1. Design, Measurement, Information Sources
Conceptualization
What is a concept?
Dimensions of a concept
Indicators of a concept
Validity and reliability of indicators
Operationalization
Factors to consider
Levels of measurement

2. Concept = mental image Name for a category of things General, abstract
Meaning is agreed upon by a group
no $, run-down apt., welfare, mom w/ kids, minority, …
“Poverty” =

3. Examples of sociological concepts
Society
Culture
Social structure
Social institution
Primary group
Formal organization
Deviance
Social control
Social class
Socioeconomic status
Poverty
Inequality
Prejudice
Minority group
Social distance
Liberalism
Value of children
Marital satisfaction
Religiosity
Social movement

4. Nominal definition Gives researcher’s definition of a concept
Not exact or specific
Distinguishes it from similar concepts
Violence is any kind of maltreatment.
Violence is a physical act that causes injury.
Violence is a physical act that is intended to cause injury.
Violence is an act that is intended to cause injury or pain, no matter how minor.
Love is attachment.
Love is a very strong liking.
Love is a romantic and sexual attraction to another person.
Love is putting another’s needs before your own.

5. Dimension Love Part or aspect of a concept Component of a concept
Not the entire concept in itself
Love
Commitment
Intimacy
Passion

6. Researchers may disagree about dimensions of a concept:
Love
Caring
Attachment
Sexual attraction
OR:
Love
Attachment

7. 4 Conceptualizations of Inequality
SES
Status
Education
Earnings
Occupation
Prestige
Class
SES
Power
Wealth
Relationship to means of production
Prestige
Knowledge

8. Indicators of a Concept
Measurable, observable variables
Indicate presence or absence of concept
At least one indicator per dimension
indicator = “clue” to a concept

9. Example: Indicators of Love
Attachment: “I would not like to live without ”
“When is gone, I feel like part of me is missing.”
Intimacy: “ and I are very close.”
“ I can share my feelings with ”
“I trust ”
Caring: “I put ‘s needs before my own.”
“ I want to be happy.”

10. Example: Indicators of Social Stratification
Status, prestige: Admiration of others, ranking of occupations by public.
Wealth: Income, assets
Knowledge: Yrs. of education, degree
Power: Positions in organizations
Class, relationship to means of production:
Owns business
Has employees
Controls others’ labor (hire/fire, make rules, etc.)
Sells own labor

11. Operational definition vs. Similar Terms
The specific definition of a concept that is used in a particular study
May involve exact wording of a measure
Indicators can have more than one operational definition
“Variable” may refer to an indicator or operational definition

12. Examples: Operational Definitions of “Income”
Individual’s (or couple’s) gross annual income before taxes, as reported on tax return.
“Would you say your income last year was between: 0 – 19,999; 20,000 – 39,999; 40,000 – 49,999….”
Total family income from all sources
Top 25%, middle 50%; bottom 25%

13. Examples: Operational Definitions of “Unemployment”
% of people who are not employed
% of people who are not employed
% of people who are looking for work
% of people looking for work or who gave up looking…

14. Level of measurement No No No Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Nominal
Ordinal
Interval
Ratio
Meaningful zero point No No No
Yes
Numerical values; equal distances b/t categories No No
Yes
Yes
Rank categories in order No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Name categories, count frequencies
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

15. Examples of nominal variables
Gender (Male/Female)
Race (White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, other)
Political preference (Democrat, Republican, other)
Occupation (job title)
Favorite breakfast cereal
State of residence

16. Examples of Ordinal Variables
Opinion statement (strongly agree, agree, don’t know, disagree, strongly disagree)
Social class (lower, working, middle, upper)
Level of education (< high school, high school grad, vocational/technical degree, bachelor’s degree, graduate degree)
Church attendance (never, several x/year, monthly, weekly)

17. Examples of Interval Variables (Numeric, but scale is arbitrary)
Temperature (Celsius, Fahrenheit)
IQ score (average = 100)
Occupational prestige (0 – 100)
Rating scales (0-5, 1-10, etc.)
Any numerically scaled variable

18. Examples of ratio variables
Income in dollars
Years of education
Age in years
Number of children
Population size
Rates (births, deaths, crimes, etc.)

19. What is the level of measurement?
Marital status (never married, married, separated, divorced, widowed)
Market value of home (dollars)
Approval of president’s job performance (strongly approve, approve, disapprove, strongly disapprove)
Grade point average (0.0 – 4.0)
Letter grade (A, A-, B+, B, B-,….)
Marital satisfaction (scale of 0 – 10)
Participation in extracurricular activities (Yes/No)

20. Evaluating Indicators: Validity
Validity = “Truth”
Are we measuring what we think we’re measuring?
Does the indicator really reflect the concept?

21. Ways to evaluate validity
Face validity: does it make sense? Agrees best judgment, or opinion of experts.
Example: Makes sense to use income as a measure of social position.
Predictive (criterion) validity: does it work? Is it a good predictor?
Example: ACT score is a predictor of college GPA

22. Ways to evaluate validity
Content validity: Does indicator cover all the dimensions of the concept?
Example: Measure of “risk taking” must include attitudes (enjoy taking risks) and behaviors (actually takes risks).
Construct validity: Does the indicator behave as expected? How is it related to other indicators of other concepts?
Example: Measure of “marital stress” should correlate positively with divorce, negatively with measure of marital satisfaction.

23. Evaluating Indicators: Reliability
Reliability = dependability
Freedom from measurement error
Measure yields the same results every time.

24. Reliability ≠ Validity
We can measure accurately without reflecting the underlying concept.
Examples of reliable but invalid indicators:
Foot size as indicator of intelligence
Race as indicator of criminal behavior
Number of children as indicator of masculinity
Age as indicator of wisdom
Length of marriage as indicator of satisfaction

25. What causes measurement error?
Poorly designed measure
Respondent or subject
People working with measure
Changes over time

26. Measuring Reliability: most common methods
Internal Consistency – correlation between several indicators of the same concept
Test-retest – same measure applied twice should yield same results
Reliability coefficient = results of a reliability test. Range from Should be very high (> .9) if measure is reliable.

27. Maintaining Reliability
Careful wording of survey questions
Ask questions R’s can answer
Pretest questions or measures
Train people who will work with measures (e.g. interviewers, coders)
Be cautious of variables that change over time.