The Elaboration Model: Understanding Complex Relationships

1. Chapter 15 The Elaboration Model

2. Chapter Outline • The Origins of the Elaboration Model • The Elaboration Paradigm • Elaboration and Ex Post Facto Hypothesizing

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

4. Steps in the Elaboration Model • 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.

5. Possible Outcomes of Elaboration Analysis • Replication – A set of partial relationships is essentially the same as the corresponding zero-order relationship. • Explanation - A set of partial relationships is reduced essentially to zero when an antecedent variable is held constant.

6. Possible Outcomes of Elaboration Analysis • Interpretation - A set of partial relationships is reduced essentially to zero when an intervening variable is held constant). • Specification - One partial relationship is reduced, ideally to zero, and the other remains about the same as the original relationship or is stronger.

7. Replication • The result when partial relationships are essentially the same as the original relationship. • The original relationship has been replicated under test conditions.

8. Explanation • When an original relationship is shown to be false through the introduction of a test variable. Requires two conditions: • The test variable must be antecedent to both the independent and dependent variables. • The partial relationships must be zero or significantly less than those found in the original.

9. Interpretation • The outcome in which a test or control variable is discovered to be the mediating factor through which an independent variable has its effect on a dependent variable. • Does not deny the validity of the original causal relationship but clarifies the process through which that relationship functions.

10. Specification • Partial relationships that differ significantly from each other. • Example: one partial relationship is the same as or stronger than the original two-variable relationship, and the second partial relationship is less than the original and may be reduced to zero. • Specifies the conditions under which the original relationship holds.

11. Ex Post Facto Hypothesizing • Development of hypotheses “predicting” relationships that have already been observed. • Invalid because it’s impossible to disconfirm them.