operationalistn.adj.
/ˌɒpəˈreɪʃn̩əlɪst/, /ˌɒpəˈreɪʃn̩l̩ɪst/, /ˌɒpəˈreɪʃənl̩ɪst/, /ˌɒpəˈreɪʃ(ə)nəlɪst/, U.S. /ˌɑpəˈreɪʃənlɪst/, /ˌɑpəˈreɪʃnəlɪst/ Philosophy.
A. n.
An adherent of operationalism.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > empiricism > [noun] > operationalism > adherent of
operationalist1931
operationist1936
1931 Jrnl. Philos. 28 545 When the operationalist defines a concept in terms of operations, the meaning of the concept thus defined is not restricted to performed operations or to operations which are actually going to be performed.
1941 A. Huxley Grey Eminence iii. 48 Buddha was not a consistent operationalist.
1989 R. Penrose Emperor's New Mind (1991) i. 6 The operationalist would say that the computer thinks provided that it acts indistinguishably from the way that a person acts when thinking.
B. adj.
Of or relating to operationalists or operationalism.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > empiricism > [adjective] > of or relating to positivism > of branches of
Machian1927
operationalist1934
operationist1950
1934 Mind 43 201 This Mead wants to prove by following the operationalist argument about the concepts of physics.
1965 J. D. North Measure of Universe xv. 335 The operationalist philosophy..appears to deny meaning even to such apparently harmless dispositional words as ‘imperceptible’, ‘movable’, and so on.
2002 Sociology (Nexis) 36 450 As survey researchers in particular have long been aware, untheorized definitions are both subject to operationalist convenience and/or the problem of construct validity.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1931