Research Method EMBA chapter 6

1. Chapter – 6 Notes Research Methods (KJAN) Summer Quarter 2014
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Measurement of Variables: Operational Definition
How Variables Are Measured: Data representing several demographic characteristics of the office
personnel are easily obtained by asking employees simple, straightforward questions, as for example:
 How long have you been working in this organization?
 How long have you been working on this particular assignment?
 What is your Job title?
 What is your marital status?
One can use company records to obtain data on the absenteeism performance.etc. However, even such
objective data might, in some cases, call for careful interpretation while making managerial decisions.
Certain variables are easily measured by using appropriate measuring instruments, as for example, blood
pressure, pulse rates, body temperature, height and weight. But when we get into the realm of people’s
subjective feelings, attitudes, and perceptions, the measurement of these factors or variables becomes
difficult.
There are at least two types of variables: One lends itself to objective and precise measurement; the
other is more nebulous and does not lend itself to accurate measurement because of its subjective nature.
One technique is to reduce the abstract notions, or concepts such as motivation, involvement,
satisfaction, buyer behavior, stock market exuberance, and the like, to observable behavior and
characteristics. Reduction of abstract concepts to render them measureable in a tangible way is called
operationalizing the concepts.
Operational Definition: Dimensions and Elements: Operationalizing, or operationally defining a
concept to render it measureable, is done by looking at the behavioral dimensions, facets, or properties
denoted by the concept. These are then translated into observable and measureable elements so as to
develop an index of measurement of the concept.
Example 8.1 Operationalizing the Concept of Achievement Motivation: Let us try to operationally
define achievement motivation. What behavioral dimensions or facets or characteristics would we
expect to find in people with high achievement motivation? They would probably have the following
five typical broad characteristics, which we will call dimensions.
1. They would be driven by work.
2. Many of them would generally be in no mood to relax.
3. Because they want always to be achieving, they prefer to work on their own.
4. They would rather engage in challenging jobs rather than easy, hum-drum ones.
5. They would like to get frequent feedback in direct and subtle ways from their superiors,
colleagues, and even sub-ordinates, to know how they are progressing.
Although breaking the concept into these five dimensions has somewhat reduced its level of abstraction,
we have still not operationalized the concept into measureable elements of behavior. This could be done
by examining each of the five dimensions and breaking each further into its elements. These should be
quantitatively measureable so that we can distinguish those who have high motivation from those with
less.

2. Chapter – 6 Notes Research Methods (KJAN) Summer Quarter 2014
2
Elements of Dimension 1
A person who is driven by work will (1) be at work all the time, (2) be reluctant to take time off from
work, and (3) persevere even in the face of some setbacks. These types of behavior can be measured.
For instance, we can count the number of hours employees engage themselves in work-related activities.
It would be an index of the extent to work “drive” them. Achievement-motivated individuals would not
usually want to give up on their tasks even when confronted by initial failures. Finally, in order to
measure the reluctance to take time off, we need only know how frequently people take time off from
their jobs, and for what reasons.
Thus, if we can measure how many hours per week individuals spend on work-related activities, how
persevering they are in completing their daily tasks, and how frequently and for what reasons they take
time off from their jobs, we would have a measure of the extent to which employees are driven by work.
See the Diagram on page 133 from the book: schematically diagrams the dimensions (the main
characteristics) and the elements (representative behaviors) for the concept of achievement motivation.
Elements of Dimension 2
The degree of unwillingness to relax can be measured by asking persons such questions as (1) how
often do you think about work while you are away from the workplace? (2) What are your hobbies? And
(3) how do you spend your time when you are away from the workplace? Thus we can place employees
on a continuum ranging from those who relax vary well to those who relax very little.
Elements of Dimension 3
Individuals with high achievement motivation have no patience with ineffective people and are reluctant
to work with others. Thus impatience with ineffectiveness an also be measured by observing behavior.
Elements of Dimension 4
A measure of how excited people are at seeking challenging jobs can be had by asking employees what
kinds of jobs they prefer. Employee preferences for different types of jobs could then be placed on a
continuum ranging from those who prefer fairly routine jobs to those who prefer jobs with a progressive
increase in challenge.
Elements of Dimension 5
Those who desire feedback would seek it from their superiors, co-workers, and sometimes even from
their subordinates. Feedback, both positive and negative, would indicate to them how much they are
achieving and accomplishing. Employees can be placed on a continuum ranging from those who seek
extensive feedback from all sources to those who never seek any feedback from anyone at any time.
Operationally defining the concept, nevertheless, is the best way to measure it and instead of actually
observing the behaviors of individuals, we could ask them to report their own behavior patterns by
asking them appropriate questions, which they can respond to on some scale that we provide.