Transcript Chapter 6: Theories, concepts and variables

CHAPTER SIX
THEORIES, CONCEPTS AND VARIABLES
Research that is not theoretically informed, not
grounded in the existing body of knowledge, or of
the ‘shotgun’ variety that fails to raise and
investigate conceptually grounded questions, is
likely to generate findings of a narrow and
ungeneralisable value.
(Yiannakis 1992, p.8)
CONSIDERING YOUR APPROACH
Think about:
1 – your discipline
2 – the field
3 – the theory, e.g.
Discipline
Sociology
Field
Socialisation into sport
Theory
Donnelly and
Young’s (1988)
model of group
socialisation
Think about how theories may be applied:
Discipline
Psychology
Field
Crowd effects
on performance
Theory
Zajonc’s (1965)
theory of
social facilitation
Application
Crowd effect on
hockey matches
DEVELOPING YOUR CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The conceptual framework describes and explains the
concepts to be used in the study, their relationships with
each other, and how they are to be measured.
Developing your conceptual framework requires five main
steps:
1. Identifying the relevant concepts.
2. Defining those concepts.
3. Operationalising the concepts.
4. Identifying any moderating or intervening variables.
5. Identifying the relationship between variables.
TYPES OF MEASUREMENT
Nominal scales group subjects into different categories, for
example grouping football players on the basis of the team
they play for.
Ordinal scales have a rank order, but do not indicate the
difference between scores.
Think, for example, of placement on a squash ladder.
The person on top has performed better than the person
second, and so on.
Thus data is ordered, but there is no indication of how
much difference there is between players. The player
assigned a score of ‘1’ is not necessarily twice as good
as the player assigned ‘2’.
Interval scales have equal intervals of measurement, for
example a gymnastics scoring scale.
There are equal intervals between each score, i.e. there
is the same difference between an 8.00 and a 9.00 as
there is between a 9.00 and a 10.00.
It is not the case, necessarily, however, that a 10.00 is
worth twice as much as a 5.00.
Ratio scales are also based on order, with equal units of
measurement, but they are proportional and have an
absolute zero.
For example, if a basketball team scores 50 points, then
that is worth twice as much as a team that scored 25
points.
VARIABLES
Measuring a construct turns it into a variable.
Variable − any construct that can take on different
values.
An INDEPENDENT variable influences a DEPENDENT
variable.
(IND VAR)  (DEP VAR)
Social class affects attitudes.
May also be a MODERATING variable:
Social class affects attitudes
past experience
(MOD VAR)
Fewer moderating variables = more confidence in
findings. Less chance of spurious relationship.
What is the effect of the crowd upon performance?
• Weather?
• Referee?
• Luck?
• Opposition? etc.
May also be a INTERVENING variable:
Social class  education  attitudes
(IND VAR)
(INT VAR) (DEP VAR)
NO link between social class and attitudes.
RELIABILITY
Reliability generally refers to the consistency of the
results obtained.
Inter-observer reliability assesses the extent to which
different observers would give similar scores to the same
phenomenon.
Test–retest reliability is the extent to which the
research would provide the same measurements if
repeated at a different time.
Internal consistency reliability refers to the extent to
which each question within a measure is actually
measuring the same phenomenon.
Threats to reliability
• Subject error.
• Researcher error.
• Subject bias.
VALIDITY
‘How do I know that the method I am using is really
measuring what I want it to measure?’
• Face validity. Does your method appear appropriate to
measure what you want it to measure at first glance?
• Content validity. This is similar to face validity, except that
it refers to the initial assessment from an expert’s point of
view.
• Predictive validity. Can your measures predict future
behaviour?
• Construct validity. Does your data correlate with other
measures?
ASSESSING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
• Reliability/Dependability.
• Rigour.
• Credibility.
• Authenticity.
• Fairness.
• Ontological authenticity.
• Educative authenticity.
• Catalytic authenticity.
• Tactical authenticity.
SUMMARY
1. Theory plays a crucial role in most research projects.
Having an understanding of the importance of theory, and
of the particular theories to be used in your research is an
important element of the research process.
2. Developing your conceptual framework is also an
important stage of the research process. Undertaking this
process will allow you to clarify the important concepts
within your study, their relationships to each other, and their
measurement.
3. For Quantitative research you need to consider issues
of validity (the extent to which what you are measuring
actually reflects the phenomenon under investigation) and
reliability (the extent to which the findings would be the
same if the research was repeated).
4. If you are undertaking qualitative research, then how
will you ensure your approach is trustworthy, authentic,
reliable, rigorous, and credible?