Introduction to Operationalization

Abstract

Science’s mission is to discover the underpinning behind observable phenomena or abstract principles that link relevant variables, while testing specific hypotheses deduced from those abstract principles in terms of how those variables are related to each other. Operationalization is a critical process in the initial stage of scientific inquiry to...

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Details

Subject Area(s):

Research Methods

Resource Type(s):

Assignment

Class Level(s):

Any Level

Class Size(s):

Any

Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goal(s):

1. To understand operationalization.
2. To practice formulating a simple bivariate hypothesis using common sociological variables.
3. To assess the consistency between a logical speculation (i.e., a proposition stated with conceptual variables) and its empirically testable form (i.e., a testable hypothesis stated with empirical indicators) in typical research scenarios.

Goal Assessment(s):

1. How appropriately students can match a conceptual variable, which may or not be directly observable, with its empirical indicator that would reasonably represent the conceptual variable in a measurable manner.
2. How appropriately students can formulate a bivariate hypothesis that is logically sound and also empirically testable.
3. How appropriately students can differentiate conceptual variables and their empirical indicators, and how critically they can evaluate the consistency between a logical speculation and its empirically testable form in different research scenarios.