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Conceptualization, Operationalization, and Measurement: Operationalization

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Title: Conceptualization, Operationalization, and Measurement: Operationalization


1
Conceptualization, Operationalization, and
MeasurementOperationalization
  • October 20, 2004
  • Sociology 487

2
Lecture Topics
  • Connection between conceptualization and
    operationalization
  • What is operationalization?
  • Operationalization, variables, and indicators

3
From Concept to Measurement
  • Progression from sense of what a term means to
    measurement in a scientific study
  • Conceptualization
  • Nominal Definition
  • Operational Definition
  • Measurements in the Real World

4
Conceptualization in Practice
  • What observations or images should we associate
    with the concept player quality?

5
The Concept of Player Quality Specific
Measurement Ideas
  • Concept
  • Player Quality
  • Variables
  • Home Runs
  • RBIs
  • Hits
  • Batting Average

6
From Concepts to Observations
  • Operationalization is the process of connecting
    concepts to observations
  • When we conceptualize, we specify what we mean by
    a term
  • When we operationalize, we identify specific
    observations that we will take to indicate that
    concept in empirical reality

7
So how would we operationalize player quality?
  • Home runs
  • Operationalized as number of home runs
  • Batting average -
  • operationalized as of times at bat with a hit,
    minus walks, being hit by pitcher
  • Fielding
  • Operationalized as number of errors
  • What is the problem with our operational
    definitions?

8
Conceptualization in practice
  • What observations or images should we associate
    with the concept pet therapy?
  • Pets helping patients through the healing
    process?
  • Pets getting acupuncture?
  • Pets getting massages?

9
Conceptualization continued
  • Concept Pet Therapy
  • Nominal Definition Pets helping patients in the
    Healing Process
  • To come up with an operational definition, we
    need to specify what we mean by helped in the
    healing process
  • shorter hospital stays?
  • normal heart rates and blood pressures?
  • increased morale?
  • all of the above?

10
So how would we operationalize the hypothesized
effects of pet therapy?
  • Shorter hospital stays
  • operationalized as days spent in the hospital
  • Normal heart rates and blood pressures
  • operationalized in beats per minute and
    diastolic and systolic pressures.
  • Increased morale
  • operationalized by asking patients a series of
    questions about their attitude, current outlook,
    emotions.

11
Variables and Indicators
  • Variables
  • Some aspect of a concept that varies from which
    we select more concrete indicators
  • Example
  • Concept Social Class
  • Variable Education
  • Indicator Years of education
  • Constant
  • Variables that do not vary in a particular
    situation
  • Same-sex schools gender will have only one
    attribute or value

12
Operationalization Choices
  • Range of Variation
  • When should attributes be combined in categories?
  • How should attributes be combined?
  • Examples
  • Income
  • Attitudes / orientations

13
Operationalization Choices
  • Variations between Extremes
  • Degree of precision
  • How finely will you measure attributes of a
    variable?
  • Examples
  • Age
  • Political affiliation
  • Useful guideline when youre not certain about
    what degree of precision in measurement is
    needed, collect more information instead of less
    information

14
Measurement Operations
  • Measurement
  • Process of linking abstract concepts to empirical
    indicants
  • Operation
  • Procedure for identifying or indicating the value
    of cases on a variable
  • Research question determines which variables to
    measure and how to measure them

15
Key Points
  • When we conceptualize, we specify what we mean by
    a term
  • Specify dimensions, variables, and indicators
  • Concepts may be similar to actual variables used
    in a study or they may be more abstract
  • When we operationalize, we specify how variables
    relevant to a concept will be measured
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