- Nomological network
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Nomological network ("lawful network", the term "nomology" being derived from the Greek, meaning "lawful") is a representation of the concepts (constructs) of interest in a study, their observable manifestations, and the interrelationships among and between these. It was Cronbach and Meehl's view of construct validity that in order to provide evidence that a measure has construct validity, a nomological network has to be developed for its measure.
The elements of a nomological network are:
- Must have at least two constructs;
- Theoretical propositions, specifying linkages between constructs: "As age increases, memory loss increases".
- Correspondence rules, allowing a construct to be measured. Operationalization: "Age is measured by asking "how old are you?"
- Empirical constructs or variables that can actually be measured. These are operationalized theoretical constructs.
- Empirical linkages: Hypotheses before data collection. Empirical generalization after data collection.
References
Cronbach, L. J. & Meehl, P. E. (1955). Construct validity in psychological tests. Psychological Bulletin, 52, 281-302.
External links
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