1. Measuring Social Life: How Many? How Much? What Type?
Chapter 5

2. Why Measure? Some reasons:
evaluate an explanation
test a hypothesis
provide empirical support for a theory
make a decision about medical treatment
study an applied issue
More central to quantitative research than qualitative research.

3. Making Aspects of the Social World Visible
We use many measures in daily life.
Measurement extends the range of our senses.
Measures make otherwise unseen ideas become visible

4. Measuring with Numbers or Words
Timing
Direction
Data Form
Linkages

5. Measuring with Numbers or Words
Two Parts of the Measurement Process
Conceptualization = refining an idea by giving it a very clear, explicit definition.
Conceptual Definition = Defining a variable or concept in theoretical terms with assumptions and references to other concepts.
Operationalization = the process of linking a conceptual definition with specific measures.
Operational Definition = defining a concept as specific operations or actions that you carry to measure it.

6. Measuring with Numbers or Words
Quantitative Conceptualization and Operationalization
Three-part sequence:
Conceptualization
Operationalization
Measurement
Conceptual hypothesis = Stating a hypothesis with the variables as abstract concepts.
Empirical hypothesis = the hypothesis stated in terms of specific measures of variables.

7. Why Measure? Qualitative Conceptualization and Operationalization
Ideas are in flux during data collection
Definitions become clarified during data collection.

8. Why Measure?

9. Why Measure? QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE
1. Conceptualize variables by developing a clear, complete written conceptual definition for the core idea of each. You want build on past theories, consider definitions others have used, and be very logical.
1. Gather empirical data and simultaneously think about concepts to organize and make sense of the data. Develop a clear definitions for each idea that you use. They may be ones you have read about, new ideas you create, or ones that the people you are studying use.
2. Operationalize variables by creating specific activities to measure each. This is your operational definition that will closely match how you have defined the variable in its conceptual definition.
2. As you gather data, be very aware of processes you use to make sense of the data and your own thinking. Reflect on and describe this process of linking ideas to specific observations in the data.
3. Gather empirical data using the specific measurement activities of your operational definition, this links data to the conceptual definition.
3. Review and refine your definitions and the descriptions of how you gathered data and made sense of it.

10. How to Create Good Measures: Reliability and Validity
Creating a Good Measure
Keep an open mind.
Borrow from others.
Anticipate difficulties.
Do not forget your unit of analysis.

11. How to Create Good Measures: Reliability and Validity
Reliability and Validity in Quantitative Research
Reliability = A feature of measures – the method of measuring is dependable and consistent.
Clearly Conceptualize.
Increase the Level of Measurement.
Use Multiple Indicators.
Multiple indicators = Having several different specific measures that to indicate the same concept.
Use Pilot Studies and Replication.

12. How to Create Good Measures: Reliability and Validity
Reliability and Validity in Quantitative Research
Validity = A feature of measures; the concept of interest closely matches the method used to measure it.
Measurement validity is the fit between conceptual and operational definitions
Validity is more difficult to achieve than reliability.

13. How to Create Good Measures: Reliability and Validity
Reliability and Validity in Quantitative Research
Three Types of Measurement Validity
Face Validity.
Content Validity
Criterion Validity

14. How to Create Good Measures: Reliability and Validity
Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research
measure in a thoughtful and consistent manner, so that it is dependable
measure in a consistent and self-conscious way
Measure with authenticity. Authenticity means a fair, honest, and balanced account of social life that captures what is “real” for particular people living in a specific time and place.

15. How to Create Good Measures: Reliability and Validity
Putting Reliability and Validity Together
Reliability is easier to achieve than validity. Reliability is necessary but not sufficient for validity.
A measure can produce the same result over and over but what it measures may not match the definition of the construct (i.e., validity).
You can have a reliable measure that is invalid.

16. How to Create Good Measures: Reliability and Validity

17. A Guide to Quantitative Measurement
Levels of Measurement
Measurement = The degree a measure is refined or precise.
Continuous and Discrete Variables
Continuous Variable = A variable that can be measured with numbers that can be subdivided into smaller increments.
Discrete variable = A variable measured with a limited number of fixed categories.

18. A Guide to Quantitative Measurement
Levels of Measurement
Four Levels of Measurement
Nominal measures
Ordinal measures
Interval measures
Ratio measures

19. A Guide to Quantitative Measurement
Level
Different Categories
Ranked
Distance between Categories Measured
True Zero
Nominal
Yes
Ordinal
Interval
Ratio

20. A Guide to Quantitative Measurement
Specialized Measures: Scales and Indexes
Scale = A measure that captures a concept’s intensity, direction, or level at the ordinal level of measurement.
Index = A composite measure that combines several indicators into a single score.

21. A Guide to Quantitative Measurement
Specialized Measures: Scales and Indexes
Mutually Exclusive and Exhaustive Attributes.
Mutually exclusive = each units fits into one, and only one, category of a variable.
Exhaustive = all units fit into some category of a variable.
Unidimensionality
Unidimensionality = All items of an index or scale measure the same concept or have a common dimension.

22. Adding Measures to Get a Score: Index Construction
To create an index, you combine two or more items into a single numerical score.
Two complications in index construction
1. Count items equally or weight them?
2. The missing data issue

23. Capturing Intensity: Scale Construction
Scale = A measure that captures the intensity of a person’s behaviors or feelings.
Some Commonly Used Scales
Likert Scale.
Measuring Social Distance
Semantic Differential
Guttman Scaling

24. Capturing Intensity: Scale Construction
Summary Review Major Scales
Likert—General Attitude Measure Indicates attitude using ranked answers showing degree of agreement/support.
Semantic Differential—Indirect Evaluation Measure Indicates subjective feelings using connotations in adjective sets.
Bogardus—Social Distance Measure Indicates acceptance of various levels of social intimacy with out-groups.
Guttman—Structural of Response Measure Indicates whether a set of items corresponds to a hierarchical pattern
Out-group Sociologists define an outgroupas a group to which you do not belong and from which you feel separated