QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENTand it persists for a period of months. I have a much
more specific mental picture of what I want to mea-
sure than when I began. If I had not conceptualized,
I would have tried to measure what I started with:
“how people feel about things.”
Even with all of the conceptualization, some
ambiguity remains. To complete the conceptualiza-
tion process, boundaries are necessary. I must de-
cide exactly what I intend to include and exclude.
For example, what is a teacher? Does a teacher
include guidance counselors, principals, athletic
coaches, and librarians? What about student
teachers or part-time or substitute teachers? Does
the word teachersinclude everyone who teaches for
a living, even if someone is not employed by a
school (e.g., a corporate trainer, an on-the-job su-
pervisor who instructs an apprentice, a hospital
physician who trains residents)? Even if I restrict
my definition to people in schools, what is a school?
It could include a nursery school, a training hospi-
tal, a university’s Ph.D. program, a for-profit busi-
ness that prepares people to take standardized tests,
a dog obedience school, a summer camp that
teaches students to play basketball, and a vocational
school that teaches how to drive semitrailer trucks.
Some people assume teachermeans a full-
time, professionally trained employee of a school
teaching grades 1 through 12 who spends most of
the day in a classroom with students. Others use a
legal or official government definition that could in-
clude people certified to teach, even if they are not
in classrooms. It excludes people who are uncerti-
fied, even if they are working in classrooms with
students. The central point is that conceptualization
requires me to be very clear in my own thinking. I
must know exactly what I mean by teachersand
moralebefore I can begin to measure. I must state
what I think in very clear and explicit terms that
other people can understand.
Operationalizationlinks a conceptual defi-
nition to a set of measurement techniques or proce-
dures, the construct’s operational definition(i.e.,
a definition in terms of the specific operations or ac-
tions). An operational definition could be a survey
questionnaire, a method of observing events in a
field setting, a way to measure symbolic content
in the mass media, or any process that reflects,
documents, or represents the abstract construct as it
is expressed in the conceptual definition.
We often can measure a construct in several
ways; some are better and more practical than other
ways. The key point is that we must fit the measure
to the specific conceptual definition by working
with all practical constraints within which we must
operate (e.g., time, money, available participants).
We can develop a new measure from scratch or use
one that other researchers are using (see Expansion
Box 1, Five Suggestions for Coming Up with a
Measure).Operationalization The process of moving from
a construct’s conceptual definition to specific activities
or measures that allow a researcher to observe it
empirically.
Operational definition A variable in terms of the
specific actions to measure or indicate it in the empir-
ical world.EXPANSION BOX 1
Five Suggestions for Coming Up with
a Measure- Remember the conceptual definition.The underly-
ing principle for any measure is to match it to the
specific conceptual definition of the construct that
will be used in the study.
2.Keep an open mind.Do not get locked into a single
measure or type of measure. Be creative and con-
stantly look for better measures. Avoid what Kaplan
(1964:28) called the “law of the instrument,” which
means being locked into using one measurement in-
strument for all problems.
3.Borrow from others.Do not be afraid to borrow
from other researchers, as long as credit is given.
Good ideas for measures can be found in other stud-
ies or modified from other measures.
4.Anticipate difficulties.Logical and practical prob-
lems often arise when trying to measure variables of
interest. Sometimes a problem can be anticipated
and avoided with careful forethought and planning.
5.Do not forget your units of analysis.Your measure
should fit with the units of analysis of the study and
permit you to generalize to the universe of interest.