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Operationalization, and
Real, nominal, and operational definitions
Creating conceptual order
Definitions in descriptive and explanatory studies
1
What are nominal, and operational What are dimensions and
definitions? indicators?
Nominal - assigned to a term without a claim Complicated concepts have dimensions and indicators
that the definition represents a "real" entity. Dimensions are specific aspects of a concept.
Indicators are groups by dimensions.
Operational definitions - Specifies how a The end product of conceptualization is the
concept will be measured. specification of a set of indicators of what we have in
mind, indicating the presence or absence of the
concept
The Interchangeability of Indicators
If several different indicators all represent the same
concept, then all of them will behave the same way that the
concept would behave
2
Dimension 4: Quality, 5 indicators
Are definitions more important in
I am willing to spend more to get the very best. descriptive or explanatory studies?
I buy top-
top-of-
of-the-
the-line products.
Definitions are more important in descriptive studies
I buy name brand products.
For example, if one is interested in describing the
I pay more for some things because I know I have to in
percentage of people who are conservative in Utah,
order to get the best. different definitions of conservativeness would lead to
I buy the most expensive items available. different conclusions.
However, if one is interested in explaining whether there is
a relationship between age and conservativeness, one could
usually find a positive correlation between these two with
different measures of conservativeness.
3
Sample Questions from the National
Another example of a nominal measure
Survey of Families and Households Which of the groups on this card best describes you?
(NSFH)
01-
01-Black (11.09%)
02-
02-White-
White-not of Hispanic origin (79.99%)
Example of a nominal measure: 03-
03-Mexican American, Chicano, Mexicano (4.28%)
04-
04-Puerto Rican (1.13%)
Now lets talk about your full-
full-time and part-
part-time work
05-
05-Cuban (0.43%)
experience. Are you currently working for pay in any job? 06-
06-Other Hispanic (1.31%)
1- Yes (63.47%) 07-
07-American Indian (0.43%)
2- No (35.76%) 08-
08-Asian (1.15%)
6- Inapplicable (currently in Armed Forces) (0.55%) 09-
09-Other (0.01%)
9- No answer (0.22%)
97-
97-Refused (0.02%)
99-
99-No answer (0.16%)
00 (20.73%)
01-
01-very unhappy (1.18%)
02 (0.89%) 01 (62.93%)
03 (1.09%) 02 (13.30%)
04 (4.21%) 03 (2.44%)
05 (7.26%) 04 (0.45%)
06 (16.84%)
05 (0.09%)
07-
07-very happy (26.56%)
06 (0.02%)
96-
96-Inapplicable (40.13%) 07 (0.01%)
98-
98-Dont know (0.00%)
99-
99-No answer (1.84%)
99-
99-No answer (0.03%)
4
An Overall Example of
Reliability and Validity Conceptualization and
General reliability
The degree to which a measurement is consistent and reproducible
Operationalization
Tests for checking reliability
Test-
Test-retest method - take the same measurement more than once. Step 1. Determine dimension(s) of the concept you
Split-
Split-half method - make more than one measurement of a social want to study by looking at your topic
concept (prejudice). Example: The impact of communication on depression. The
Use established measures. concept of depression of interest is severity of depression.
Check reliability of research-
research-workers. Other dimensions could be Peoples belief of whether
depression is caused by chemical imbalance or by
General validity psychological problems?
The extent to which a procedure measures what it is intended to In this case, only one dimension is studied. Thus only one
measure variable is usually needed.
Tension between reliability and validity Step 2. Finding out the indicators for the particular
Its trade-
trade-off relationship. Usually if a measurement has high dimension of the concept you want to study
reliability, it tends to have lower validity, and vice versa.