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Neuman, W. Lawrence. 2000. Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. 4th Edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Chapter 7: Qualitative and Quantitative Measurement

 Measurement:
 Links data to concepts
 Measurement process
 Conceptualization:
 Conceptual or theoretical definition
E.g., Alcoholism & depression
 Operationalization:
 Links the language of theory with the language of empirical measures.
 E.g., Indicators of alcoholism => of depression
 Quantitative conceptualization and measurement:
 Concept => measures (top down)
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 Rules of correspondence “are logical statements of how an indicator

corresponds to an abstract construct.” [p. 161]
E.g., Brain size and weight = intelligence?
 Qualitative conceptualization and measurement
 Measures => concept (bottom up)
 Form new concepts or refine concepts grounded in the data.
 Develops new concepts, formulates conceptual definitions, and
examines the relationships among concepts.
 Conceptualization after data collection
E.g., French anthropologist’s conceptualization of Berdache of
American Indians
 Reliability and validity of measurement
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 Reliability—dependability or consistency. Replicability

 Validity—Truthfulness. Accuracy.
Validity—“Validity is more difficult to achieve than reliability.” [p.
167]
 E.g., Intelligence
 Reliability and validity in qualitative research
 Reliability
“Most qualitative researchers resist the quantitative approach to
reliability” [p. 170]
“Many qualitative researchers question the quantitative researcher’s
quest for standard, fixed measures.” [pp. 170-71]
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 E.g., Culturally and temporally different conceptualization of

juvenile delinquency
 Validity
Authenticity
 E.g., Stereotype Gender roles
 Greatly variant in societies, e.g., matrimonial society of Mosuo in
China—“walking marriage”
 Relationship between Reliability and Validity
 Valid but unreliable measurement—possible?
 Invalid but reliable measurement—possible?
 A guide to quantitative measurement
 4 Levels of measurement
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 Nominal—difference
E.g., religion
 Ordinal—difference + ranking
E.g., grade
 Interval—difference + ranking + distance
E.g., temperature
 Ratio—difference + ranking + distance with true zero
E.g., income
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Chapter 8: Qualitative and Quantitative Sampling

 Populations, elements, and sampling frames
 Universe
 Population
 Target population
 Sampling element
 Sampling frame
 Sampling ratio
 Sampling parameter
 Population parameter
 Sampling error
E.g., Voting for presential election
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 Nonprobability (nonrandom) sampling

 Haphazard
 Quota
 E.g. African students vis-à-vis others at GSIS
 Purposive
 Snowball
 Deviant case
 Sequential
 Theoretical
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 Probability sampling
 Why random?
 Random—each element has an equal probability of being selected
 Likely to provide true representation of the population
 Types:
 Simple random
Central limit theorem
 Systematic sampling
 Stratified sampling
More representative but more costly and time-consuming
 Cluster sampling
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Used when no valid sampling frame and when simple random

sampling is too costly
Less accurate (higher sampling error)
Two stages: cluster sampling + element sampling
 Within-household sampling
 Probability Proportionate to Size (PPS)
 Random-digit dialing
 How large should a sample be?
 The smaller the population size, the bigger the sampling ratio has to be.
 Things to consider when deciding sampling ratio (or sample size):
The degree of accuracy required
The degree of variability or diversity in the population
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The number of different variables examined simultaneously in data

analysis