SOCL 2211 Chapter : 20-Feb-02
Document Summary
Measurements can be made with varying degrees of precision. Precision concerns the fineness of distinctions made between the attributes that compose a variable. The description of a woman as 43 years old is more precise than in her forties. as a general rule, precise measurements are superior to imprecise ones, as common sense suggests. There are no conditions under which imprecise measurements are intrinsically superior to precise ones. If knowing that a woman is in her forties satisfies your research requirements, then any additional effort invested in learning her precise age is wasted. Operationalization, then, must be guided partly by an understanding of the degree of precision required. If your needs are not clear, be more precise rather than less. England is less precise than born in stowe, vermont but suppose the person in question was actually born in boston. The less precise description, in this instance, is more accurate, a better reflection of the real world.
