Week 6 - Quantitative and qualitative measurement

Question 1

why measure?

Answer 1

• Measurement also extends our senses. The astronomer or biologist uses the telescope or the microscope to extend natural vision.
• In contrast to our senses, scientific measurement is more sensitive, varies less with the specific observer, and yields more exact information.

Question 2

5 reasons to measure

Answer 2

1. Social measures provide information about social reality.
2. Measurement helps people observe what is otherwise invisible.
3. It lets us observe things that were once unseen and unknown but were predicted by theory.
4. Some of the things a social researcher is interested in measuring are easy to see (e.g., age, sex, skin colour), but most cannot be directly observed (e.g., attitudes, ideology, divorce rates, deviance, sex roles).
5. Things that are easy to see are open to interpretation

Question 3

One different between quant and qual is…

Answer 3

-One difference between the two styles involves timing: quantitative researchers think about variables and convert them into specific actions during a planning stage. Measurement for qualitative researchers occurs during the data collection process

Question 4

The second difference is..

Answer 4

-A second difference involves the data themselves: quantitative researchers develop techniques that can produce quantitative data. Thus, the researcher moves from abstract ideas to specific data collection techniques to precise numerical information. Data for qualitative researchers sometimes are in the form of numbers; more often, they include written or spoken words, actions, sounds, symbols, physical objects, or visual images (e.g., maps, photographs, videos).

Question 5

A third difference is…

Answer 5

-A third difference is how measurements link data to concepts in the two styles of research. Quantitative researchers construct measurement techniques that bridge concepts and data. Qualitative researchers reexamines and reflects on the data and concepts simultaneously and interactively during the research process.

Question 6

Quantitative researchers follow…

Answer 6

-a deductive route. They begin with the abstract idea, follow with a measurement procedure, and end with empirical data that represent the ideas

Question 7

Qualitative researchers follow…

Answer 7

-Qualitative researchers primarily follow an inductive route. They begin with empirical data, follow with abstract ideas, relate ideas and data, and end with a mixture of ideas and data

Question 8

Conceptualization

Answer 8

-is the process of developing clear, rigorous, systematic conceptual definitions for abstract ideas or concepts.

• The main point is that conceptualization requires that you become very clear and state what you mean explicitly for others to see.
• conceptual definition is a careful, systematic definition of a construct that is explicitly written to clarify one’s thinking. It is often linked to other concepts or theoretical statements

Question 9

Operationalization

Answer 9

• Operationalization is the process of moving from the conceptual definition of a concept to a set of specific activities or measures that allow a researcher to observe it empirically
• Operational definition: The definition of a variable in terms of the specific activities to measure or indicate it with empirical evidence.
• Operationalization links the language of theory with the language of empirical measures.

Question 10

The three levels to consider (in order) for the measurement process for quantitative research

Answer 10

1. conceptual
2. operational
3. empirical

Question 11

Conceptual hypothesis

Answer 11

-At the most abstract level, the researcher is interested in the causal relationship between two concepts, or a conceptual hypothesis

Question 12

Conceptual hypothesis

Answer 12

-At the most abstract level, the researcher is interested in the causal relationship between two concepts, or a conceptual hypothesis

Question 13

Empirical hypothesis

Answer 13

-At the level of operational definitions, the researcher is interested in testing an empirical hypothesis to determine the degree of association between indicators.

Question 14

The third level

Answer 14

-This is the level at which correlations, statistics, questionnaires, and the like are used. The third level is the concrete logically linked to a concept (e.g., racial discrimination), they will capture what happens in the empirical social world and relate it to the conceptual level.

Question 15

Quantitative conceptual hypothesis

Answer 15

-is a type of hypothesis in which the researcher expresses variables in abstract, conceptual terms and expresses the relationship among variables in a theoretical way

Question 16

Quantitative empirical hypothesis

Answer 16

-a type of hypothesis in which the researcher expresses variables in specific terms and expresses the association among the measured indicators of observable, empirical evidence

Question 17

Qualitative conceptualization

Answer 17

• a process of forming coherent theoretical definitions as the researcher struggles to make sense of or organize the data and his or her preliminary ideas.
• As the researcher gathers and analyzes qualitative data, he or she develops new concepts, formulates definitions for the concepts, and considers relationships among the concepts. Eventually, he or she links concepts to one another to create theoretical relationships that may or may not be causal
• Qualitative researchers form the concepts as they examine their qualitative data (i.e., field notes, photos and maps, historical documents). Often, this involves a researcher asking theoretical questions about the data.

Question 18

Reliability

Answer 18

-dependability or consistency. It suggests that the same thing will be repeated or recur under identical or very similar conditions. The opposite of reliability is a measurement that yields erratic, unstable, or inconsistent results

Question 19

Validity

Answer 19

-meaning “truth” that can be applied to the logical tightness of experimental design, the ability to generalize findings outside a study, the quality of measurement, and the proper use of procedures.

Question 20

Reliability in quantitative research

Answer 20

-It means that the numerical results produced by an indicator do not vary because of characteristics of the measurement process or measurement instrument itself.

Question 21

Four ways to increase the reliability of measures

Answer 21

1. clear conceptualization: means developing unambiguous, clear theoretical definitions;
2. use a precise level of measurement: more precise levels of measurement are more likely to be reliable than less precise measures because the latter pick up less detailed information.
3. use multiple indicators: two (or more) indicators of the same concept are better than one.
4. use pilot tests, use Pretests, and replication: develop one or more draft or preliminary versions of a measure, and try them before applying the final version in a hypothesis-testing situation.

Question 22

Validity in quantitative research

Answer 22

• when a researcher says an indicator is valid, it is valid for a particular purpose and definition. The same indicator can be valid for one purpose (i.e., a research question with units of analysis and universe) but less valid for others.
• Measurement validity refers to how well an empirical indicator and the conceptual definition of the concept that the indicator is supposed to measure “fit” together.

Question 23

Types of measurement validity

Answer 23

-Face validity: A type of measurement validity in which an indicator “makes sense” as a measure of a construct in the judgment of others, especially those in the scientific community.
(in the judgment of others)
-Content Validity: is a special type of face validity. It addresses the question, “Is the full content of a definition represented in a measure?”. (feminism)
(captures the entire meaning)
-Criterion validity: measurement validity that relies on some independent, outside verification
(agrees with an external source)
-Concurrent validity: Measurement validity that relies on a pre-existing and already accepted measure to verify the indicator of a concept.
(agrees with a pre-existing measure)
-predictive validity: Measurement validity that relies on the occurrence of a future event or behaviour that is logically consistent to verify the indicator of a concept.
(agrees with future behavior)

Question 24

Reliability in qualitative research

Answer 24

• Reliability means dependability or consistency.
• Qualitative researchers use a variety of techniques (e.g., interviews, participation, photographs, document studies) to record their observations consistently.
• Qualitative researchers want to be consistent (i.e., not vacillating and erratic

Question 25

Validity in qualitative research

Answer 25

• Validity means truthfulness. It refers to the bridge between a concept and the data.
• Qualitative researchers are more interested in authenticity than validity.
• Authenticity means giving a fair, honest, and balanced account of social life from the viewpoint of someone who lives it every day
• Qualitative researchers have developed several methods that serve as substitutes
• For the quantitative approach to validity. These emphasize conveying the insider’s view to others.

Question 26

The relationship between reliability and validity

Answer 26

• Reliability is necessary for validity and is easier to achieve than validity. Although reliability is necessary to have a valid measure of a concept, it does not guarantee that a measure will be valid; it is not a sufficient condition for validity.
• Validity and reliability are usually complementary concepts.
• A measure can be reliable but invalid. For example, you can get on a scale and get weighed. The weight registered by the scale is the same each time you get on and off. But then you go to another scale—an “official” one that measures true weight—and it says your weight is twice as much as the original scale reported

Question 27

Levels of measurement (Quantitative measurement)

Answer 27

• a system that organizes the information in the measurement of variables into four general levels, from the nominal level to the ratio level
• The level of measurement affects the kinds of indicators chosen and is tied to basic assumptions in a concept’s definition

Question 28

Continuous variable (Quantitative)

Answer 28

• measured on a continuum in which an infinite number of finer gradations between variable attributes are possible
• age, time, year, etc.

Question 29

Discrete variables (Quantitative)

Answer 29

• variables in which the attributes can be measured only with a limited number of distinct, separate categories
• height, friends, etc.

Question 30

Nominal measures

Answer 30

• the lowest, least precise level of measurement for which there is only a difference in type among the categories of a variable.
• example; red hair, short people, blue eyes, etc.

Question 31

Ordinal measures

Answer 31

• a level of measurement that identifies a difference among categories of a variable and allows the categories to be rank ordered.
• example; opinions on religion, strength in math, etc.

Question 32

Interval measures

Answer 32

• a level of measurement that identifies differences among variable attributes, ranks, and categories and that measures distance between categories, but there is no true zero
• example; temperature, credit score, pH, etc.

Question 33

ratio measures

Answer 33

• the highest, most precise level of measurement for which variable attributes can be rank ordered, the distance between the attributes precisely measured, and an absolute zero exists.
• example; weight, length, age, money, etc.

Question 34

A scale

Answer 34

• a measure in which a researcher captures the intensity, direction, level, or potency of a variable construct. It arranges responses or observations on a continuum.
• A scale can use a single indicator or multiple indicators. Most are at the ordinal level of measurement.

Question 35

Likert scale

Answer 35

-a scale often used in survey research in which people express attitudes or other responses in terms of several ordinal-level categories (e.g., strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree) that are ranked along a continuum

Question 36

An index

Answer 36

• a measure in which a researcher adds or combines several distinct indicators of a construct into a single score.
• This composite score is often a simple sum of the multiple indicators. Indices are often measured at the interval or ratio level.

Question 37

Rates

Answer 37

-involve standardizing the value of an item to make comparisons possible and meaningful

Question 38

Standardization

Answer 38

• Standardization involves selecting a base and dividing a raw measure by the base.
• For example, City A had 10 murders and City B had 30 murders in the same year. In order to compare murders in the two cities, the raw number of murders needs to be standardized by the city’s population
• Standardization: the procedure to statistically adjust measures to permit making an honest comparison by giving a common basis to measures of different units.