Conceptualization and Operationalization. ESP Applied Research Methods Calvin Thigpen 1/12/17

Transcription

1 Conceptualization and Operationalization ESP Applied Research Methods Calvin Thigpen 1/12/17

2 Research gives us knowledge of how the world works Knowledge of how the world works gives us the power to fix things

3 Evidence-based policy Policy draws on research Research supports policy Research Policy

4 Research Policy Example: Street connectivity and cul-de-sacs

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8 Street Connectivity Ordinances City of Eugene Maximum Block Size City of Hercules Maximum Block Size The maximum perimeter of any block shall be no more than 1,600 ft. The minimum dimension of each block face shall be no more than 500 ft. Pedestrian passages leading from the street to the middle of the block shall be provided at intervals no greater than 250ft. Source: Handy, Paterson, and Butler 2003

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11 The End of the Road for Cul-de-Sacs? dc.streetsblog.org

12 Village Homes, Davis

13 Davis Greenbelt System

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16 2004

17 Do cul-de-sacs promote children s outdoor play?

18 Factor Outcome Examples Pollution Driving Sprawl Examples Health Pollution Driving

19 Factor Outcome Living on a cul-de-sac Independent variable Outdoor play Dependent variable

20 The Research Cycle Inductive = Theory building Empirical Generalizations Theory Hypothesis Deductive = Theory testing Observation What is a theory?

21 Types of Explanation Idiographic Nomethetic

22 The Research Cycle Inductive = Theory building Empirical Generalizations Theory Descriptive (Usually) Quantitative Hypothesis Deductive = Theory testing Observation Exploratory (Usually) Qualitative Explanatory (Usually) Quantitative

23 At the most basic level Quantitative Qualitative

24 How things (usually) go together Type of Explanatory Exploratory Descriptive Question Type of Deductive Inductive Observational Research Type of Data Quantitative Qualitative Quantitative Explanatory Exploratory Descriptive

25 How things (usually) go together Type of Explanatory Exploratory Descriptive Question Type of Deductive Inductive Observational Research Type of Data Quantitative Qualitative Quantitative Sampling Probabilistic Random Representative Larger Non-probabilistic Convenient, purposeful Illustrative Smaller Probabilistic Random Representative Larger

26 How things (usually) go together Type of Explanatory Exploratory Descriptive Question Type of Deductive Inductive Observational Research Type of Data Quantitative Qualitative Quantitative Sampling Probabilistic Random Representative Larger Non-probabilistic Convenient, purposeful Illustrative Probabilistic Random Representative Larger Data Collection Surveys Available data Observation Smaller In-depth interviews Focus groups Observation Surveys Available data Observation

27 How things (usually) go together Type of Explanatory Exploratory Descriptive Question Type of Deductive Inductive Observational Research Type of Data Quantitative Qualitative Quantitative Sampling Probabilistic Random Representative Larger Non-probabilistic Convenient, purposeful Illustrative Probabilistic Random Representative Larger Smaller In-depth interviews Focus groups Observation Data Collection Surveys Available data Observation Surveys Available data Observation Data Analysis Statistical analysis Content analysis Descriptive statistics

28 Type of Explanatory Exploratory Descriptive Question Type of Deductive Inductive Observational Research Type of Data Quantitative Qualitative Quantitative Sampling Probabilistic Random Representative Larger Non-probabilistic Convenient, purposeful Illustrative Probabilistic Random Representative Larger Smaller In-depth interviews Focus groups Observation Data Collection Surveys Available data Observation Surveys Available data Observation Data Analysis Statistical analysis Content analysis Descriptive statistics Other Qualities How things (usually) go together Nomothetic explanation Focus on proving Dissective Idiographic explanation Focus on understanding Holistic Not an explanation Focus on characterizing

29 Factor Outcome Quantitative What is the distribution of the factor? What share of streets are cul-de-sacs? What share of households live on culde-sacs? DESCRIPTIVE Is there a relationship? How big is it? How much more time do children spend playing outdoors if they live on a cul-de-sac? EXPLANATORY What is the distribution of the outcome? How much time do kids play outdoors on average? What share of kids play outdoors at least once per week? DESCRIPTIVE

30 Factor Outcome Qualitative What is the nature of the factor? Are there others? Are there different kinds of cul-de-sacs? What are key characteristics of culde-sacs? DESCRIPTIVE What is the nature of the relationship? How does it work? What is it about cul-desacs that influences children s outdoor play? EXPLORATORY What Is the nature of the outcome? Are there others? What kinds of things do children do when playing outside? How do they use the street versus sidewalks? DESCRIPTIVE

31 Thinking like a researcher

32 Unit of Analysis Unit of Analysis vs. Unit of Observation INDIVIDUAL Children INDIVIDUAL Children GROUP Households INDIVIDUAL Children GEOGRAPHIC UNIT Neighborhoods INDIVIDUAL Children

33 From Conceptual to Operational

34 From Conceptual to Operational Concept Cul-de-sacs Proposition leads to more Concept outdoor play for children Variable Living on a cul-desac Hypothesis is positively associated with Variable number of days children play outside

35 Note: Concept versus Construct Explanations require development of concepts or generalizable properties or characteristics associated with objects, events, or people. While objects such as a person, a firm, or a car are not concepts, their specific characteristics or behavior such as a person s attitude toward immigrants, a firm s capacity for innovation, and a car s weight can be viewed as concepts. A construct is an abstract concept that is specifically chosen (or created ) to explain a given phenomenon. A construct may be a simple concept, such as a person s weight, or a combination of a set of related concepts such as a person s communication skill, which may consist of several underlying concepts such as the person s vocabulary, syntax, and spelling. The former instance (weight) is a unidimensional construct, while the latter (communication skill) is a multi-dimensional construct (i.e., it consists of multiple underlying concepts). Parent s attitude re. outdoor play Safety concerns Health benefits Neighbors views

36 Note: Variables by Unit of Analysis Unit of Analysis Variable INDIVIDUAL Children Number of days child played outside per week GROUP Households GEOGRAPHIC UNIT Neighborhoods Share of children in household who played outside at least once per week Share of households in neighborhood who had children who played outside at least once per week

37 Conceptual Model = Nomological Network Field of Study Control variable

38 It s all relative sprawl driving pollution health sprawl driving driving pollution pollution health sprawl driving pollution

39 It s all relative sprawl driving pricing pricing driving sprawl

40 Theory versus Conceptual Model Theory of Planned Behavior Conceptual Model Attitude about outdoor play Is outdoor play is normal? Intention to have kid play Outdoor play Can my kid do it? Note: could do kid s perspective or parent s perspective or both

41 From Conceptual to Operational Indicator/ measure Indicator/ measure

42 From Conceptual to Operational Concept Cul-de-sacs Proposition lead to more Concept outdoor play for children Variable Living on a cul-desac Hypothesis is positively associated with Variable number of days children play outside Indicator/ Measure What type of street do you live on? Indicator/ Measure How many days last week did your oldest child play outside?

43 Levels of measurement Level Definition Example Nominal Categorical, no order Outdoor play or not: yes, no Type of outdoor play: active, passive Location of outdoor play: sidewalk, street, park

44 Levels of measurement Level Definition Example Nominal Categorical, no order Outdoor play or not: yes, no Type of outdoor play: active, passive Location of outdoor play: sidewalk, street, park Ordinal Categorical, with order Frequency of play: low, medium, high

45 Levels of measurement Level Definition Example Nominal Categorical, no order Outdoor play or not: yes, no Type of outdoor play: active, passive Location of outdoor play: sidewalk, street, park Ordinal Categorical, with order Frequency of play: low, medium, high Interval Continuous, with no fixed 0 point Rare in social sciences e.g. IQ

46 Levels of measurement Level Definition Example Nominal Categorical, no order Outdoor play or not: yes, no Type of outdoor play: active, passive Location of outdoor play: sidewalk, street, park Ordinal Categorical, with order Frequency of play: low, medium, high Interval Continuous, with no fixed 0 point Rare in social sciences e.g. IQ Ratio Continuous variable Frequency of play: # times children played outside Amount of play: # minutes children played outside

47 Deriving one kind of variable from another Number of days in last 7 days that child played outside Child played: infrequently, moderately frequently, frequently Child played: yes, no What kind of variable is it? How could you convert the variable? Why might you want to do this? Why might you not want to do this?

48 How do we know our measures are good? Reliable = Precise/Consistent Valid = Accurate

49 Reliability testing Do you get the same answer the second time? Why might you get different answers? What s close enough? Test Re-test

50 Validity testing Translational How well is theoretical concept translated into measure? Face Validity makes sense on its face Content Validity fully covers the concept within the domain you are considering

51 Validity testing Criterion: Does measure behave the way it should? Convergent Validity: Compare measure to a different measure of the same concept Does your child play outside frequently or infrequently? vs. How many times did your child play outside last week? vs observations of outdoor play OR GPS + accelerometer Second question in the survey

52 Recap Term Definition Criteria/Tests Example Reliability Repeated measures of a variable yield consistent results Test-Retest Measurement Validity The measure of a variable is accurate (passes at least one test) Ask children how often they play in the street in a typical week, then ask them again two weeks later; compare responses for each individual Translational How well is theoretical construct translated into measure? Face Validity The number of times a child played in makes sense on its face the street in the last week is clearly Content validity fully covers the concept Criterion Does measure behave the way it should? Convergent validity - compare measure to a different measure of the same concept Gold standard compare to the most accurate possible measure related to the concept of street play Asking about playing basketball and playing hopscotch doesn t add up to total street play Compare the reported frequency of street play in the last week to a question on whether they play in the street frequently or infrequently Do a test that compares reported street play to observed street play for a small sample of children

53 For the class exercises: Bicycling!

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57 Percent of Trips by Bicycle 30% 27% 25% 20% 18% 15% 10% 5% 0% 1% 1% 1% 2% 2% 3% 3% 4% 5% 6% 8% 10% 10% 11% Source: Pucher and Buehler 2008

58 Boom in Cycling to Work (USA) / 1996 (Canada) Bike Share of Regular Commutes (USA and Canada) * 2011 figures for Canadian cities are preliminary estimates Source: Pucher, J. and Buehler, R. City Cycling, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, 2012.

59 Percent Biking to Work in Smaller Cities 18% 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% * has major university Source: Handy, Heinen, and Krizek, 2012

60 Bicycling in Davis 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Davis workers bicycle commuting UCD staff in Davis bicycle commuting UCD faculty in Davis bicycle commuting UCD students in Davis bicycle commuting Davis residents bicycling >=1 per week Source: Handy, Access,

61 Not Bicycling in Davis 100% 90% 80% 70% Not bicycling! 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Davis workers bicycle commuting UCD staff in Davis bicycle commuting UCD faculty in Davis bicycle commuting UCD students in Davis bicycle commuting Davis residents bicycling >=1 per week Source: Handy, Access,

62 Policy question: How do we get more people bicycling? Research question: Why do or don t people bicycle?

63 To do Read proposal assignment overall and stage 1 Think about possible topics for proposal Readings catch up on assigned readings if you didn t read them yet. Take the course overview and syllabus quiz on Canvas (by 8 pm tonight!) 1% of your grade Attend section tomorrow!