Abstract: Feminist criticisms of selected aspects of research methods in psychology are presented. Data relevant to sex bias in topic selection, subject selection and single-sex designs, operationalization of variables, testing for sex differences, and interpretation of results are reviewed. Suggestions for achieving more “sex fair” research methods are discussed in terms of a more meticulous application of scientific method and an awareness of the sometimes subtle ways in which a sexist culture influences the research process.

Abstract: The STRATPORT decision support system represents an extension and operationalization of current business portfolio approaches. It is designed to aid top managers and corporate planners in the evalu...

Abstract: Information systems for large firms are typically designed by a group of people which is made up of users and system personnel. The management information system (MIS) literature discusses a communication gap between the organization-oriented users and the more technical systems staff.It has been hypothesized that system personnel and users are different in terms of personality and behavioral characteristics and that these differences are one of the primary reasons for the existence of a communication gap. This paper summarizes a study that investigated personality characteristics of 100 respondents from 33 large firms who worked together on a systems design. Analysis was performed to see if there were significant differences on personality dimensions between users and systems personnel. An operationalization of Jung's personality typology (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) was employed.Results indicate that the users involved in the systems design were very similar to their systems counterparts. Even more surprising was that these users were closer to the popular descriptions of systems staff than the analysts were. The general implications of these findings in terms of the management of design solving centers and the MIS designs they create are discussed.

Abstract: Negotiator preferences are a universal element of conflict resolution theories, but have posed problems of operationalization which have hampered empirical verification and development of the theories. Conjoint analysis is proposed as a method for assessing the preferences of negotiators and their constituencies generally, and union, management, and employee preferences in a collective bargaining context, specifically. The technique is useful to researchers and practitioners in that it is easier to apply than Von Neumann-Morgenstern (1947) utility theory, and provides more information than simple issueprioritizing techniques. Conjoint analysis is used to analyze a simulated contract negotiation and shown to be both practical and valid. The technique is described and assessed; research and practical application are suggested in the areas of contract negotiation and third party intervention. An application of the technique for testing the Nash (1953) model of bargaining is included as an illustration of the...

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the nature, usage and potential of the concept of lifestyle. It concentrates on usage in social gerontology and specifically on the way in which it has been used by three teams of American researchers. Its overall aim is to discover guidelines for establishing the lifestyle concept on a sounder methodological footing.The paper begins with a discussion of diversity within the elderly population and it identifies the need for a systematic conceptual scheme for describing the social life of the individual. It examines the relationship between lifestyle and social class and concludes that they represent complementary rather than competing approaches. The paper goes on to explore three definitions of life-style - as structure, content and meaning - and compares and contrasts these three alternative approaches. The difference between ‘nominal’ and ‘real’ definitions is discussed and the paper ends with a summary account of the way in which the concept has been operationalized in a continuing British study.

Abstract: As an area which lends itself to empirical analysis, political participation has been subject to rigorous attempts at operationalization. In this article, an extension of these efforts is intended. Employing data collected in Kenya, Korea, and Turkey, a ten-item, three-dimensional scale of political participation is developed. The overall structure of the scale closely resembles the findings of Verba, Nie, and Kim—a fact which also lends support to the validity of the scale of political participation developed here. Easy to administer, valid, and reliable, the three-dimensional, ten-item scale provides a potential for cumulative analysis in the subfield of political participation.

Abstract: This research had two main objectives: to determine how groups hold themselves together and make decisions over time, and to confront three key issues that have traditionally hindered research progress about group processes: First, what is the most useful way of conceptualizing and operationalizing the concept of “group process” to go beyond description to explanation? Second, can Markov analysis be used to go beyond description and move toward explaining group processes, and if so, what conceptual framework would be most useful to accomplish this goal? Third, how can we use explanations of processes to begin building theories of communication that are rooted in interaction structure? To accomplish these objectives, several group discussions were modeled as a structural-functional system, and Markov analysis was used to test the extent to which the discussions fit the system model. Finally, the results of the study were discussed concerning their ability to build theories of communication.

Abstract: The authors propose an addition of two important dependent variables: Student Learning and Student Attitudes, to a previously-reported model of the use of simulation games and experiential exercises. Additionally, a research design proposal is tendered for ABSEL members’ inspection and criticisms. The authors specify the anticipated operationalizations of variables, tests for reliability and validity, and the general analysis of the model’s postulated relationships. The paper is couched as a necessary step intermediate to theorizing and empirical hypothesis tests.

Abstract: A selective review of the literature on equal educational opportunity supports an argument for explicit use of normative models in research. The argument has two parts. First, we show that confusion over the Coleman Report (1966) was due to a mismatch between the implied reform objective and the statistical approach. The objective was to reduce black/white differences in educational achievement, but the statistics explained individual differences in achievement. Second, we partly develop and apply a normative dynamic model of the objectives of school integration over time. Normative dynamic models could be used in conjunction with behavioral data to operationalize theoretical concepts such as accountability, symbolic politics and non-decisions.

Abstract: The relations between educational research, policy, planning and implementation in Thailand are the topic of this paper. The major focus is on the research/policy linkage. A complex educational administrative structure and a pluralistic informal power structure characterize the Thai research context. A tetrahedral model of linkages provides the conceptual framework for the analysis. Details are then provided with respect to the actual operationalization of the model in terms of the Thai approach in practice. Major elements in the Thai approach include the use of expert policy committees, joint committees involving both administrators and researchers, problem-oriented seminars, and commissioned research. Actual examples of research efforts described are an educational reform study, local level school mapping, a school cluster experiment, a budget exercise to improve the equity of primary school resource allocations, and a policy evaluation of sub-district secondary schools. Finally, lessons to be learned from the Thai experience are summarized. Thailand has experienced some success in building analytical educational research capacity and ensuring its utilization. Key elements in this success have been an emphasis on strengthening human capacities; judging political will in a timely, flexible manner; creatively utilizing bureaucratic forms such as committees; and remaining both politically detached and sensitive.

Abstract: During the last decade, social work, along with the other helping professions, has moved toward conceptualizing practice within a social systems framework. Intrapsychic variables are still important but, increasingly, the emphasis is on the clients' intimate social network as both cause and solution of a wide range of social problems. It is now widely believed that clients' well-being is enhanced when system functioning is enhanced (Gitterman and Germain, 1976). Most of what social workers know about social systems theory comes from the sociological literature, particularly the social action system of Talcott Parsons. Although this orientation has great heuristic value for social work practice, it has been limited in its ability to generate new practice theory because of its high level of generality. For social workers, like sociologists before them, Parsonian systems theory has proved so difficult to operationalize that the hoped-for linkages and the anticipated development of new theory from the general theory have not materialized (Pfouts and Galinsky, 1976). The authors believe that an important movement towards clarification of system properties and relationships is currently under way in the form of social network analysis. In recent years, a number of researchers from a variety of disciplines have explored the use of social networks and the specific properties of those networks as a means of operationalizing and expanding upon our intuitive understanding of the importance of social bonds. The result of this effort is a growing body of knowledge which draws not only upon systems theory but also upon previous research in other areas such as kinship, support systems, adaptation to stress, organizational theory, and information exchange. The Meaning of Social Network The concept of a social network was first employed by the anthropologist J. A. Barnes in his pioneering study of a Norwegian island parrish (Barnes, 1954). In defining network, Barnes said: Each person is, as it were, in touch with a number of people, some of whom are directly in touch with each other and some of whom are not. . . . I find it convenient to talk of a social field of this kind as a network. The image *An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Annual Program Meeting of the Council on Social Work Education, Boston, Massachusetts, March 1979.

Abstract: Problems in methodologic and theoretical approaches to the study of behavioral problems in deaf children are discussed. The most serious and prevalent methodologic deficiencies include inaccurate definitions, poor operationalization of "deafness," and the use of inadequate comparison groups. Many of the theories developed to explain findings in this area fail to consider individual differences among the children and/or their environments. Suggestions are presented with the goal of encouraging more exactness in methodology and the development of an electric theoretical approach to research in this area. It is argued that a valid understanding of the occurrence and "causes" of behavioral problems in this group, based on sound methodology, is essential to logical decision making and to any attempts at intervention.

Abstract: A common criticism of Parsonian theory has been that it is really not a theory but only a classificatory scheme. Critics claim that its concepts are not amenable to operationalization and that low-level empirically testable hypotheses cannot be derived from the theory. We argue that: (I) These criticisms are based upon a limited concept of theory, one that neglects other important functions that theory performs. (2) Many concepts in Parsonian theory can and have been operationalized. (3) Empirically testable propositions can be deduced from Parsons's theory. Examples from the areas of social evolution, criminology, small groups, and the self are discussed.

Abstract: Activity approaches to studying travel behavior are becoming a popular and acceptable basis on which to base research and policy actions. This work can now be characterized by a number of distinguishing features, such as: diversification, flexibility, operationalization, application, and acceptability. The consideration of activity approaches to travel behavior has resulted in consideration of the following subject areas: documentation; dissemination; survey procedures; data analysis; modeling; monitoring; theory development; and, policy application.

Abstract: The analysis of cultures and the impact of cultural differences is particularly difficult to examine in the classroom. The Self-Reference Criterion (SRC) is a means of operationalizing cultural analysis and business decision-making. Problem solving exercises designed to identify a person s SRC, and as a means of revolving this extraneous influence to business decision-making.

Abstract: This paper presents background information on long‐range planning for one program of educational research at a regional research and development laboratory, and delineates those preliminary assumptions and research issues concerning successful schooling and successful schooling practices. It is an agenda for research, development, dissemination, and implementation efforts relating to successful schooling practices made in response to the complex and varied problems confronting schools. The authors outline the decision process behind the present support for successful schooling research. That process began in 1977 with the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development Board making schooling one of six problem domains. After reviewing the needs assessments of the educational regions served by the Laboratory and of the Needs Sensing and Program Review Committee for Schooling, the Board established, as highest priority, the identification and operationalization of elements that constitute succe...

Abstract: This paper focuses on multidisciplinarity as one or the themes for organizing the work of various professionals in the context of a newly established general hospital. This theme has been put forward by the promoters of the centre and the study attempts to examine the relationships that have developed between the different professional groups involved in the operationalization of this theme. The general hypothesis is that the dominant profession is most determinant in shaping the content of multidisciplinarity work and in imposing its view on the other professional groups.

Abstract: The notion of valuing lies at the heart of the process of monitoring. Monitoring involves being deliberately engaged in a set of interrelated actions and processes, the intention of which is twofold. Given that the curriculum provides the conditions sufficient to promote learning to nurse families, the first is to observe the extent to which the essential components of learning to nurse families is actually being learned. The second is to provide feedback for adjusting curriculum structure and process so that learning of the valued components can be promoted. In other words, monitoring learning can be viewed as a process of formative evaluation culminating in summative evaluation at specific points in the program (Bloom et al, 1977; Tyler, ed., 1974), whereby both student progress in learning to nurse families and the conditions deemed necessary for that kind of learning are monitored. Being an integrated curriculum, McGill's B.Sc.(N) program is characterized by some overlap in traditional content areas. In addition to that, concepts of family and health run as threads throughout the three-year program. With such a curriculum design, it is difficult to monitor learning without establishing mechanisms to increase the probability that (a) unnecessary repetitions as well as omissions in content are avoided, (b) learning conditions are set and sustained so that the above concepts continue to be developed as the student moves through the program, (c) expectations in terms of scope and depth in student's attitudes, knowledge and skills continue to expand towards achieving critical goals of the program and that (d) there are some means of eliciting, identifying and promoting students' behaviours which indicate progress in learning to nurse families. Two kinds of monitoring provide us with the above mechanisms. Since the curriculum can be perceived as the structural apparatus and the medium through which learning to nurse families is provided, the first kind of monitoring has to occur at the curriculum level. Therefore, monitoring curriculum content and processes becomes a necessary activity. The second essential activity is monitoring the day-today operationalization of the curriculum at the courses level. This is the level where it is critical to (a) specify those behaviours which best reflect students' progress in learning to nurse families, and (b) identifying strategies which are best suited for eliciting and evaluating those behaviours which reflect students' progress in nursing families.

Abstract: Models of consumer behavior have gained much acceptance since the early sixties. The purpose of this article is to examine the state of the art by reviewing the often cited models: Nicosia, Howard-Sheth, and Engel-Blackwell-Kollat. Specifically, a major objective is to consider these models from their practical utility standpoint, i.e., whether the models can be tested and used by marketers. To accomplish this, a set of criteria is developed for evaluation of models in general, and consumer/buyer behavior models in particular. The criteria used for evaluating the state of the art in consumer behavior models are largely derived from model building sources in various fields. The results indicate that although the models are quite impressive in scope, they are inherently weak to be of much help to the marketing practitioner. Indeed, none of the models have been tested as a whole in their original form because they lack specificity and thus are difficult, if not impossible, to operationalize.