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Measurement of Constructs - Coggle Diagram
Measurement of Constructs
Conceptualization - the mental process by which fuzzy and imprecise constructs (concepts) and their constituent components are defined in concrete and precise terms. One important decision in conceptualizing constructs is specifying whether they are unidimensional or multidimensional.
Unidimensional - constructs that are expected to have a single underlying dimension. They can be measured using a single measure or test.
Multidimensional - constructs that consist of two or more underlying dimensional. Each underlying dimension must be measured separately using different tests.
Measurement - refers to careful, deliberate observations of the real world and is the essence of empirical research.
Levels of Measurement ("rating scales")
- refer to the values that an indicator can take (but says nothing about the indicator itself).
Nominal Scales ("categorical scales") - measure categorical data; used for variables or indicators that have mutually exclusive attributes.
Ordinal Scales - those that measure rank-ordered data, such as the ranking of students in a class as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so forth, based on their grade point average or test scores.
Interval Scales - those where the values measured are not only rank-ordered, but are also equidistant from adjacent attributes.
Ratio Scales - those that have all the qualities of nominal, ordinal, and interval scales, and in addition, also have a "true zero" point.
Binary Scales - nominal scales consisting of binary items that assume one or two possible values, such as yes or no, true or false, and so on.
Likert Scale - a very popular rating scale for measuring ordinal data in social science research.
Semantic Differential Scale - a composite (multi-item) scale where respondents are asked to indicate their opinions or feelings toward a single statement using different pairs of adjectives framed as polar opposites.
Guttman Scale - a composite scale that uses a series of items arranged in increasing order of intensity of the construct of interest, from least intense to most intense.
Reification - the process of regarding mental constructs as real, which is central to defining constructs and identifying measurable variables for measuring them.
Operationalization - refers to the process of developing
indicators
or items for measuring these constructs.
Indicators
operate at the empirical level.
Variable - the combination of indicators at the empirical level representing a given construct. Variables can be independent, dependent, mediating, or moderating, depending on how they are employed in a research study.
Each indicator may have several
attributes
("levels") and each attribute represents a
value
(e.g., gender variable may have 2 attributes: male or female).
Values of attributes may be
quantitative
(numeric) or
qualitative
(non-numeric). Quantitative data can be analyzed using quantitative data analysis techniques, such as regression or structural equation modeling. Qualitative data can be analyzed using qualitative data analysis techniques, such as coding.
Indicators may be
reflective
or
formative
. A
reflective indicator
is a measure that "reflects" an underlying construct. A
formative indicator
is a measure that "forms" or contributes to an underlying construct.
Scale - the outcome of a scaling process which is an empirical structure for measuring items or indicators of a given construct.
Scaling - branch of measurement that involves the construction of measures by associating qualitative judgments about unobservable constructs with quantitative, measurable metric units.
Scaling Methods
: 1). Thurstone's Equal-Appearing Scaling Method; a). method of successive intervals b.) method of paired comparisons; 2). Likert's Summative Scaling Method; 3). Guttman's Cumulative Scaling Method
Indexes - a composite score derived from aggregating measures of multiple constructs (called components) using a set of rules and formulas; measure different dimensions or the same dimension of a single construct (e.g., consumer price index, socio-economic status).
Typologies - summary of measures of 2 or more constructs to create a set of categories or types; are multidimensional, but include only nominal variables.