Measurement refers to careful, deliberate observations of the real world and is the essence of empirical research. When using nominal level of measurement in research, it is very important to assign the attributes of potential answers very precisely. Based on the four generic types of scales discussed above, we can create specific rating scales for social science research. This method starts with a clear conceptual definition of the construct of interest. The appropriate measure of central tendency of a nominal scale is mode, and neither the mean nor the median can be defined. In this chapter, we will examine the related processes of conceptualization and operationalization for creating measures of such constructs. For instance, there may be certain tribes in the world who lack prejudice and who cannot even imagine what this concept entails. This process is known as measurement. There are 4 levels of measurement in social science research that every good researcher understands. If women earn less than men for the same job, is that gender prejudice? Social Science Research: Principles, Methods and Practices (Revised edition) by Anol Bhattacherjee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. The intelligence quotient (IQ) scale is also an interval scale, because the scale is designed such that the difference between IQ scores 100 and 110 is supposed to be the same as between 110 and 120 (although we do not really know whether that is truly the case). For instance, there may be certain tribes in the world who lack prejudice and who cannot even imagine what this concept entails. Nominal scales, also called categorical scales, measure categorical data. To determine a set of items that best approximates the cumulativeness property, a data analysis technique called scalogram analysis can be used (or this can be done visually if the number of items is small). The previous section discussed how we can measure respondents’ responses to predesigned items or indicators belonging to an underlying construct. Ordinal scales can also use attribute labels (anchors) such as ‘bad, ‘medium’, and ‘good’, or ‘strongly dissatisfied’, ‘somewhat dissatisfied’, ‘neutral’, or ‘somewhat satisfied’, and ‘strongly satisfied’. Third, create a rule or formula for calculating the index score. Operationalisation refers to the process of developing indicators or items for measuring these constructs. Unidimensional constructs are measured using reflective indicators (even though multiple reflective indicators may be used for measuring abstruse constructs such as self-esteem), while multidimensional constructs are measured as a formative combination of the multiple dimensions, even though each of the underlying dimensions may be measured using one or more reflective indicators. If churchgoers believe that non -believers will burn in hell, is that religious prejudice? Multidimensional scales, on the other hand, employ different items or tests to measure each dimension of the construct separately, and then combine the scores on each dimension to create an overall measure of the multidimensional construct. Likert items allow for more granularity (more finely tuned response) than binary items, including whether respondents are neutral to the statement. Should you use a scale, index, or typology? As noted in a previous chapter, variables may be independent, dependent, mediating, or moderating, depending on how they are employed in a research study. The basis for scalogram analysis. Hair color is an example of a nominal level of measurement. The statistical properties of these scales are shown in Table 6.1. Note that many variables in social science research are qualitative, even when represented in a quantitative manner. Permissible statistical analyses include all of those allowed for nominal and ordinal scales, plus correlation, regression, analysis of variance, and so on. However, there may be a few exceptions, as shown in Table 6.6, and hence the scale is not entirely cumulative. For each item, compute the median and inter-quartile range (the difference between the 75th and the 25th percentile—a measure of dispersion), which are plotted on a histogram, as shown in Figure 6.1. For instance, if an unobservable theoretical construct such as socioeconomic status is defined as the level of family income, it can be operationalised using an indicator that asks respondents the question: what is your annual family income? Likert scales are ordinal scales because the anchors are not necessarily equidistant, even though sometimes we treat them like interval scales. One important decision in conceptualising constructs is specifying whether they are unidimensional or multidimensional. Given the high level of subjectivity and imprecision inherent in social science constructs, we tend to measure most of those constructs (except a few demographic constructs such as age, gender, education, and income) using multiple indicators. Monotonically increasing transformation (which retains the ranking) is allowed. Knowledge of social research is useful for interpreting and weighing such reports. However, researchers sometimes wish to summarise measures of two or more constructs to create a set of categories or types called a typology. Likewise, a customer satisfaction scale may be constructed to represent five attributes: “strongly dissatisfied”, “somewhat dissatisfied”, “neutral”, “somewhat satisfied” and “strongly satisfied”. Designed by Guttman (1950),[4] the cumulative scaling method is based on Emory Bogardus’ social distance technique, which assumes that people’s willingness to participate in social relations with other people vary in degrees of intensity, and measures that intensity using a list of items arranged from ‘least intense’ to ‘most intense’. This can be done by grouping items with a common median, and then selecting the item with the smallest inter-quartile range within each median group. But how do we create the indicators themselves? Likert scales are summated scales, that is, the overall scale score may be a summation of the attribute values of each item as selected by a respondent. For instance, a ‘gender’ variable may have two attributes: male or female. Other less common scales are not discussed here. Multi-dimensional scales, on the other hand, employ different items or tests to measure each dimension of the construct separately, and then combine the scores on each dimension to create an overall measure of the multidimensional construct. Note that many variables in social science research are qualitative, even when represented in a quantitative manner. are equidistant from each other. If someone says bad things about other racial groups, is that racial prejudice? Notice that the scale is now almost cumulative when read crosswise from left to right . The process of regarding mental constructs as real is called reification, which is central to defining constructs and identifying measurable variables for measuring them. The Tests and Measures in the Social Sciences (TMSS) is an index to tests and measurement tools used in psychology, sociology, health, marketing, management, and so on, that may be found in one or more reference resources. Should you use an odd or even number of attributes (i.e., do you wish to have neutral or mid-point value)? Some argue that the sophistication of the scaling methodology makes scales different from indexes, while others suggest that indexing methodology can be equally sophisticated. Likert scale. Designed by Louis Guttman, this composite scale uses a series of items arranged in increasing order of intensity of the construct of interest, from least intense to most intense. Researchers should be able to generalize results, so conclusions drawn from one particular study can be applied to similar situations. Science refers to a systematic and organized body of knowledge in any area of inquiry that is acquired using “the scientific method” (the scientific method is described further below). The combination of indicators at the empirical level representing a given construct is called a variable. Kaplan identified three categories of things that social scientists measure including observational terms, indirect observables, and constructs. For example, if religiosity is defined as a construct that measures how religious a person is, then attending religious services may be a reflective indicator of religiosity. Finally, what procedure would you use to generate the scale items (e.g., Thurstone, Likert, or Guttman method) or index components? Common rating scales include binary, Likert, semantic differential, or Guttman scales. The Likert method, a unidimensional scaling method developed by Murphy and Likert (1938),[3] is quite possibly the most popular of the three scaling approaches described in this chapter. In S. A. Stouer, L. A. Guttman & E. A. Schuman (Eds. This matrix is sorted in decreasing order from judges with more “yes” at the top to those with fewer “yes” at the bottom. are equidistant from each other. 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