Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- THE FUNDAMENTALS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH
- 1 The Scientific Study of Politics
- 2 The Art of Theory Building
- 3 Evaluating Causal Relationships
- 4 Research Design
- 5 Measurement
- 6 Descriptive Statistics and Graphs
- 7 Statistical Inference
- 8 Bivariate Hypothesis Testing
- 9 Bivariate Regression Models
- 10 Multiple Regression Models I: The Basics
- 11 Multiple Regression Models II: Crucial Extensions
- 12 Multiple Regression Models III: Applications
- Appendix A Critical Values of χ2
- Appendix B Critical Values of t
- Appendix C The Λ Link Function for BNL Models
- Appendix D The Φ Link Function for BNP Models
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - Measurement
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- THE FUNDAMENTALS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH
- 1 The Scientific Study of Politics
- 2 The Art of Theory Building
- 3 Evaluating Causal Relationships
- 4 Research Design
- 5 Measurement
- 6 Descriptive Statistics and Graphs
- 7 Statistical Inference
- 8 Bivariate Hypothesis Testing
- 9 Bivariate Regression Models
- 10 Multiple Regression Models I: The Basics
- 11 Multiple Regression Models II: Crucial Extensions
- 12 Multiple Regression Models III: Applications
- Appendix A Critical Values of χ2
- Appendix B Critical Values of t
- Appendix C The Λ Link Function for BNL Models
- Appendix D The Φ Link Function for BNP Models
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
OVERVIEW
Although what political scientists care about is discovering whether causal relationships exist between concepts, what we actually examine is statistical associations between variables. Therefore it is critical that we have a clear understanding of the concepts that we care about so we can measure them in a valid and reliable way. In this chapter we focus on several examples from the political science literature, such as the concept of political tolerance. We know that political tolerance and intolerance is a “real” thing – that it exists to varying degrees in the hearts and minds of people. But how do we go about measuring it? What are the implications of poor measurement?
I know it when I see it.
– Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Potter Stewart, in an attempt to define “obscenity” in a concurring opinion in Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964)These go to eleven.
– Nigel Tufnel (played by Christopher Guest), describing the volume knob on his amplifier, in the movie This Is Spinal TapWHY MEASUREMENT MATTERS
We have emphasized the role of theory in political science. That is, we care about causal relationships between concepts that interest us as political scientists. At this point, you are hopefully starting to develop theories of your own about politics. If these original theories are in line with the rules of the road that we laid out in Chapter 1, they will be causal, general, and parsimonious.
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- The Fundamentals of Political Science Research , pp. 86 - 103Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008