Operational definitions and the defining features of a good operational definition needs to be objective. That means that they describe and identify the observable part of the behavior and the environment in which it occurs objectively. Referring to a person’s behavior as jealous, upset, or frustrated— that’s not objective. Not everyone will see those descriptions and know exactly what to look for. When descriptions are objective, that ensures the data will be reliable and there’s accuracy and believability of the intervention’s effectiveness supported by the objectivity. Think of objective as the part of the operational definition that limits the risk of somebody inferring or interpreting things about that behavior incorrectly; less room for interpretation equals more objectivity.

Second: operational definitions have to be clear. That means they have to be readable and unambiguous that can be explained by others just by reading the written operational definition, not needing for the observer to seek additional clarification. This falls under the idea of technological. Imagine a food recipe that gives you all the ingredients, but it doesn’t really specify how the ingredients all need to be combined, in what order, or how much. That’s going to lead you to be like, “Oh, excuse me, how much sugar do I need? What do I put in first? What do I put in second? What temperature should the oven be on?” If you have those kinds of questions about behavior, it’s probably not very clear.

Finally, the operational definitions have to be complete. That means that they’re actually identifying the specific margins of that behavior– the onset and the offset, what’s included, what’s not included; it’s literally all the likely circumstances of that behavior.

Operational definitions: objective, clear, and complete. You down with OCC?

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