Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENT

Operationalization connects the language of the-
ory with the language of empirical measures. Theory
has many abstract concepts, assumptions, definitions,
and cause-and-effect relations. By contrast, empiri-
cal measures are very concrete actions in specific,
real situations with actual people and events. Mea-
sures are specific to the operations or actions we
engage in to indicate the presence or absence of a
construct as it exists in concrete, observable reality.

Quantitative Conceptualization
and Operationalization

Quantitative measurement proceeds in a straightfor-
ward sequence: first conceptualization, next opera-
tionalization, and then application of the operational
definition or the collection of data. We must rigor-
ously link abstract ideas to measurement procedures
that can produce precise information in the form of
numbers. One way to do this is with rules of corre-
spondence or an auxiliary theory. The purpose of
the rules is to link the conceptual definitions of
constructs to concrete operations for measuring the
constructs.^4
Rules of correspondenceare logical state-
ments of the way an indicator corresponds to an
abstract construct. For example, a rule of corre-
spondence says that we will accept a person’s ver-
bal agreement with a set of ten specific statements
as evidence that the person strongly holds an anti-
feminist attitude. This auxiliary theory may ex-
plain how and why indicators and constructs
connect. Carmines and Zeller (1979:11) noted,

“The auxiliary theory specifying the relationship

between concepts and indicators is equally impor-

tant to social research as the substantive theory link-

ing concepts to one another.” Perhaps we want to

measure alienation. Our definition of the alienation

has four parts, each in a different sphere of life: fam-

ily relations, work relations, relations with com-

munity, and relations with friends. An auxiliary

theory may specify that certain behaviors or feel-

ings in each sphere of life are solid evidence of

alienation. In the sphere of work, the theory says

that if a person feels a total lack of control over

when, where, and with whom he or she works, what

he or she does when working, or how fast he or she

must work, that person is alienated.

Figure 1 illustrates the measurement process

linking two variables in a theory and a hypothesis.

We must consider three levels: conceptual, opera-

tional, and empirical.^5 At the most abstract level, we

may be interested in the causal relationship between

two constructs, or a conceptual hypothesis. At the

level of operational definitions, we are interested in

testing an empirical hypothesisto determine the

degree of association between indicators. This is the

level at which we consider correlations, statistics,

questionnaires, and the like. The third level is the

empirical reality of the lived social world. As we

link the operational indicators (e.g., questionnaire

items) to a construct (e.g., alienation), we capture

what is taking place in the lived social world and re-

late it back to the conceptual level.

As we measure, we link the three levels to-

gether and move deductively from the abstract to

the concrete. First, we conceptualize a variable,

giving it a clear conceptual definition; next we

operationalize it by developing an operational

definition or set of indicators for it; and lastly, we

apply indicators to collect data and test empirical

hypotheses.

Let us return to the example mentioned earlier.

How do I give my teacher morale construct an op-

erational definition? First, I read the research reports

of others and see whether a good indicator already

exists. If there are no existing indicators, I must in-

vent one from scratch. Morale is a mental state or

feeling, so I measure it indirectly through people’s

words and actions. I might develop a questionnaire

Conceptual hypothesis A type of hypothesis that

expresses variables and the relationships among them

in abstract, conceptual terms.

Rules of correspondence Strandards that re-

searchers use to connect abstract constructs with

measurement operations in empirical social reality.

Empirical hypothesis A type of hypothesis in

which the researcher expresses variables in specific

empirical terms and expresses the association among

the measured indicators in observable, empirical

terms.