Abstract: The last ten years have been a period of remarkable theoretical and methodological diversity in the social sciences. In one sense, there is nothing unusual about this. The social sciences have never had the kind of standardized textbook education and puzzle-solving, normal research that Thomas Kuhn describes as characteristic of the mature natural sciences.1 But, at least until recently, most social scientists did share a common view of what scientific inquiry ought, in principle, to be like. So, in spite of the fact that social scientists were divided among a plethora of various theoretical “approaches,” methodologically and epistemologically they enjoyed a relatively secure set of common aspirations and regulative ideals: de- ductive—nomological explanation, the experimental testability of proposed theoretical and empirical laws, the operationalization of concepts, formal modeling, and the like.2 What is new about the course that discussions of these matters has taken in the 1970s is that, while substantive theoretical diversity continues to be the rule, the epistemological consensus centering around the tenets of logical positivism and empiricism has itself been shaken almost to the point of nervous collapse. The principal reason for this is that recent work in the history and philosophy of science has persuasively called into question the validity of these tenets, showing that they do not provide an adequate conception of the nature of inquiry within the natural sciences themselves.3 This thoroughgoing philosophical reassessment of the natural sciences has created, in turn, an opening for a parallel reconsideration of the nature of social scientific inquiry. As a result, the theoretical situation in the social sciences has become a good deal more difficult and complex than it used to be, because now each “approach” must not only defend itself on substantive and conceptual grounds but also cast about for its own epistemological justification.

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to contribute to the development of a better fit between theory and methodology in judicial behavior research by reviewing, assessing, and making recommendations for the use of the latter. The methodological practice of judicial behavior research is assessed, and recommendations and projections to the future are provided. Four components of methodology—research design, data sources and generation procedures, operationalization and measurement of concepts, and statistical methods and measures—are discussed. Judicial behavior is understood to have a primary focus on the explanation of the behavior of individual decision makers, but also includes decision making within or by groups of decision makers and by courts.

Abstract: O ver the last decade, consumer information seeking and processing has emerged as an important field of inquiry. As the work of Bettman (1979) exemplifies, this stream of research holds great promise for explaining consumption behavior in terms of how people acquire, organize, and utilize information to make judgments. There have been several studies dealing with various issues in consumer information seeking and processing, but their results have not always been clear and precise (Malhotra 1982; Malhotra, Jain, and Lagakos 1982). Empirical work in many areas-among them consumer information search-is also lacking. Given this paucity of empirical evidence, the recent attempt by Moore and Lehmann (1980) to investigate individual differences in search behavior should be welcomed. They make a significant contribution by focusing attention on certain specific hypotheses related to search behavior. The purpose of this paper is to comment on some of their hypotheses, and on their operationalization, measurement, and data analysis procedures. The fntent is not to show that the authors are "wrong," or to detract from the importance of their contribution, but to reexamine some of their work in the light of relevant previous research so that their substantive results, or lack of them, can be interpreted in a balanced fashion.

Abstract: In the handbook of Cross-Cultural Psychology (Triandis, 1980), Gustav Jahoda argued that “further theoretical advance in cross-cultural psychology will probably depend to a considerable extent on a more rigorous analysis and operationalization of the concept of ‘culture.’” (Jahoda, 1980, (a) p. 31). I shall argue here that although the term “culture” is indeed conceptually unclear, as Jahoda has asserted, an effort to enhance its conceptual clarity is not needed; indeed it would be fruitless. The ambiguity of “culture” is not what is impeding theoretical advance.

Abstract: This paper is an examination of the segmentation perspective which recently has be- come popular in sociology and economics. It discusses the contemporary roots of segmentation theory, empirically and ideologically, and identifies the central tenets underlying its diverse speci- fications. In characterizing the theory as a middle-range conceptualization, attention is drawn to both the connection to the sociological classics and the alternative research directions. Four cen- tral issues are seen as keys to the perspective's further development: level of operationalization, specification of segments, intersegment mobility, and generalizability.

Abstract: Much attention in the field of machine learning has been directed at the problem of inferring concept descriptions from examples. But in many learning situations, we are initially presented with a fully-formed concept description. and our goal is instead to re-express that description with some particular task in mind. In this paper, we specifically consider the task of recognizing concept instances efficiently. We describe how concepts that are accurate, though computationally inefficient for use in recognizing instances, can be re-expressed in an efficient form through a process we call concept operationalization Various techniques for concept operationalization are illustrated in the context of the LEX learning system.

Abstract: Interest in the impact of the sex-role revolution on the college campus has prompted a number of investigators to take a retrospective look at the occupational plans and aspirations of women undergraduates a generation ago. These studies provide a potentially useful baseline for assessing recent changes in women's orientation to adult roles; but their utility is limited by inattention to the complex issues of operationalizing the concept of career orientation. Often career interests are defined not on the basis of students' work objectives but on collateral information that fails to delineate students' occupational preferences. As a result, it is not possible to determine whether those classified as career salient or career committed have serious occupational goals let alone goals that extend late into their adult life. Even where direct assessments of occupational choice are made, efforts tend to be restricted to one dimension: either the duration or else the labor-force sex composition of the goals chosen. Such a single focus makes it virtually impossible to compare findings generated by the two sets of studies, a situation exacerbated by the varied ways in which both dimensions are operationally defined. In addition, researchers overlook or else treat as a secondary dimension the degree of certainty with which occupational decisions are made even though the latter factor is theoretically adduced to be a key component of career intentions. The present paper seeks to examine the relative effectiveness of these three dimensions of occupational choice-sex composition, dura-

Abstract: Nearly a decade ago major problems facing the field of comparative management were identified. They continue to persist today despite considerable progress made in recent years. These problems related to the reliability, validity, and generalizability of comparative research findings will need to be resolved if the field is to attain academic maturity and legitimacy. Indentification and operationalization of critical variables will play an important role in the design of research studies and their conduct. A framework for upgrading comparative management research, with regard to overcoming both theoretical as well as methodological problems, is presented and discussed in this article.

Abstract: This exposition examines testing of Rogers's theoretical constructs in the unitary man model, reflecting upon one published research article. It addresses two critical points of importance: (1) adequacy and appropriateness of the logic used to derive the research hypotheses; and (2) appropriateness of the research methodology used to test Rogers's model. This analysis indicates that interpretations of the principles of homeodynamics require a careful attention to the model's basic premise of evolution, noncausality, and probability. Operationalization of concepts for an empirical testing of the theory also requires an adherence to the basic premise of wholeness, that is, the unitary nature of human field. It also points out a serious shortcoming in the inferential power of research findings from animal studies for explanations of human phenomena within the context of Rogers's model.

Abstract: The qualitative methodologist argues that data have meaning only when they are verified experientially. In order for this type of verification to take place, program evaluators must utilize a "responsible" methodology when conducting research. In this paper a definition of responsible methodology is advanced, while the proper operationalization of this type of methodology is illustrated. In particular, it is shown how key needs assessment strategies can be used in a responsible manner, so as to capture the experiential significance of data. Qualitative Methodoloys An

Abstract: The tireless study of human conduct by social scientists is predicated on the well-founded assumption that regularities in human behavior can be detected, described, and explained. Sociolinguistic studies of speech in its social context demonstrate this well, with a great variety of research showing how variations in speech can be systematically related to speaker characteristics and to facets of the situation (e.g., Ervin-Tripp, 1969; Hymes, 1972; Labov, 1972; Trudgill, 1978). We have argued elsewhere (Smith, Giles, & Hewstone, 1980), however, that preoccupation with the linguistic side of the sociolinguistic endeavor has fostered a casual and sometimes rather naive use of social variables in explanations for linguistic variation. In particular, Giles and Hewstone (in press) expressed serious misgivings about the way that the concept of situation has been employed in sociolinguistics. They drew attention to what they called the “taxonomic” approach to the definition of social situations, an approach that emphasizes the static, objective features of situations and neglects the dynamic nature of social interaction and its consequences for speech. Proponents of this kind of approach strive to create lists and taxonomies of influential situational variables on the basis of commonsense assumptions about how to operationalize situations in meaningful ways, usually without checking these assumptions empirically, or checking them only by referring to the very data that their taxonomies are meant to explain. Moreover, taxonomists provide few suggestions as to how elements of situations combine to influence behavior and tend to ignore the ongoing or unfolding nature of social interaction.

Abstract: Carbno (1981) used generalizability theory as a conceptual framework for analyzing student ratings data from two courses taught by a single instructor. This article argues that unwarranted conclusions were reached in the study because its design included an improper operationalization of the object of measurement, given the problems addressed, and because the sample sizes employed were too small.

Abstract: This study attempted to identify the characteristics of therapeutic recreation programs which are problematic when said programs are evaluated using traditional quantitative methods The data which were collected for the study came from the area of outdoor rehabilitation for delinquent youth Two methods were used to achieve the aforementioned goal: (1) the available res,earch reports were analyzed, and (2) an empirical study was conducted on one outdoor rehabilitation program The combined results consist of nine major sources of concern (unmentioned in the available research reports) These included: variable selection, operationalization, design, literacy of subjects, use of traditional inferential statistics, the ceiling-effect in psychologically healthy subjects, establishing a valid base line for measurements, "chronic liars" among the subjects, and the denial of change by the subjects The author concludes that the identified problematic program characteristics should be assessed during the development of most therapeutic recreation program evaluation plans

Abstract: A. D. de Groot's Methodologie ([Methodology], the Hague, 1961) was the standard, generally accepted work on Dutch sociological method until the publication of E. E. Ch. I. Roskam's Metric Analysis of Ordinal Data in Psychology (no city or publisher cited, 1961). For many years, the differences in their approaches continued to grow, especially with respect to theories of operationalization, validity, & a priori techniques. In recent years, however, their conclusions have come closer together, while their fundamental approaches & basic principles have continued to diverge. 9 References. M. Meeks

Abstract: When an everyday term becomes part of a scientific theory, its meaning increases in precision, via the process of operationalization; however, because there is not just one, but usually many possible ways to operationalize a given concept it also decreases in precision the more divergent the available operationalizations are This is true for all psychological concepts, but it seems to be of particular significance for normative terms By 1963 Campbell had already counted approximately eighty evaluative concepts in the psychological literature What is worse, it seems to be an onerous task to try to differentiate among them along some pertinent dimension, because, as Triandis (1972) has pointed out, their internal relationships have not been clearly explicated It is therefore a reasonable strategy in studying normative concepts to follow an eclectic approach However, we need to ask if there are criteria available to select one concept or kind of measurement procedure out of the eighty mentioned above, or is the choice of one method arbitrary or even just a matter of personal taste?

Abstract: The growth of research on social support has led to a comparable proliferation in the ways it is conceptualized and operationalized. The overall purpose of the present paper was to bring some clarity to this concept by critically examining how it has been presented in the literature and by proposing both rationally and empirically derived typologies for organizing social support functions. From a review of prominent discussions of support functions, a rational typology was proposed that included six categories: Material Aid, Behavioral Assistance, Intimate Interaction, Feedback, and Positive Social Interaction. To empirically examine the structure of social support, a factor analysis was conducted on items from a scale of socially supportive behaviors. The four factors that subsequently emerged were labeled Directive Guidance, Non-directive Support, Positive Social Interaction, and Tangible Assistance. Application of these findings to the assessment of support and future research on support/well-being relationships were discussed.

Abstract: This article develops a conceptual model of organizational compliance using affirmative action as an example. The model is applied to universities that are both highly professionalized and loosely coupled. The article explores the dynamics of the process by which organizations with weak hierarchical links attempt to respond to demands that are sometimes unclear or changing and that make a valued resource contingent upon compliance with goals that are externally imposed. The article then attempts to show how the model could be operationalized empirically and the results used to determine whether or not an organization is making a good-faith attempt to comply with affirmative action.