russo measurment rovaniemi
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Is better measurement always the solution? The case of 'age' and 'SES'.TRANSCRIPT
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Is better measurement the solution?The case of ‘SES’ and ‘age’
Federica RussoCenter Leo Apostel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Centre for Reasoning, University of Kent
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Overview
Measurement in social scienceSome classic and more recent discussionsA common theme: better measurement is better
Measuring ‘SES’ and ‘Age’Challenges in measurement and interpretationChallenges to the theme: better measurement is not always the
solution
Integrating qualitative and quantitative methodsObserve on small scale before you measureMeasure on large scale based on observation
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MEASUREMENT IN SOCIAL SCIENCE
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A theory of measurement
Suppes 1998
Two problems for measurement:
The problem of representationAttach a number to an ‘object’
Look at the structure of the theory, and yet …
The problem of determining the procedureThe choice of the scale also depends on theory
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The focus on procedural aspects
Zeller and Carmines 1980
Follow Blalock: measurement is the process of linking abstract concepts to
empirical indicators
The possibility to answer research questions depends on robustness of our measurement procedures
Measurement procedures above theorising
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Measurement and realism Cartwright and Chang 2008
Practitioner’s problem: whether measurements are correctPhilosopher’s problem: whether we measure what we want to measure
Nominalism conventionalism OR operationalismNaïve realism problem of justification and nomic measurement
In social science Suppes’ measurement theory solves representation problem and leaves
open procedure problemhow to measure a concept within a theory
Variability and contingency of concepts to measureNon value-free measurements
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Realism and indicators
Bohrnstedt
In social science there are some clear and tangible measuresE.g. age, birth, number of children, marital status …
For more blurred conceptsObserve the covariation between indicators, and infer their reality
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Establishing a trend
The worryWhat do we measure? Is it real?
The solutionIt must be real, somehow The better we measure the better we represent ‘real’ objects
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Is it always the case?
Is realism the problem?And is better measurement the solution?
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Measurement itself, especially if carried out using sophisticated instruments or analysed using complex methodology, is seen to have the attributes of ‘science’, and often taken effectively as a justification for believing the results that
are presented as if they have a meaningful relation to whatever social process they are claimed to measure.
Harvey Goldstein 2012
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MEASURING SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS AND AGE
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At the extremes of measurement, a common problem
Age• Very easy to measure
• What does it represent?• Does it have any
explanatory import?
SES• Very controversial how we
should measure it
• What does it represent?• What is its import in
explanation of social or social / health outcomes?
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Measuring ‘Ballung’ conceptsCartwright and Bradburn
Measurement requirements:Characterisation; Representation; Procedure
ConceptsRefer to a single quantityHave unclear boundaries and relations (Ballung)
They hinder a development of social science into ‘proper’ science
How to represent Ballung concepts“One is to represent them with a table or vector of features laying out the dimensions along which the family resemblances in question lie […] The other is to shed much of the original meaning and zero in on some more precisely definable feature from the congestion that constitutes the concept.”
Then, go ahead with chosen procedure
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Measuring SES
Theoretical approachesWeberian, Marxist, Colemanian
Identification of different indicators, different types of variables
Class stratificationGoldthorpe Class Schema
Grouping of types of workers
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What do we need SES for?
Consider social epidemiology
SES is highly correlated with health outcomesAsbestos related deaths in Barking Cancer related deaths in Eternit workersCancer incidence in Taranto…
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What does SES do?
Categorise?A classificatory variableWhat part of the populations are more exposed, have higher
prevalence …
Explain?Active part in the explanation of diseases
Mixed aetiology!
What are the active causal pathways from exposure to outcome?
Social practices / norms / habits to explain (and to prevent) exposure
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Which one to choose?
Measurement – categorisation – explanation
Measurement, alone, does not explain
Measurement, alone, only categorises
Include SES to explain a phenomenon
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Measuring age
Easy to measureAccessibility of data, straightforward question, …
Choose to measureCategoricallyContinuously
Easy data to get – use it!
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Typical uses of ‘age’
ControlAdjust results of statistical analyses (control for age)
PredictAge structure helps predict results
Categorisegrouping and collapsing multiple categories into fewer categories
Care with loss of information, residual confounding
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What age stands for
Biological ageA typical health status, for that age
Social ageSocial practices that are typical of that age
…
Any explanatory import?
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SOURCES OF INFORMATION
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Where do we get the information from?
Quantitative studies
Large samples, large data sets
Correlations to be validated
The bigger the better, the more precise the better
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Where do we get the information from?
Qualitative studies
Small samples, small numbers
Detailed description of practices
Small does not allow generalisation
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Establishing a trend
Sample:The bigger the better
MeasurementThe more precise the better
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Should we always follow this trend?
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The ‘extra’ information that statistics does not give us
Description of Practices
Interactions
Influences
Background
Norms
…
GO small FIRST!
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The information that statistics does give us
Categorise the ‘practices, interactions, backgrounds, …’ into measurable variables
Is it generalisable?
An empirical question!
Now go BIG!
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TO SUM UP
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Traditional problem of measurement in social scienceThe trend: justify naïve realism by better measurement
Question the trend through two examplesSES and Age
One step backWhere do we get information
Focus on explanation rather than realism
We may need to describe before measuring
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TO CONCLUDE
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Better measurement is not necessarily panacea
To measure better we need to describe better
Difficulty: not just a social science trend
Oppose the trend in requests from policymakers
What is evidence
What information we can trust
What methods we can trust
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What / why do we measure?In the area of data collection and presentation at the present time, likewise, there seems little ground for optimism. Even in those societies, such as parts of Australia, where crude league tables used to be eschewed, increasing political and commercial pressures seem to be gaining the upper hand. New technologies such as powerful dynamic computer graphics do have the potential to convey findings and patterns
in powerful ways, but whether they are used to inform rather than merely impress, remains an open question.
Perhaps the most that one can hope for is that we could reflect more on Galton and his legacy. In particular, a better understanding is needed of
the difference between data that ‘confirms’ a theory by
providing a good model fit, and data that allows us to explain observed data patterns using as much potentially falsifiable information as possible.
Harvey Goldstein 2012
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REFERENCES
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George W. Bohrnstedt, An Overview of Measurement in the Social Sciences. http://www7.nationalacademies.org/dbasse/Measurement_in_Social_Sciences.pdf
Burt R. 1991 Measuring age as a structural concept. Social Networks 13
Cartwright N. and Chang H. 2008 Measurement, in The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Science, pp. 367-375.
Cartwright N. and Bradburn N., A theory of measurement.http://www7.nationalacademies.org/dbasse/Common%20Metrics_Measurement_for_Science_and_Policy.pdf
Goldstein H. 2012. Francis Galton, measurement, psychometrics and social progress. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & PracticeVol. 19, No. 2
Marks G. The measurment of socioeconomic status and social class in the LSAY project. Technical Paper http://www.acer.edu.au/documents/LSAY_techrep14.pdf
Reijneveld S A 1998 Age in epidemiological analysis, J Epidemiol Community Health 2003;57
Suppes P. 1998 Theory of Measurement. E. Craig (Ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. pp. 243-249.
Zeller and Carmines 1980. Measurement in the social sciences. The link between theory and practice. CUP