01:920:311 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Categorical Variable, Operationalization, Level Of Measurement
18 Mar 2016
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Recap: conceptualization = what are these things? matches term to a careful definition. Variables, indicator (one part of a variable) and constant (stays the same in all cases) Operationalization = how mathematically details info is: levels of measurement nominal, ordinal, interval/ratio. Vary in type/quality (but no math) ex. Birthplace, dog breed: aka categories are just names. You can put attributes in order from least to most/vice versa: ex. very satisfied to very unsatisfied, least to most difficult, age in categories. Numerical data in fixed measurement units: indicators have the same distance (interval) between categories. How easy a class is ordinal. Where can you get information: surveys, court records, medical records, judicial opinions, etc. Content analysis: researches systematically analyze and make inferences from texts. Can be at any level of measurement. Close ended questions: have preformatted responses (attributes, must be mutually exclusive and exhaustive, need to be clear. Open ended questions: respondents have responses you can"t predict, allows complex answer.
