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Assessing dimensions and indicators In selecting indicators, we could use items that had been used in similar studies in North America, Europe, or elsewhere. While most indicators developed for research in these regions may also be appropriate for research in developing countries, some may not. If the dimensions and indicators for a concept are not relevant in local terms, any resulting data will be meaningless. Also, although a concept may be equally valid across a wide range of cultures, the operations used to measure it in one cultural setting may be quite different from those used somewhere else. Social status, a frequently used concept, is a good example. Results from many studies shows that social differences exist in virtually all societies. The bases used to assign social rank to persons in any society, however, vary greatly from one society to another. Any operational definition used for this concept should be appropriate in terms of definitions of social status in the cultural setting of an investigation. If you aren't sure what indicators to use for measuring a variable, in this case, social status, conduct an exploratory study to find out how individuals are ranked in the cultural setting of your investigation.
In our example, we used two indicators for social status and four for measuring attitudes toward male-female equality. Analysis of data for these indicators would provide independent tests for relations between each operational definition of social status and each operational definition of attitudes toward female equality, as shown in Figure 6.2. These data would provide a much stronger basis for establishing a relationship between the concepts of social status and attitudes toward male/female equality than would just a single test based on one indicator for each concept. In selecting indicators and in developing operational definitions of them, we also have to consider the level of measurement each indicator provides. |
