Week 4 – Assignment: Describe Conceptual and Operational Definitions of Constructs
Instructions
In this assignment, you are being given a number of constructs. Conduct scholarly research that has been published within the past five years (2015 and beyond) that measures each on these. Based on this, provide a conceptual and at least one operational definition of each construct listed below. Based on the operational definitions, provide a measurement for the variable and explain the level of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio) that is generated. Once this is completed, provide a conceptual and operational definition of two constructs you will be measuring in your intended dissertation research.
Rather than present a traditional paper, organize the document by the following construct.
Attitude toward new technology
Customer satisfaction
Self-concept
Leadership style
Organizational commitment
Constructs you intend to measure
Length: Your paper should be 5 pages, not including title and reference page.
References: Include a minimum of TEN (10) scholarly sources.
Your presentation should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic.
Conceptual and Operational Definitions of Constructs
In research, the conceptual and operational definitions of constructs play a crucial role in measuring variables to determine their relationships. The conceptual definition of a construct is the meaning of what it means, the basic definition of the concept. The operational definition of a construct goes a step further to explain how to measure it (Gummer & Mandinach, 2015). The operational definition identifies the object, variable, event, concept, and construct regarding tests and processes to determine quantity or presence. The definition transforms construct from theoretical understanding to practical application. Therefore, in research, it is necessary to determine the conceptual and operational definition of concepts.
Attitude toward New Technology
The conceptual definition of the concept of attitude towards technology covers consumer’s predispositions to the new technological devices, such as mobile phones or applications for different dimensions of work, such as healthcare or education. Csuka et al. (2019) conducted a study to measure attitude towards new technology. The study measured the level of acceptance of upcoming technological solutions in Hungary. Vendors should understand the attitudes and level of acceptance to predict how the new technology might perform in the market. To measure the concept, the researchers used three technologies, “Autonomous or Self-driving Car (AC), Enhanced Living Environments (ELE) and Telemedicine (TM)” as attitude objects (p. 5). Respondents answered a survey focusing on three areas: “(1) the desirability of bringing these products into general use; (2) the probability of choosing these technological solutions for themselves; (3) the probability of choosing these technological solutions for the elderly or needy (e.g. disabled) relatives” (p.7). The evaluation used an ordinal measurement level to measure attitude as a variable using a 10-point Likert-type scale.
Customer Satisfaction
The researcher conducts studies to establish customer satisfaction with a product or service provided by a company. The conceptual definition of customer satisfaction is the result of evaluation, perception, and psychological response to the quality of a product or service. Marketers strive to gain customer satisfaction when they market and sell their products or services to customers. Omar, Saadan, and Seman (2015) conducted a study to measure customer satisfaction by influencing service quality reliability. They use the E-commerce industry in Libya to conduct the empirical definition of customer satisfaction by collecting customer surveys. Customers would respond to survey questions to establish their satisfaction level when the reliability of quality in the e-commerce industry. The level of measurement used in the study is ordinal by conducting a customers’ survey through a Likert scale.
Self-Concept
The research defines self-concept as a desirable mental outcome related to personal perception of abilities and behavior. It is a mental image of whom a person is in educational and psychological situations. According to Liu, Wu, and Ming (2015), self-concept is a mediating variable that promotes desirable outcomes, such as achievement in education. In their study, Kirmizi (2015) measured self-concept levels using the original of-concept scale used in academic settings and developed by Liu and Wang (2005). The scale used in the study had two subscales; educational effort and academic confidence. The ordinal scale used in measuring self-concept as a variable had 10 items for collecting the students’ academic self-concept data. The scale mixed questions in the two sub-scales to analyze and establish the level of self-efficacy among students in academic settings. A similar scale could be used in other settings to measure self-efficacy in various settings, such as the academic environment.
Leadership Style
Conceptually, leadership is the persuasion and explanation, as well as the capacity to recognize, confirm, and renew group’s values and the focus towards realizing a vision. Therefore, Iqbal, Anwar, and Haider (2015) suggest that leadership style is the approach that a leader uses to provide guidance to employees and help them improve their performance outcomes. Renko, El Tarabishy, Carsrud, and Brännback (2015) conducted their study to establish their operational definition of leadership style through entrepreneurial leadership in organizations. They used a novel measurement tool to establish the influence of entrepreneurial leadership in the workplace. The measure of entrepreneurial leadership style relates to a leader’s ability to influence their followers to achieve performance outcomes. The study used a nominal scale, which is the categorical variable scale, such as labeling the entrepreneurial leadership style qualities.
Organizational Commitment
Organizational commitment is one of the essential concepts in the research on organizational behavior, and organizational psychology and researchers conceptualize the concept differently. However, the concept’s general conceptual definition is the linking or a bond that an individual has with an organization. The commitment is a connection between an individual’s behaviors to the organization. Lee and Jamil (2016) conducted an empirical study to operationalize the variable of organizational commitment. The researchers used the 15-item scale developed by Porter et al. (1974) to measure organizational commitment. The ordinal scale (Cronbach α = 0.87) would assess how the employees identify with their organization and their involvement in the company to achieve its objectives. The scale has sufficient psychometric properties and validity and reliability to measure organizational commitment among employees. Therefore, it could be used in other settings to establish the level of organizational commitment among employees.
In the proposed dissertation, the role of the person’s perception of value in motivating employees to improve performance. Therefore, in the proposed project, the two constructs will be measured by collecting and analyzing data.
Value of the Person
The value of person is one of the variables that will be in the proposed dissertation topic. The term’s conceptual definition is the inherent need for the human to be treated differently from other production factors, such as capital and land. Humans need to be treated as persons of value instead of an economic tool to achieve organizational objectives. They want to be treated with respect and dignity by their employers and managers. The study will measure employees’ perception of dignity and respect in their workplaces (Winchenbach, Hanna, & Miller, 2019). The research will use a survey to be completed by employees in a target organization with questions relating to the feelings of dignity and respect from their employers or managers. The tool that will be used in the study will be designed by the researcher using an ordinal level of measurement to measure the perceptions of the organization’s value. The study expects that the perception of the value of a person increases motivation and, in turn, improves the performance of employers.
Motivation
Motivation is the process in organizational psychology that drives and guides employees to achieve organizational objectives. The concept’s conceptual definition is that which causes people to act or behave the way they do in the organization to support its goals. An employee has numerous needs, which an employer or manager can meet to increase motivation. The operational definition of motivation is through observable responses of a sample of participants. In the current study, a self-report survey will measure the level of motivation of employees in the target workplace. An analysis of self-reports of subjective experience and behavioral dimensions, such as the impact on performance, will help determine the employees’ level of motivation. The study will use a self-report survey with questions in an ordinal level of measurement format. The researcher will also use a Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) to establish the source of motivation responsible for target behavioral outcomes, such as positive performance (Fee, Schieber, Noble, & Valdovinos, 2016). The tools will provide critical data for the proposed research project to operationalize the variable.
The researcher expects that the perception of a person’s value will increase motivation, hence, performance outcomes. The proposed study will be conducted in an organizational setting to measure the two variables, the value of person and motivation. A sample of participants from the organization will complete the two surveys to determine their perception of a person (in terms of dignity and respect) in their workplace and their level of motivation. The researcher expects that organizations with the perception of the person’s value and a high level of motivation will have a high-performance outcome level. Therefore, managers or employers should treat their employees with dignity and respect to motivate them and improve performance, such as revenue and profitability.
References
Csuka, S. I., Martos, T., Kapornaky, M., Sallay, V., & Lewis, C. A. (2019). Attitudes Toward Technologies of the Near Future: The Role of Technology Readiness in a Hungarian Adult Sample. International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management, 16(06), 1950046.
Fee, A., Schieber, E., Noble, N., & Valdovinos, M. G. (2016). Agreement between questions about behavior function, the motivation assessment scale, functional assessment interview, and brief functional analysis of children’s challenging behaviors. Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 16(2), 94.
Gummer, E., & Mandinach, E. (2015). Building a Conceptual Framework for Data Literacy. Teachers College Record, 117(4), n4.
Iqbal, N., Anwar, S., & Haider, N. (2015). Effect of leadership style on employee performance. Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 5(5), 1-6.
Kirmizi, Ö. (2015). The interplay among academic self-concept, self-efficacy, self-regulation and academic achievement of higher education L2 learners. Journal of Higher Education and Science, 5(1), 032-040.
Lee, B. H., & Jamil, M. (2016). An empirical study of organizational commitment: A multi-level approach. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 4(3), 1074.
Liu, M., Wu, L., & Ming, Q. (2015). How does physical activity intervention improve self-esteem and self-concept in children and adolescents? Evidence from a meta-analysis. PloS One, 10(8), e0134804.
Omar, H. F. H., Saadan, K. B., & Seman, K. B. (2015). Determining the influence of the reliability of service quality on customer satisfaction: The case of Libyan E-commerce customers. International Journal of Learning and Development, 5(1), 86-89.
Renko, M., El Tarabishy, A., Carsrud, A. L., & Brännback, M. (2015). Understanding and measuring entrepreneurial leadership style. Journal of Small Business Management, 53(1), 54-74.
Winchenbach, A., Hanna, P., & Miller, G. (2019). Rethinking decent work: the value of dignity in tourism employment. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 27(7), 1026-1043.
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