For her experimental psychology class,Kristen has developed the hypothesis that intelligent people are more stressed out.Kristen's teacher tells her she needs to use operational definitions for her variables.This means that she needs to decide
A) which behaviours or qualities differentiate one person's intelligence and level of stress from the next person's.
B) the procedures she will use to collect her data.
C) which variables are independent and which are dependent.
D) which type of experimental design she will be using.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Operational definitions refer to the specific procedures used to measure or manipulate a variable. In this case, Kristen's hypothesis involves two variables- intelligence and stress. To use operational definitions, Kristen needs to identify the specific behaviors or qualities that distinguish one person's intelligence and level of stress from another's. For example, she might operationalize intelligence as performance on a standardized IQ test and operationalize stress as self-reported levels of anxiety or experienced stressors. By doing so, she can collect data in a consistent and clearly defined way, which will increase the reliability and validity of her results.

For Her Experimental Psychology Class,Kristen Has Developed the Hypothesis That