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The operational definition for the Department of parks and Recreation was to maintain a green, clean and safe park system and urban forest for all New Yorkers.

The conceptual definition was the following: to Provide recreational opportunities for New Yorkers of all ages.

The operational definition for the Department of Health and human Hygiene included the following: Improve overall health through scientific research and evidence-based initiatives; Prevent and control childhood diseases. (Although it could have elaborated on these 'childhood diseases'); Reduce new cases of HIV / AIDS, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases and other preventable diseases; Prevent lead poisoning; Reduce rat infestation through inspection, notification and baiting; and Provide birth and death certificates to the public quickly and efficiently.

The conceptual definitions were the following: Promote health and reduce health disparities among New York City communities; Facilitate access to high-quality health and mental hygiene (mental health, developmental disabilities, and alcohol and drug use) services; Improve environmental health and safety; Provide high quality and timely services to the public.

3. One of the operational definitions for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene consisted of Performing forensic investigations

The conceptual definitions were the following: Providing prompt issuance of death certificates, completion of autopsy reports, and response to requests for cremation; Providing timely and accurate forensic laboratory services for toxicology and DNA analysis; and providing Provide prompt and timely response to the scene of a fatality.

4. The conceptual definitions for the Department of Education included Improve academic performance; Ensure principal and teacher quality; Promote parental involvement in education; and Ensure school safety

The operational definitions for the Department of Education included Improve performance on standardized English Language Arts and Math tests; Improving performance on Regents examinations; and working with the School Construction Authority to design, construct, modernize and repair durable, functional and attractive educational facilities, on schedule and within budget.

How the concept of race in the U.S. Census is operationalized: Until comparatively recently, five racial / ethnic categories were used to distinguish people. These were: American Indian or Alaskan Native; Asian or Pacific Islander; Black / Negro; Caucasian / White; and Hispanic. Many of these terms are still used. The term 'non-white' is no longer acceptable, and in the case of an individual being of 'mixed racial and/or ethnic origin', he is categorized by that which "most closely reflects the individual's recognition in his community" (Banton, 64).

The Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines 'race' as not "scientific or anthropological" rather consisting of "social and cultural characteristics as well as ancestry" using "appropriate scientific methodologies" that are not "primarily biological or genetic in reference" (American Anthropological Association, 1997 )

Possible quality management issues that may arise are that since people are in essence individuals and characterized by a plethora of both experiential as well as biological, sociological, historical, environmental, and so forth features, race may have little determination in the way that they act and respond to situations. An individual from one race, for instance, may have happened to have been born in that race but may look and act according to the stereotypical characteristics of another. When the concept of race is used strictly to record the quantity of people who were born to a certain category, this may not be problematic. However, when the U.S. Census -- or another division, uses race as construct to measure (for instance) intelligence, poverty, or some other circumstance, this may prove problematic since numerous other variables can interfere in distorting the picture and provide with unclear results.

Other problems inherent in instrumentally defining race consist of mixed racial background. According to whose parentage or ancestry is race accorded -- the mother or the father, and individuals may come from extremely mixed racial / ethnic heritage. How does one, then, define the racial background of the individual? According to the majority race; or according to the parent's ethnicity?