Operational definitions

Operational definitions

Operational definitions refer to precise statements explaining how conceptual variables are turned into measurable variables. For instance, below are operational definitions of various conceptual variables.

Anxiety

Operational definition defines anxiety as measures that can be observed through increased heartbeat, dilated pupil, and sweating palms (Lammers & Badia, 2020).

It is also expressed on the bases of anxious thoughts, feelings of tension, and physical changes such as blood pressure (American Psychological Association, 2020).

It is also measured in terms of withdrawal from situations, test scores, or sympathetic nervous activation (American Psychological Association, 2020).

Intelligence

Intelligence is a measure of individual ability in terms of interpersonal, linguistics, naturalistic, kinesthetic, logico-mathematical, intrapersonal, and spatial (Stangor & Walinga, 2020).

It can also be the measures of the abilities to apply knowledge to new situations, solving problems, and learning from the ability (Polgar, 2009)).

The operational definition refers to intelligence as whatsoever intelligence tests measure (Sternberg, Kaufman, & Grigorenko, 2010).

Depression

It refers to the scores of various individuals on a depression scale, depressive disorders, and the number of experienced depressive symptoms (Chiang et al., 2009).

It is the measure of appointment frequency with the psychotherapist and magnitude of negative words deployed in a creative art or story (Sayfa, 2013).

Depression can be measured in terms of declined pleasure or interest in activities, weight gain or loss, excessive sleeping, inability to concentrate, and lack of energy (American Psychological Association 2020).

Quality of life

– It comprises how people measure goodness in their lives from multiple aspects, including personal satisfaction and relationships (Theofilou, 2013).

– It measures one’s ability to function socially, physically, and emotionally within the surrounding environment at consistent levels with their expectations (Church, 2005).

– Quality of life can be assessed through cognitive appreciation (life satisfaction), emotional states, or feelings, either positive or negative, and eudaemonics (Eurostat statistics,2020).

Employee satisfaction

It is a measure based on the frequency that employees report to work daily and on time or job satisfaction rate (Fentie, Ashagrie, & Kasahun, 2018).

It can also be measured based on motivation levels at work, willingness to network, collaboration with other employees, reduced employee turnover, and employees’ performance (Halvorson, 2015).

It’s measured based on emotions that are job-related, behavioral such as faking illness to avoid work and tardiness, and cognitive components (Redmond, & Kimberly, 2016).

Strength

It is expressed based on the greatest torque produced isometrically by quadriceps muscles on an isokinetic dynamometer or weight that would be lifted three times (Wright, & Lake, 2009).

Operational definition defines strength as the maximum force developed by the muscles on a single contraction (Cerqua, 2012).

It can also be measured in terms of a person’s one repeated maximum (1RM), the greatest load that can be moved once without any injury or failure (Science Learning Hub. 2017).

Happiness

It is defined as the number of smiles an individual makes over a period of time under observation (Staff Writer, 2020S).

It is also the degree to which people judge the overall quality of their lives or how they like their lives (Kalmijn, 2012).

Happiness can also be assessed through self-reports by using a single question or multiple-item scales to inquire from people about their happiness (Holder, 2017).

Stress

The operational definition defines stress as coping mechanisms of the body in order to adapt to the environmental changes and the external stimuli, where stress is characterized by headaches, low energy, and fatigue (Staff Writer, 2020).

Stress is measured through the social readjustment rating scale, which is a self-reporting questionnaire (Leung, Yuen, & Cheung, 2015).

It can also be assessed based on mental, emotional, and physical alteration that causes mental and bodily tension (Shiel, 2019).

American Psychological Association. (2020). Anxiety. Retrieved 2 September 2020, from https://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety

American Psychological Association. (2020). Operational definition. Retrieved 2 September 2020, from https://dictionary.apa.org/operational-definition

Stangor, C., & Walinga, J. (2020). 10.1 Defining and Measuring Intelligence. https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontopsychology/chapter/9-1-defining-and-measuring-intelligence/

Polgar, S. (2009). Intelligence. Chapter 10. http://www.psych.purdue.edu/~willia55/120/10.IntelligenceMM.pdf

Sternberg, R., Kaufman, J., & Grigorenko, E. (2010). Views of Intelligence. https://beckassets.blob.core.windows.net/product/readingsample/124449/9780521884280_excerpt_001.pdf

Price, P., Jhangiani, R., Chiang, I., Leighton, D., & Cuttler, C. (2009). 2.5 Designing a Research Study – Research Methods in Psychology. Retrieved 2 September 2020, from https://opentext.wsu.edu/carriecuttler/chapter/designing-a-research-study/

Sayfa, A. (2013). Operational Definition. (Measures) Operational Definition http://researchmethodsx.blogspot.com/2013/06/operational-definition.html

American Psychological Association. (2020). Depression. https://www.apa.org/topics/depression

Theofilou, P. (2013). Quality of Life: Definition and Measurement. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e6d3/548eb9a7243f4cac2772cd3577b106596975.pdf

Church, M. (2005). The conceptual and operational definition of quality of life: a systematic review of the literature. Retrieved 3 September 2020, from https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/2771

Eurostat statistics. (2020). Quality of life indicators – measuring the quality of life – Statistics Explained. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Quality_of_life_indicators_-_measuring_quality_of_life

Lammers & Badia. (2020). Chapter 5 Measurement. https://uca.edu/psychology/files/2013/08/Ch5-Measurement.pdf

Yilkal Fentie, D., Enyew Ashagrie, H., & Getinet Kasahun, H. (2018). Job satisfaction and associated factors among anesthetists working in Amhara National Regional State, Northwest Ethiopia, May 2017: a multicenter cross-sectional study. Anesthesiology research and practice, 2018.

Halvorson, C. (2015). How To Measure & Boost Employee Satisfaction. https://wheniwork.com/blog/how-to-measure-boost-employee-satisfaction

Redmond, B., & Kimberly, D. (2016). 11. Job Satisfaction – PSYCH 484: Work Attitudes and Job Motivation – Confluence. https://wikispaces.psu.edu/display/PSYCH484/11.+Job+Satisfaction

Wright, L., & Lake, D. (2009). Basics of Research for the Health Professions. http://www.pt.armstrong.edu/wright/hlpr/text/3.4.depvar1.htm

Cerqua, P. (2012). 3 Ways to Measure Muscular Strength – 2020 https://www.wikihow.fitness/Measure-Muscular-Strength

Science Learning Hub. (2017). Measuring muscle strength. https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/1922-measuring-muscle-strength

Staff Writer, (2020). What Is the Operational Definition of Happiness? https://www.reference.com/world-view/operational-definition-happiness-8006c367dd6a3d19

Kalmijn, W. (2012). 3 Methods for Measurement of Happiness. https://worlddatabaseofhappiness-archive.eur.nl/hap_quer/introtext_measures3.pdf

Holder, M. (2017). Measuring Happiness: How Can We Measure It? https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-happiness-doctor/201705/measuring-happiness-how-can-we-measure-it

Staff Writer. (2020). What Is an Operational Definition of Stress? https://www.reference.com/world-view/operational-definition-stress-7f8ce5153af56ee2

Leung, P., Yuen, D., & Cheung, D. (2015). Operational Definitions. http://www.opentextbooks.org.hk/ditatopic/35431

Shiel, W. (2019). Definition of Stress. https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=20104