CHAPTER SIX

THEORIES, CONCEPTS AND VARIABLES

Research that is not theoretically informed, not

grounded in the existing body of knowledge, or of
the shotgun variety that fails to raise and
investigate conceptually grounded questions, is
likely to generate findings of a narrow and
ungeneralisable value.
(Yiannakis 1992, p.8)

CONSIDERING YOUR APPROACH

Think about:
1 your discipline
2 the field
3 the theory, e.g.
Discipline
Sociology

Field
Socialisation into sport

Theory
Donnelly and
Youngs (1988)
model of group
socialisation

Think about how theories may be applied:

Discipline
Psychology

Field
Crowd effects
on performance

Theory
Zajoncs (1965)
theory of
social facilitation

Application
Crowd effect on
hockey matches

DEVELOPING YOUR CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The conceptual framework describes and explains the
concepts to be used in the study, their relationships with
each other, and how they are to be measured.
Developing your conceptual framework requires five main
steps:
1. Identifying the relevant concepts.
2. Defining those concepts.
3. Operationalising the concepts.
4. Identifying any moderating or intervening variables.
5. Identifying the relationship between variables.

TYPES OF MEASUREMENT

Nominal scales group subjects into different categories, for

example grouping football players on the basis of the team
they play for.

Ordinal scales have a rank order, but do not indicate the

difference between scores.
Think, for example, of placement on a squash ladder.
The person on top has performed better than the person
second, and so on.
Thus data is ordered, but there is no indication of how
much difference there is between players. The player
assigned a score of 1 is not necessarily twice as good
as the player assigned 2.

Interval scales have equal intervals of measurement, for

example a gymnastics scoring scale.
There are equal intervals between each score, i.e. there
is the same difference between an 8.00 and a 9.00 as
there is between a 9.00 and a 10.00.
It is not the case, necessarily, however, that a 10.00 is
worth twice as much as a 5.00.

Ratio scales are also based on order, with equal units of

measurement, but they are proportional and have an
absolute zero.
For example, if a basketball team scores 50 points, then
that is worth twice as much as a team that scored 25
points.

VARIABLES
Measuring a construct turns it into a variable.
Variable any construct that can take on different
values.
An INDEPENDENT variable influences a DEPENDENT
variable.
(IND VAR) (DEP VAR)
Social class affects attitudes.

May also be a MODERATING variable:

Social class affects attitudes
past experience

(MOD VAR)

Fewer moderating variables = more confidence in

findings. Less chance of spurious relationship.
What is the effect of the crowd upon performance?
Weather?
Referee?
Luck?
Opposition? etc.

May also be a INTERVENING variable:

Social class education attitudes
(IND VAR)
(INT VAR) (DEP VAR)
NO link between social class and attitudes.

RELIABILITY
Reliability generally refers to the consistency of the
results obtained.
Inter-observer reliability assesses the extent to which
different observers would give similar scores to the same
phenomenon.

Testretest reliability is the extent to which the

research would provide the same measurements if
repeated at a different time.

Internal consistency reliability refers to the extent to

which each question within a measure is actually
measuring the same phenomenon.

Threats to reliability
Subject error.
Researcher error.
Subject bias.

VALIDITY
How do I know that the method I am using is really
measuring what I want it to measure?
Face validity. Does your method appear appropriate to
measure what you want it to measure at first glance?
Content validity. This is similar to face validity, except that
it refers to the initial assessment from an experts point of
view.
Predictive validity. Can your measures predict future
behaviour?
Construct validity. Does your data correlate with other
measures?

ASSESSING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Reliability/Dependability.
Rigour.
Credibility.
Authenticity.
Fairness.
Ontological authenticity.
Educative authenticity.
Catalytic authenticity.
Tactical authenticity.

SUMMARY
1. Theory plays a crucial role in most research projects.
Having an understanding of the importance of theory, and of
the particular theories to be used in your research is an
important element of the research process.
2. Developing your conceptual framework is also an
important stage of the research process. Undertaking this
process will allow you to clarify the important concepts
within your study, their relationships to each other, and their
measurement.

3. For Quantitative research you need to consider issues

of validity (the extent to which what you are measuring
actually reflects the phenomenon under investigation) and
reliability (the extent to which the findings would be the
same if the research was repeated).
4. If you are undertaking qualitative research, then how
will you ensure your approach is trustworthy, authentic,
reliable, rigorous, and credible?