An operational definition specifies concrete, replicable procedures that reliably produce a differentiated, measurable outcome.^[1][2][3] For example, an operational definition of fear often includes measurable physiologic responses such as tachycardia, galvanic skin response, pupil dilation, and blood pressure elevation, that occur in response to a perceived threat.^[4]

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Overview[edit]

The publication of the Review of Particle Physics is supported by US DOE, CERN, MEXT (Japan), INFN (Italy), and the Physical Society of Japan (JPS). Individual collaborators receive support for their PDG activities from their respective funding agencies.

Properties described in this manner must be sufficiently accessible so that people other than the definer may independently measure or test for them at will.^{[citation needed]} An operational definition is generally designed to model a theoretical definition.The most operational definition is a process for identification of an object by distinguishing it from its background of empirical experience.

SANS Limites, Les Almadies, Dakar, Senegal. 1,553,662 likes 65,406 talking about this 10,772 were here. Www.sanslimitesn.com S'informer Pour Informer. Visionlearning is a free resource for the study of science, technology and math (STEM).

The binary version produces either the result that the object exists, or that it doesn't, in the experiential field to which it is applied. The classifier version results in discrimination between what is part of the object and what is not part of it. This is also discussed in terms of semantics, pattern recognition, and operational techniques, such as regression.

• MATLAB courseware consists of downloadable sets of curriculum materials for educators based on MATLAB and Simulink. These materials help you develop and enhance curriculum, facilitate lectures and classroom examples, and inspire student learning.
• It is widely accepted that Mars had abundant water very early in its history, but all large areas of liquid water have since disappeared. A fraction of this water is retained on modern Mars as both ice and locked into the structure of abundant water-rich materials, including clay minerals (phyllosilicates) and sulfates.
• May 05, 2015 Pre-service middle and secondary school teachers from the University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, in 2000. At each Beginner's Guide index, there is a link to an index of the teacher-generated activities related to the topic.

Operationalize means to put into operation or use. Operational definitions are also used to define system states in terms of a specific, publicly accessible process of preparation or validation ^[5]testing, which is repeatable at will. For example, 100 degrees Celsius may be crudely defined by describing the process of heating water at sea level until it is observed to boil. An item like a brick, or even a photograph of a brick, may be defined in terms of how it can be made. Likewise, iron may be defined in terms of the results of testing or measuring it in particular ways.

Vandervert (1980/1988) described in scientific detail a simple, everyday illustration of an operational definition in terms of making a cake (i.e., its recipe is an operational definition used in a specialized laboratory known as the household kitchen).^[6] Similarly, the saying, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be some kind of duck, may be regarded as involving a sort of measurement process or set of tests (see duck test).

Application[edit]

Despite the controversial philosophical origins of the concept, particularly its close association with logical positivism, operational definitions have undisputed practical applications. This is especially so in the social and medical sciences, where operational definitions of key terms are used to preserve the unambiguous empirical testability of hypothesis and theory. Operational definitions are also important in the physical sciences.

Philosophy[edit]

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on scientific realism, written by Richard Boyd, indicates that the modern concept owes its origin in part to Percy Williams Bridgman, who felt that the expression of scientific concepts was often abstract and unclear. Inspired by Ernst Mach, in 1914 Bridgman attempted to redefine unobservable entities concretely in terms of the physical and mental operations used to measure them.^[7] Accordingly, the definition of each unobservable entity was uniquely identified with the instrumentation used to define it. From the beginning objections were raised to this approach, in large part around the inflexibility. As Boyd notes, 'In actual, and apparently reliable, scientific practice, changes in the instrumentation associated with theoretical terms are routine, and apparently crucial to the progress of science. According to a 'pure' operationalist conception, these sorts of modifications would not be methodologically acceptable, since each definition must be considered to identify a unique 'object' (or class of objects).'^[7] However, this rejection of operationalism as a general project destined ultimately to define all experiential phenomena uniquely did not mean that operational definitions ceased to have any practical use or that they could not be applied in particular cases.^{[citation needed]}

Science[edit]

The special theory of relativity can be viewed as the introduction of operational definitions for simultaneity of events and of distance, that is, as providing the operations needed to define these terms.^[8]

In quantum mechanics the notion of operational definitions is closely related to the idea of observables, that is, definitions based upon what can be measured.^[9][10]

Operational definitions are often most challenging in the fields of psychology and psychiatry, where intuitive concepts, such as intelligence need to be operationally defined before they become amenable to scientific investigation, for example, through processes such as IQ tests.

Business[edit]

On October 15, 1970, the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne, Australia collapsed, killing 35 construction workers. The subsequent enquiry found that the failure arose because engineers had specified the supply of a quantity of flat steel plate. The word flat in this context lacked an operational definition, so there was no test for accepting or rejecting a particular shipment or for controlling quality.

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In his managerial and statistical writings, W. Edwards Deming placed great importance on the value of using operational definitions in all agreements in business. As he said:

'An operational definition is a procedure agreed upon for translation of a concept into measurement of some kind.' – W. Edwards Deming

'There is no true value of any characteristic, state, or condition that is defined in terms of measurement or observation. Change of procedure for measurement (change of operational definition) or observation produces a new number.' – W. Edwards Deming

General process[edit]

Operational, in a process context, also can denote a working method or a philosophy that focuses principally on cause and effect relationships (or stimulus/response, behavior, etc.) of specific interest to a particular domain at a particular point in time. As a working method, it does not consider issues related to a domain that are more general, such as the ontological, etc.

In computing[edit]

Science uses computing. Computing uses science. We have seen the development of Computer Science. There are not many who can bridge all three of these. One effect is that, when results are obtained using a computer, the results can be impossible to replicate if the code is poorly documented, contains errors, or if parts are omitted entirely. ^[11]

Many times, issues are related to persistence and clarity of use of variables, functions, and so forth. Also, systems dependence is an issue. In brief, length (as a standard) has matter as its definitional basis. What pray tell can be used when standards are to be computationally framed?

Hence, operational definition can be used within the realm of the interactions of humans with advanced computational systems. In this sense, one area of discourse deals with computational thinking in, and with how it might influence, the sciences.^[12] To quote the American Scientist:

• The computer revolution has profoundly affected how we think about science, experimentation, and research.

One referenced project pulled together fluid experts, including some who were expert in the numeric modeling related to computational fluid dynamics, in a team with computer scientists. Essentially, it turned out that the computer guys did not know enough to weigh in as much as they would have liked. Thus, their role, to their chagrin, many times was 'mere' programmer.

Some knowledge-based engineering projects experienced similarly that there is a trade-off between trying to teach programming to a domain expert versus getting a programmer to understand the intricacies of a domain. That, of course, depends upon the domain. In short, any team member has to decide which side of the coin to spend one's time.

The International Society for Technology in Education has a brochure detailing an 'operational definition' of computational thinking. At the same time, the ISTE made an attempt at defining related skills.^[13]

A recognized skill is tolerance for ambiguity and being able to handle open-ended problems. For instance, a knowledge-based engineering system can enhance its operational aspect and thereby its stability through more involvement by the subject-matter expert, thereby opening up issues of limits that are related to being human. As in, many times, computational results have to be taken at face value due to several factors (hence the duck test's necessity arises) that even an expert cannot overcome. The end proof may be the final results (reasonable facsimile by simulation or artifact, working design, etc.) that are not guaranteed to be repeatable, may have been costly to attain (time and money), and so forth.

In advanced modeling, with the requisite computational support such as knowledge-based engineering, mappings must be maintained between a real-world object, its abstracted counterparts as defined by the domain and its experts, and the computer models. Mismatches between domain models and their computational mirrors can raise issues apropos this topic. Techniques that allow the flexible modeling required for many hard problems must resolve issues of identity, type, etc. which then lead to methods, such as duck typing. Many domains, with a numerics focus, use limit theory, of various sorts, to overcome the duck test necessity with varying degrees of success. Yet, with that, issues still remain as representational frameworks bear heavily on what we can know.

In arguing for an object-based methodology, Peter Wegner^[14] suggested that 'positivist scientific philosophies, such as operationalism in physics and behaviorism in psychology' were powerfully applied in the early part of the 20th century. However, computation has changed the landscape. He notes that we need to distinguish four levels of 'irreversible physical and computational abstraction' (Platonic abstraction, computational approximation, functional abstraction, and value computation). Then, we must rely on interactive methods, that have behavior as their focus (see duck test).

Examples[edit]

Temperature[edit]

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The thermodynamic definition of temperature, due to Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, refers to heat 'flowing' between 'infinite reservoirs'. This is all highly abstract and unsuited for the day-to-day world of science and trade. In order to make the idea concrete, temperature is defined in terms of operations with the gas thermometer. However, these are sophisticated and delicate instruments, only adapted to the national standardization laboratory.

For day-to-day use, the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS) is used, defining temperature in terms of characteristics of the several specific sensor types required to cover the full range. One such is the electrical resistance of a thermistor, with specified construction, calibrated against operationally defined fixed points.

Electric current[edit]

Electric current is defined in terms of the force between two infiniteparallel conductors, separated by a specified distance. This definition is too abstract for practical measurement, so a device known as a current balance is used to define the ampere operationally.

Mechanical hardness[edit]

Unlike temperature and electric current, there is no abstract physical concept of the hardness of a material. It is a slightly vague, subjective idea, somewhat like the idea of intelligence. In fact, it leads to three more specific ideas:

1. Scratch hardness measured on Mohs' scale;
2. Indentation hardness; and
3. Rebound, or dynamic, hardness measured with a Shore scleroscope.

Of these, indentation hardness itself leads to many operational definitions, the most important of which are:

1. Brinell hardness test – using a 10 mm steel ball;
2. Vickers hardness test – using a pyramidal diamond indenter; and
3. Rockwell hardness test – using a diamond cone indenter.

In all these, a process is defined for loading the indenter, measuring the resulting indentation, and calculating a hardness number. Each of these three sequences of measurement operations produces numbers that are consistent with our subjective idea of hardness. The harder the material to our informal perception, the greater the number it will achieve on our respective hardness scales. Furthermore, experimental results obtained using these measurement methods has shown that the hardness number can be used to predict the stress required to permanently deform steel, a characteristic that fits in well with our idea of resistance to permanent deformation. However, there is not always a simple relationship between the various hardness scales. Vickers and Rockwell hardness numbers exhibit qualitatively different behaviour when used to describe some materials and phenomena.

The constellation Virgo[edit]

The constellation Virgo is a specific constellation of stars in the sky, hence the process of forming Virgo cannot be an operational definition, since it is historical and not repeatable. Nevertheless, the process whereby we locate Virgo in the sky is repeatable, so in this way, Virgo is operationally defined. In fact, Virgo can have any number of definitions (although we can never prove that we are talking about the same Virgo), and any number may be operational.

Academic discipline[edit]

New academic disciplines appear in response to interdisciplinary activity at universities. An academic suggested that a subject matter area becomes a discipline when there are more than a dozen university departments using the same name for roughly the same subject matter.^[15]

Theoretical vs operational definition[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Stevens, S. S. (1935). The operational basis of psychology. American Journal of Psychology, 47 (2): 323–324, 330. doi:10.2307/1415841. 'We must first define an operation; and, if we are to be consistent, we must define it operationally. An operation is the performance which we execute in order to make known a concept. ... [Discrimination] is the sine qua non of any and every operation including that of denoting. In this sense discrimination is the fundamental operation of all science. ... We must define the criteria by which we determine the applicability of a term in a given instance and then ... maintain constant vigil against the human tendency to read into a concept more than is contained in the operations by which it is determined.' (emphasis in original).
2. ^Stevens, S. S. (1935). The operational definition of psychological concepts. Psychological Review42 (6): 517–518. doi:10.1037/h0056973. 'Science is knowledge agreed upon by members of society. Only those constructs based upon operations which are public and repeatable are admitted to the body of science. ... A term or proposition has meaning (denotes something) if, and only if, the criteria of its applicability or truth consist of concrete operations which can be performed.'
3. ^Ribes-Iñesta, Emilio (2003). What is defined in operational definitions? The case of operant psychology. Behavior and Philosophy, 31: 115. 'Operational definitions consist of the specification of procedures and expected outcomes (procedures used for producing and measuring a phenomenon) as the necessary criteria for establishing that the terms defined are empirically meaningful.'
4. ^Lang, P. J.; Davis, M.; Ohman, A. (2000). 'Fear and anxiety: animal models and human cognitive psychophysiology'. Journal of Affective Disorders. 61 (3): 139. doi:10.1016/s0165-0327(00)00343-8. ISSN0165-0327. PMID11163418. Electrical stimulation of the amygdala elicits many of the behaviors used to define a state of fear, with selected target areas of the amygdala producing specific effects (Fig. 1).
5. ^'the definition of validation'. www.dictionary.com. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
6. ^Vandervert, L. (1988). Operational definitions made simple, useful, and lasting. In M. Ware & C. Brewer (Eds.), Handbook for teaching statistics and research methods (pp. 132–134). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (Original work published 1980)
7. ^ ^abBoyd, Richard. 'Scientific Realism'. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
8. ^NMJ Woodhouse (2003). Special relativity. London: Springer. p. 58. ISBN1-85233-426-6.
9. ^C. J. Isham (1995). Lectures on Quantum Theory. Imperial College Press. p. 95. ISBN1-86094-001-3.
10. ^Jiří Blank; Pavel Exner; Miloslav Havlíček (1994). Hilbert Space Operators in Quantum Physics. Springer. p. 252. ISBN1-56396-142-3.
11. ^Collberg, C., Roebsting, T. (2016) 'Repeability in Computer Systems Research' Communications of the ACM, Vol. 59, No. 3, pages 62–69 (via acm.org)
12. ^'Computational Thinking in Science' American Scientist, Jan/Feb 2017 (via My American Scientist)
13. ^'Operational Definition of Computational Thinking' (for K–12 Education) 2011 (via website)
14. ^Wegner, P. () 'Beyond Computable Functions' Specification of Parallel Algorithms Page 37 American Mathematical Society (via Google)
15. ^Rustum Roy (1977) 'Interdisciplinary science on campus – the elusive dream', Chemical and Engineering News 55(35): 28–40

Further reading[edit]

• Ballantyne, Paul F. History and Theory of Psychology Course, in Langfeld, H.S. (1945). Introduction to the Symposium on Operationism. Psyc. Rev. 32, 241–243.[1]
• Bohm, D. (1996). On Dialog. N.Y.: Routledge.
• Boyd, Richard. (1959).On the Current Status of the Issue of Scientific Realism in Erkenntnis. 19, 45–90.
• Bridgman, P. W. The way things are. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Carnap, Rudolph. (1959). The Elimination of Metaphysics Through Logical Analysis of Language in Ayer, A.J.
• Churchland, Patricia. (1986). Neurophilosophy— Toward a unified science of the mind/brain, MIT Press.
• Churchland, Paul. (1989). A Neurocomputational Perspective— The Nature of Mind and the Structure of Science, MIT Press.
• Dennett, Daniel C. (1992).Consciousness Explained, Little, Brown & Co..
• Depraz, N. (1999). 'The phenomenological reduction as praxis.' Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6(2-3), 95–110.
• Green, C. D. (1992). 'Of Immortal Mythological Beasts: Operationism in Psychology.' Theory & Psychology, 2, 291–320 [2]
• Hardcastle, G. L. (1995). 'S.S. Stevens and the origins of operationism.' Philosophy of Science, 62, 404–424.
• Hermans, H. J. M. (1996). 'Voicing the self: from information processing to dialogical interchange.' Psychological Bulletin, 119(1), 31–50.
• Hyman, Bronwen, U of Toronto, and Shephard, Alfred H., U of Manitoba. (1980). 'Zeitgeist: The Development of an Operational Definition', The Journal of Mind and Behavior, 1(2), 227-246.
• Leahy, Thomas H., Virginia Commonwealth U. (1980). The Myth of Operationism,ibid,, 127–144.
• Ribes-Inesta, Emilio 'What Is Defined In Operational Definitions? The Case Of Operant Psychology,' Behavior and Philosophy, 2003.[3]
• Roepstorff, A. & Jack, A. (2003). 'Editorial introduction, Special Issue: Trusting the Subject? (Part 1).' Journal of Consciousness Studies, 10(9–10), v–xx.
• Roepstorff, A. & Jack, A. (2004). 'Trust or Interaction? Editorial introduction, Special Issue: Trusting the Subject? (Part 2).' Journal of Consciousness Studies, 11(7–8), v–xxii.
• Stevens, S. S. (1963).Operationism and logical positivism, in M. H. Marx (Ed.), Theories in contemporary psychology (pp. 47–76). New York: MacMillan.
• Thomson — Waddsworth, eds., Learning Psychology: Operational Definitions Research Methods Workshops[4]

In the 21st century, airplanes are a normal part of everyday life. We see them fly over, or read about them, or see them on television. Most of us have traveled on an airplane, or we know someone who has. Do you ever wonder how airplanes fly? What causes the lift that gets the airplane off the runway? How does a pilot control the movement of the airplane? How did the Wright Brothers invent the airplane? Why are the engines on an airliner different from the engines on a fighter plane? How does aerodynamics affect the flight of a baseball, soccer ball, model rocket or kite? The information at this site is provided by the NASA Glenn Educational Programs Office (EPO) to give you a better understanding of how aircraft and aerodynamics work.

The web site is divided into Beginner's Guides about a single topic. There is an index for each guide that lists pages within the guide. Each page describes a single subject related to the topic and every page has the same format. At the top of the page is a slide or graphic that illustrates the subject. Below the slide is a detailed description of the physics and math related to the subject of the slide. There are many hyperlinks and references to other pages at the site where you can find additional information. At the bottom of each page are some navigation links with colored buttons to take you back to the appropriate index. On many pages we have interactive simulator computer programs, calculators, computer animations, and movies that demonstrate the physics and math of the topic. You can download your own copy of any of these programs or animations by following the directions on the web page that contains the program.

The Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics has been on the web for over a dozen years. During that time, NASA projects have come and gone and the intended audience has variously changed from high school students to college students and back to middle school students. So there is a wide breadth of information here at the site. The mathematics alone spans the range from calculating the area of a rectangular wing to using calculus to derive the ideal rocket equation. We are currently grouping and tagging the web pages by grade level so that teachers can more easily find grade-appropriate activities. This may result in multiple versions of the same page.

Much of the material in the Beginnner's Guides to Aerodynamics and Propulsion was originially developed for NASA's Learning Technologies Project (LTP). The Beginner's Guide to Model Rocketry was developed for the Exploration Systems Misssion Directorate (ESMD). Re-Living Wright Way was developed as part of NASA's Centennial of Flight Celebration. The Kid's Page was developed under the Ultra Efficient Engine Technology (UEET) Project at NASA Glenn. The Beginner's Guides to Hypersonic and Wind Tunnels were built for the Fundamental Aero program (FAP) of the Aeronautics Reasearch Mission Directorate (ARMD). Aerodynamics of Soccer was built for NASA HQ during the 2010 Summer of Innovation Project.

For many of the web pages, activities are available for teachers to use in class. These activities were developed by teachers during summer workshops including:

1. Elementary and middle school teachers at two workshops sponsored by LTP in 1996 and 1997.
2. Middle and secondary school teachers at four workshops cosponsored by the LTP and the Ohio Space Grant Consortium in 1998 and 1999.
3. Pre-service middle and secondary school teachers from the University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, in 2000.

At each Beginner's Guide index, there is a link to an index of the teacher-generated activities related to the topic. You can also access the activities by clicking on buttons at the bottom of a web page. As an aid to teachers, we have organized the activities by grade level (K-6, 4-6, 6-8, 9-12, 11-12) using color-coded buttons.

The web site was prepared to provide background information on basic aerodynamics and propulsion for math and science teachers, students, and life-long learners. We have intentionally organized the Beginner's Guides to mirror the unstructured nature of the world wide web. There are many pages here connected to one another through hyperlinks. You can then navigate through the links based on your own interest and inquiry. However, if you prefer a more structured approach, you can also take one of our Guided Tours through the site. Each tour provides a sequence of pages dealing with some aspect of aerodynamics or propulsion. We have also produced many Power Point Presentations on the various topics using the slides from the Beginner's Guides. You are encouraged to download and modify these presentations for your own use. You can download a copy of any slide on any page by using a right click and 'Save As..'. All of this information was developed in the public domain.

We would like to know if you are using the Beginner's Guides or any of the interactive computer programs. We continue to upgrade, improve, and extend the programs based on user comments. Please send your comments to Tom Benson using the link at the bottom of any page.

NOTICE --- The site has been developed to support Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Many of the pages contain mathematical equations which have been produced graphically and which are too long or complex to provide in an 'ALT' tag. For these pages, we have retained the non-compliant graphic at the top of the page and have provided a compliant text version of the equations in the body of the page. In many cases, because of the use of Greek fonts in the graphics, the purely English text version of the equations is slightly different than the graphic version. The differences are noted in the text.

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