Conceptualizing and Operationalizing Variables Social Sciences Essay
Please ensure that all cited material is marked as so with the citation being listed in the references.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this exercise is to conceptualize and operationalize variables, and understand how conceptual and operational definitions impact the conclusions drawn about variables.
WRITING REQUIREMENTS: The essay should be 7-9 pages. APA formatting should be used throughout (cover page, running header, major heading, subheadings, in-text citations, and reference list). Any time you paraphrase or directly quote a source, in-text citations should be used. A full APA-formatted reference should be included at the end of the assignment. Academically, no more that 20% of the essay should be quoted. At least 80% should be in your own words.
The essay should include the following subheadings:
Definitions
Conceptualizes race
Operationalizes race
Census Bureau changes
How changes to variables affect conclusions
Reflection
INSTRUCTIONS: Make sure to follow the directions in order.
First, provide a definition of the terms: "conceptual definition" and "operational definition".
Next, conceptualize and operationalize the variable “race.”
Read the Census Bureau’s report on race at: https://www(dot)census(dot)gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2011/dec/c2010br-02.pdf.
Answer the following questions after reading the report:
What changes did the Bureau make to the conceptualization and operationalization of race in the 2010 census?
Why did the Bureau make these changes?
Could the difference in operationalization produce different conclusions about race?
Does the Bureau’s conceptualization and operationalization of race coincide with yours? If so, how? If not, what is different?
Conceptualizing and Operationalizing Variables
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Conceptualizing and Operationalizing Variables
Definitions
Race – refers to an individual’s physical characteristics
Ethnicity – this refers to a group of people that have common affiliations such as racial, national, cultural as well as religious origins.
Population – this refers to the count of the number of residents within a political or geographical boundary such as a nation, a town or the number of individuals identified as belonging to a particular group.
Social construct – this refers to the various social constructs that are basically and generally understood as the results of countless human choices rather than laws that result from nature.
Conceptual definition
This definition is a description of the perception that relates the term to other abstract opinions from different sources. The implication is that the provided description that is a representation of thought relates to its measurable characteristics that eventually distinguish the term from the rest of the thoughts that focus on and uses it as a unit of analysis. In this case, the conceptual definition refers to a detailed description of the various adjustable conditions with the application and right use of specified ideas or terms. Additionally, the conceptual definition could be referred to as the process that is applicable in the specification of the meaning upon the use of special terms in research. At the same time, it can be referred to as the intellectual step focused on making clear unclear notions and provide definite acceptable meaning (Babbie, 2013).
Operational definition
This refers to the nature of the description of a process of investigation that focuses on transforming a variable into a numerical value or rather a measurement. It is the development of specific research procedures that eventually results in empirical observation that represents the various concepts. In other words, the operational definition presents how the researcher resolves the measurement of variables. This term is identified as more explicit since it does not defines the research rather gives an association to the research at hand. The term exposes the different specified details of the procedures that entail the aspect of quantifying the variable of interest. Additionally, the operation definition describes a particular term as applicable in words. The term helps in the establishment of the existence of an object accurately and concisely by the use of a set of definitions (Bailey et al., 2018).
Conceptualizes race
This refers to the superior aspect of understanding the variable that provides a potential clue before understanding the exact application of the variable. The case of conceptualizing the variable race provides a rational process of creating the meaning of the term race. The application of race as a variable in research triggers debate concerning whether it is applicable as well as the associated implications that the variable has for different researches in different fields. Race is conceptualized as a social category variable that emphasizes the sharing of the social as well as a cultural heritage that highlights the del...
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