The Information School of the University of Washington LIS 570_Measurement LIS 570 Session 2.2

LIS 570_Measurement

Th

e I

nfo

rmati

on

Sch

ool

of

the U

niv

ers

ity o

f W

ash

ing

ton

LIS 570

Session 2.2

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton

LIS 570_Measurement Mason; p. 2

Objectives• Understand basics of research

design• Clarify areas of interest• Organize teams, schedule for

research reports

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Agenda• Discussion of measurements and

variables– Level of analysis (focus of interest)– Variables: independent, dependent,

mediating, moderating– Association, correlation, cause & effect

• Organizational– Sign up: individual research methods reports– Exercise: interest areas and formation of

teams– Images and memory

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


The Phases of Research

• Phase 1: Essential First Steps

• Phase 2: Data Collection

• Phase 3: Analysis and Interpretation

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Essential First Steps

Phase 1– Select, Narrow, and Define Problem

• Exploratory Qualitative Research• Refine “problem statement”

– Select a Research Design– Design and Devise Measures for Variables

• “Operationalization” of the variable• Measurement Process

– Select Tables for Analysis– Select a Sample

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Research in LIS570Purpose

– Descriptive •What is ….

– Exploratory—seek Relationships•Association Between Ideas (Concepts)

– Explanatory and predictive•Cause and Effect Relationships

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Research PurposeMotivation: • To whom (else) is this an area of

interest?– Impact: research, professional practice,

social policy– Consumer of/user of/stakeholder in the

results – Avoidance of “cult mentality”

• Improve understanding? • Have a practical application?

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Basic or Applied Research?

FundamentalUnderstanding

PracticalApplication

Balance?

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Stokes’s Concept of

“Pasteur’s Quadrant”

-Donald E. Stokes, 1997

FundamentalUnderstanding

PracticalApplication

Pasteur’s

Quadrant

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Measurement Concepts

(Caution: research meanings can differ from popular use of terms)

• Levels of analysis: e.g., individual, group, organization, industry, society, …

• Variables (entities that vary)• Values or attributes• Relationships among variables

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


ExamplesConceptIndividualGroup: work groupVariable: Gender

Relationship

AttributeHeight, gender, ageSize, compositionMale, Female

In children, height and age are positively correlated

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Variable Relationships

• Independent (IV)• Dependent (DV)• Mediating (intervening) • Moderating

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Variables

IndependentVariables

DependentVariables

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Variables


DependentVariables

MediatingVariables

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Variables


DependentVariables

MediatingVariables

ModeratingVariablesModeratingVariables

LIS 570_Measurement

Th

e I

nfo

rmati

on

Sch

ool

of

the U

niv

ers

ity o

f W

ash

ing

ton

Measurement Issues

How can I measure that? Selecting Variables.

Developing indicators for concepts

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Steps• Define concepts• Identify dimensions• Identify variables• Identify indicators• Evaluate the indicatorsProcess: Moving from the abstract and theoretical

to the empirical and measurable (from the abstract to the concrete)

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Descending the Ladder of Abstraction

• Problem statement– Statement of Concepts

• Abstractions• Not empirical

• Process of making empirical– Operationalization (Bouma)– Clarifying concepts (De Vaus)

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Descending the Ladder of Abstraction

• Process– Develop a conceptual definition for the

concept(s)• locate a range of definitions• select one for the study

– Find variables for the concept

– Assess validity of variables

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Develop a Conceptual Definition

Conceptual definition– “Dictionary type definition”– Consists of more concepts

• Leisure Activities of Interest“activities-apart from obligation to work, family & society to which a person turns at will”

– “interests = those activities which people actively seek out”

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Locate and select a definition

• Locate a range of definitions– everyday definitions– scholarly definitions

• Select one definition– Useful– Appropriate– Relevant– Necessary to measure validity

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Delineate the dimensions of the concept

Many concepts have a number of different aspects or dimensions, and these should be identified and acknowledged

• May use one of these dimensions in the study

• May develop indicators for each dimension

Example: What are the dimensions of leisure activity?

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Conceptual definitions

• Importance of definition– Determines type(s) of data

– Clarifies meaning for researchers, participants and readers• “interests” = “likes and dislikes”• leisure = “non-utilitarian activities

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Concepts and variables

• Operationalization – finding measurable variables for

concepts

• Operational definition– defines a concept in empirical terms

How can I measure that?

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Find Variables for the concept

• Definition– Concept which varies in type or amount

• Gender varies in type– Male or female

• Time spent engaging in leisure activities varies in amount

– Concept which is measurable– Concept to which values have been

assigned. • Values must be - exhaustive; exclusive

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Variables• For most concepts there will be

many variablesLeisure Activities of interest

• Different types of Activities:– Engages in boxing– Engages in cooking

• Amount of time engaging in leisure• Location of activity• Level of organisation

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Indicators• Indicators become the focus of

questions asked and evidence gathered

• An empirical observation that can be taken as evidence of particular attributes of a variable– E.g., male/female is an indicator of

gender– Marital status?– Educational level?

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Indicators• To study the compassion of LIS570 students

“a feeling of deep sorrow for living things stricken by misfortune”

“a strong desire to alleviate the pain of living things”

• indicators– Cry when people die in movies– Get cramps upon seeing a motor accident– Have a feeling of sadness when the local

possum stops coming for food

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Indicators• How many indicators should we

use?• How do we develop indicators?

– Measures developed in previous studies

– observation, unstructured interviews– informants

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Evaluating indicators• Validity

– the indicators measure the concept that we think they are measuring

– appropriateness and relevance of the indicators• E.g., is educational level a valid indicator of

social status?

• Reliability– We can rely on the answers that people

give to the questions that we ask

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Levels of measurement

• Any variable is composed of 2 or more categories or attributes– E.g., sex (male/ female); country of

birth (Australia, USA, NZ etc)

• Level of measurement refers to how the categories of the variable relate to one another

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton



• Nominal - measuring a variable at this level involves naming the calibration units– (1) = Male Value Label

– (2) = Female Value Label

– Sample data: 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 1

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton



• Ordinal - involves arranging the calibration units into a logical order of rank

• Age (number of years)– (1) 18-24– (2) 25-31– (3) 32-38– (4) 39-45

• There is an order in the calibrations without any assumption that the distances between each calibrating unit are equal

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton



Interval e.g., number of hours;

Values designate quantity; S2 more than S1 less than S3; Person 2 has more of the characteristic number of hours exercising (5 hours) than person 1 (2 hours); Difference between them is 3 hours

Has order but also involves specifying an equal distance between each successive unit

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Which level to aim for (De

Vaus)

• Interval level data– precise averages can be calculated

• I.e., what is the average sex of students at UW?

– More powerful and sophisticated techniques of analysis are available

– higher levels of measurement provide more information

– interval level measures can be converted to ordinal or nominal level but not vice versa

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Summary - descending the ladder of abstraction

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


Research Ethics• Voluntary• No harm/informed consent• Anonymity & Confidentiality• Deception• Analysis & Reporting: “intellectual

honesty”

Th

e In

form

atio

n S

cho

ol

of t

he U

nive

rsity

of

Was

hing

ton


From last session

Sample Topic Areas• How people search for information• How people search for health information• Blues dancing (origin)• Language barriers in library use• Future role of libraries• Improvements in library catalogs; metadata; linguistics• Reference interviews• Impact of users perception on cataloging• How academic community uses special collections• Technology and public libraries• Job searching• Application of library techniques to electronic documents• Successful publishing• Diet and nutrition• Crofting community life• Library services for the blind

Documents

The Information School of the University of Washington LIS 570_Measurement LIS 570 Session 2.2