CFS 3070 ch.3

psychological constructs

intangible aspects of relationships, which can’t be measured directly

examples of psychological constructs

love, trust, commitment

operationalization

translation of the construct into concrete, measurable term- application of a scale or measure on something that is not necessarily directly measurable

construct validity

degree to which operationalization that that is used reflects the psychological construct of interest

self report

data is comprised of participants’ own accounts of their behaviors, attitudes, and experiences used as the info in a research project

open ended questions

allows the participants to use their own words in response

fixed response

the same range of choices is presented to each participant

pros of self report

• high construct validity

• some can only me measured by self report

• no specialized equipment needed

cons of self report

• phrasing of questions and of available responses can influence responses

• interpretation of the construct

• memory recall

• social desirability bias- answers most socially desirable even if they’re not true

omnibus measures

everything that could possibly be related to relationship satisfaction

item-overlap problem

whenever questionnaires that are measuring related to similar constructs contain questions about similar topics

global measures

partners evaluate their relationship as a whole

observational measures

watching couples’ actual behaviors in relationships

sentiment override

partners general feelings about relationship overwhelm their perceptions of specific aspects

pros of observational measures

• directly observe relationship behaviors

• doesn’t rely on recall

• relatively objective

cons of observational measures

• reactivity

• sentiment override

• interrater reliability

reactivity

act of observing may change participants’ behavior

interrater reliability

a measure of the extent to which observers agree on an observed behavior

indirect measures

those being studied don’t know, or can’t control, the information they are providing

implicit attitudes

automatic evaluations or judgements we cannot control

indirect measures pros

• do not rely on memory recall

• avoids social desirability effect

indirect measures cons

• responses may only be weakly related to constructs of interest

physiological measures

physical reactions to experiences

EX: heightened reactions when talking about negative or difficult things

correlational research

people are measures as they are- examines the degree to which variables are related to each other

correlational research pros

• can demonstrate positive correlations

• may provide cross sectional data

• may prove longitudinal data

correlational research cons

• cannot support causation

longitudinal research

researchers not only describe associations among variables, but also describe change over time and predict outcomes

daily diary approach

participants keep a daily log about a specific area of their relationship

experience sampling

gathers data throughout the day in order to come up with a composite picture of participants’ daily experience

longitudinal research pros

• can describe change over time and predict outcomes

• can examine otherwise impossible or unethical processes

longitudinal researchers cons

• cannot support causal statements

• time and expense

• attraction bias

• conclusions can be limited

experimental research

rather than measuring people as they are, researchers put people into different groups using random assignment

independent variable

cause that is tested

dependent variable

effect that is tested

control

hold constant of all other variables that could affect the assessments participants made during the study

experimental research pros

can support causal statements

experimental research cons

external validity: results may not generalize outside the experimental situation

archival research

using preexisting data or info to see if variables are related or groups are different

EX: obituary used to see whether married people live longer than single people

content analysis

method of coding and interpreting textual data that makes it easier to replicate studies

-quanitifies data to allow for comparing from archival materials

archival research pros

• inexpnesive

• time-efficient

• not susceptible to reactivity

archival research cons

• lack of control over quality of data collection

• study design dependent on the design of the original

• can only examine questions asked in the original study