Foundations of Sociological Inquiry Measurement, Conceptualization, and Operationalization

Today’s Objectives Measurement Conceptualization Operationalization Quality Questions?

Which is your favorite poem? Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling Dig In Grandpa’s Poem Pizza Pie Horrible Hiccups Clara Fighting with My Brother Guess Who?

Do you think song lyrics should count as poetry? Yes No I don’t know

Who is your favorite poet? Roger Dalton Paul Simon Bob Dylan Other

How often do you read/listen to poetry? Less than 3 times a week 3-6 times a week 1-5 times a day More than five times a day

The mental process whereby fuzzy and imprecise notions are made more specific and precise is called construction reification conceptualization operationalization

Measurement careful, deliberate observations of the real world for the purpose of describing objects and events in terms of the attributes composing the variable.

What kinds of things might social scientists want to measure? Age Gender Race Education Grade Point Average Political Party Affiliation Employment Status Wage/Salary/Income Religious Affiliation Criminal Justice Contact Marital Status Attitudes Behaviors

In social research, the process of coming to an agreement about what terms mean is hypothesizing conceptualization variable naming operationalization

Conceptualization the refinement and specification of abstract concepts. In other words, specifying what we mean when we use particular terms in research.

Conceptualization Indicators Religious Affiliation College Success Political Activity Poverty Binge Drinking Fear of Crime

Operationalization is the development of specific research procedures that will result in empirical observations representing those concepts in the real world.

Operationalization typically considers: Range of variation To what extent is the research willing to combine attributes in fairly gross categories? Precision To what degree is the operationalization of variables precise? Definitions An attribute is a characteristic or quality of something (ex: female, old, student). A variable is a logical set of attributes (ex: gender, age). Every variable must have two important qualities. The attributes composing it should be exhaustive. Attributes must be mutually exclusive.

Measurement Quality often involves assessments of: Reliability Validity

Reliability involves whether a particular technique applied repeatedly to the same object would yield the same results each time. ensuring accuracy. ensuring that your measure measures what you think it should measure. ensuring precision. All of these choices are correct.

Reliability – the quality of measurement method that suggests the same data would have been collected each time in repeated observations of the same phenomenon. Validity – a term describing a measure that accurately reflects the concept it is intended to measure.

High Reliability and High Validity • • • • • • • • • • • • .

High Reliability and High Validity (Self-reported educational attainment) • • • • • • • • • • • • .

High Reliability and Low Validity • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • .

High Reliability and Low Validity (Self-reported number of sexual partners) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • .

Low Reliability and High Validity • • • • • • • • • • • • • .

Low Reliability and High Validity (Self-reported happiness) • • • • • • • • • • • • • .

must be corroborated by colleagues Elmer worked hard to establish the meaning of the term “prejudice” for his study on students. He consulted the literature and colleagues who have studied prejudice in order to come to an agreement about what the term means. Elmer engaged in reification. dimensionalization. conceptualization. validity. must be corroborated by colleagues

Questions?