Operationalization Of Variables Research Articles

The Problem of Representation: Realism and Operationalism in Survey Research

This paper is concerned with the question of representation in survey research, specifically in respect of the operationalisation of variables. In sociology, empiricist explanations of the social world are largely discredited and some form of realism is now commonly favoured by researchers. Here I will argue that whilst realism has made theoretical progress in sociology, in survey research there has been an unfortunate accommodation between empiricist operationalism and a naive methodological realism. I will argue that operationalism is not a viable strategy and instead will put the case for a realist approach to definition and measurement in survey research.

The Role of Class, Status, and Power in the Distribution of Toxic Superfund Sites in Texas and Louisiana

ABSTRACT Hazardous waste and environmental justice are important public issues as well as vital areas of academic discussion. The occurrence of hazardous waste sites in Texas and Louisiana is among the highest in the U.S. This study reexamines the claim that hazardous waste sites are disproportionately located in communities with higher percentages of minorities and poor in the population. Because of varying units of analysis and improper operationalization of variables, research based on this claim has produced inconsistent findings. This paper uses the case of Superfund hazardous waste site locations in Texas and Louisiana combined with a multi-dimensional conceptual frame to rectify weaknesses associated with conventional approaches to environmental justice issues. The goal of this analysis is to address two shortcomings in the environmental justice literature. First, we introduce the concept of relative deprivation and, second, we expand the traditional class focus of such research to include both status and power dimensions. The major hypothesis of this research is that environmental justice issues are better conceptualized as environmental classism rather than environmental racism. The results indicate that a multi-dimensional theoretical approach that includes class, status, and power indicators is superior to previous approaches. Furthermore, results indicate that race is not a significant correlate with the location of hazardous waste sites. We conclude that the operationalization of the concept of relative deprivation is valuable in sorting out the influence of race from other independent variables

Voices and echoes for the environment: public interest representation in the 1990s and beyond

1. Voices and Echoes in the Public Interest Marketplace: The Development of the Public Interest Sector2. From Social Movement to Public Interest Organizations: The Organizational Transformation of Environmentalism in the United States3. Growing Pains: Leadership Challenges in Contemporary Environmental Organizations4. Membership Recruitment and Retention: Direct Mail, Telemarketing, and Canvassing5. It's Not Easy Being Green: Leadership Incentives and Membership Motivations6. The Heart of the Matter: Leadership-Membership Connections7. Organizational Leadership and Grassroots Empowerment: Reinvigorating Public Interest Representation in the United StatesAppendix A. Public Interest OrganizationsAppendix B. Operationalization of Variables, chapter 5Appendix C. Validity and Reliability, chapter 5Appendix D. Specific and General Policy Issues Presented in 1977--1978 CommunicationsAppendix E. Operationalization of Variables, chapter 6

Cognitive Resources and Leadership Performance: What About the Task Requirements?

Fred E. Fiedler made an important contribution in summarising and discussing the tricky relationships between test‐intelligence, time in service, and perceived experience on the one side, and rated leadership performance on the other. Two strings of results seem to be of importance for improving our knowledge on these relationships: (1) test‐intelligence correlates with rated performance especially in the case of low perceived stress, and experience especially in the case of high stress; (2) test‐intelligence correlates with rated performance if the other resource, perceived experience, is low. Both strings of results may fit with our expectations. Nevertheless, some aspects of the problem might trouble some readers, for reasons that Fiedler is not responsible for. There seem to be at least three clusters of unfulfilled wishes within this topic of research: selection and operationalisation of variables; design; and task requirements and intelligence.

Religiosity and adolescents' premarital sexual attitudes and behaviour: an empirical study of conceptual issues.

A review of the literature concerning the relationship between religiosity and premarital sexual attitudes and behavior revealed inconsistencies in research findings and problems with methodology and operationalization of variables. A postal questionnaire to 527 16-18 year olds examined the associations between 6 models of religiosity (religious upbringing, denominational affiliation, ritual/behavioral, self-attitude/self-schema, and salience of religious identity) and personal sexual standards, attitudes towards sexually active others, virginal status, anticipation of sexual intercourse, and frequency of both coitus and noncoital sexual experiences over the previous year. A negative relationship between religiosity and a number of sexual attitudes and behaviors was observed, though nonsignificant relationships in the case of sexual experiences without intercourse suggested the maintenance of a technical virginity to accord with religious precepts. There was also some evidence that Catholic adolescents were more likely to be sexually active than non-Catholics when current religiosity was controlled for. The results lent strongest support to models which implicated self-conception either in terms of self-attitudes/self-schemas or the salience of religious identity. Implications of the study and suggestions for future research are outlined.

Refining measures of adventure recreation involvement

Abstract The purpose of this study was to further our understanding of adventure recreation by expanding on the work of Ewert and Hollenhorst (1989). In this study, level of enduring involvement of Whitewater kayaking participants was the dependent variable, frequency of participation, skill level, experience, social orientation, environmental preference, psychological outcomes, perceived risk, locus of control, and sensation seeking were the independent variables. The level of enduring involvement was predicted by skill level, psychological outcomes, gender, frequency of participation, and perceived risk. This article relates development of measures and operationalization of variables. These findings have implications for developing future adventure recreation behavior models and for understanding the social and psychological aspects of Whitewater kayaking.

Avoiding heterosexist bias in psychological research.

The authors describe various ways that heterosexist bias can occur in scientific research and suggest ways that social and behavioral scientists can avoid it. Heterosexist bias is defined as conceptualizing human experience in strictly heterosexual terms and consequently ignoring, invalidating, or derogating homosexual behaviors and sexual orientation, and lesbian, gay male, and bisexual relationships and lifestyles. The deleterious scientific, social, and ethical consequences of such biases are discussed. Questions are provided for researchers to use in evaluating how heterosexist bias might affect their own selection of research questions, sampling, operationalization of variables, data collection, protection of participants, and dissemination of results. Suggestions also are offered for reducing heterosexist bias in academic journals, in textbooks, and in colleges and universities.

COGNITIVE EVALUATION THEORY: A META-ANALYTIC REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Rewards have been shown to impair performance of a reinforced behavior. The work surrounding these detrimental effects of rewards has not been met with unanimous support. Does this phenomenon described in Deci's Cognitive Evaluation Theory concerning the detrimental effects of reward exist? Is Deci's Cognitive Evaluation Theory adequate to explain this phenomenon? A meta-analysis was employed to determine the existence of the detrimental effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Results from this analysis showed that within strictly defined parameters the phenomenon defined by Deci exists. Implications from this analysis exemplify researchers' need for closer supervision of the operationalization of variables based on the theoretical framework.

Beyond the Steers and Rhodes Model of Employee Attendance

This paper presents a causal model of employee absenteeism which modifies and extends the Steers and Rhodes (1978) process model of employee attendance. A summary and critique of the Steers and Rhodes model is offered. The proposed model integrates diverse literatures regarding organization behavior and occupational health. Sources are provided for the acceptable operationalization of variables.

Sex Bias in Research Design

Feminist criticisms of selected aspects of research methods in psychology are presented. Data relevant to sex bias in topic selection, subject selection and single-sex designs, operationalization of variables, testing for sex differences, and interpretation of results are reviewed. Suggestions for achieving more “sex fair” research methods are discussed in terms of a more meticulous application of scientific method and an awareness of the sometimes subtle ways in which a sexist culture influences the research process.

Does television violence enhance program popularity?

Does television violence enhance program popularity?

Religiosity and Civil Rights Militancy

The implications of religion for support of the Negro struggle for equality are somewhat contradictory. As a normative source for inspiring protest against injustice, religion may perform an important instrumental role in encouraging white commitment to the civil rights movement. On the other hand, as a value system fostering spiritual transcendence of secular life, religious involvement may impede commitment to civil rights ideology. For a large sample of college students, analysis of the effect of religiosity on attitudinal support of the civil rights struggle indicates that the greater the religious commitment, the less the militancy. However, analysis further indicates that religion need not inhibit attitudes of protest when an acitve as opposed to a passive position of man's responsibility for social change is held. The relationship between religious commitment and prejudice, discrimination, and support of the civil rights movement remains unclear. On the one hand, there exist studies which purport to demonstrate a correlation between religiosity and prejudice towards Negroes (Ross, 1950; Stouffer, 1955; Goldsen, 1960). On the other hand, there are also studies which report a negative association between prejudice and religious commitment (Holtzman, 1956; Tumin, 1958; Vanecko, 1966; Glock and Stark, 1966). In addition, the prominent representation of some white clergy as leaders in the civil rights struggle further portrays the difficulty of specifying a clear relationship between these variables (Johnstone, 1963; Thompson, 1965; Bloom, 1966). To some extent, this confusion is reminiscent of the broader controversy regarding the relationship of religion to social change (Glock and Stark, 1965:169ff.). Much of the difficulty in stating acceptable generalizations stems from wellknown problems in sociological research: the use of small localized samples, the presence of inadequate controls which produce spurious relationships, theoretical and empirical differences in the selection and operationalization of variables, et al. Granted the complexity of the problem, it is therefore unlikely that any research will successfully satisfy the canons of theory and methodology to the satisfaction of everyone. More likely, a comprehensive picture will emerge only from numerous partial analyses in which each study contributes but a little to our understanding. With this precautionary note, the following paper offers data on the relationship of religious commitment to civil rights militancy in a large sample of primarily white Protestant middle-class college students.