does not specify the direction of degree E.g., Children receiving Drug A and Drug B will display different behaviors The nature of your hypotheses influences your operational definition
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In order to communicate with others and carry out research, we must define concepts explicitly We need conceptual definitions in order to communicate the meaning of a concept (e.g. worry vs. anxiety) But, we need operational definitions in order to specify how the concept will be captured and measured (operations used to attain them)
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Pros… Operational definitions contribute to parsimony in theories and hypotheses Operational definitions enable researchers to replicate each other’s work; contributes to reliability Operational definitions make the constructs being studied transparent and possible misinterpretations of results
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Cons… Operational definitions may lead to strict, narrow definitions of concepts which could contribute to oversimplification of complex phenomena (pseudoscience) Operational definitions may not fully capture all aspects of a concept
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Converging operations a.k.a. “two heads are better than one” The idea that our understanding of a phenomena can only be enhanced when multiple investigations are conducted by different researchers using different operationalizations of the concept of interest in order to build a general consensus
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Manifest Anxiety Scale One of the very first anxiety scales (1951, 1953), developed by well-known psychologist Janet Taylor who later became President of APA Designed to test overall, general anxiety over time; believed to be a relatively stable characteristic of one’s personality State vs. trait conceptualization Has been revised several times for children (CMAS) and adults but many still use it; led to the creation of the STAI
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