How do I know whether the
variable has an effect?
•
Measure participants' responses in each condition
We could measure participants'
desire for revenge in the hypothetical situation by asking
them to respond to a question, such as, "To what
extent would you like something bad to happen to this
person to make things even?" Participants could
rate their response on a 1 (not at all) to 10 (very
much) rating scale; this rating would be the operational
definition of the variable, desire for revenge.
Click on either the apology-present
condition or the no-apology condition to see the hypothetical
situation, question, and rating scale.
Apology-Present
Condition
No-Apology
Condition