A social research methods class wants to study smoking. First, the professor asks how many people in the class are smokers. Two people indicate that they are. She then asks how many people have smoked a cigarette in the past week and ten people indicate that they have. The class decides, for the purposes of the survey, that a smoker will be defined as anyone who has smoked a cigarette in the past week and currently owns a pack of cigarettes. This is a(n)

A) operational definition.
B) hypothesis.
C) spurious correlation.
D) ethical challenge.

Question

Jasmine Moore · Accepted Answer

Final Answer : A, Explanation :  The definition of a smoker used in the study is an operational definition, which defines a concept in a way that can be measured and tested. In this case, it operationalizes the concept of smoker by defining it as someone who has smoked within the past week and currently owns cigarettes. This definition is useful for ensuring consistency in data collection and analysis.

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