Behavioral Aspects of Occupational and Environmental Health PH 1498

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Behavioral Aspects of Occupational and
Environmental Health PH 1498

• Introduction to Theory

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Why are Theories and Models Important?
A theories importance lies in the way it
illuminates our everyday world Theories help us
clarify our intent making explicit our implicit
assumption Theories allows others to replicate
work in different places among different peoples
at different times Theories identify the
mechanisms and pathways and therefore allows us
to speak to public health action
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Theory vs. Praxis
Aristotle distinguished between theory and
praxis. Theory is the bastion of the sciences
concerned with knowing for its own sake, while
praxis corresponds to the ways people act or
speak. Empirical investigation that is
RESEARCH is the ground between theory and
praxis. There is a continuum between theory
research and praxis.
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Theory Quiz

• Theories are speculation about things youre not
  sure of.
• Theories are statements about facts you are sure
  of.  
• Theories in social science are no more or less
  than the writings of the disciplines early
  founders such as Marx, Comte, Skinner, Mead,
  Durkheim, Pavlov to name but a few in sociology
  and psychology.  
• Theories are mathematical statements.
• The word theory is synonymous with the term
  scientific laws.  
• The word theory is synonymous with the word
  classification.  
• Theories are the verbal form of correlations and
  other statistics.  
• The word theory means the same thing as the
  word prediction.  
• Theories are mostly concerned with answering the
  questions of when and where something has
  happened and/or will happen.  
• Theories are sets of definitions.  
• At least a few theories have been proven to be
  true, even if none of these social science
  theories.  
• Theories and assumptions are the same things.  
• I am not sure what a theory is.  

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Theory Quiz
If you answered the first 12 questions false then
you may be correct in answering the last question
false. Theories consist of a series of related
abstract and general statements that collectively
purport to explain (answer the question why)
some aspect of the empirical world (the reality
known to us directly or indirectly through our
senses). A theory is a set of interrelated
concepts, definitions, and propositions that
present a systematic view of events or situations
by specifying relations among variables in order
to explain and predict the events or situations.
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What is a Theory?

• We constantly ask why people do what they do and
  offer explanations. Or we ask why certain people
  or groups of people have lower or higher rates of
  disease or health.
• Theorizing is a logical extension of the exercise
  we all go through except it tends to be
• More systematic
• More comprehensive
• More guided that is, constrained by rules
• More self-conscious

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Theories and Facts are not Opposites.

• Statements 1, 2, and 12 address the same
  misunderstanding conveyed by the often heard
  remark, thats not fact, its only theory
• The words fact and theory are not opposites!
• Through empirical research an attempt is made to
  establish the facts of a situation. Theorizing
  occurs when an attempt is made to explain the
  facts as they are. Facts and theories are
  completely different phenomenon and cannot be
  opposites.
• It is a fact that people who are injured return
  to work at different times. We attempt to
  explain the fact with reference to a number of
  psychological, medical, economic, political, and
  cultural reasons chosen on the basis of the facts
  we know about them that is, the past research.

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Theories Cannot be Proven True.

• Explanations are chosen by the human mind to
  account for the facts we observe and can thus
  never be proven true.
• We can demonstrate that people return to work
  because of the economic disadvantage of not
  returning, but we offer the explanation for the
  observed time until return to work.
• It can never be proven true rather, we amass a
  body of evidence that adds weight to our
  explanation of the facts. However, there is
  always the possibility that the next study we do
  will not provide the same results.
• Thus, while the facts may show a theory to be
  false, it can never be said conclusively that a
  theory is true. For this reason, statement 11 is
  false.

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Theories are not Definitions.

• Theories contain definitions and classifications,
  but these are components of, not themselves,
  explanations.
• Statements 6 and 10 are incorrect by definition.

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Theories are not Predictions.

• Theories attempt to answer the question why, not
  where or when, therefore statement 9 is
  incorrect. Explanation of why something occurs
  or exists may or may not enable one to predict
  when or where it will happen again.
• Predictions are often fraught with error,
  especially in discussing human behavior, and thus
  we need to take care in not equating theory with
  prediction ergo statement 8 is false. However,
  one important consequence of a well-developed and
  tested theory is the ability to make predictions.

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Theories are not only Mathematical Statements.

• Many theories are stated as mathematical
  expressions- especially in physics, but
  mathematics is a highly precise system of general
  symbols, namely a language. Theories may be
  stated in any language and thus statement 4 is
  false.
• However, the more precise the language the better
  suited it is for purposes of theory construction
  and testing.

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Theories are not Scientific Laws.

• Theories consist of statements called
  propositions that if widely agreed upon and
  heavily supported by research findings, are
  sometimes called scientific laws.
• However, theories also consist of definitions and
  assumptions, as well as a series of several
  propositions, only some or none of which may be
  sufficiently well supported to be termed laws.
  Therefore, statement 5 is incorrect.

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Theories are not Explanations of why two
Phenomena are Correlated.

• Testing theories of human and social behavior
  often involves the use of correlations and other
  statistical procedures.
• These techniques aid in the discovery of facts
• What does a correlation tell us?
• What does a partial correlation tell us?
• What does a risk ratio tell us?
• These are not explanations of why two phenomema
  are related or why rates are higher in one group
  compared to another. Thus statement 7 is false.

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Levels of Abstraction

• The variety in the empirical world is often
  described in numerous ways. Take for example the
  notion of a behavior. This is a general term.
  We talk about group behavior, individual
  behavior, animal behavior. Each is different.
  We can even get more specific and talk about
  grooming behavior or sexual behavior. Each of
  these is an abstraction to convey to another
  individual a concept.
• Some concepts are very specific like wrist
  flexion or wrist extension others are more
  general like repetitive movements in the hand
  or even more general like keying behavior to an
  even more general category such as VDT worker.
  In any science the terms employed are part of a
  continuum.

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Continuum of Abstractness

• The scientific process involves the ability to
  move back and forth along the continuum of
  abstractness. When engaged in fact gathering
  there is a need for concreteness, while when
  interpreting the results of a research project
  one moves to a higher level of abstraction. In
  theorizing one works at an even higher level of
  abstraction.
• Problem of being so abstract it can never be
  related to the practical world. (Merton
  theories of the middle less general theories to
  explain smaller components of social reality)

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Concepts

• Concepts thus are major components of a theory
  the building blocks. Concepts can vary in the
  degree to which they can be understood outside
  the context of a single theory. For example work
  stress is a general concept. When a construct is
  specific to a particular theory then it is termed
  a construct. Thus job strain has a specific
  meaning in Robert Karaseks demandxcontrol
  theory.
• Variables are the empirical counterparts or
  operational forms of constructs.
• Note matching variables to constructs when
  testing theories.

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Abstract vs Concrete Concepts

• Temperature
• Temperature on the sun
• Specific to a location
• Three days
• June 30 July 2, 2001
• Specific to a time period
• Attitude
• What Harry thinks about an individual
• Related to a particular individual

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Concepts and Their Operationalization

• An abstract concept is not related to any unique
  spatial or temporal setting
• Concrete events are specific instances of the
  abstract concept
• Operational definition is a set of instructions
  independent of time and space that describe what
  operations allow one to determine if a concept
  exists in a particular situation

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Where do Theories come From?

• All theories result from the interrelated use of
  two processes inductive logic and deductive
  logic. (Concrete to general or abstract.)
• Evidence for the development of the demands
  control model
• Demands
• Psychobiological evidence
• Hypothesized relationship
• Testing
• Review
• General vs. non-specific
• Implied interaction
• Challenges in the context of changing work
  environments
• Gender and double jeopardy
• Importance of psychological states as moderators

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What use is a Theory?

• Theory as intellectual curiosity feature of
  human culture with no immediate practical
  relevance
• Theories help us understand why things occur as
  they do
• Theories can be used practically through the
  related creation of simulations and games
• Theory is a guide to research
• A collection of facts without some organizing
  framework is not only never-ending but
  meaningless and often dangerous in occupational
  health.
• Drop of CTDs as recorded by the BLS.
• Theory helps us sift through the myriad of facts
  to what facts to seek
• Using deductive logic, theory serves as a guide
  to defining the realm of facts to be collected
• Inductive logic will help the researcher
  interpret the meaning of facts and the
  relationships among facts

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Theories and Models

• Common sense notwithstanding, facts never speak
  for themselves they are always recognized as
  worthy of notice and understood within some
  interpretive framework.
• Unfortunately in most instances what we are
  trying to understand is too complex to be
  explained by a single unified theory. Therefore
  we develop models that help people understand a
  particular problem in a particular setting or
  context.
• Example of theory in evolution.

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Models vs. Frameworks

• Models draw on a number of theories to help
  people understand a specific problem in a
  specific setting. They tend to have specific
  predictions associated with them and often
  specific feedback mechanisms
• Frameworks are generally more heuristic and help
  us to identify the important dimensions of the
  problem we are considering.