ABSTRACT
A construct stands for a collection of related behaviors that are associated in a meaningful way. For instance, “depression” is a construct that stands for a personality trait manifested by behaviors such as lethargy, flat affect when speaking, loss of appetite, loss of sexual drive, preoccupation with suicidal thoughts, difficulty concentrating on tasks, and so on. Notice that each of these is an indicator of depression-the construct itself does not have a physical being outside of its indicators. That is, researchers infer its existence by observing the collection of related indicators. The emphasis on collection is important to notice because any one indicator may be associated with several constructs. For instance, although loss of appetite is an indicator of depression, it may also be an indicator of anxiety, fear, physical illness, and so on. Thus, loss of appetite is indicative of depression only when it is found in association with a number of other indicators of depression.
