Building and testing theories 929

Building and Testing theories:Building and Testing theories:Experiences from Conducting Social Experiences from Conducting Social

Identity ResearchIdentity Research

By lixiaobo

Building and Testing Theories

authorsauthors

Ying-yi Hong et alYing-yi Hong et alEditor in chief Editor in chief

Advances in Culture Advances in Culture and psychologyand psychology

Professor of NTU Professor of NTU and UIUCand UIUC


Outline of the articleOutline of the articleWhat is a theoryPropose a four-step approach in building and

testing psychological theories (1)selecting phenomena;

(2)finding critical commonalities; (3)abstracting(theorizing);

(4) hypothesis testing Three examples: hierarchical identity, identity

hegemony, bridging identityTo suggest guidelines for conducting

programmatic research in social and personality psychology.


Topic in this presentationTopic in this presentation


There is nothing so practical as a good theory.

…Kurt Lewin


The value and importance of The value and importance of theorytheoryFundamental to research and scientific

discoveries.Guide researcher in

Formulating research questions and hypotheses

Selecting or creating methods and analytical strategies


Methods and Theory : a Methods and Theory : a metaphormetaphor


What is a theory?What is a theory?A comprehensive explanation

of an important feature of nature supported by facts gathered over time . Theories also allow scientists to make predictions about as yet unobserved phenomena.

----United States National Academy of

Sciences(2005)


A good theory should be A good theory should be Falsifiable, that it can refuted by empirical

testing (Popper,1959)

Coherent(logical and internally consistent)

EconomicalAble to explain a good range of known

findings Able to predict future observation(Higgins,2004)


Be generative of new ideas and new discoveries.

Scientists are not in the business of testing hypotheses . They are in business of making discoveries …..research that ends in a discovery.

(Higgins,2004)

A good theory should be A good theory should be


Building theories : a Building theories : a metaphormetaphorThe building of theories is a process.Higgins (2006):a theory ,like a child, must be allowed to develop

through contact with the world… To begin with, good parents do not assume what their child’s actual behaviors are like. They observe how their child’s actual behaviors in the world unfold in order to learn what their child is like.

Similarly, scientists should not be concerned with confirming their theory’s predictions. They should observe the data produced by theory-driven research to learn more deeply about the theoretical mechanisms and processes.


Four-step Approach to Test Four-step Approach to Test TheoriesTheories


4-step approach4-step approach“Socially grounded” approach of

theory testing.

Allow researcher to base their scientific investigation on real-life social events.

Guidelines for conducting programmatic research in social and personality psychology.

Caution• There are many possible

approaches to research.

• The four-step approach should be treated as a guideline for researchers, rather than as the only approach.


Step1:Selecting phenomenaStep1:Selecting phenomenaLewin :social theories have to be

grounded in social phenomena.

Observing events , incidents ,and phenomena that happen around us and around the world

We examine multiple phenomena that occur in different countries and across different times, link these together via some common underlying psychological mechanisms.


Example: political Example: political transitiontransition

Hong Kong 1997 handover

Unification of East and West Germany 1989

1994 the transition of the Afrikaan White government to a democratically elected government in South Africa


What be examinedWhat be examinedWhether people’s social identities gave

rise to subsequent change in their intergroup attitudes during political transition,

or whether their prior intergroup attitudes gave rise to changes in their social identities.


Step2: finding critical Step2: finding critical commonalitiescommonalities

Identifying common components across the different events

The goal is to analyze the particular psychological mechanisms underlying the phenomena and to identify their commonalities and/or their differences.


Example: political Example: political transitiontransitionAll of the three political transitions involved an

integration or a merger of two social groups.Research on these can answer

Does political transition evoke a sense of belongingness to the over-arching or merged group and thus heighten people’s identification with the common ingroup?

Alternatively , does political transition evoke a threat to group distinctiveness and thus heighten people’s identification with the subordinate group?

Would identification with common ingroup verse the subordinate ingroup be related to people’s perceptions of the other group involved in the merger


Step3: Step3: Abstracting(Theorizing)Abstracting(Theorizing)

Extracting the underlying psychological processed inform the observed commonalities, and relating the processes to new or existing theories.

General processes :the critical commonalities identified are converted into general processes that are defined by abstract concepts, parameters, or variables.

The goal is to shift the focus of explanation from the particular to the general so that the proposed processes can be compared and tested against new or extant theories.


Example: political Example: political transitiontransitionAbstracted two constructs:

1) levels of social identity/self-categorization( an over-arching versus a subordinate identity)

2)intergroup attitudes toward the outgroup in the merger


Linked Linked them to existing them to existing theories theories

Minimal group paradigmSelf-categorization theoryCommon Ingroup Identity Model

Realistic group conflict theoryRelative deprivation theory

Prior identities are the antecedents for their attitudes to the other group

Prior intergroup attitudes are the antecedents for their social identities


step 4: hypothesis testingstep 4: hypothesis testingExamining and testing

the theories empirically.

a reversal of abstracting from the general to the

specific

The derived hypotheses would constrain the choice of method


Example: political Example: political transitiontransition

Social identity

Intergroup attitude

Social identity theories

Realistic group conflict theory


H1:Social identity theories would predict that Hong Kong people holding a common ingroup identity (Chinese identity) would show more positive attitudes toward the other group in the merger (Chinese Mainlanders) over time, whereas Hong kong people holding a subordinate group identity (Hongkonger identity) would show less positive attitudes toward the Chinese Mainlanders at a later point in the transition.

H2:Realistic group conflict theory would predict that the Hong Kong people who had more(less) positive attitudes toward the Chinese Mainlanders would be more likely to increase their endorsement of the Chinese (Hongkonger) identity at a later point during the political transition.


Method selectingMethod selectingA longitudinal designThe participants’ social identification

(Hongkonger vs. Chinese) and their attitudes towards Chinese Mainlanders were assessed at several points in time during the political transition.

Cross-lagged Statistical model


conclusionconclusionThese four steps allow us to test social

theories against the real world. As noted, scientific theories are always

tentative and subject to correction or replacement.

The bottom line is that this process should be conducive to new ways of looking at the world, asking new questions , and eventually making new discoveries.


If you want to know more…If you want to know more…For details of this article:

Acta psychologica Sinica (心理学报 ). 2010,Vol.42,No.1,22-26

For details of example:Hong,Y.et al. the temporal causal link

between outgroup attitudes and social categorization: The case of Hong Kong 1997 transition. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations ,2006,9,265-288


Thank you!

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Building and testing theories 929