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Measuring Social Life

Ch. 5, pp. 112-137

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Measuring Social Life

Connecting the specifics you observe in the empirical world to an abstract idea you cannot see directly

Inferring from this sample or measure to an entire population or to abstract ideasmaking generalizations

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WHY MEASURE?

Measurement transforms our ideas and general observations into specific and concrete data

Measuring helps communicate thoughts and observations more effectively

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MAKING ASPECTS OF THE SOCIAL WORLD VISIBLE Measurement extends the range of our

sensesScientific measurement produces a more

accurate measure than ordinary experience, and it varies less with the specific observer

Measurement makes visible ideas that are otherwise unseen

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MEASURING with NUMBERS or WORDS In all research, data is collected systematically Depending on whether data are quantitative or

qualitative, the process differs in 4 ways: Timing Direction Data form Linkages

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Two Parts of the Measurement Process All measurement builds on two processes:

conceptualization operationalization

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Conceptualization

conceptualization: "refining an idea by giving it a very clear, explicit definition" (117)

conceptual definition: "defining a variable or concept in theoretical terms with assumptions and references to other concepts" (118)

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Operationalization

operationalization: "the process of linking a conceptual definition with a specific set of measures" (117)

operational definition: "defining a concept as specific operations or actions that you carry out to measure it" (117)

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Quantitative Conceptualization & Operationalization Measuring quantitative data flows in a 3-part

sequence1. conceptualization: think through the idea and create

a conceptual definition

2. operationalization: link the conceptual definition to specific measurement procedures

3. measurement: apply the operational definition to collect the data

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The measurement process connects three levels of reality, from abstract to concrete:

conceptual, operational, and empiricalconceptual hypothesis: stating a hypothesis

with the variables as abstract conceptsempirical hypothesis: the hypothesis stated in

terms of specific measures of variables

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Racially biased policing: determinants of citizen perception Whether a person is a member of the dominant

or nondominant racial group A person’s belief that the police are or are not

racially biased Number and type of experiences with the local

police Amount of exposure to media reports about

police actions of corruption or brutality

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Abstract Construct Abstract Construct

Conceptual Definition

Indicator or Measure

Conceptual Definition

Indicator or Measure

Independent Variable

Conceptualization

Operationalization

Dependent Variable

Conceptualization

Operationalization

Fig. 5.1: Conceptualization & Operationalization: Abstract Construct to Concrete Measure

Hypothetical

Causal Relationship

Tested Empirical Hypothesis

theoretical level

operational level

empiricallevel

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Qualitative Conceptualization and Operationalization In qualitative research, you use basic

working ideas during the data collection process, rethinking old ideas and developing new ideas based on observations

Qualitative measurement is integrated with other parts of a study

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Naturalization of white culture?

naturalization means that a culture—a set of values, outlooks, assumptions—is so fully taken for granted that it becomes invisible

white culture is a culture associated with the white racial group

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HOW TO CREATE GOOD MEASURES: Reliability & Validity reliability: a feature of measures—the

method of measuring is dependable and consistent

validity: a feature of measures—the concept of interest closely matches the method used to measure ityou are actually measuring what you say you

are measuring

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Measurement validity is the fit between conceptual & operational definitions

Three types of measurement validity face validitycontent validitycriterion validity

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Putting Reliability and Validity Together Reliability is a necessary but not sufficient

condition for validity You can have a reliable measure that is

invalid

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Levels of measurement

levels of measurement: the degree a measure is refined or precise the way in which you conceptualize variable

limits the levels of measurement you can use

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Continuous & discrete variables

continuous variable: a variable that can be measured with numbers that can be subdivided into smaller increments has an infinite # of values that flow along a continuum

discrete variable: a variable measured with a limited number of fixed categories has a fixed set of separate values or categories,

instead of smooth continuum, discrete variables have 2 or more distinct categories

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Levels of Measurement

Nominal measures only indicate a difference among categories

Ordinal measures indicate a difference among categories, and the categories can be order or ranked

Interval measures do everything above, plus specify the distance between categories

Ratio measures do everything all the other levels do, plus they have true zero

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Specialized Measures: Scales and Indexes scale: a measure that captures a

concept’s intensity, direction, or level at the ordinal level measurement

index: a composite measure that combines several indicators into a single score

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Mutually exclusive and exhaustive attributes mutually exclusive: each unit fits into

one, and only one, category of a variable exhaustive: all units fit into some category

of a variable

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Unidimensionality

unidimensionality: all items of an index or scale measure the same concept or have a common dimension

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ADDING MEASURES TO GET A SCORE: INDEX CONSTRUCTION To create an index, you combine two or more

items into a single numerical score examples:

FBI crime index consumer price index (CPI) index of leading economic indicators consumer confidence index (CCI)

(The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index ®)

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Two Complications in Index Construction1. Count items equally or weigh them?

- Unless you have a very good reason, it is usually best to weight them equally

- In a weighted index, you value or weigh items differently, depending on your conceptualization, assumptions, conceptual definition, or specialized statistical techniques

2. Missing data- If data for one of your items (in a 4-item index) is missing for

some of your cases (e.g., in a societal development index, literacy data is missing for 3 of 50 countries, you must decide whether to drop the cases (3 countries) or substitute weaker measures (using only 3 items in your index)

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CAPTURING INTENSITY: SCALE CONSTRUCTION Most scales help us measure the intensity,

hardness or extremity of a person’s feelings/opinion at the ordinal level

The simplest scale is a visual ratinge.g., a “feeling thermometer" is used to see

how people feel about various groups in society, political candidates, public issues, etc.

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Likert scale

The Likert scale offers a statement or questions, and respondents indicate their response with a set of answer choices, such as strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree, or:

- approve/disapprove of X

- support/oppose X

- believe X is always/never true

- do X frequently/rarely