Question

How Grounded Is Your Love Life?

In a recent experiment, psychologists at University of Pittsburgh and the University of Waterloo in Canada decided to examine stability, turbulence and love. The researchers focused on stability because it is a term that has both literal and abstract meanings. Our bodies can be physically stable or they can be wobbly, and so can our intimate relationships. The study participants were 40 college students who reported being involved in a committed relationship that had lasted for at least a year. The researchers randomly assigned half of their volunteers to sit at a normal desk and the other half to sit at a workstation that had been subtly altered so that both the chair and the desk wiggled slightly. The volunteers individually completed questionnaires about their lives and romantic relationships, including whether they felt the relationship would last. The volunteers were alone in the room when they completed the questionnaire and were instructed to not put their name on the questionnaire. The ratings of perceived stability ranged from 1- 7 (1 = not at all likely to last to 7 = certain this relationship will last). A participant could report any number between 1 and 7 on that scale. The students who had been seated at the unstable workstations were much more likely to perceive instability in their love lives (mean = 4.17) than were the students whose chairs and work spaces didn’t waver (mean = 4.93). There is a statistically significant difference between these means (t(38) = 3.64; p<0.05).

PART A

1. Name the Predictor / Independent Variable

2. Give the operational definition of the Predictor / Independent Variable.

3. Evaluate the construct validity of the Predictor / Independent Variable PLEASE INCLUDE/EXPLAIN ALL THE ASPECTS!!: (Be sure to consider face, method, and procedural aspects though not all aspects will necessarily need to be discussed; point out strengths and weaknesses of this measure.)

PART B

1. Name the Outcome / Dependent Variable

2. Give the operational definition of the Outcome / Dependent Variable.

3. Evaluate the construct validity of the operational definition for the Outcome / Dependent Variable. PLEASE INCLUDE/EXPLAIN ALL THE ASPECTS!!: (Be sure to consider face, method, and procedural aspects though not all aspects will necessarily need to be discussed; point out strengths and weaknesses of this measure.)

Answer 1

PART A

1. The independent variable is the altered work station that involved the chair and the table that wiggled slightly.

2. The operational definition of a variable is the specific way in which it is measured in the study. Hence, in this study, the operational definition of the indepedent variable will include the unstable workstations where the chairs and workspaces wavered.

3. Construct validity of the independent variable in this experiment can be seen as limited because a single variable is used to measure changes in the participants relationships. Besides stability in the environment in terms of the chairs and tables, there are no other variables given to compare or measure the dependent variable accurately. Secondly, since adequate measures of the construct have not been outlined, the second step of construct validity has not been met. We cannot gather from this wether the measure actually leads to the measurement of the concerned construct. Thirdly, to determine the construct validity, we need to make sure if the measure acts as if it was measuring the construct, which means that it needs to be compared with another test to increase its criteria validity.

PART B

1. The dependent variable was the participants response on the questionnaires about their life and romantic relationship.

2. The operational definition of the dependent variable was the score that was seen on the questionnaries which were determined to be either high or low for the individual participants.

3. The construct validity of the dependent variable can be understood by firstly, an analysis of the items of the questionnaire. It could involve various aspects about their life and relationship involving items about how much time is spent with the partner, how happy they are, what they think about one another, their goals together etc that need to be clearly defined. Secondly, the items need to be observed to understoof whether they are correlating with one another or are not defining what the test is trying to measure, thirdly, are the items enough for what is being studied or are some items still missing in terms of content. Finally, this test needs to be measured with another to see whether there is criteria validity in terms of how they feel about their life and relationships that could be given in the same experiment.