Conceptualization, Operationalization, and Measurement P. Johnelle Smith, M.A.

Outline of Presentation 1. Review of Babbie 2. What is Rural? 3. Dimensions of Rurality and Life Chances: Mortality and Infant Mortality 4. Previous Research 5. Conceptualization, Operationalization, and Measurement of Variables

Review of Babbie 1. Conceptualization – the process of specifying observations and measurements that give concepts definite meaning for the purposes of a research study 2. Operationalization – an extension of conceptualization that specifies the exact procedures that will be used to measure the attributes of the variables 3. “Conceptualization is the refinement and specification of abstract concepts, and operationalization is the development of specific research procedures (operations) that will result in empirical observations representing those concepts in the real world.” Pp. 132

What is Rural?

1. Not Urban 2. Does Rural Exist? 3. Categorization – Census and OMB 4. Definition of Rural (Farmer, F.L "Rural, Definition of." Pp in The Encyclopedia of Rural America: The Land and the People, edited by G.A. Gorham. Santa Barbara and Oxford: ABC-CLIO Press.) (Farmer, F.L "Rural, Definition of." Pp in The Encyclopedia of Rural America: The Land and the People, edited by G.A. Gorham. Santa Barbara and Oxford: ABC-CLIO Press.) 5. Folk Society/Rural Mystique 6. Social Cost of Space (Kraenzel, C.F The Social Cost of Space in the Yonland. Bozeman, Montana: Big Sky Books.)

Dimensions of Rurality 1. T hree Dimensions of Rural a.E cological b.O ccupational c.S ociocultural

Dimensions of Rurality and Life Chances: Mortality and Infant Mortality 1. Rurality and general mortality 2. Rurality and infant mortality 3. Research Question - How do the dimensions of rurality explain the variance in general and infant mortality? 4. Causal Modeling and Regression Analysis

Previous Research 1. Link between rurality and mortality 2. Data sources 3. Examples of conceptualization and operationalization in two studies a.Clarke, L.L., F.L. Farmer, and M.K. Miller “Structural Determinants of Infant Mortality in Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan America.” Rural Sociology 59(1): b.Cramer, J.C “Racial and Ethnic Differences in Birthweight: The Role of Income and Financial Assistance.” Demography 32(2):

Conceptualization, Operationalization, and Measurement of Variables 1. Variable List 2. Dependent, Independent, and Control Variables 3. Endogenous and Exogenous Variables 4. Move from conceptualization to operationalization to measurement to analysis of variables

Additional Readings 1. Agresti, A. and B. Finlay Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences, 3 rd ed. Prentice Hall. (Chapter 2) 2. Babbie, E Survey Research Methods, 2 nd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company. (Chapter 7 & 13) 3. Blalock, Jr. H.M Social Statistics, revised 2 nd ed. New York: McGraw Hill. (Chapters 1 & 2) 4. Blalock, Jr. H.M Conceptualization and Measurement in the Social Sciences. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications. 5. Bryman, A Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Chapter 3)