Examples of constructs and operational definitions

Running head: MEASUREMENT 1

MEASUREMENT 10

Thanks for the timely submission of the assignment.

As you will note in the margin comments, there is often confusion as to what construct is being defined and measured. For instance, attitude toward technology is not the same as attitude toward a specific form of technology. Similarly, self-concept is a different from self-concept clarity.

Also note that not all articles provide conceptual definitions on commonly used constructs but reference other prior research. A perfect example is customer satisfaction which is a function of perceived expectations vs. perceived performance. The same is true with operational definitions since scholars build on one another’s work. This requires that a researcher often has to examine more than one article.

The operational definitions, including for your intended research, has to be very specific. It is how you are measuring the variable. An example of what was to be done is provided in Exhibit 13.3.

In the next assignment you are to select a method of survey administration given a number of different objectives. Each method of administration has pros and cons but what is most important to consider is the unique situation posed by the objective(s) of the study. When deciding on a method of administration for a survey, it is first necessary to determine the unique characteristics that will need to be met. For instance, is the topic sensitive or personal? This might lead to a greater emphasis on the ability to build a rapport with respondents. Is the sample a group that has a high interest in the topic where nonresponse would be less of an issue making a mail survey feasible. Is there a sampling frame available that would provide what may be needed to access respondents such as e-mails? In other cases, the amount of data needed may be considerable so the ability to engage respondents for a long time may be critical thus ruling out a telephone interview. Alternatively, cost may be a dominant factor automatically eliminating the possibility of personal (door to door) interviews. These critical factors are not always identified in your responses. As stated in the assignment, “The researcher needs to carefully consider the objectives of the study, the questions that need to be asked and the target respondents in addition to the pros/cons of the alternatives.”

Let me know if you have any questions as you work on this.

Dr. P

Dr. Susan M. Petroshius 83 6/9/2020

Measurement: Conceptual and Operational Definitions of Constructs

BUS-7320

June 7, 2020

Dr. Susan Petroshius

Conceptual and Operational Definitions of Constructs

The primary goal of a quantitative study is to test hypotheses and theories (Claydon, 2015). To this end, researchers come up with abstract constructs whose measurement would provide data that is critical in the hypothesis testing process. The abstract constructs that a researcher selects in a study have a certain relationship that makes the hypothesis/theoretical propositions. Therefore, testing a hypothesis entails measuring the abstract constructs. A hypothesis testing process begets results that are more accurate if the constructs are measured not only in a scientific manner but also correctly and accurately (John & Benet-Martínez, 2014). Comment by Susan Petroshius: The research doesn’t just “come up” with the constructs, they are part of the hypothesis being tested.

Nevertheless, what does the process of measurement of construct entail? According to John and Benet-Martínez (2014), measurement of abstract constructs entails researchers observing the real world in a deliberate and careful manner. Essentially, these kinds of observations are what constitute empirical research. John and Benet-Martínez further wrote that measurement of constructs begins with specifying their conceptual and the operational definitions. Against this background, this paper provides a conceptual and operational definition of each of the given constructs. The definitions are based on the scholarly studies researched in various databases. In addition to the definitions, the paper provides a measurement for the variables as well as an explanation of the level of measurement.

Attitude toward new technology

To define this construct, this paper cites a 2016 study by Al-Emran, Elsherif and Shaalan titled “Investigating attitudes towards the use of mobile learning in higher education.” In the study, the researchers explored the attitudes of students and educators towards the use of mobile devices in learning. Comment by Susan Petroshius: It is not necessary to provide the name of the author and title in the paper. It is essentially a waste of space. You can just provide and in-text citation.

Conceptual definition:

Attitude refers to the internal evaluation of an object (abstract or material) by an individual, according to Maio, Haddock and Verplanken (2018). In the case of the study by Al-Emran, Elsherif and Shaalan, the conceptual definition of attitude is the students and educators’ internal evaluation of the use of new technology (mobile technology) in higher educational learning within Oman and the UAE. The attitude of the learners and the educators influences the eventual adoption of mobile technology as a means of learning in higher education. A study of attitude can help researchers to understand the process of formation of attitude toward new technology in higher education learning. Comment by Susan Petroshius: Correct. Therefore, you are not measuring “attitude” but attitude toward a particular object. Comment by Susan Petroshius: Just cite the source. Comment by Susan Petroshius: When you use this here, you need to provide the date. Comment by Susan Petroshius: Source? It is not clear that you are still referring to the same source if you are. These authors are not measuring attitude toward new technology but mobile learning. I understand that this is somewhat difficult to identify.

Operational definition:

In the scholarly article, the researchers provided two different sets of the operational definition of the construct. On the one hand, 10 operational definitions of the “Attitude” facilitated the measurement of the students’ attitude toward mobile technology in higher education learning. One of the definitions was “Mobile technology is a useful tool for my study.” Based on this operational definition, the measurement for the variable would be “Strongly Agree”, “Agree” “Disagree”, and “Strongly Disagree”. The level of measurement that is generated, therefore, is ordinal. Comment by Susan Petroshius: You want to explain why. One was for students and the other was for faculty. Comment by Susan Petroshius: There were 10 items used. For instance, for the students, they were: 1 Mobile technology is a useful tool for my study.2 Mobile technology can offer opportunities for communication and team-working. 3 Mobile technology can help me in finding resources related to my study. 4 Mobile technology can bring many opportunities to the learning process. 5 Mobile technology can help me to access the course-material anytime anywhere. 6 Mobile technology can be an easy way to get feedback and notifications from my instructors. 7 Mobile technology can help me to exchange the course-material with my friends. 8 Mobile Apps can help me to manage my study. 9 Mobile technology can help me to do my coursework. 10 Mobile technology can help me to develop my learning skills.You are correct that a Likert scale was used.

On the other hand, ten definitions of “Attitude” facilitated the measurement of educators’ attitude toward use of mobile devices in higher education learning. One such definition is “Mobile technology is a useful and effective tool in Education”. In like manner, the measurement for this variable would be “Strongly Agree”, “Agree” “Disagree”, and “Strongly Disagree”. Furthermore, the level of measurement generated is ordinal. Comment by Susan Petroshius: Note: Attitude was not measured but attitude toward the devices.

Customer satisfaction

This paper provides the conceptual and operational definitions of customer satisfaction based on the study by Hussain, Nasser and Hussain (2015) titled “Service quality and customer satisfaction of a UAE-based airline: An empirical investigation.”

Conceptual definition:

In the study, the authors define customer satisfaction in the conceptual sense as the case where customers purchasing products or services from a particular business without complaining or exiting. This definition helped the authors to develop two hypotheses that they investigate throughout the study. Comment by Susan Petroshius: The authors don’t provide a conceptual definition of customer satisfaction. They assume that the reader is aware of it. You would have to go to the article that they cite.

Operational definition:

In the study, customer satisfaction is operationalized by two items i.e. prompt service delivery and overall passenger satisfaction. Based on this operational definition, the measurement for the variable would be “Strongly Satisfied”, “Satisfied”, “Neutral”, Dissatisfied”, and “Strongly Dissatisfied” and the level of measurement generated is ordinal.

Self-Concept

The study by Fullwood, James and Chen-Wilson (2016) helps to define self-concept both conceptually and operationally. In the study, the authors investigate the influence of the internet on the self-concept of adolescents.

Conceptual definition:

In the study, self-concept refers to how adolescents think about, evaluate or perceive themselves. During adolescence, young boys and girls begin to become aware of themselves including their attributes (Palacios, Echaniz, Fernández & De Barrón, 2015). One aspect of self-concept is the existential self, which is the sense of distinctness from other people. On the other hand, the categorical self entails an adolescent realizing that he/she exists as an object in a world of many objects like him/her. Comment by Susan Petroshius: The authors define self-concepts as: “Self-concept may be defined as ‘‘the totality of an individual’s thoughts and feelings having reference to himself as an object.’’

Operational definition:

Operationally, the study defines self-concept as the clarity of self that affects how one represents oneself to the world around him/her. To measure the variable, the study used the Self-Concept Clarity Scale. As such, the level of measurement generated will be nominal since the resulting data will be categorical. Comment by Susan Petroshius: This is not self-concept that they are measuring but self-concept clarity. These are two separate constructs. As noted by the author’s, self-concept clarity is conceptually defined as: “Individuals vary in the extent to which their self-concept is ‘‘clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and temporally stable’’ and this has become known as self-concept clarity.”

Leadership style

This paper defines leadership style conceptually and operationally using the study titled “Leadership style and job satisfaction in higher education institutions” by Alonderiene and Majauskaite (2016).

Conceptual definition:

The conceptual definition of leadership style refers to the manner in which a leader provides direction, implements plans, and motivates his/her direct and indirect reports. In this regard, a leadership style is autocratic, democratic, or delegative. Comment by Susan Petroshius: These authors discuss the fact that more than 50 approaches to leaderships are identified in the literature. In discussing leadership style theory, they state: “Leaders demonstrate particular leadership styles, the most common investigated are transactional, transformational and laissez-faire styles.” They then go on to define each of these and discuss who these are defined by the behavior of the leader.

Operational definition:

In the case of Alonderiene and Majauskaite’s study, leadership style affects followers either positively or negatively. To operationalize the construct, the authors boiled the leadership style down to individual styles and asked participants to name the style of their bosses. Therefore, leadership style was measured in terms of “Coach Leadership Style”, “Human Relations Specialist Leadership Style”, “Controlling Autocrat Leadership Style”, “Transformational Visionary Leadership Style”, “Transactional Exchange Leadership Style”, and Servant Leadership Style”. The level of measurement generated was ordinal. Comment by Susan Petroshius: This needs to be explained. What are these? Comment by Susan Petroshius: What is being measured? How? Comment by Susan Petroshius: As stated by the authors: “In total, 21 question reflects six different leadership styles (as in Figure 1) defined by particular behaviors (see the constructs defined in Table AI). For example, human relations leadership style is defined by the following questions: “Does your supervisor show concern for your welfare and comfort?”; “Does your supervisor listen carefully to your problems and frustrations?”; “Does your supervisor include you in decision making and problem solving?”; “Does your supervisor keep you informed about important issues?”; Faculty’s direct supervisors are asked to evaluate themselves on the before mentioned behaviors.”

Organizational Commitment

To provide the conceptual and operational definitions of organizational commitment, this paper uses the study by Nazir, Shafi, Qun, Nazir and Tran (2016) titled “Influence of organizational rewards on organizational commitment and turnover intentions.”

Conceptual definition:

Commitment is a concept that comprises an emotion and attitude dimension. Employees are committed to organizations through emotional attachments, as well as an employee’s evaluation of the current circumstances, whether the circumstances are what the employee expects or are what the employee might expect in future. Organizational commitment, therefore, entails a sense of an employee’s identification with the goals of the organization, a feeling of involvement in the duties of the organization, as well as a feeling of loyalty to the organization. Comment by Susan Petroshius: The authors define it as: “Organizational commitment is defined as the influence of an employee’s identification and engagement with a certain organization.”They go on to explain that they have adopted the three-component classification developed by Allen and Meyer (1990). These are “emotional attachment (affective), perceived cost (continuance), and obligation (normative)”Each of these is explained and measured. They were operationalized by the following:“Affective and normative commitment was measured using two six-item scales that construct the 12-item – two component scales developed by Meyer et al. (1993)”They go on to say that the affective dimension was modified to include only 4 items.These items are how the concepts were operationalized and measured.

Operational definition:

In the case of the study by Nazir et al, the operational definition of organizational commitment is the acceptance of the values of the organization, as well as a willingness to put in more effort for the sake of the organization’s desire to meet key goals. Further, it refers to the desire by the employees to remain in the organization. However, the construct is a dependent variable in the study, which means its behavior depends on the measurement of organizational rewards.

The constructs I will measure in the intended dissertation research

In the untended dissertation, I will measure consumer preferences and employee turnover. Comment by Susan Petroshius: Preference toward what?

Customer preferences

Conceptual definition:

Consumer preference refers to the tastes for goods/services that are unique to individual consumers. Usually, consumers prefer items that satisfy them most after purchasing them. Comment by Susan Petroshius: Source? Comment by Susan Petroshius: Source?

Operational definition:

To operationalize this variable, I will measure customer preferences in terms of likes and dislikes. The generated level of measurement will be a nominal scale. Comment by Susan Petroshius: You need to be more specific. Likes/dislikes toward what? Why would you use only a nominal scale? Are there not degree of preference? This has a significant impact on your data analysis.

Employee turnover

Conceptual definition:

Employee turnover measures the rate at which workers in an organization exit their positions (Kim, Tam, Kim & Rhee, 2017). Usually, this happens over a defined period of time, say annually. Employee turnover could be considered on an organizational or departmental level. Comment by Susan Petroshius: Note that these authors are not measuring turnover but turnover intention, a different construct. Comment by Susan Petroshius: What is your intent?

Operational definition:

Employee turnover is often dependent on other factors such as leadership style or workplace climate. As such, this construct will be a dependent variable whose behavior will depend on the nature of the independent variables. To operationalize the variable, the study will consider employee turnover in the last five years. The generated level of measurement will be an interval scale Comment by Susan Petroshius: These are separate constructs that are related to turnover. Comment by Susan Petroshius: This needs to be explained. You are not explaining the operational definition, how it is being measured.

References

Al-Emran, M., Elsherif, H. M., & Shaalan, K. (2016). Investigating attitudes towards the use of mobile learning in higher education. Computers in Human Behavior, 56, 93-102. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.11.033

Alonderiene, R., & Majauskaite, M. (2016). Leadership style and job satisfaction in higher education institutions. International Journal of Educational Management, 30(1), 140-164. doi:10.1108/ijem-08-2014-0106

Claydon, L. S. (2015). Rigour in quantitative research. Nursing Standard, 29(47), 43-48. doi:10.7748/ns.29.47.43.e8820

Fullwood, C., James, B. M., & Chen-Wilson, C. (. (2016). Self-Concept Clarity and Online Self-Presentation in Adolescents. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 19(12), 716-720. doi:10.1089/cyber.2015.0623

Hussain, R., Nasser, A. A., & Hussain, Y. K. (2015). Service quality and customer satisfaction of a UAE-based airline: An empirical investigation. Journal of Air Transport Management, 42, 167-175. doi:10.1016/j.jairtraman.2014.10.001

John, O. P., & Benet-Martínez, V. (2014). Measurement: Reliability, construct validation, and scale construction.

Kim, S., Tam, L., Kim, J. N., & Rhee, Y. (2017). Determinants of employee turnover intention. Corporate Communications: An International Journal.

Maio, G. R., Haddock, G., & Verplanken, B. (2018). The psychology of attitudes and attitude change. Sage Publications Limited.

Nazir, S., Shafi, A., Qun, W., Nazir, N., & Tran, Q. D. (2016). Influence of organizational rewards on organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Employee Relations, 38(4), 596-619. doi:10.1108/er-12-2014-0150

Palacios, E. G., Echaniz, I. E., Fernández, A. R., & De Barrón, I. C. O. (2015). Personal self-concept and satisfaction with life in adolescence, youth and adulthood. Psicothema, 27(1), 52-58.