Chap 11

Measurement of variables: Operational definition

INTRODUCTION

Measurement of the variables is an integral part of research and an important aspect of research design
Unless the variables are measured in some way, we will not be able to find answers to our research
questions.

HOW VARIABLES ARE MEASURED

To test the hypothesis that workforce diversity affects organizational effectiveness we have to measure
workforce diversity and organizatidonal effectiveness.

Measurement is the assignment of numbers or other symbols to characteristics (or attributes) of objects
according to a prespecified set of rules.

Objects include persons, strategic business units, companies, countries, bicycles, elephants, kitchen
appliances, restaurants, shampoo, yogurt, and so on.

Examples of characteristics of objects are arousal‐seeking tendency, achievement motivation,

organizational effectiveness, shopping enjoyment, length, weight, ethnic diversity, service quality,
conditioning effects, and taste. It is important that you realize that you cannot measure objects (for
instance, a company); you measure characteristics or attributes of objects (for instance, the
organizational effectiveness of a company). In a similar fashion, you can measure the length (the
attribute) of a person (the object), the weight of an elephant, the arousal‐seeking tendency of
stockbrokers, the shopping enjoyment of women, the service quality of a restaurant, the conditioning
effects of a shampoo, and the taste of a certain brand of yogurt. To be able to measure you need an
object and attributes of the object, but you also need a judge.

A judge is someone who has the necessary knowledge and skills to assess “the quality” of something,
such as the taste of yogurt, the arousal‐seeking tendency of stockbrokers, or the communication skills of
students.

In many cases the object and the judge are the same person. For instance, if you want to measure the
gender (the attribute) of your employees (the objects), or the shopping enjoyment (the attribute) of
women (the objects), you can simply ask the objects (employees and women respectively) to provide
you with the necessary details via a self‐administered questionnaire. However, it is unlikely that the
object has the necessary knowledge and skills to act as a judge when you want to measure the taste (the
attribute) of yogurt (the object), the service quality of a restaurant, the communication skills of students,
or even the managerial expertise of supervisors.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITION: OPERATIONALIZATION

Definition:

Reduction of abstract concepts to render them measurable in a tangible way is called operationalizing
the concepts.

Operationalizing is done by looking at the behavioral dimensions, facets, or properties denoted by the
concept.

These are then translated into observable and measurable elements so as to develop an index of
measure of the concept.

Steps involve in operationalizing:

Operationalizing a concept involves a series of steps.

i. The first step is to come up with a definition of the construct that you want to measure. Then, it
is necessary to think about the content of the measure; that is, an instrument (one or more
items or questions) that actually measures the concept that one wants to measure has to be
developed.
ii. Subsequently, a response format (for instance, a seven‐point rating scale with end‐points
anchored by “strongly disagree” and “strongly agree”) is needed
iii. And, finally, the validity and reliability of the measurement scale has to be assessed.

OPERATIONALIZATION: DIMENSIONS AND ELEMENTS

An example of a construct with more than one dimension is aggression. Aggression has at least two
dimensions:

a) verbal aggression
b) physical aggression.

Verbal aggression: behavior such as shouting and swearing at a person.

Physical aggression: Throwing objects, hitting a wall, and physically hurting others.

Measurement scale of aggression:

A valid measurement scale of aggression would have to include items that measure verbal aggression
and items that measure physical aggression.

A measurement scale that would only include items measuring physical aggression would not be valid if
our aim were to measure aggression.

Likewise, a scale that would only include items measuring verbal aggression would also not be a valid
measure of aggression.

Valid measurement scale: A valid measurement scale includes quantitatively measurable questions or
items (or elements) that adequately represent the domain or universe of the construct; if the construct
has more than one domain or dimension, we have to make sure that questions that adequately
represent these domains or dimensions are included in our measure.

OPERATIONALIZING THE (MULTIDIMENSIONAL) CONCEPT OF ACHIEVEMENT

MOTIVATION

Suppose that we are interested in establishing a relationship between gender and achievement
motivation.

• To test this relationship we will have to measure both gender and achievement motivation.
• At this point, you will probably understand that whereas measuring gender will not cause any
problems, measuring achievement motivation probably will, because the latter construct is
abstract and subjective in nature.
• For this reason we must infer achievement motivation by measuring behavioral dimensions,
facets, or characteristics we would expect to find in people with high achievement motivation.
Indeed, without measuring these dimensions, facets, or characteristics we will not be able to
arrive at bottom‐line statements about the relationship between gender and achievement
motivation.

After we have defined the construct, the next step in the process of measuring abstract constructs such
as achievement motivation is to go through the literature to find out whether there are any existing
measures of the concept. Both scientific journals and “scale handbooks” are important sources of
existing measures. As a rule, empirical articles published in academic journals provide a detailed
description of how specific constructs were measured; information is often provided on what measures
were used, when and how these measures were developed, by whom, and for how long they have been
in use.

Scale handbooks are also a useful source of existing measurement scales. Scale handbooks, such as the
Marketing Scales Handbook or the Handbook of Organizational Measurement, provide an exhaustive
overview of measurement scales that have appeared in the academic literature. These handbooks help
you to determine whether a measurement scale exists and, if more than one measurement scale exists,
to make a logical selection between available measures.

Advantages of measurement scale:

The use of existing measurement scales has several advantages.

a. First, it saves you a lot of time and energy.

b. Second, it allows you to verify the findings of others and to build on the work of others (this is
very important in scientific research but impossible if you use measures that differ from those
that our predecessors have used!).
c. Hence, if you want to measure something, see if it has been measured before and then use this
measure (adapt it to your specific needs whenever this is needed).
d. Make sure that you document the use of existing measurement scales properly.

There are several measures of achievement motivation available from the literature. But what if there
were no existing measures available? In such a case, we would have to develop a measure ourselves; this
means that we would have to break down the concept “achievement motivation” into observable
behavior or characteristics.

DIMENSIONS AND ELEMENTS OF ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION:

Let us try to operationalize “achievement motivation,” a concept of interest to educators, managers, and
students alike. What behavioral dimensions, facets, or characteristics would we expect to find in people
with high achievement motivation? They would probably have the following five typical broad
characteristics, which we will call dimensions:

i. They would be driven by work; that is, they would be working almost round the clock in order to
derive the satisfaction of having “achieved and accomplished.”
ii. Many of them would generally be in no mood to relax and direct their attention to anything
other than work‐related activity.
 iii. Because they want always to be achieving and accomplishing, they would prefer to work on their
own rather than with others.
iv. With mind and heart set on accomplishment and achievement, they would rather engage in
challenging jobs than easy, hum‐drum ones. However, they would not want to take on
excessively challenging jobs because the expectation and probability of accomplishment and
achievement in such jobs would not be very high.
v. They would be yearning to know how they are progressing in their jobs as they go along. That is,
they would like to get frequent feedback in direct and subtle ways from their superiors,
colleagues, and on occasion even their subordinates, to know how they are progressing.

Thus, we would expect those with high achievement motivation to drive themselves hard at work, find it
difficult to relax, prefer to work alone, engage in challenging (but not too challenging) jobs, and seek
feedback. Although breaking the concept into these five dimensions has somewhat reduced its level of
abstraction, we have still not operationalized the concept into measurable elements of behavior. This
could be done by examining each of the five dimensions and breaking each one down further into its
elements, thus delineating the actual patterns of behavior that would be exhibited. These should
somehow be quantitatively measurable so that we can distinguish those who have high motivation from
those with less. Let us see how this can be done.
D = dimensions

E= element

C= achievement motivation

Elements of dimension 1:

It is possible to describe the behavior of a person who is driven by work. Such a person will

1) be at work all the time,

2) be reluctant to take time off from work,
3) persevere even in the face of some setbacks.

These types of behavior lend themselves to measurement.

Examples of be at work all the time :

we can count the number of hours employees engage themselves in work‐related activities during work
hours, beyond working hours at the workplace, and at home, where they are likely to pursue their
unfinished assignments. Thus, the number of hours put in by them on their work is an index of the
extent to which work “drives” them.

Example of persevere even in the face of some setbacks:

Keeping track of how frequently people persevere with their job despite failures is a reflection of how
persevering they are in achieving their goals.

1. A student who drops out of school due to failure to pass the first exam can by no means be
deemed to be a highly persevering, achievement‐oriented individual. However, a student who,
despite getting D grades on three quizzes, toils day and night unceasingly in order to understand
and master a course he considers difficult, is exhibiting perseverance and achievement‐oriented
behavior. Achievement‐motivated individuals do not usually want to give up on their tasks even
when confronted by initial failures. Perseverance urges them to continue. Hence, a measure of
perseverance could be obtained by the number of setbacks people experience on the task and
yet continue to work, undaunted by failures.
2. An accountant might find that she is unable to balance the books. She spends an hour trying to
detect the error, fails to do so, gives up, and leaves the workplace. Another employee in the
same position stays patiently on the job, discovers the error, and balances the books, spending
the entire evening in the process. In this case it is easy to tell which of the two is the more
persevering by merely observing them.

Example of be reluctant to take time off from work:

Finally, in order to measure reluctance to take time off, we need only know how frequently people take
time off from their jobs, and for what reasons.

If an employee is found to have taken seven days off during the previous six months to watch football
games, attend an out‐of‐town circus, and visit friends, we can conclude that the individual probably
would not hesitate in taking time away from the job. However, if an individual has not been absent even
a single day during the past 15 months, and has not missed work even when slightly indisposed, it is
evident that he is too dedicated to work to take time off from the job.

Thus, if we can measure how many hours per week individuals spend on work‐related activities, how per
severing they are in completing their daily tasks, and how frequently and for what reasons they take
time off from their jobs, we will have a measure of the extent to which employees are driven by work.
This variable, when thus measured, would place individuals on a continuum ranging from those who are
least driven by work to those whose very life is work. This, then, would give some indication of the
extent of their achievement motivation.
Elements of dimension 2:

The degree of unwillingness to relax can be measured by asking persons such questions as:

1. How often do you think about work while you are away from the workplace?
2. What are your hobbies?
3. How do you spend your time when you are away from the workplace?

Those who are able to relax would indicate that they do not generally think about work or the workplace
while at home, that they spend time on hobbies, engage in leisure‐time activities, and spend their
waking hours with the family or in other social or cultural activities.

Thus, we can place employees on a continuum ranging from those who relax very well to those
who relax very little. This dimension also then becomes measurable.

Elements of dimension 3:

Individuals with high achievement motivation have no patience with ineffective people and are reluctant
to work with others. Whereas achievement‐motivated persons in the organization may rank very high on
these behavioral predispositions, there may be others who are not highly achievement motivated. The
latter may not at all mind ineffectiveness in either themselves or others, and may be quite willing to
work with almost anybody. Thus, impatience with ineffectiveness can also be measured by observing
behavior.

Elements of dimension 4:

A measure of how excited people are at seeking challenging jobs can be had by asking employees what
kinds of jobs they prefer. A number of different job descriptions could be presented some jobs entailing
stereotyped work of a routine nature, and others with gradations of challenge built into them. Employee
preferences for different types of jobs could then be placed on a continuum ranging from those who
prefer fairly routine jobs to those who prefer jobs with a progressive increase in challenge. Those opting
for medium degrees of challenge are likely to be more achievement motivated than those who opt for
either lower or higher degrees of challenge.

Achievement‐oriented individuals tend to be realistic and choose jobs that are reasonably challenging
and within reach of accomplishment. Heedless and overconfident persons would perhaps choose the
highly challenging jobs where the success is slow in coming, oblivious to whether or not the end results
will be achieved. Those who are low in achievement motivation would perhaps choose the more routine
jobs. Thus, those seeking moderate challenges can also be identified.
Elements of dimension 5:

Those who desire feedback seek it from their superiors, coworkers, and some‐times even from their
subordinates. They want to know others ’ opinions on how well they are performing. Feedback, both
positive and negative, indicates to them how much they are achieving and accomplishing. If they receive
messages suggesting a need for improvement, they will act on them. Hence, they constantly seek
feedback from several sources. By keeping track of how often individuals seek feedback from others
during a certain period of time – say, over several months – employees can again be placed on a
continuum ranging from those who seek extensive feedback from all sources to those who never seek
any feedback from anyone at any time.

Having thus operationalized the concept of achievement motivation by reducing its level of
abstraction to observable behaviors, it is possible to develop a good measure to tap the concept of
achievement motivation. Its usefulness is that others could use the same measure, thus ensuring
replicability. It should, however, be recognized that any operationalization is likely to, first, exclude some
of the important dimensions and elements arising from failure to recognize or conceptualize them and,
second, include certain irrelevant features, mistakenly thought to be relevant.

WHAT OPERATIONALIZATION IS NOT

An operationalization does not describe the correlates of the concept.

Example:

Success in performance cannot be a dimension of achievement motivation, even though a motivated

person is likely to meet with it in large measure. Thus, achievement motivation and performance and/or
success may be highly correlated, but we cannot measure an individual’s level of motivation through
success and performance. Performance and success may have been made possible as a consequence of
achievement motivation, but in and of themselves, the two are not measures of it. To elaborate, a
person with high achievement motivation might have failed for some reason, perhaps beyond her
control, to perform the job successfully.

Thus, if we judge the achievement motivation of this person with performance as the
yardstick, we will have measured the wrong concept. Instead of measuring achievement motivation –
our variable of interest – we will have measured performance, another variable we did not intend to
measure nor were interested in.

Explanation:
Thus, it is clear that operationalizing a concept does not consist of delineating the reasons, antecedents,
consequences, or correlates of the concept. Rather, it describes its observable characteristics in order to
be able to measure the concept. It is important to remember this because if we either operationalize the
concepts incorrectly or confuse them with other concepts, then we will not have valid measures. This
means that we will not have “good” data, and our research will not be scientific.

REVIEW OF OPERATIONALIZATION

▪ Operationalizations are necessary to measure abstract and subjective concepts such as feelings
and attitudes. More objective variables such as age or educational level are easily measured
through simple, straightforward questions and do not have to be operationalized.

▪ The next step is to either find or develop an adequate (set of) closed‐end question(s) that
allow(s) you to measure the concept in a reliable and valid way.

▪ Luckily, measures for many concepts that are relevant in business research have already been
developed by researchers. While you review the literature in a given area, you might want to
particularly note the reference that discusses the instrument used to tap the concept in the
study, and read it. The article will tell you when the measure was developed, by whom, and for
how long it has been in use. If you cannot find or use an existing measure, you have to develop
your own measure. To be able to do this, you will need to become an expert in a particular
domain; this enables you to include the relevant dimensions and elements in your measure.

▪ Only a well‐developed instrument, which has been operationalized with care, will be accepted
and frequently used by other researchers.

INTERNATIONAL DIMENSIONS OF OPERATIONALIZATION

In conducting transnational research, it is important to remember that certain variables have different
meanings and connotations in different cultures.

Example:
The term “love” is subject to several interpretations in different cultures and has at least 20 different
interpretations in some countries.

The concept “knowledge” is equated with “jnana” in some Eastern cultures and construed as “realization
of the Almighty.”

Thus, it is wise for researchers who hail from a country speaking a different language to recruit the
help of local scholars to operationalize certain concepts while engaging in cross‐cultural research.

The End