BHS Methods in Behavioral Sciences I April 16, 2003 Chapter 3 (Stanovich) – Operationism and Essentialism

Operational Definitions  A hypothesis redefines a general concept in terms of clearly observable operations that anyone can see and repeat.  Any given concept can be defined in many ways. It is safest to use multiple operational definitions.  Construct validity – is the operational definition appropriate for the concept?

Figure 3.1. (p. 54) From any one global construct, there are several possible operational definitions, depending on the questions asked and the type of population studied.

Measurement  Measurement is the process of assigning numbers to things in the world.  Measurements must be: Accurate Consistent  Reliability refers to the consistency of a measure (test-retest, same result each time).  Validity refers to the accuracy of a measure.

Finding a Research Idea  Ideas come from everywhere – especially from observation of society and personal experience. Seeking solutions to social problems.  Intuition – ideas can seem to just pop into our heads, can come from dreams, or be inspired by unrelated activities.  Important ideas come after preparation – intensive work in an area of interest.

Four Stages to Scientific Thinking  Preparation – learning all one can about a subject.  Incubation – meditating on a topic but not thinking about it.  Illumination – the solution begins to emerge into consciousness.  Verification – Testing the hypothesis.

Tools for Library Research  Books  Journals  Computer databases – PsycInfo, Social Science Citation Index  The Internet

Example: The Stroop Task  Demo of the task  Sources in PsycInfo  Sources on the Web