CONSTRUCTS, VARIABLES, AND

OPERATIONALIZATION
Prof. Jigyasa Bisaria
Asst. Prof. QT & IT
IIFM Bhopal
Constructs in quantitative research
Broadly speaking,
constructs are the Theory 
building blocks construc
t 
of theories

variable
s

Quality Dissertation
What are constructs?
Constructs are mental abstractions that
express ideas, people, organisations, eventand/or objec
ts/things that we are interested in.
Constructs are a way of bringing theory down to earth,
helping to explain the different components of
theories, as well as measure/observe their behaviour
Properties of constructs
Broad concepts or topics of study :
 Abstract
 Not directly observable
 May be complex (have multiple parts)
 Examples of constructs:
 Aggression
 Love
 Intelligence
 Life satisfaction
Translating constructs into operational
definitions
Whilst constructs are sometimes mistaken for variables, they are not variables.
Instead, we use variables to operationalize(i.e., measure) the constructs we are
interested in. Constructs can be mistaken for variables because some constructs
may only be represented by one variable, such that the construct name and
the variable name are the same (e.g., the construct and variable, sex).
Therefore, constructs need to be translated from the abstract (i.e., mental ideas;
mental abstractions) to the concrete (i.e., measureable/testable in the form
of variables). In other words, we are re-stating constructs as variables, with
variables also having their own attributes (e.g., gender having the
attributes male/female, which is important, because gender is a classic example
of where constructs/variables, and their attributes, can be confused). The role of
the operational definition is to precisely describe how
to measure the characteristics of a construct. By characteristics, we mean
the mental abstractions/ideas within constructs that ultimately are measureable
in the form of variables and their attributes. It is these variables and their
attributes that are measured.
Translating constructs into operational
definitions
 Constructs can be represented by a wide range of variables.
For example, happiness could be associated with love,
financial security, relationships, puppies, a song, ice cream,
and so on. Translating abstract concepts (e.g., happiness)
into concrete variables is not straightforward.
 People view constructs in different ways (e.g., in the case
of happiness, people often adopt a perspective that focuses
on actions, such as smoking a cigarette, or possessions,
such as owning a diamond, so you need to be clear how
you intend to operationalize a construct, and why you are
making such choices).
Translating constructs into operational
definitions
Translating constructs into operational definitions can be
an iterative process, but testing (i.e., the measurement
process) should not start until a conceptual and operational
definition of your construct(s) have been selected (i.e., you
cannot have good measurement without
conceptual/operational clarity of constructs).
Ultimately, the operational definition is seldom perfect; that
is, the choice of operational definition may be constrained
by factors such as a lack of access to
operational/measurement data. Also, how we
construct/formulate an operational definition will impact on
the complexity of the measurement process.
Independent vs. Dependent
Independent and Dependent variables (except purely descriptive
research)
All research (except descriptive studies) must have at least two
variables
 one can be IV and the other DV
 in symmetrical relationships, the question of which is independent and which is
dependent is moot
Having an IV allows you to assume a cause-effect relationship:
changes in the IV result in changes in the DV
If you cannot posit a cause-effect relationship, then you essentially
have two IV's (the level/score of each is independent of the other
[although both may depend on some other variable(s)])
Having an IV allows more control and better inference about what is
going on, especially when you have an active IV.
Active and Attribute Independent Variables
Attribute: level or score of the variable is brought to the
experiment by the subject, usually as a natural
characteristic such as sex, age, etc.
active: the level of the IV is manipulated by the experimenter
Intervening variables: uncontrolled or unobserved
variables that may account for variation in the DV (also
known as extraneous variables)
Control variables: any variable that may affect DV should
be controlled; that is, measured and accounted for
statistically or held constant (age, gender, socioeconomic
status, etc., could be control variables)
Problems with measurement of variables
Qualitative vs. quantitative variables
reliability and validity are essentially measurement
problems
since qualitative variables are basically classificatory,
there is less concern with reliability and validity
Reliability
reliability refers to the observation of variation in scores
earned by an individual on repeated trials of the same
measure (variation can be systematic or random)
so, reliability = consistency
Problems with measurement of variables
Validity
validity is the degree to which the measuring instrument
actually measures the concept in question
validity also refers to the accuracy of the measurement
it is possible to measure a concept more or less
accurately if you are actually measuring the right concept
but it is not possible to measure it accurately if you are
not measuring it at all.
Measurement error
due to sampling
due to subject or experimenter effects
measurement error results in decreased reliability and
validity
Relationship between variables
X and Y are correlated if they vary together
concomitant variation = correlation
correlation can be direct or inverse
Causal relationships
Concomitant variation does not demonstrate causality
Causality is difficult (or impossible) to demonstrate logically
However, we can make the case that X causes Y, if
there is a relationship between X and Y(birds go south in the fall),
and
the relationship is asymmetrical so that a change in X results in a
change in Y, but not vice versa (birds migrate because of fall but
fall does not come because birds migrate), and
a change in X results in a change in Y regardless of the actions of
other variables, and
generally, X should precede Y but sometimes symmetrical causality
and simultaneous causality are allowed; the effect can never
precede the cause
Necessary and sufficient cause
Necessary ­Y never occurs unless X also occurs (or has occurred)
Sufficient ­Y occurs every time X occurs (but could also occur
without X; e.g., "smoking causes cancer")
Necessary, but not sufficient (X must occur before Y but, X alone,
is not enough for Y to occur)
Sufficient, but not necessary (X is sufficient to cause Y, but Z can
also cause Y; e.g., Fred is wet (Y) but did he fall into a pond (X)
or did he get caught in the rain (Z)?
Necessary and sufficient ­Y will never occur without X and will
always occur with X (e.g., the hand grenade will never explode
without you pulling the pin and will always explode when you
pull the pin)
Causality in social science
Difficult to demonstrate theoretically as our
theories are inadequate for the isolation of causes
Difficult to demonstrate methodologically
Survey methods usually do not give temporal
sequences
Laboratory methods help to demonstrate
causality since we control and sequence
independent and dependent variables