chapter 5 - social measurement

Question 1

measurement

Answer 1

careful, deliberate observations of the real world for the purpose of describing objects and events in terms of the attributes composing a variable

Question 2

direct observables

Answer 2

things we can observe rather simply and directly (colour of apple)

Question 3

indirect observables

Answer 3

requires relatively more subtle, complex, or indirect observation

Question 4

constructs

Answer 4

theoretical creations that are based on observations but that cannot be observed directly or indirectly (IQ)

Question 5

reification

Answer 5

regarding constructs as real but constructs aren’t actually real they are just useful to make sense of things

Question 6

conceptualization

Answer 6

mental process whereby fuzzy and imprecise notions are made more specific and precise; gives definite meaning to a concept by specifying one or more indicators of what we have in mind

Question 7

indicator

Answer 7

sign of the presence or absence of the concept we’re studying ;observation that we choose to consider as a reflection of a variable we wish to study (giving food to homeless is an indicator of compassion?)

Question 8

dimension

Answer 8

a specifiable aspect of a concept, making groups (economic dimension of compassion, social, political dimension)

Question 9

interchangeability of indicators

Answer 9

if several different indicators all present to some degree the same concept, then all of them will behave the same way that the concept would behave if it were real and could be observed

Question 10

real definition (reification)

Answer 10

not a stipulation determining the meaning of some expression but a statement of the ‘essential nature’ or the ‘essential attributes’ of some entity (mistakes construct for a real enitity)

Question 11

nominal definition

Answer 11

simply assigned to a term without any claim that the definition represents a ‘real’ entitity (arbitrary)

Question 12

operational definition

Answer 12

specifies precisely how a concept will be measured the operations we choose to perform (achieves maximum clarity about what a concept means in the context of a given study)

Question 13

measurement steps

Answer 13

1. conceptualization; what are different meanings
2. nominal definition; we define as:
3. operational definition; how do you measure
4. measurements in the real world; real life

Question 14

variable 2 qualities

Answer 14

• attributes composing variable should be exhaustive; must be able to classify every observation in terms of one of the attributes composing the variable
  -mutually exclusive; must be able to classify every observation in terms of one and only one attribute

Question 15

choices of operationalization

Answer 15

-range of variation
-variations between the extremes; degree of precision, how fine will you make distinctions among the various possible attributes composing a give variable
-a note on dimensions; which dimension of a variable interested in
-defining variables and attributes, attribute: characteristic or quality of something, variable: logical sets of attributes

Question 16

levels measurement

Answer 16

-nominal
-ordinal
-interval
-ratio

Question 17

nominal

Answer 17

variables whose attributes have only the characteristics of exhaustiveness and mutual exclusiveness (sex, religious, political party) only offers names or labels

Question 18

ordinal

Answer 18

variables with attributes we can logically rank-order (education, high-medium-low)

Question 19

interval

Answer 19

describing a variable whose attributes are rank ordered and have equal distances between adjacent attributes, no true zero point (IQ-test, temperature)

Question 20

ratio (highest level)

Answer 20

attributes composing a variable, besides having all the structural characteristics mentioned previously, are based on a true zero point (age, weight)

Question 21

reliability

Answer 21

whether a particular technique, applied repeatedly to the same object, yields the same results each time: test-retest, split-half, established measures, research workers

Question 22

test-retest method

Answer 22

make the same measurement more than once; you must get the same response if you did it right the first round

Question 23

split-half method

Answer 23

using two sets to measure something; should give the same results because interchangeability of indicators

Question 24

established measures

Answer 24

getting information from people is to use measures that have proved their reliability in previous research

Question 25

validity

Answer 25

the extent to which an empirical measure adequately reflects the real meaning of the concept under consideration; are we actually measuring what we say we are measuring: face-, criterion-related -, construct-, content validity

Question 26

face validity

Answer 26

that quality of an indicator that makes it seem a reasonable measure of some variable (the frequency of going to church is a reasonable indicator of religiosity)

Question 27

criterion-related validity

Answer 27

predictive validity; the degree to which a measure relates to some external criterion (drivers’ license test is determined by the scores people get and the subsequent driving records, driving records is the criteria)

Question 28

construct validity

Answer 28

the degree to which a measure relates to other variables (construct) as expected within a system of theoretical relationships (logical relationships)

Question 29

content validity

Answer 29

the degree to which a measure covers the range of meaning included within a concept

Question 30

“interest in quality newspapers” How many days a week did you read a quality newspaper in 2010?

Answer 30

not reliable, too long ago

Question 31

how many days a week do you read a newspaper

Answer 31

not valid; not perse ‘quality’ newspapers

Question 32

how many hours have you spent reading a quality newspaper yesterday?

Answer 32

not reliable; only one day -> not reading by coincidence?

Question 33

solutions validity

Answer 33

-give definitions
-complex concepts (constructs) -> try to cover all dimensions
-compare to other ‘objective’ evidence

Question 34

solution reliability

Answer 34

-more than one question / observation
-similar circumstances