CJBS 250 CHP 5-6

Conceptualization

The mental process whereby fuzzy and imprecise notions (concepts) are made more specific and precise.

Content validity

The degree to which a measure covers the range of meanings included within the concept.

Conception

The mental image we have that represents our thoughts about something we routinely encounter. We use the word speeding (a concept) to represent our mental image (conception) of traveling above the posted speed limit.

Operationaliztion

One step beyond conceptualization and conceptual definition

Abstract measures into real world data translation

Conceptualization, Concept Definition, ________, Measurements in the Real world

Reification

The process of regarding as real things that are not real. This is usually a problem in measurement.

Conceptual Definition

Defining concepts by using other concepts. The working definition of a concept or term. Concepts are abstract; they are words and symbols used to represent mental images of things and ideas

Operational Definition

A statement specifying what operations should be performed to measure a concept. The operational definition of “prior record” might be “Consult the county (or state or FBI) criminal history records information system.

Construct Validity

The degree to which a measure relates to other variables as expected within a system of theoretical relationships.

How well an observed cause-and-effect relationship represents the underlying causal process a researcher is interested in.

Nominal measures

A level of measurement that describes a variable whose different attributes are only Glossary 389 different as distinguished from ordinal, interval, and ratio measures. A measure of a characteristic

Interval measures

A level of measurement that describes a variable whose attributes are rank-ordered and have equal distances between adjacent attributes. The Fahrenheit temperature scale is an example because the distance between 17 and 18 is the same as that between 89 and 90.

Reliability

A qualit y-of-measurement standard whereby the same data should be collected each time in repeated observations of the same phenomenon. We would expect that the question “Did you see a police officer in your neighborhood today?” would have higher reliability than the question “About how many times in the past 6 months have you seen a police officer in your neighborhood?”

Criterion-Related Validity

The degree to which a measure relates to some external criterion. For example, the validity of self-report surveys of drug use can be shown by comparing survey responses to laboratory tests for drug use.

Dark Figure of Crime

Not all crimes are reported to police, and this unknown quantity has been referred to as a “dark figure” because unreported crimes are not counted in measures like the Uniform Crime Reports. Simple assaults and thefts of low-value items are often not reported to police. Victim surveys were developed to measure this “dark figure.”

Self-Reporting Surveys

A survey that asks people to tell about crimes they have committed. This method is best for measuring drug use and other so-called victimless crimes. Confidentiality is especially important in these surveys.