The Elaboration Model

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Chapter 15

• The Elaboration Model

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Chapter Outline

• Introduction
• The Origins of the Elaboration Model
• The Elaboration Paradigm
• Elaboration and Ex Post Facto Hypothesizing

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Elaboration model

• A logical model for understanding the
  relationship between two methods by controlling
  for the effects of a third.

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The Origins of the Elaboration Model

• Paul Lazarsfeld and Patricia Kendall used the
  logic of the elaboration model to present
  hypothetical tables regarding Samuel Stouffers
  work regarding education and acceptance in the
  army.

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The Elaboration Paradigm

• A relationship is observed to exist between two
  variables.
• A third variable is held constant in the sense
  that the cases are subdivided according to the
  attributes of that third variable.

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The Elaboration Paradigm

• The original two-variable relationship is
  recomputed within each of the subgroups.
• The comparison of the original relationship with
  the relationships found within each subgroup
  provides a fuller understanding of the original
  relationship itself.

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Test variable

• A variable that is held constant in an attempt to
  clarify further the relationship between two
  other variables.

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Intervening Test Variable
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Antecedent Test Variable
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Question

• Which of the following is a variable that is held
  constant in an attempt to clarify the
  relationship between two other variables?
• a coding scheme
• a causal relationship
• a test variable
• none of these choices

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Answer C

• A test variable is a variable that is held
  constant in an attempt to clarify the
  relationship between two other variables.

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Partial Relationship

• In the elaboration model, this the relationship
  between two variables when examined in a subset
  of cases defined by a third variable.

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Zero-order Relationship

• In the elaboration model, this is the original
  relationship between two variables, with no test
  variables controlled for.

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Replication

• A technical term used in connection with the
  elaboration model, referring to the elaboration
  outcome in which the initially observed
  relationship between two variables persists when
  a control variable is held constant, thereby
  supporting the idea that the original
  relationship is genuine.

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Explanation

• An elaboration model outcome in which the
  original relationship between two variables is
  revealed to have been spurious, because the
  relationship disappears when an intervening test
  variable is introduced.

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Interpretation

• A technical term used in connection with the
  elaboration model. It represents the research
  outcome in which a control variable is discovered
  to be the mediating factor through which an
  independent variable has its effect on a
  dependent variable.

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Specification

• A technical term used in connection with the
  elaboration model, representing the elaboration
  outcome in which an initially observed
  relationship between two variables is replicated
  among some subgroups created by the control
  variable but not among others.

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Question

• _________________ is a technical term used in
  connection with the elaboration model, referring
  to the elaboration outcome in which the initially
  observed relationship between two variables
  persists when a control variable is held
  constant.
• explanation
• replication
• multiplication
• none of these choices

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Answer B

• Replication is a technical term used in
  connection with the elaboration model, referring
  to the elaboration outcome in which the initially
  observed relationship between two variables
  persists when a control variable is held constant.

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Question

• ____________represents the elaboration outcome
  in which an initially observed relationship is
  replicated among some subgroups created by the
  control variable but not among others.
• multivariation
• interpretation
• specification
• explanation

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Answer C

• Specification represents the elaboration outcome
  in which an initially observed relationship is
  replicated among some subgroups created by the
  control variable but not among others.

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The Facts of Life about Storks and Babies
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Suppressor Variable

• In the elaboration model, a test variable that
  prevents a genuine relationship from appearing at
  the zero-order level.

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Distorter Variable

• In the elaboration model, a test variable that
  reverses the direction of a zero-order
  relationship.

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Ex post facto Hypothesis

• A hypothesis created after confirming data have
  already been collected. It is a meaningless
  construct because there is no way for it to be
  disconfirmed.

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Quick Quiz
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• 1. Researchers use the elaboration model to
  understand the relationship between _________
  variables through the simultaneous introduction
  of additional variables.
• 4
• 3
• 2
• all of these choices

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Answer C

• Researchers use the elaboration model to
  understand the relationship between 2 variables
  through the simultaneous introduction of
  additional variables.

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• 2. _______________ variables are prior in time.
• antecedent
• intervening
• inductive
• deductive

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Answer A

• Antecedent variables are prior in time.

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• 3. The logic of multivariate relationships is
  that the __________ variable affects the
  ___________ variable, which in turn affects the
  ____________ variable.
• independent intervening dependent
• intervening independent dependent
• dependent intervening independent
• all of these choices

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Answer A

• The logic of multivariate relationships is that
  the independent variable affects the intervening
  variable, which in turn affects the dependent
  variable.

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• 4. In __________, the original relationship
  between two variables is revealed to have been
  spurious.
• explanation
• replication
• multiplication
• none of these choices

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Answer A

• 4. In explanation, the original relationship
  between two variables is revealed to have been
  spurious.

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• 5. A ____________ variable is a test variable
  that reverses the direction of a zero-order
  relationship.
• suppressor
• distorter
• ex post facto
• none of these choices

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Answer B

• A distorter variable is a test variable that
  reverses the direction of a zero-order
  relationship.

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• 6. ___________ is a form of fallacious
  reasoning.
• ex post facto hypothesizing
• distorted reasoning
• disconfirmation
• all of these choices

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Answer A

• Ex post facto hypothesizing is a form of
  fallacious reasoning.