Dependent Variables

Class 09

Mid-Term

New Date: Thursday, October 22

Covers: All lectures, Class 1 (Introduction) up to and including Class 12 (Avoiding Bias)

Format: Multiple Choice and Short Answer

Duration: Entire Class

Contributes to Course Grade: 25%

Dependent Variables: Conceptual vs. Experimental

Conceptual Experimental

Hitting

Aggression

Health Status

Blood Pressure

GPA

X

X

X

X

X

How Sad Am I? A Titanic QuestionHyp: Fictional events will affect real emotions.

IV: Subjects see a tragically sad movie

DV? How sad are you?

__ Not at all __ Somewhat ___ A lot .

How much did you want to cry?

__ Not at all __ Somewhat ___ A lot

How much do you need to talk about this?

__ Not at all __ Somewhat ___ A lot

VERSUS

Observe walking speed after seeing sad movie.

Amount Kleenex bought at concession stand.

What to Consider when Selecting

Dependent Variables

What behavior best represents conceptual DV?

DV should capture richness and power of response to IV

DV should be reliable and non-obvious

DV should be as easy to use and economical as possible

Subs. should take DV seriously

DV should be ethical

Expt’l DV

Follow boring instructions

Follow embarrassing instructions

Follow instructions that hurt another against that person’s will

Yeah, but...

Lots of expts. are boring

Sometimes psych is interested in personal, hidden stuff

Holy Moly!!!

Centrality of Experimental DV to Conceptual DV

Conceptual DV

Obedience

Experiment:

Do Reminders of Discrimination Affect Support for Affirmative Action?

IV: Subjects see documentary on how women and minorities historically received unfair treatment.

What would be an appropriate DV?

Classes of DV Measures

Verbal Measures (surveys, interviews)

Behavioral

Overt behavior

Behavioroid

Physiological

Advantages of Verbal Measures(Surveys, Ratings, Vignettes)

Easy to use

Face validity: apparent direct access to thoughts, feelings

Provide multiple opportunities to respond to IV,

where as behavioral is often single-shot

Can provide for more sensitive, subtle measures.

Affirmative Action Measure

1. Do you favor Affirmative Action? ___ YES ___ NO

Problems with this measure?

Degree of favor?

Favor for all groups?

Favor all ways of implementing?

Likert Scales

What is your view on affirmative action?

Totally against

1

Mainly against

2

Some-what

against

3

Neither for nor against

4

Some-what favor

5

Mainly favor

6

Totally favor

7

Rensis Likert

Problems with this measure? Aff. Action for women? Minorities? Disable?

To what degree do you favor affirmative action for Asians?

Not at all

1

Very Little

2

Some-what

3

Very Much

4

A Great Degree

5

To what degree do you favor affirmative action for African Americans?

Not at all

1

Very Little

2

Some-what

3

Very Much

4

A Great Degree

5

To what degree do you favor affirmative action for Latinos?

Not at all

1

Very Little

2

Some-what

3

Very Much

4

A Great Degree

5

Likert Scale Considerations

1. Label each choice option, or just the extremes?

2. How many choice-options? (i.e. 3, 5, 7, 9, 131?)

3. Unipolar or bipolar?

1. Two measures problem

2. Hiding in the middle

Bi-Modal Scales

What is your view on gun control?

Totally against

-3

Mainly against

-2

Some-what

against

-1

Neither for nor against

0

Some-what favor

1

Mainly favor

2

Totally favor

3

Problems?

What does 0 mean? Undecided?Both agree and disagree?

Unequal meanings: -1 vs. -3 ≠ -1 vs +1

Affirmative Action Measure

1. Do you favor special hiring consideration for women? .55

2. Do you favor special hiring consideration for minorities? .46 3. Do you favor use of hiring quotas? .72 4. Do you favor employment of affirmative action officer? .56 5. Should affirmative action be written into the Constitution? .23 6. Are opponents of affirmative action bigots? .28 7. Would you not vote for someone opposed to affirmative action? .34

Indentify Latent Constructs as Index of Attitude

Affirmative Action Measure

1. Do you favor special hiring consideration for women? 2. Do you favor special hiring consideration for minorities? 3. Do you favor use of hiring quotas? 4. Do you favor employment of affirmative action officer? 5. Do you favor special affirmative action training for managers? 6. Do you think there should be minimal hiring standards, regardless of

background? 7. Do you think that the human resources department should provide special post-hiring services for women?

Semantic Differential (abridged)

EVALUATIVE DIMENSION

Good Bad

Beautiful Ugly

Sweet Sour

POTENCY DIMENSION

Strong Weak

Large Small

Heavy Light

ACTIVITY DIMENSION

Active Passive

Fast Slow

Hot Cold

Affirmative Action Is:

EVALUATIVE DIMENSION

Good | | | | | | | | | | | | Bad

Beautiful | | | | | | | | | | | | Ugly

Sweet | | | | | | | | | | | | Sour

POTENCY DIMENSION

Strong | | | | | | | | | | | | Weak

Large | | | | | | | | | | | | Small

Heavy | | | | | | | | | | | | Light

ACTIVITY DIMENSION

Active | | | | | | | | | | | | Passive

Fast | | | | | | | | | | | | Slow

Hot | | | | | | | | | | | | Cold

Measure Attitude Behavior  

       

Support for Affirmative

Action Survey

Degree values Affirmative

Action

Votes for Affirmative

Action laws.

IMPLICIT MODEL OF ATTITUDE MEASURES

Problems with Verbal Measures

Response Biases:

1. Social desirability2. Sabotaging

Affected by situations and contexts Salience problem: Ss know that they are being measured.

a. High salience attn, but biasb. Low salience attn but accuracy

Reactivity problem: IV = (IV + Measure) May require atypical depth of processing/introspection May assume that people know own inner states/inner processes more than they actually do.

Cognitive Processing Model of Attitude Reporting

Behavioral Measures

1. Overt behavior 2. Behavioriod

3. Physiological

Advantages of Behavioral Measures

1. More absorbing

2. Require less inference of rel. btwn IV and behavior, b/c measure IS behavior.

3. Tell a better story

Types of Behavioral Measures

Frequency Extent/Amount Speed Intensity Duration Preference Latency Social/Physical Distance Non-verbal Cues and

Expressive Behaviors

Unobtrusive Measures

DV: Distance

DV: Non-Verbal Behavior

DV: Non-Verbal Behavior

Behavioroid Measures

Defined: Measures INTENT to commit the behavior, w/o actually measuring or inducing behavior.

Used when actual behavior is too impractical, unethical, or otherwise inappropriate.

Example of Behavioroid Measure

Freedman and Fraser "Foot in the Door" StudyJPSP, 1966

Behavioroid Measure: Willingness to have 2.5 hour intrusive survey of house conducted by 5 strangers.

a. Asked to complete short questions, and asked: 52.8%b. Asked to complete short survey, but not asked: 33.3%c. Familiarized with questions: 27.8%d. Not previously contacted: 22.2%

Physiological Measures

Defined: Bodily states that reflect psychological states

Examples: Blood pressure, heart rate, skin conductance

Advantages:

Problems:

Not under conscious control

Display mediation

Costly; Intimidating to subjects;

Typically gross, rather than subtle;

Require inference to conceptual DV

Indirect Measures

Measures that imply DV, without directly testing it.

Overt Behavior

Implied Behavior

 

Physical distance from disabled person

Discomfort

Re-selling price for chosen item vs. given item.

Subjective importance due to perceived control.

Degree of eye contact Affection 

Concluding Points Re. DVs1. Which is the better feedback bias measure?

a. Feedback bias = anticipated feedback to minority v. White

b. Feedback bias = verbal comments to minority v. White confed.

2. Which is better measure of hostility to out-group?

a. Amount of shock delivered during “learning” task

b. Physical distance during interview

Aim for actual and behavioral, rather than anticipated and non-behavioral

Expt. DV should be close to conceptual DV.

3. Which is better measure of health after disclosure?

a. Visit MD vs. did not visit MD

b. Number of MD visitsDV should be as precise as possible

FYI: The following slides are “for your interest” only.

They will not be included in the Mid-term.

Scale Value

  THURSTONE SCALE

Statement

0.0 1 Affirmative action grossly violates the Bill of Rights.

0.5 2 Affirmative action tends to create more harm than good.

1.0 3 Affirmative action distracts people from real, underlying problems of social inequity

1.5 4 Affirmative action is nice idea, but not the best solution.

2.0 5 Ed. reform will do more good than affirmative action.

2.5 6 Affirmative action can be justified in some instances.

3.0 7 Affirmative action may help remedy hiring inequity in key businesses and regions.

3.5 8 Affirmative action is the way to correct hiring inequities.

4.0 9 Affirmative action should be national policy.

4.5 10 Affirmative action is crucial for a fair and just society.

Subject A: Agrees with 2, 3, & 7 ( 1.5). Mainly anti AA, but sees it can do some good.

Subject B: Agrees with 3, 5, & 6 (1.8). Mainly pro AA, but favors other social remedies.

Ranked Order

PresentedOrder

Statement

A 2 Affirmative action is justified throughout society, due to history of discrimination.

B 3 Affirmative action is justified, but only in industries where patterns of discrimination are indicated.

C 1 Affirmative action is justified only in specific work places in which discrimination has been proven.

D 4 Affirmative action is justified in only the most extreme cases.

Guttman Scale

Guttman Scale Scoring

Score

4

3

2

1

0

X X X X

X X X X

X X X X

X X X X

X X X X

Agrees with item: Disagrees with item:

A B C D A B C D

PROBLEMS WITH GUTTMAN SCALE

1. Too labor intensive to create (90+ judges, etc.)2. Too narrow in focus; effort to precisely determine why and how much people endorse becomes overly exclusive3. Lack of sensitivity between same responses.

1. __ I believe Af. Act. is moral imperative2. __ I believe Af. Act. is needed to move society forward.3. __ I believe Af. Act. is good, but should end soon4. __ I believe Af. Act. had done good, but it's time is up.

Joe and Jody both endorse items 1-4. But for Joe, items 1 and 2 are of equal importance, for Jody 1 is of supreme importance. Guttman can't show this difference.