Class Notes

Question 1

How do we find the relation between the behavior and a psychological concept?

Answer 1

It cannot be discovered. Rather, it is definitive (or defined).

Question 2

What’s the problem of operational definitions?

Answer 2

People can use different definitions with the same term. Different papers will talk about happiness and draw different conclusions.

Question 3

Substantive theory vs. Formal theory

Answer 3

Substantive is based on substances while formal is abstract.

Question 4

3 parts of properties in metrology

Answer 4

1) property in general: something comparable across objects
2) individual property: specific instances of the property
3) object property: an individual property of a particular object (later on, assign a value to it)

Question 5

What is the representation problem of measurement?

Answer 5

How to get the numbers and represent a property accurately.

Need to know how individual properties relate to each other