Complex Measurement Instrumentsin Sociology

• Main Author: Serhii S. Dembitskyi
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Russian Academy of Sciences, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology 2017-09-01
• Series: Социологический журнал
• Online Access: http://jour.fnisc.ru/upload/journals/1/articles/5366/submission/proof/5366-61-10695-1-10-20180329.pdf

The purpose of this article is to critically evaluate the predominant paradigm of measurement in social sciences, as well as to formulate an alternative vision of sociological measurement. This task is solved within the context of complex measurement instruments in sociology, namely scales, indices and sociological tests. The latter are considered to be key elements.Sociological tests are considered a system of statements selected by sociological methods. Sociological tests allow obtaining reliable and valid information about the phenomena undergoing examination. A proposition is made to evaluate sociological tests within three partially overlapping dimensions: methodical (brevity while preserving the reliability and validity of a test), conceptual (focusing on studying social phenomena) and prognostic (the diagnostic potential of a test when assessing the state of a social system).The author critically analyzes the main assumptions of the classical theory of measurement, as well as the concept of a latent variable. Formulated is an alternative concept for the main subject of sociological measurement, namely — social phenomena, while establishing the corresponding methodological assumptions based on pragmatic ideas. This brings the author to make a conclusion about the fundamental importance of theoretically and empirically validating complex measurement instruments.Theoretical validation is described within the context of achieving its three components — face, content and composition. Empirical validity requires verifying its three independent components (constructive, criterion and predictive) and its single dependent component (comparative). In the end, the specifics for developing norms or criterial levels are considered. This part of methodological work is a prerequisite for making a transition from a scale or an index to a sociological test.