Assignment 2: Measurement
Due 11:59pm EST on Sunday of Week 6
When social researchers create survey question they often have to create indexes and/or scales to measure variables. An index is several scaled questions that measure a concept (e.g. religiousness as discussed in this module). When we create an index we often start with a concept or variable and then create an index that measures that concept. This assignment is designed to help you gain a better understanding of index creation.
Example: Measuring Religiousness
How could one measure religiousness among Christians? One may simply ask respondents how often they attend church. Several studies, however, have found that upper-class persons attend church more frequently than lower-class persons. Lower-class persons, on the other hand, may actually be more religious on a personal basis. They may, for example, be more likely to pray and read the Bible than upper-class persons. A valid measure of religiousness, therefore must not only ask questions concerning church involvement, but most also include questions concerned with personal religious involvement. The following is an example of an index that could measure religiousness among Christians:
For the following questions please circle one of the following answer categories:
1 = never
2 = occasionally
3 = weekly or more
1. How often in the last year have you attended church?
2. How often in the past year have you given money to your church?
3. How often in the past year have you gone to other church affairs, such as meetings, Bible study, or trips?
4. How often do you read the Bible?
5. How often do you pray?
6. In the last year, how often have you listened to or watched Christian programming on TV or radio?
7. How often in the past have you read a religious book other than the bible?
Assignment
For this assignment, you will create three indexes that measure or assess three common psychological disorders: (1) ADHD (Hyperactivity Disorder), (2) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and (3) Anti-Social Personality Disorder (Psychopathy). This will require each student to do internet research on all three psychological disorder before they create their survey.
- Conduct Internet research on the subject of ADHD. Read over the symptoms of ADHD. Now create an index that measures ADHD. You index should at least have seven closed-ended questions.
- Conduct Internet research on the subject of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Read over the symptoms of OCD. Now create an index that measures OCD. You index should have at least seven closed-ended questions.
- Conduct Internet research on the subject of psychopathy (antisocial personality disorder). Read over the symptoms of psychopathy or antisocial personality. Now create an index that measures psychopathy (antisocial personality disorder). Your index should have at least seven closed-ended questions.
- Now write at least seven closed-ended questions that could used as predictors or correlates (independent variables) of ADHD, OCD, or anti-social personality disorder.
Your survey should be comprised of at least 28 questions.
Here is another example of an Index or Scale:
Using Indexes to Measure Variables
Some variables can be defined in several different ways or can have what social scientist call, different dimensions. For example, how would you define the variable "morale"? Morale could be defined in several different ways. It could be a feeling of confidence in the group, a feeling of togetherness, a feeling of happiness in the group, or a willingness to endure hardship for the common good of the group. We could say that the variable morale had four different dimensions. To measure the variable morale we would have to have several questions in the form of a scale.
Example:
1. On a scale from 1 to 10, how confident that this group can get reach its goals? 1 being no confidence and 10 being extremely confident.
2. On a scale from 1 to 10, how close to you think the members of this group are? 1 being not close at all and 10 being extremely close.
3. On a scale from 1 to 10, how happy are you in this group? 1 being not happy at all and 10 being extremely happy.
4. On a scale from 1 to 10, how likely are to endure hardship and pain in order for the group to reach its goals? 1 being not very likely and 10 being extremely likely to endure hardship.
The previous four questions could then be added together to get a morale score for each respondent. The scores could range from 4 to 40.
