CRIM 220 Chapter 5: CHAPTER 5
25 Jan 2018
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Document Summary
Because measurement is difficult and imprecise, researchers try to describe the measurement process explicitly: ultimately, cj and social scientific research seeks to communicate findings to an audience- professors, classmates, journal readers, coworkers, etc. Conceptualization: conceptualization is the process by which we specify precisely what we mean when we use particular terms. Confusion over definitions and reality: terms associated w/ concepts are merely devices created for communication, the process of regarding as real things that are not is called reification. Describing how to obtain actual empirical measures begins with operationalization. Operational definition: we begin by conceptualizing what we wish to study, once we start to consider operationalization, we may revise our conceptual definition, developing an operational definition also moves us closer to measurement. The key standards for measurement quality are reliability and validity: precise measurements are superior to imprecise ones; but precision is not always necessary/ desirable.
