Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENT

Clogg and Sawyer (1981) studied U.S. atti-
tudes toward abortion using Guttman scaling. They
examined the different conditions under which
people thought abortion was acceptable (e.g.,
mother’s health in danger, pregnancy resulting from
rape). They discovered that 84.2 percent of re-
sponses fit into a scaled response pattern.

CONCLUSION

This chapter dicussed the principles and processes
of measurement. Central to measurement is how we
conceptualize—or refine and clarify ideas into
conceptual definitions and operationalize concep-
tual variables into specific measures—or develop
procedures that link conceptual definitions to em-
pirical reality. How we approach these processes
varies depending on whether a study is primarily
qualitative or quantitative. In a quantitative study,
we usually adopt a more deductive path, whereas
with a qualitative study, the path is more inductive.
Nonetheless, they share the same goal to establish
an unambiguous connection between abstract ideas
and empirical data.

The chapter also discussed the principles of

reliability and validity. Reliability refers to a

measure’s dependability; validityrefers to its truth-

fulness or the fit between a construct and data. In

both quantitative and qualitative studies, we try to

measure in a consistent way and seek a tight fit

between the abstract ideas and the empirical social

world. In addition, the principles of measurement

are applied in quantitative studies to build indexes

and scales. The chapter also discussed some major

scales in use.

Beyond the core ideas of reliability and valid-

ity, we now know principles of sound measurement:

Create clear definitions for concepts, use multiple

indicators, and, as appropriate, weigh and stan-

dardize the data. These principles hold across all

fields of study (e.g., family, criminology, inequality,

race relations) and across the many research tech-

niques (e.g., experiments, surveys).

As you are probably beginning to realize, a

sound research project involves doing a good job in

each phase of research. Serious mistakes or sloppi-

ness in any one phase can do irreparable damage to

the results, even if the other phases of the research

project were conducted in a flawless manner.

KEY TERMS

bogardus social distance scale
casing
conceptual definition
conceptual hypothesis
conceptualization
concurrent validity
construct validity
content validity
continuous variables
convergent validity
criterion validity
discrete variables
discriminant validity
empirical hypothesis

equivalence reliability

exhaustive attributes

face validity

guttman scaling index

index

interval-level measurement

level of measurement

likert scale

measurement reliability

measurement validity

multiple indicators

mutually exclusive attributes

nominal-level measurement

operational definition

operationalization

ordinal-level measurement

predictive validity

ratio-level measurement

representative reliability

response set

rules of correspondence

scale

semantic differential

stability reliability

standardization

thurstone scaling

unidimensionality