Measurement Made Accessible

A Research Approach Using Qualitative, Quantitative and Quality Improvement Methods

D. Lynn Kelley

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 1999
• Print ISBN: 9780761910244, 9780761910237
• eBook ISBN: 9781506339160
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Research & Methodology
• Index: Social Sciences

"I found the book very interesting, and will consider it as a supplement for my graduate statistics course, Managerial Statistical Analysis. This book covers a number of topics that graduate students need, but which we currently do not cover in our present format, such as questionnaire design, validity and reliability."

--Stanley A. Taylor, School of Business Administration,

California State University, Sacramento

"The author uses plenty of examples and the text is well written and easy to understand. The exercises at the end of each chapter were reasonable and useful."

--David J. Solomon, Michigan State University

"This book covers the most important topics involved in statistical research. It is informative, and topics are presented in a way that is easy to understand."

--J.L. Madrigal, Department of Statistics, Brigham Young University

Aimed at students who do not plan to be academic researchers but rather who will use measurement and comparison methods in their work, this book teaches readers methods for sampling, data gathering, developing questionnaires, reliability and validity, and quantitative and qualitative measurement methods through the use of frequent examples and exercises. In addition, the book covers the use of quality improvement tools and techniques in measurement. Readers who do measurement activity in their workplace will find that this book provides them with all the research, statistical, and qualitative tools that they?ll need.

Given the trend toward improving quality and customer satisfaction, measurement has become an increasingly necessary skill for business managers to possess in order to assess change and improvement. This book provides upper-division undergraduate students in business and management with these general measurement principles.

Through the use of frequent business examples and exercises, the contributors cover such topics as sampling methods for data gathering, developing questionnaires, measuring instruments, quantitative and qualitative measurement methods, items analysis, reliability and validity, measurement for quality, and computer uses in data analysis. Professors who have been frustrated with the lack of measurement materials for their business and management students will find this text answers their needs.

INTRODUCTION

he application of measurement to business, education, and health care is a growing field. Measurement provides information about where we have been, where we are currently, and whether we are changing over time. The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of statistical, research, and measurement procedures. The reader will not become an expert in these areas, and additional study is highly recommended, particularly in the areas of inferential statistical analysis and research design. The reader, however, will obtain a “big picture” view of how to approach a measurement situation.

INTRODUCTION TO MEASUREMENT

Measurement is very ingrained in our lives. For example, measurement principles are used in diverse situations such as following a favorite recipe or determining a favorite restaurant. In the first situation, a measuring cup may be used to obtain the cup of flour that the recipe indicates. The second situation may require a subconscious—or even conscious—ranking of various features, such as atmosphere, service, price, and food quality. Finally, a favorite restaurant is chosen based on an overall impression of the “best” restaurant.

I provide a definition of measurement so there is a common understanding of the meaning of the term. In its most general form, measurement is assessing the degree to which a variable is present. Notice that there is no reference to counting or quantifying the variable in the definition. Traditionally, measurement was assumed to be valid only if a numerical value was obtained (Stevens, 1951, 1968). Since the acceptance of qualitative research (nonnumerical research), however, the definition is no longer limited to numerical measurement—we can expand the idea of measurement or evaluation to include words (Kohler, 1994). Therefore, we will explore both measurement with numbers (e.g., one cup, as in the recipe example discussed previously) and measurement with words (e.g., “best,” as in the restaurant example discussed previously) in this book.

The following is another definition of measurement that addresses both the numeric and the nonnumeric aspects of measurement: Measurement is assigning numbers or things that take the place of numbers (i.e., words) to variables according to a set of rules.

VARIABLES AND OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS

A variable is the characteristic that is being measured. A common definition of a variable is something that changes or takes on different values. This is an abstract definition, however. A variable can also be thought of as a characteristic of a person, place, or thing. This characteristic of interest is not the person, place, or thing itself but rather an aspect of the person, place, or thing that changes (takes on different values). For example, if a company wants to determine the weight of a packaged product, weight becomes the variable because it is a characteristic of the product. If a hospital wants to determine its most efficient department, efficiency is the variable because it is a characteristic of the department.

To assess the degree to which the variable is present, the variable must be measured in the same manner every time. To do this, the variable must be accompanied with an operational definition that puts communicable meaning into a concept or tells how the data will be observed and measured in the same way for different people over a period of time (Levine, Ramsey, & Berenson, 1995).

For example, if the variable is the customers’ degree of like or dislike toward a product, an operational definition may be the following:

The customers’ like or dislike of XYZ product will be measured by a 5-point scale containing the following categories: (1) strongly dislike, (2) dislike, (3) no opinion, (4) like, and (5) strongly like. The scale will be administered in a written questionnaire immediately following the customer’s use of the product. The customer is defined as a group of 30 customers who will be randomly chosen from the January 1999 customer list.

When the definition is closely examined, it is apparent that there are four parts. The definition tells who will be measured, what will be measured, how it will be measured, and areas that need further definition. These four categories compose the acronym ABCD:

Audience:	Who is being measured?
Behavior:	What is being measured?
Condition:	How is it being measured?
Definitions:	What items need to be further defined?

Audience:	The customers’
Behavior:	like or dislike of XYZ product
Condition:	will be measured by a 5-point scale containing the following categories: (1) strongly...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Outline of the Book
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Qualitative Research
• 3. Quantitative Measurement
• 4. Sampling
• 5. Data Gathering
• 6. Measuring Instruments and Developing Questionnaires
• 7. Testing, Table of Specifications, and Item Analysis
• 8. Reliability, Validity, and Bias
• 9. Research Design
• 10. Measurement for Quality
• 11. Computer Analysis and the Final Document
• Glossary
• References
• Index
• About the Author