The Utility of Intervening Constructs in Experiments

Richard A. Zeller and Richard B. Warnecke
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Richard A. Zeller: Department of Sociology State University of New York at Buffalo
Richard B. Warnecke: Department of Sociology State University of New York at Buffalo

Sociological Methods & Research, 1973, vol. 2, issue 1, 85-110

Abstract: The interpretation of experimental manipulations and the precise relation. ship of that interpretation to the observed effects are two major problems facing experimental procedures designed to test social theory. The results of the present study indicate that careful measurement of intervening attitudinal constructs is useful in dealing with these problems. Not only is the predictive power of the experimental model increased, but theoretical assumptions which usually remain untested in experimental research are clarified and explicitly tested. In particular, attention to dimensionality, validity, and reliability of intervening attitudinal constructs avoided serious misinterpretation of the intervening process in the experimental situation and the associated inference to the applicability of the theory.

Date: 1973
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:somere:v:2:y:1973:i:1:p:85-110

DOI: 10.1177/004912417300200105

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