Operational Definitions/ Survey Design

1. Operational Definitions/Survey Design

2. DO NOW: This is important • Grab a “Self-Editing Check List” from stool • Complete the checklist • Pay attention to the directions in each box on the left • Mark your score for each criteria in each box on the right – I KNOW I added up the scores wrong, calculate your score out of 20 • Correct spelling/grammar as you go • Give yourself a final grade • Leave any additional comments/questions • If you do not have your paper, grab a “Self-Editing Check List” to complete and hand in to me tomorrow

3. Before we create our survey question…. What are we trying to measure? • 5th • What is our research question? • Does involvement in activities affect perception of upperclassmen? 2nd What is our research question? does gender affect your fear of spiders?

4. Operational Definitions : an objective description of a variable given in terms of how it is actually measured • Why is this important? • Eliminate “fuzziness” between researchers • Controls the experiment • Everyone is being subjected to the same definition

5. Example: A researcher measuring happiness in college students decides to use a 10-question happiness scale to measure positive outlook in her subjects. In other words, her operational definition of happiness in this case is a given subject’s 1-10 score

6. Practice Examples: Memory: the number of words correctly recalled from a list Intelligence: IQ test • In your notes, operationally define the following variables: • Aggression • Stress • Reading ability • depression

7. 2nd Operationally define our variablesRQ:IV – gender DV – fear of spiders?Hypothesis: a fear of spiders is more common in girls

8. 5th Operationally define our variablesRQ: Does involvement in activities (IV) affect perception (DV) of upperclassmen?Hypothesis: if freshmen are involved in any activity, it will affect perception Involvement in activities – number of checked boxes from a list of possible activities (designated by hour/week) perception -

9. Example for survey questionRQ: Do 9th graders prefer sugary cereals?Hypothesis: 9th graders prefer sugary cereals above all other cereals Survey question: On days you choose to eat cereal for breakfast, what brands of cereal do you eat? Operational Definitions • Sugary cereals – more than 10g of sugar per serving • Prefer – eat them more than 50% of the time they choose to eat cereal

10. Other things to consider for a survey… • We can use “fixed choice questions” – give options – can even be yes or no • With fixed choice questions we need to make sure all questions are “mutually exclusive” and “exhaustive” • this means any respondent can find one response that applies to him or her (except in the check all that apply format) • Can add “other” please specify • With large groups of people, close ended q’s are the way to go • When studying smaller groups, open ended q’s can get more into the minds of subjects • Sometimes certain words can affect people differently, we have to choose our words wisely • A survey asked if people would forbid public speeches against democracy – 54% said yes – asked if they would not “allow” them, 75% agreed • Respondents will be more likely to say yes to a question like “Did you see the cop while driving” as opposed to “did you see a cop while driving” • We also often see survey designs that will ask a question and ask if a person agrees, and to what degree (or to measure any behavior really)