1 / 32

Measurement and Observation

Measurement and Observation. Choices During Operationalization. Researchers make a number of key decisions when deciding how to measure a concept Dimensions and sub-dimensions Range of variation within dimensions Categories to represent range Levels of measurement

ogden
Download Presentation

Measurement and Observation

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Measurement and Observation

  2. Choices During Operationalization • Researchers make a number of key decisions when deciding how to measure a concept • Dimensions and sub-dimensions • Range of variation within dimensions • Categories to represent range • Levels of measurement • Nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio

  3. Operationalization: A deliberative process • Not a simple, linear process • Complicated and fraught with trade-offs • Iterative process with cycles of consideration • Debate over proper measurement is key

  4. Dimensions of the Concept • Creating operational measures forces realization about lack of conceptual clarity • List of possible dimensions may be long • Need to decide which ones are most relevant • Ask which ones are central to the inquiry • Reflect on research hypotheses or theories

  5. Range of Variation • Sense of the upper and lower limits • How much are you willing to combine different people into the same category? • Extremely high and Extremely low may be collapsed • Eg. Income, age, height, etc. • Opposition and support for attitudes • Agreement and disagreement

  6. Variation Between Extremes • Degree of precision • How detailed you need to be in measurement • Eg. Age breaks or Exact age? • Related to purpose of study • Eg. Political Party ID: • Dichotomy: Democrat or Republican • Continuum: 7-point scale w/ “independent-leaner”

  7. Levels of Measurement • Nominal Measures • Ordinal Measures • Interval Measures • Ratio Measures

  8. Nominal Measures • Names for characteristics • Do not Exist along an Explicit continuum • Exhaustive • Mutually Exclusive • Eg. Religious Affiliation • Eg. Place of Birth

  9. Ordinal Measures • Can be logically rank-ordered • Represent relatively more of less of variable • No consistent distance between points of measurement • Not just different from one another • More of less of some attribute • Eg. “Not very important,” “fairly important,” “very important” “Extremely important”

  10. Interval Measures • Consistent distance separating attribute • We can say how much more of an attribute • Logical distance between attributes can be Expressed in meaningful standard intervals • Eg. Temperature • 90 degrees vs. 80 degrees = 10 degree difference • 50 degrees vs. 40 degrees = 10 degree difference • Zero-point is arbitrary

  11. Ratio Measures • In addition to all the properties of nominal, ordinal, and interval measures, ratio measures have a true zero point • Eg. Length of time • Eg. Number of times • Eg. Number of affiliations • Can actually state ratio of one to another • X has twice as many affiliations as Y

  12. What’s that scale? • Style of music in a music video • Number of violent acts in a music video • Whether a music video has violence or not? • High, Medium or Low violence in a music video • Hair color • Number of hairs on your head • Sat scores • Social Security Number

  13. What’s that scale? • A baseball player's batting average • A baseball player's field position • A baseball player's position in the batting order • A baseball player's uniform number • College football rankings • IQ

  14. Types of questions • Multiple choice questions • Agree/disagree questions • Likert questions • Frequency scales • Semantic differential scales • Forced-choice statement pairs • Thermometer feeling scales • Nominal checklists • Ordinal categories • Rank-order questions • Filter questions • Open-ended

  15. Multiple Choice Question

  16. Multiple Choice with Range Options

  17. Agree/Disagree Questions

  18. Likert Scale

  19. Frequency Scale

  20. Semantic Differential Scales

  21. Forced-choice Statement Pairs

  22. Thermometer Feeling Scales

  23. Nominal Checklist

  24. Ordinal Categories

  25. Rank-order Preference Questions

  26. Rank-order Evaluation Questions

  27. Filter Questions

  28. Open-ended Questions

  29. Tips on Question Construction • 1. Make questions clear using simple language • 2. Keep questions concise • 3. Provide instructions for answering questions • Don’t assume respondent knows question style • 4. Keep research purpose in mind • Make sure items can answer research question • 5. Don’t ask double-barreled questions • E.g., “How well do you think the current Presidential Administration is handling foreign policy and the war on terrorism?”

  30. More Tips • 6. Avoid leading questions • E.g., “Like most Americans, do you read a newspaper every day?” • 7. Avoid negative questions • E.g., “The U.S. should not invade Iraq” Agree or disagree? • 8. Do not ask questions that require complicated mental calculus • E.g., “In the past 30 days, how many hours have you spent watching television with your family?” • 9. Keep ordering of questions in mind

  31. Using Pre-Existing Measures • It is okay to borrow measures • Cite source of questions to give credit • Benefits of using Existing measures: • Saves work • Pre-tested for reliability/validity • Research becomes cumulative

  32. Pretesting • Clarity in question wording • Are categories: • Exhaustive? • Mutually Exclusive? • Realistic time estimate • Preliminary empirical analysis

More Related