1.2 Measurement and Constructs

Question 1

Weasel words definition, example

Answer 1

vague + misleading terminology, nothing specific is communicated (clinical studies have shown that, this medicine may help with)

Question 2

conceptual definition definition

Answer 2

describing a construct in terms of what it is and what it is not - WHAT to measure (e.g. memory is the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information)

Question 3

operational definition definition

Answer 3

describing HOW to measure a construct (e.g. TEST memory by number of things recalled in a test). there are a number of ways to OPERATIONALISE the same thing

Question 4

construct definition

Answer 4

a thing that you’ve defined but can’t directly measure (memory, personality, motivation)

Question 5

reification

Answer 5

occurs when a purely analytic/abstract relationship is treated as a concrete entity (e.g. ‘lucky’ (adjective) becomes ‘luck’ which doesn’t exist - intelligence, personality)

Question 6

falsifiability

Answer 6

the capacity for a construct to be assessed or measured; and thus be disproven

Question 7

pragmatic fallacy

Answer 7

'’something is true because it works’ - mistakenly believing a methodology/thing works but it’s actually confounding factors (e.g. psychotherapy could just be the talking that helps, not actual methodology)