CMST 2A03 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Content Validity, Categorical Variable, Face Validity

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Communication Studies
• Course: CMST 2A03
• Professor: Terry Flynn

Document Summary

Measurement occurs when we observe something: formal measurement requires that as precisely as possible we state how we measure what we observe. How we de ne what we are measuring determines: how precise we will be in explaining what we have observed, which analytical tools (statistics) are appropriate for the type of measurement we need. Most measurement in pr tends to be softer , measuring things we cannot see, such as attitudes, beliefs, and values although the practitioner needs to understand both approaches for formal measuring systems. Observations can be made at one of four levels yielding speci c observations (data) from which to interpret the measurement outcome: nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio. These four levels can be narrowed down even more into two categories: categorical measurement nominal and ordinal occurs when our observations are placed in classes to be counted.