Indicator (social sciences)
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Within empirical social research, indicators represent a limited sample from the set of empirically testable facts that a theoretical term covers through its meaning .
The facts selected in this way should therefore be as representative as possible of the scope of the meaning of the term and be able to be measured empirically using a specified measuring method. One can therefore say that the indicators provide an "operational definition" for the respective term.
example
In order to measure dogmatism (= theoretical term), Milton Rokeach has developed a list of test questions with which indicators such as intellectual unity, a rigid and authoritative thinking style and intolerance of a tested person are to be determined.
Operationalization
The task that the social researcher is faced with when he wants to make a concept ( concept , construct ; such as "dogmatism") measurable is called operationalization .
In an operationalization, the relationship between the theoretical term and the operational definition is a particular problem:
a) The term can be "under-defined"; H. the term is then reduced in content to compliance with the measurement rule.
b) The term is "over-defined"; H. the term still resonates with nuances of meaning that are not even covered by its measurement rules.
In case (b) the operational definition is overwhelmed by its use within a theory; because it is used to make statements that it cannot objectively make. This puts the validity or validity of the indicators in question.
For the purpose of operationalization, measurement rules must be specified. They either indicate the conditions under which a qualitatively defined characteristic can be ascribed to a situation ( categorization ). Or if such attributable characteristics are quantifiable, a scale with units of measurement for measured quantities ( dimensions ) is indicated, whereby a certain measured quantity (i.e. a numerical value) can be assigned to each fact that can be described in this way. Such quantifiable characteristics are also referred to in abbreviated form as variables .
date
The respective value of a variable for a certain issue is called a date . So data is produced through quantitative measurements. One can understand the description of concrete facts by classification in certain categories as a borderline case of a "qualitative" measurement.
Data are only theoretically relevant if they measure indicators that have a definable relationship to the theory or hypotheses that one wants to test or apply empirically. Some researchers sometimes use facts as if they were indicators, although strictly speaking they do not fall under the terms of the theory he has applied. These facts should then at least be linked to the terms of the theory through special empirical hypotheses.
Example: " Absenteeism " is used as an indicator for " job satisfaction ". The question then arises: What is the systematic connection between the indicator "absenteeism" and "job satisfaction"?
See also
literature
- Werner Münch : Data collection in the social sciences. Stuttgart Berlin Cologne Mainz 1971
- Karl-Dieter Opp : Methodology of the Social Sciences. Introduction to problems of their theorizing . rde 339, Reinbek b. Hamburg 1970. ISBN 3-499-55339-2
Web links
- Handbook of Management Scales , contains a number of indicator-based scales for measuring constructs that can be used in structural equation models in business research.