Conceptualization and

Operationalization
Conceptualization and Concepts
 Conceptualization is a process of defining the
agreed meaning of the terms used in a study.
 Indicators are identified to mark the presence or
absence of a concept.
 Some concepts have more than one aspect or
facet, called dimensions.
 The interchangeability of indicators means that if
several indicators represent the same concept,
they should behave in the same way as the
concept.
 From Conceptualization to
Operationalization
 From conceptualization the researcher
creates a nominal definition to identify the
focus of the study.
 An operational definition is created to
defined the procedures or steps used in
measuring a concept.
 An operational definition must be specific
and unambiguous.
 Operationalization Choices
 Operational decisions are made based on
the purposes of the study.
 What is the necessary range in variation in
measuring your concept?
 How fine must the measure indicate
variation between the attributes of a
variable?
 Which dimensions are important to your
study?
 Levels of Measurement
 At all the levels, the attributes must be:
– Exhaustive
– Mutually exclusive
 Levels of Measurement
– Nominal Measures
– Ordinal Measures
– Interval Measures
– Ratio Measures
Nominal Levels of Measurement
 Variables only have attributes that are
mutually exclusive and exhaustive.
 Names or labels are offered for the
attributes characteristics
 Is measured by counting the frequencies
of each attribute.
Example: What is your primary source of news?
Television Newspapers
Radio Magazines
Internet Other
 Ordinal Levels of Measurement
 Measure variables that can be logically rank-
ordered.
 The attributes of a variable indicate relatively
more or less of that variable.
 The actual distance between the attributes of a
variable is imprecise.
Example: How important are newspapers as your news source?
Not Very Important
Fairly Important
Very Important
Most important source
 Interval Level of Measurement
 Measures variables in which the distance
between the attributes is important.
 The measure assumes the logical distance
between the attributes of the variables through
standard intervals.

Example:
Newspapers are an important source of news information for me.
Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree

The Internet is an important source of news information for me.

Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree
 Ratio Level of Measurement

 Measures are based on a true zero point.

Example:
What is your age?
 Measurement Reliability
125 140
pounds pounds

 An instrument consistently measures the

variable of interest
 In order for an instrument to be valid, it must
also be reliable - A reliable instrument, however,
is not necessarily valid
 Creating Reliable Measures
 Test-Retest Method
 Alternative-Form Method
 Internal Consistency Method
– Split-half reliability
– Item-total reliability
 Use Established Measures
 Assessing Reliability of Research Workers
– Inter-observer or inter-coder agreement
 Reliability coefficients should be at least equal to
.70 to demonstrate a reliable measure.
 Measurement Validity

 Does the empirical measure observe what it

purports to observe?
 Does the measure appropriately (adequately and
accurately) reflect the meaning of the concept?
 Creating Valid Measures
 Content Validity
– Face Validity
– Expert Panel Validity
 Criterion Validity
– Predictive Validity
– Concurrent Validity
 Construct Validity
– Convergent Validity
– Discriminant Validity
 Representational Validity