Research Methods –STA630 VU

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Lesson 15
MEASUREMENT OF CONCEPTS
In everyday usage, measurement occurs when an established yardstick verifies the height, weight, or
another feature of a physical object. How well you like a song, a painting, or the personality of a
friend is also measurement. In a dictionary sense, to measure is to discover the extent, dimensions,
quantity, or capacity of something, especially by comparison with a standard. We measure casually in
daily life, but in research the requirements for measurement are rigorous.

Certain things lend themselves to easy measurement through the use of appropriate instruments, as for
example, physiological phenomena pertaining to human beings such as blood pressure, pulse rates,
and body temperature, as well as certain physical attributes such as height and weight. But when we
get into the realm of people’s subjective feelings, attitudes, ideology, deviance, and perceptions, the
measurement of these factors or variables becomes difficult. Like the natural scientist who invents
indirect measures of the “invisible” objects and forces of the physical world (magnetism – the force
that moves a metal toward the magnet), the social researcher devises measures for difficult-to-observe
aspects of the social world. For example, suppose you heard a principal complain about teacher
morale in a school. Teacher morale is an empirical reality, and we can create some instrument for its
measurement.

Measurement in Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Both qualitative and quantitative researchers use careful, systematic methods to gather high quality
data. Yet, differences in the styles of research and the types of data mean they approach the
measurement process differently. Designing precise ways to measure variables is a vital step in
planning a study for quantitative researchers. Qualitative researchers use wider variety of techniques
to measure and create new measures while collecting data. The two approaches to measurement have
three distinctions.

One difference between the two styles involves timing. Quantitative researchers extensively think
about variables and convert them into specific actions during a planning stage that occurs before and
separate from gathering or analyzing data. Measurement for qualitative researchers occurs in the data
collection process, and only a little occurs in a separate, planning stage prior to data gathering.

A second difference involves the data itself. Quantitative researchers want to develop techniques that
can produce quantitative data (i.e. data in the form of numbers). Thus, the researcher moves from
abstract ideas, or variables, to specific data collection techniques to precise numerical information
produced by the techniques. The numerical information is an empirical representation of the abstract
ideas. Data for qualitative researchers sometimes is in the form of numbers; more often it includes
written or spoken word, actions, sounds, symbols, physical objects, or visual images. The qualitative
researcher does not convert all observations into a single, common medium such as numbers. Instead
he or she develops many flexible, ongoing processes to measure that leaves the data in various shapes,
sizes, and forms.

All researchers combine ideas and data to analyze the social world. In both research styles, data are
empirical representation of concepts, and measurement is a process that links data to concepts.

A third difference is how the two styles make such linkages. Quantitative researchers contemplate
and reflect on concepts before they gather data. They construct measurement techniques that bridge
concepts and data. The measurement techniques define what the data will be and are directions for
gathering data.

Qualitative researchers also reflect on ideas before data collection, but they develop many, if not
most, of their concepts during data collection activities. Researchers start gathering data and creating

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Research Methods –STA630 VU

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ways to measure based what they encounter. As they gather data, they reflect on the process and
develop new ideas. The ideas give them direction and suggest new ways to measure.

Here we shall focus on quantitative measurement. Here measurement consists of assigning numbers
to empirical events in compliance with set rules. This definition implies that measurement is a three-
part process:

1. Selecting observable empirical events.

2. Developing a set of mapping rules: a scheme for assigning numbers or symbols to represent
aspects of the event being measured.
3. Applying the mapping rule(s) to each observation of that event.

Assume you are studying people who attend an auto show where all new models are on display
introduced in a specific year. You are interested in learning the male-to female ratio among attendees.
You observe those who enter the show area. If a person is female, you record an F; if male, an M.
Any other symbols such as 0 and 1 may also be used if you know what group the symbol identifies.

Researchers might also want to measure the desirability of the styling of the new Espace van. They
interview a sample of visitors and assign, with a different mapping rule, their opinions to the
following scale:

What is your opinion of the styling of the Espace van?

Very desirable 5_______4_______3_______2________1 Very undesirable

We can assign a weightage (score) like:

5 if it is very desirable

4 if desirable

3 if neither

2 if undesirable

1 if very undesirable.

All measurement theorists would call such opinion rating scale as a form of measurement.

What is measured?

Variable being studied in research may be classified as objects or as properties. Objects include the
things of ordinary experience, such as tables, people, books, and automobiles. Objects also include
things that are not as concrete, such as genes, attitudes, neutrons, and peer group pressures.
Properties are the characteristics of the objects. A person’s physical properties may be stated in
terms of weight, height, and posture. Psychological properties include attitudes, intelligence,
motivation, perceptions, etc. Social properties include leadership ability, class affiliation, or status.
These and many other properties of an individual can be measured in a research study.

In a literal sense, researchers do not measure either objects or properties. They measure indicants of
the properties or indicants of the properties of the objects. The properties like age, years of
experience, and the number of calls made per week are easier to indicate and there is expected to be
lot of agreement.

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Research Methods –STA630 VU

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In contrast, it is not easy to measure properties like “motivation,” “ability to stand stress,” “problem-
solving ability,” and “persuasiveness.” Since each property cannot be measured directly, one must
infer its presence or absence by observing some indicant or pointer measurement. When you begin to
make these inferences, there is often disagreement about how to operationalize the indicants.

The preceding discussion suggests two types of variables: one lends itself to objective and precise
measurement; the other is more vague and does not lend itself to accurate measurement because of its
subjective nature. However, despite the lack of physical measuring devices to measure the latter type,
there are ways to tapping the subjective feelings and perceptions of individuals. One technique is to
reduce the abstract notions, or concepts such as motivation, involvement, satisfaction, buyer behavior,
stock market exuberance, and the like, to observable behavior and characteristics. In other words, the
abstract notions are broken down into observable characteristic behavior. Reducing the abstract
concepts to render them measurable in a tangible way is called operationalizing the concepts.

Parts of the Measurement Process

When a researcher measures, he or she takes a concept, idea, or construct and develops a measure (i.e.
a technique, a process, a procedure) by which he or she can observe the idea empirically. Quantitative
researchers primarily follow a deductive route. To begin with the abstract idea, follow with a
measurement procedure, and end with empirical data that represent the ideas. Qualitative researchers
primarily follow inductive route. They begin with empirical data, follow with abstract ideas, follow
with processes relating with ideas and data, and end with a mixture of ideas and data.

Researchers use two processes: conceptualization and operationalization in measurement.

a. Conceptualization
Conceptualization is the process of taking a construct and refining it by giving it a conceptual or
theoretical definition. A conceptual definition is definition in abstract, theoretical terms. It refers to
other ideas or constructs. There is no magical way to turn a construct into a precise conceptual
definition. It involves thinking carefully, observing directly, consulting with others, reading what
others have said, and trying possible definitions.

A good definition has one clear, explicit, and specific meaning. There is no ambiguity or vagueness
in the concepts (e.g. street gang, morale, motivation, social class, consumer satisfaction). A single
construct can have several definitions, and people may disagree over definitions. Conceptual
definitions are linked to theoretical frameworks and to value positions. For example, a conflict
theorist may define social class as the power and property a group of people in society has or lacks.
A structural functionalist defines it in terms of individuals who share a social status, life-style, or
subjective identification. Although people disagree over definitions, the researcher should always
state explicitly which definition he or she is using.

Before you can measure, you need a concept. You also need to distinguish what you are interested in
from other things. The idea that you first need a construct or concept of what is to be measured
simply makes sense. How can you observe or measure something unless you know what you are
looking for? For example, we want to measure teacher morale. We first define teacher morale. What
does the construct morale mean? As a variable construct, it takes on different values – high versus
low or good versus bad morale. Next we create a measure of this construct. This could take the form
of survey questions, an examination of school records, or observations of teachers. Also we
distinguish morale from other things in the answers to survey questions, school records, or
observations.

How can we develop a conceptual definition of teacher morale, or at least a tentative working
definition to get started? Look in the everyday understanding of morale – something vague like “how
people feel about things.” Also look in the dictionary, which gives definitions like “confidence, spirit,
zeal, cheerfulness, esprit de corps, and mental condition towards something.” Look into the review of

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literature and see how other researchers have defined this concept. In this effort we collect various
definitions, parts of definitions, and related ideas, whereby we draw the boundaries of the core idea.

We find that most of these definitions say that morale is a spirit, feeling, or mental condition toward
something, or a group feeling. But we are interested in teacher morale. We can ask teachers to
specify as what does this construct mean to them? One strategy is to make a list of examples of high
or low teacher morale. High teacher morale includes saying positive things about the school, not
complaining about extra-work or enjoying being with students. Low morale includes complaining a
lot, not attending school events unless required to, or looking for other jobs.

Morale involves a feeling toward something else; a person has morale with regard to something. A
list of various “somethings” toward which teachers have feelings (e.g. students, parents, pay, the
school administration, other teachers, the profession of teaching). Are there several kinds of teacher
morale or all these “somethings” aspects of one construct? We have to decide whether morale means
a single, general feeling with different parts or dimensions, or several distinct feelings.

What unit of analysis does our construct apply to: a group or an individual? Is morale a characteristic
of an individual, of a group, or of both?

A researcher must distinguish the construct of interest from related constructs. How is our construct
of teacher morale similar to or different from related concepts? For example, does morale differ from
mood? We decide that mood is more individual and temporary than morale. Morale is a group feeling
that includes positive or negative feelings about the future as well as other beliefs and feelings.

Who is a teacher? We have to decide.

b. Operationalization
Operationalization is the process of linking the conceptual definition to a specific set of measurement
techniques or procedures. It links the language of theory with the language of empirical measures.
Theory is full of abstract concepts, assumptions, relationships, definitions, and causality. Empirical
measures describe how people concretely measure specific variables. They refer to specific
operations or things people use to indicate the presence of a construct that exists in observable reality.
Operationalization is done by looking at the behavioral dimensions, facets, or properties denoted by
the concept. These are then translated into observable elements so as to develop an index of
measurement of the concept. Operationally defining a concept involves a series of steps.

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