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Sociology vocabulary · Research Methods

Operationalise

Meaning in sociology, with examples

/ˌɒpəˈreɪʃənəlaɪz/verbCommon term

In sociology, operationalise means: To turn an abstract concept, such as social class or trust, into something that can be observed and measured, for example through specific survey questions.

In Turkish: işlemselleştirmek, operasyonelleştirmek, ölçülebilir hale getirmek

How it is used

A key verb in research design; the noun is operationalisation. In a methods section you might write that a concept 'was operationalised as' or 'was operationalised using' a particular measure. Weak operationalisation is a threat to validity.

Example sentences

  1. We operationalised social trust using three questions about neighbours, strangers and institutions.

  2. It is difficult to operationalise a concept like alienation.

Common collocations

  • operationalise a concept
  • operationalise a variable
  • operationalisation of class
  • variableA characteristic that can take different values from case to case, such as age, income, education level or attitude, and that researchers measure and compare.
  • validityThe extent to which a research method or measure actually captures what it claims to measure and gives a true picture of the social reality being studied.
  • hypothesisA testable statement that predicts a relationship between two or more variables, written before the data are collected and then supported or rejected by the evidence.
  • surveyA research method that asks a group of people the same set of questions, through a questionnaire or a structured interview, to collect comparable data.

More terms: Research Methods

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