First Half of Week Five

Question 1

• The process of creating a definition that specifies precisely how a
  variable is measured.
• In most cases, there are several ways in which a variable can
  be operationalized.
• Can be a simple process if the main concept is simple, like age.
• Can be challenging if dealing with more complex social
  phenomena, like financial well-being or gender ideology.

Answer 1

Operationalization

Question 2

NOIR

Answer 2

• Nominal
• Ordinal
• Interval
• Ratio

Question 3

• Variables whose attributes are
  merely different.
• No mathematical interpretation of
  difference.
• Examples: numbers on a baseball
  players jersey, religious affiliation,
  college major, hair color, birthplace,
  nationality, etc.

Answer 3

Nominal

Question 4

• Variables with attributes we can logically rank in order.
• Examples: social class, level of conflict, prejudice,
  conservativeness, or alienation.

Answer 4

Ordinal (think “order”)

Question 5

• Variables whose attributes are rank-
  ordered and have equal distances
  between adjacent attributes.
• Examples: temperature (Fahrenheit),
  time on a 24-hour clock, year
  (Gregorian calendar).
• However, zero is mathematically
  arbitrary.

Answer 5

Interval

Question 6

• Variables whose attributes meet the requirements of an interval
  measure and have a true zero point.
• True Zero Point
• There is a point in which no quantity can be assigned.
• Examples: length of time doing something, number of
  organizations, number of A’s received in college, income in
  dollars.

Answer 6

Ratio