Chapter 4: Conceptualization
and Measurement
Measuring Anything that Exists

Measurement – Careful, deliberate
observations of the real world

For the purpose of describing objects
and events in terms of the

Attributes composing the variable
Conceptualization

Process: Of specifying what we mean when
we use particular terms in research.

Conceptualization process creates an agreedon meaning for a concept
For the purposes of research

Conceptions, Concepts, and Reality


Conceptualization – The mental
process whereby fuzzy and imprecise
notions (concepts) are made more
specific and precise.
How would you conceptualize…
Prejudice?
Compassionate?
Concepts
•
Mental representations
•
Typically based on experience
•
•
•
•
Concepts can be of real phenomena
Dogs, Clouds, Pain, Cars, Cell phones
Concepts can be of agree-upon phenomena
Truth, Beauty, Justice, Prejudice, Value,
Concepts as Constructs
 Concepts
are constructs derived by
mutual agreement from mental images.
 Conceptions
summarize collections of
seemingly related observations and
experiences.
Things that can be Measured

Three classes of things can be
measured
1.
Direct Observables
2.
Indirect Observables
3.
Constructs
Things that can be Measured
•
Three classes of things can be measured
•
1. Direct observables

Height, weight, color, etc.
2. Indirect observables


Questionnaires Information on
Gender, age, income, etc.
Things that can be Measured
3. Constructs

Theoretical creations based on
observations

Cannot be seen either directly or
indirectly, such as:



IQ
Leisure Satisfaction
Environmental Values
Indicators and Dimensions

Indicator
 Concept or direct observable used
to measure a construct.
example, consider a person’s extent of
agreement with this statement:
 For
 “I
am a person of worth”
 As
an indicator of person’s self-esteem
Indicators


Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale contains ten
statements used to measure self-esteem.
Each statement assumed to accurately
measure self-esteem as an indicator of it.
Indicators

Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale contains ten
statements used to measure self-esteem.

Each statement assumed to accurately
measure self-esteem as an indicator of it.

(Handout)
Gallup Index of Leading Religious
Indicators
1.
Believe in God
2.
Religious preference
3.
Member of a church
4.
Attended church last 7 days
5.
Religion very important in life
6.
Religion answers problems
7.
High confidence in organized religion
8.
Give high ratings to ethical standards of clergy
Indicators: How would you
measure…
Political
party affiliation?
Age?
Grade
point average?
Satisfaction
Religious
with college?
affiliation?
Dimensions

Constructs sometimes have multiple
dimensions, each with indicators.

For example:
 The construct Locus-of-Control

Three dimensions:
 Internal
 External
 Powerful others
1/27 Identify Indicators & Dimensions

Identify appropriate indicators and
dimensions for…
 College
success
 Political
activity
 Poverty
 Binge
 Fear
drinking
of crime
Nominal, and Operational Definitions

Nominal definition: Assigned to a term without
any claim that the definition represents a “real”
entity.
 Name

Operational definition: Specifies precisely how
a concept will be measured
Levels of Measurement
• Level of Measurement=Mathematical precision
with which values of a variable can be
expressed.
• Nominal level of measurement:
• Qualitative
• No mathematical interpretation
Levels of Measurement

Quantitative levels of measurement:

Ordinal

Interval

Ratio

Progressively more precise mathematically
Nominal Measures (Labels)

Identifies variables whose values have
no mathematical interpretation
Categories
If
are not ordered
only two categories: Referred to as
a dichotomous or “Dummy” variable
Examples of Nominal Measures
Ordinal Measures


Categorical--Some categories are higher than
others.
For example:
Income tax brackets
 Social class
 Levels of education

Ordinal Measures

Cannot measure the distance between categories

Only which is higher or lower

Cannot say that someone is twice as educated as
someone else

Can be used as a dependent variable
Example: Ordinal Measures
When attributes can be rank-ordered…
 Distances between attributes do not have any meaning
 For example : code Educational Attainment as
0=less than H.S.
1=some H.S.
2=H.S. degree
3=some college
4=college degree
5=post college
Is the distance from 0 to 1 the same as 3 to 4?
Example: Ordinal Measures
Interval Measures

Called scalar or index variables

Provide scale or index to measure between
levels

Can measure which is higher or lower and how
much
 Measured between points on a scale with even
units
 Example: Temperature in Fahrenheit or
Celsius
Example: Interval Measures

When distance between attributes has meaning, for
example, temperature (in Fahrenheit)

Distance from 30-40 degrees = Distance from 70-80
degrees

Used for a variety of statistical analyses:

Central tendency can be measured by mode, median, or
mean

Standard deviation can be calculated

Cannot calculate ratios
Index of Feminist Attitudes
An index of their feminist attitudes was calculated from 6 questions, but the index
had no absolute zero.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
(SD =1, D=2, N=3, A=4, SA=5)
1.
A woman should have the same job opportunities as a man.
2.
Men should respect women more than they currently do.
3.
America should pass the Equal Rights Amendment.
4.
Women should be considered as seriously as men as candidates for the Presidency of the
United States.
5.
Doctors need to take women's health concerns more seriously.
6.
Women have been treated unfairly on the basis of their gender throughout most of human
history.
Feminist Attitude index = 30 (highest score
possible)
Feminist Attitude index = 5 (lowest score
possible)
Ratio Level Measurement

Similar to interval level
 Can
measure distance between two points
 But can do so in absolute terms

Ratio measures have a true zero (unlike
interval measures)
 Example,
can say that someone is twice as
rich as someone else based on the value of
their assets.
 To
have no money is based on a starting
point of zero
Ratio Level Measurement

Has an absolute zero that is meaningful

Can construct a meaningful ratio (fraction), for
example, number of clients in past six months

It is meaningful to say that “...we had twice as
many clients in this period as we did in the
previous six months.
Ratio Level Measurement

Ratio scales are the ultimate when it
comes to measurement scales

They tell us about the order

They tell us the exact value between units

AND also have an absolute zero
 Allows
for a wide range of both descriptive and
inferential statistics
Types of Comparisons That Can Be Made
With Different Levels of Measurement
Measurement Hierarchy
RATIO
STRONGEST
INTERVAL
ORDINAL
NOMINAL
WEAKEST