Chapter 5 Conceptualization, Overionization and Measurement

Question 1

Conceptualization

Answer 1

The process by which concepts are formed through the selective organization of sensory experience.

(Page 106)

Question 2

Reification

Answer 2

The mistake of treating a conceptual construction as something real.

(Page 108)

Question 3

Specification

Answer 3

The process of clarifying the meaning of concepts.

Page 108

Question 4

Conceptual Definition

Answer 4

A statement that indicates the meaning of an abstract term by expressing it in other abstract terms.

(Page 109)

Question 5

Dimension

Answer 5

A specifiable aspect or facet of a concept.

Question 6

Tautology

Answer 6

The thinking error that claims to explain something by referring to itself.

(Page 114)

Question 7

Exhaustive

Answer 7

A property of a variable ensuring that all objects can be classified.

(Page 117)

Question 8

Mutually Exclusive

Answer 8

A property of a variable ensuring that every object can be classified into only one attribute.

(Page 117)

Question 9

Nominal Measure

Answer 9

A variable whose attributes have only the characteristics of being jointly exhaustive and mutually exclusive. In other words, a level of measurement describing a variable that has attributes that are merely different from each other, as distinguished from ordinal, interval or ratio measures. Political party affiliation is an example of a nominal measure.

(Page 117)

Question 10

Ordinal Measure

Answer 10

A level of measurement describing a variable with attributes one can rank-order along some dimension. An example would be socioeconomic status as composed of the attributes high, medium, low.

(Page 118)

Question 11

Interval Measure

Answer 11

A level of measurement describing a variable whose attributes are rank-ordered and have equal distance between adjacent attributes. The Celsius temperature scale is an example of this, because the distance between 17 and 18 is the same as that between 39 and 40.

(Page 118)

Question 12

Ratio Measure

Answer 12

A level of measurement describing a variable whose attributes have all the qualities of nominal, ordinal and interval measures, and in addition are based on a “true zero” point. Age is an example of a ratio measure.

(Page 119)

Question 13

Precision

Answer 13

The property that refers to the fineness of measurement distinctions.

(Page 123)

Question 14

Accuracy

Answer 14

The property that refers to the correctness of measurements.

Page 124

Question 15

Reliability

Answer 15

That quality measurement method that suggests that the same data would have been collected each time in repeated observations of the same phenomenon. In the context of a survey, we would expect that the question “Did you attend religious services last week?” would have higher reliability than the question “About how many times have you attended religious services in your life? “This is not to be confused with validity.

(Page 124)

Question 16

Validity

Answer 16

A term describing a measure that accurately reflects the concept it is intended to measure. For example, you IQ would seem a more valid measure of your intelligence than would the number of hours you spend in the library. Though the ultimate validity of a measure can never be proven, we may agree to its relative validity on the basis of face validity, criterion-related validity, content validity, construct validity, internal validation, and external validation. This must not be confused with reliability.

(Page 126)

Question 17

Face Validity

Answer 17

That quality of an indicator that makes it seem a reasonable measure of some variable. That the frequency of attendance at religious services is some indication of a person’s religiosity seems to make sense without a lot of explanation. It has face validity.

(Page 127)

Question 18

Criterion-Related Validity

Answer 18

The degree to which a measure relates with some external criterion. For example, the validity of occupational qualifying examinations is shown in their ability to predict future evaluations of the individuals’ job performances. Also called predictive validity.

(Page 127)

Question 19

Construct Validity

Answer 19

The degree to which a measure relates to other variables as expected within a system of theoretical relationships.

(Page 127)

Question 20

Indicator

Answer 20

An empirical specification of some abstract concept.

Page 129

Question 21

Index

Answer 21

A type of composite measure that combines multiple items that, when aggregated, are intended to represent some more general dimension.

(Page 131)

Question 22

Scale

Answer 22

A type of composite measure composed of several items that have a logical or empirical structure among them. Examples of scales are Bogardus social distance and the Guttman, Likert and Thurstone scales.

(Page 131)