1. Chapter 6 Indexes, Scales, And Typologies
Index Construction
Scale Construction
Typologies

2. Index and Scale Similarities: Both are ordinal measures of variables.
Both rank order units of analysis in terms of specific variables.
Both are measurements based on more than one data item.

3. Index and Scale Scoring Differences
Index: accumulate scores assigned to individual attributes.
Scale: assign scores to patterns of responses.

4. Constructing an Index Select items for a composite index.
Examine empirical relationships.
Assign scores for responses.
Handle missing data.
Validate the index.

5. Selecting Items Criteria Face (logical) validity Unidimensionality
General or specific
Variance

6. Examine Empirical Relationships
Empirical relationships are established when an answer to one question helps predict the answers to other questions.
Bivariate relationships - two variables
Multivariate relationships - more than two variables

7. Assign Scores for Responses
Two basic decisions:
Decide the desirable range of the index scores.
Decide whether to give each item in the index equal weight or different weights.

8. Ways to Handle Missing Data
Exclude cases with missing data from the construction of the index and the analysis.
Treat missing data as one of the available responses.
Analyze missing data to interpret the meaning.

9. Validate the Index Item Analysis - internal validation.
External validation - ranking of groups on the index should predict the ranking of groups in answering similar or related questions.

10. Techniques of Scale Construction
Bogardus social distance scale - measures the willingness of people to participate in social relations.
Thurstone scales - judges determine the intensity of different indicators.

11. Techniques of Scale Construction
Likert scaling - uses standardized response categories.
Semantic differential -asks respondents to rank answers between two extremes.
Guttman scaling - uses an empirical intensity structure (most common).