Conceptualizing and operationalizing poverty and prejudice in social research

Poverty

According to Babbie (1998), the process of conceptualization is best defined as "the process through which we specify what we will mean when we use particular terms" (120). Thus, for researchers conducting a study on poverty, the initial step that must be done to direct the researchers towards the goal of their study is to come up with a definition that best describes the study's concept of poverty. Thus, researchers must consider first the variety of dimensions in which people understand poverty. Poverty, for people, can be intrinsically or extrinsically manifested -- that is, poverty may be measured because of concrete evidence, or it can only de identified, determined, and approximately measured (if possible) when it is used and perceived in abstract terms. An example of this case is when the researchers are conducting research in on poverty in Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles is considered a "melting pot" of almost all cultures in the world, with the proliferation of immigrants from both the Western and Eastern regions of the world. Thus, when in-depth interviews or surveys will be conducted in collectivist societies, particularly Asian, Middle-Eastern, and Latino/Hispanic communities, poverty may be defined intrinsically, such as poverty (or wealth) in the spiritual, mental, social, or emotional sense. Since poverty is defined abstractly, it is vital that in-depth interviews be conducted to come up with varied definitions of poverty in this particular sample. However, for Americans living in Los Angeles, poverty can be measured directly, since this group of people considers poverty in terms of economic wealth, as measured in the annual income of American families or individuals. Thus, a survey that identifies in nominal or ordinal terms the annual income of the respondent will be a good measure to determine poverty among American communities. In effect, researchers will conceptualize and operationalize the concept of poverty either in terms of extrinsic (economic) or intrinsic (mental, emotional, spiritual, or social wealth/poverty) qualities, depending on the research's problem (or what it is trying to answer).

Prejudice

Conceptualizing prejudice as the main topic of a social research can also be measured in quantitative or qualitative measures, similar to the case of conceptualizing poverty in the previous discussion. However, the concept of prejudice cannot be measured in ratio or interval levels; since prejudice is a subjective concept, it is best measured through statements that illustrate attitudes of people toward the concept and issue of prejudice. Thus, conceptualizing prejudice in a quantitative study can be measured through a survey questionnaire that utilizes a Likert scale, which consists of attitude statements that "determine the relative intensity" of constructed attitude statements for the respondent (Babbie, 1998:183).