02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides1Sociology 201:Social Research Design10. Operationalization02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides2Preview•Review Chapter 5 assignments•Measurement Options–Range of variation, variations between extremes–Review levels of measurement–Single and multiple indicators–Guidelines for asking questions–Review units, variables, attributes•Operationalization Drill•Preview Chapter 6 assignments02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides3Review Workbook Assignments•Range = 0 to 80•1 of you has 80•7 in the 70s•13 in 50s and 60s•8 have 0•02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides4Remember: • The Issue is MEASUREMENT02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides5Range of variation•ABANY: Yes, No•POLVIEWS: Extremely liberal to extremely conservative•PARTYID: Strong Democrat to Strong Republican (and Other Party)•ATTEND: Never to "more than once a week”02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides6Variations between extremes•AGE (every year)•Could give categories: Under 21 21-35 36-50 51-65 65 and older02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides7Review levels of measurement• Nominal• Ordinal• Interval• Ratio02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides8Single or multiple indicators• Indexes and scales next time02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides9Guidelines for asking questions•Questions and statements•Open-ended and closed-ended questions•Make items clear•Avoid double-barreled questions•Respondents must be competent•Questions should be relevant•Short items are best•Avoid negative items•Avoid biased items and terms02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides10Operationalization Drill: • Specify • variables,• attributes• and units of•analysis02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides11Do girls get better grades than guys?•Variables•Attributes•Unit of analysis•Okay to use g.p.a.?02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides12Which department has the hardest courses?•Variables•Attributes•Unit of analysis•What is "hard"?•Handling cross-listed courses02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides13Are Chapman courses difficult?•Can't answer that•You need something to compare it with02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides14Who earns most: doctors or dentists?•Variables•Attributes•Unit of analysis•Note ambiguity of "doctor”•Specify income: gross, net, annual, etc.02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides15Are business school students more prejudiced than sociology students?•Variables•Attributes•Unit of analysis•Majors? Minors? Taking courses?•What kind of prejudice?02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides16Do business students study harder than sociology students?•Variables•Attributes•Unit of analysis02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides17Are Catholics more religious than Protestants?•Variables•Attributes•Unit of analysis•Can only do this for very specific indicators–e.g., church attendance, beliefs, prayer02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides18Are Russian popular songs more romantic than American ones?• Variables• Attributes• Unit of analysis•BTW: how would you tell if a song is romantic?02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides19Do democracies have a higher standard of living than nondemocracies?• Variables• Attributes• Unit of analysis02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides20Preview Ch 6 Workbook Assignments•6.2 Semantic differential–Start with a variable; then some dimensions–Be sure to review structure of semantic differential–Show how each response might be scored in a composite measure02/11/2003 Total = 30 slides21Next Time•Composite Measures•Read Chapter