Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENT

White males, African American females, African

American males between the ages of 18 and 28, or

people with college degrees. Rates for these sub-

groups may be more relevant to the theoretical

definition or research problem. For example, we

believe that unemployment is an experience that

affects an entire household or family and that the

base should be households, not individuals. The rate

will look like this:

number of households

with one

unemployment rate =

unemployed person

total number

of households

Different conceptualizations suggest different bases
and different ways to standardize. When combining
several items into an index, it is best to standardize
items on a common base (see Example Box 4, Stan-
dardization and the Real Winners at the 2000
Olympics).

Scales

We often use scales when we want to measure how
an individual feels or thinks about something. Some
call this the hardness or potency of feelings. Scales
also help in the conceptualization and operational-
ization processes. For example, you believe a single
ideological dimension underlies people’s judgments
about specific policies (e.g., housing, education, for-
eign affairs). Scaling can help you determine
whether a single construct—for instance, “conser-
vative/liberal ideology”—underlies the positions
that people take on specific policies.

Scaling measures the intensity, direction, level,

or potency of a variable. Graphic rating scalesare

an elementary form of scaling. People indicate a

rating by checking a point on a line that runs from

one extreme to another. This type of scale is easy

to construct and use. It conveys the idea of a con-

tinuum, and assigning numbers helps people think

about quantities. Scales assume that people with

the same subjective feeling mark the graphic scale

at the same place. Figure 7 is an example of a “feel-

ing thermometer” scale that is used to find out how

people feel about various groups in society (e.g., the

National Organization of Women, the Ku Klux

Klan, labor unions, physicians). Political scientists

have used this type of measure in the national elec-

tion study since 1964 to measure attitudes toward

candidates, social groups, and issues.^18

We next look at five commonly used social

science scales: Likert, Thurstone, Borgadus social

distance, semantic differential, and Guttman scale.

Each illustrates a somewhat different logic of

scaling.

1.Likert scaling.You have probably used

Likert scales; they are widely used in survey

research. They were developed in the 1930s by

Rensis Likert to provide an ordinal-level measure of

a person’s attitude.^19 Likert scales are called

summated-ratingor additive scalesbecause a per-

son’s score on the scale is computed by summing the

number of responses he or she gives. Likert scales

usually ask people to indicate whether they agree or

Likert scale A scale often used in survey research in

which people express attitudes or other responses in

terms of ordinal-level categories (e.g., agree, disagree)

that are ranked along a continuum.

Scale A class of quantitative data measures often

used in survey research that captures the intensity, di-

rection, level, or potency of a variable construct along

a continuum; most are at the ordinal level of mea-

surement.

Ver y Warm

Neither Warm nor Cold

Very Cold

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

FIGURE 7 “Feeling Thermometer” Graphic

Rating Scale