Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Measurement Issues, Randy Magen
Measurement Issues, Randy Magen
Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations
Examining groups from a systems perspective may be natural for contemporary social workers. The systems perspective, or group-as a-whole orientation, provides a solid conceptual foundation for understanding groups (Agazarian, 1992). However, to engage in evidence-based group work practice or to conduct research on groups, abstract group concepts must be conceptualized and operationalized (Engel & Schutt, 2009). In qualitative approaches the conceptualization occurs after data have been collected to extract meaning from the observations. In quantitative approaches, operationalization is the process of assigning values to observable indicators of constructs prior to collecting data (Bonito, Ruppel, & Keyton, 2012). Whether inductive or …