Chinese Journal of Society ›› 2016, Vol. 2 ›› Issue (1): 3-33.doi: 10.1177/2057150X15624896

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Comparable metrics: Some examples

Robert M Hauser   

  1. Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington, DC, USA
  • Online:2016-01-01 Published:2016-01-01
  • Contact: Robert M Hauser, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 500 Fifth St., NW, Washington, DC, 20001, USA. Email: rhauser@nas.edu
  • Supported by:

    This work was supported by the Vilas Estate Trust of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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Abstract:

Standardization of social measures creates common understanding, supports the accumulation of evidence, and establishes comparability. It also, necessarily, entails loss of information, which is especially costly in comparisons across populations. This essay offers numerous examples of social measures and metrics to illustrate the complex trade-offs between standardization and construct validity.

Key words: Measurement, comparability, standardization, validity, official statistics

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