Carr Ch. 4

The process of precisely defining ideas and turning them into variables
Click the card to flip 👆
1 / 31
Terms in this set (31)
The process of precisely defining ideas and turning them into variables
conceptualization
The process of linking the conceptualized variables to a set of procedures measuring them
operationalization
The level of social life about which we want to generalize
unit of analysis
_________ means defining terms and concept clearly and precisely
conceptualization
An idea that can be named, defined, and eventually measured in some way
concept
Representations that capture the different dimensions, categories, or levels of a concept
variables
Components of a concept that represent its different manifestations, angles, or units
dimensions
Dimensions are about __________- different ways of defining a concept
conceptualization
Variables that have a finite set of possible values that are fixed and distinct from one another with unknown differences between them
categorical
Variables that could have an infinite set of possible values that exist on a continuum from low to high with meaningful and identifiable differences between them
continuous
Variables with states or statuses that are parallel and cannot be ranked or orderednominalNominal variables have states or statuses that are parallel and cannot be ________ or _______ranked, orderedVariables with categories that can be ordered in some way but have unknowable differences between themordinalOrdinal variables have categories that can be ordered in some way but have __________ differences between themunknowableVariables with a continuum of values with meaningful distances between them but no true zerointervalInterval variables have a continuum of values with meaningful distances between them but no true ________zeroVariables with a continuum of values with meaningful distances (or intervals) between them and a true zeroratioBecause _______ variables have a true zero, values can be compared and contrasted with the most detailratioThe values assigned to a variable in the conceptual procedureindicatorsOperationalization involves 2 steps: 1. converting a conceptual definition into an ________ definition that sets the parameters for measurement, 2. using this definition to collect _______dataA mistake that researchers make by drawing conclusions about the micro level based on some macro-level analysisecological fallacyA mistake that researchers make by drawing conclusions about the macro-level unit based on analyses of micro-level datareductionismA broad interview question to which subjects are allowed to respond in their own words rather than in preset waysopen-ended questionA focused interview question which subjects can respond only in preset waysclosed-ended questionThe preset answers to questions on a surveyresponse categoriesPreset response categories that give all subjects at least one accurate responseexhaustivePreset response categories that do not overlap with one another, ensuring that respondents select the single category that best captures their viewsmutually exclusiveA quality of a measure concerning how dependable it isreliabilityWhen a measure is ________, it will consistently yield the same results no matter how many times it is given to the same samplesreliableA quality of a measure concerning how accurate it isvalidityWhen a measure is _________, it adequately captures the conceptualization of some variablevalid