Adding 5. 1 concepts and layers of measurements 5. 1. 1
Measurement is a method of obtaining data from the subject. Social measurements refer to a method by which the properties and characteristics of the subject are expressed in a set of symbols or numbers according to certain rules。
People's lives are closely related to measurements. For example, if you want to know today's temperature, you take out a thermometer and measure it outside, and then compare it with temperature standards to determine whether today's temperature is high or low, to determine how many clothes people wear. The measurements in social surveys are the same as those in people's real lives. For example, in order to know the size and demographic structure of the country, a questionnaire is used to carry out a household survey and then to take statistics, so that one can know the demographic situation of the country。
Most of the measurements in the natural sciences are based on standardized instruments or measures with recognized standards and rules and are highly objective. Since social measurements are directed at people who are purposeful, conscious, ideological or closely associated with people, they depend to a large extent on the value orientation and knowledge structure of the designer, are more subjective and have a lower degree of standardization and precision. Nevertheless, it is still important in social surveys. It makes it possible to conduct research; it can provide the necessary conditions for quantitative analysis in research; and it helps to improve the objectivity and accuracy of social research. Thus, social measurements can also be seen as accurate and conscious observations of social phenomena, the effect of which is to accurately describe the type, nature, state and measure and compare differences between things。
5. 1. 2 four elements of measurement
1. Measuring objects
Measurements of objects, i. E. Objects measured, are real carriers measuring the characteristics of social phenomena. The sex ratio is measured in a community where the male and female population is the object of measurement; in a school where all pupils (excluding teaching staff) are the object of measurement. In social surveys, the most common objects of measurement are a wide variety of individuals, as well as various social groups, social organizations, communities, families, etc., comprising several individuals。
2. Measuring content
The measurement content is the measurement of some properties or characteristics of the object. In any measurement, the object of measurement is not the object itself but the characteristic or attribute of the object. Individuals, groups, organizations and communities, families, etc. In society are objects of measurement, but they are not those individuals, groups, organizations, communities themselves, but their characteristics, such as individual behaviour, attitudes and social context, the size, structure and mode of management of groups and organizations, the scope of communities, population density and interpersonal relationships。
3. Method of measurement
The measurement law, also referred to as the measurement rules, refers to the operational rules that regulate the specific measurement content and measurement behaviour during the measurement process, i. E., what provisions govern measurement. For example, when measuring the gender ratio in the community, it is known that the population of a community consists of the resident and mobile population, but there is a requirement to measure only the resident population and not the mobile population. This is how people measure. Different measurement methods lead to different measurements。
4. Measurement tools
Measurement tools are measurement indicators consisting of symbols and numbers that reflect the properties and characteristics of the object. Some of the measurement indicators are made up of pure words, such as that gender is expressed in terms of the concepts of “men and women”; literacy is expressed in terms of primary, secondary, high, post-secondary, post-graduate, etc. Some measures are composed of symbols. For example, monthly wage earnings can be expressed in numbers less than $800, 801 to $1,000, 1001 to $2,000, and above 2001 figures, which are merely abstract symbols and have no practical mathematical significance. Given the complexity of social phenomena, it is far from sufficient to measure them by a measurement indicator alone, and a range of related indicators is needed, which will be scientifically organized using measurement tables. Questionnaires, questionnaires, tabular forms, etc. Are all specific forms of such measurements and are very useful measurement tools used in social surveys。
Practice 30
Analysis of the four elements of measurement
It is assumed that you will conduct a survey of drug addicts in a drug treatment facility in order to know the extent of their previous drug use in order to inform the development of an effective drug treatment programme. Please analyse what is the object of this survey and what it is about? What kind of measurement should be developed? What are the specific measurement tools
5. 1. 3 level of measurement
The phenomena covered in social studies have different natures and characteristics, and their measurement has different levels and criteria. Stevens created the widely used hierarchy classification of measurements in 1951, which divides them into four levels, namely, classification, sequencing, spacing and comparison. It is important to identify the different mathematical properties of measurements at different levels, since, in the process of collating and statistical analysis of survey data, different methods of statistical analysis need to be selected based on the different mathematical characteristics of measurements at different levels。
