Concepts and indicators

Module items¶

Concept:
- Concept is the abstract summary of a whole set of behaviors, attitudes and characteristics having something in common.
  - Assimilation, authority, organizational culture, racism, ethnic identity, social control, social capital...
Indicator:
- Indicator is the tool to define concepts. We use always more than one indicator.

Concepts do not have any fixed meaning.
Concepts give a basis for measuring what we want to measure
It is up to us to define what we mean by the concept. However, definitions mostly come from scientific literature.

To delineate fine differences between people, organizations, or any other unit of analysis.
To provide a consistent device for measuring distinctions.
To produce precise estimates of the concepts.

Single indicators may incorrectly classify many individuals.
Single indicators may capture only a portion of the underlying concept or be too general.
Multiple indicators can make finer distinctions between individuals.
Multiple indicators can capture different dimensions of a concept.

Concept: Religiosity
“Religiosity is defined as the extent to which a particular person believes in and venerates the founder, gods or goddesses of the relevant religion, practices the relevant teaching and participates in the relevant activities.” (Iddagoda and Opatha, 2017)
“Religiosity is defined as the degree to which beliefs in specific religious values and ideals are held and practiced by an individual (Safiek Mokhlis, 2008)
“Religiosity is defined as how far the knowledge is, how strong is the belief, how much is the practice of worship and rules and how deep is the appreciation of the religion one adheres to” (Madni, Hamid, and Rashid, 2016)

Concept: Religiosity
“Religiosity is defined as how far the knowledge is, how strong is the belief, how much is the practice of worship and rules and how deep is the appreciation of the religion one adheres to” (Madni, Hamid, and Rashid, 2016)

Concept: Religiosity
“Religiosity is defined as how far the knowledge is, how strong is the belief, how much is the practice of worship and rules and how deep is the appreciation of the religion one adheres to” (Madni, Hamid, and Rashid, 2016)
Subjective religiosity,
Individual religiosity,
Communal religiosity

Concept: Religiosity
Indicator 1 (Subjective religiosity) captures one’s self-perceived devotion or piety.
- How religious are you?
- (5) very devout, (4) devout, (3) a believer, (2) not really a believer, (1) not a believer at all.
Indicator 2 (Individual religiosity) reflects the private religious practice without public observance, such as prayer or fasting.
- How often do you pray?
- (5) daily, (4) several times a week, (3) once a month, (2) a couple of times a year, (1) never.
Indicator 3 (Communal religiosity) denotes participation in collective religious activities, services, or institutions.
- How often do you attend church services or religious events?
- (5) daily, (4) several times a week, (3) once a month, (2) a couple of times a year, (1) never.

Concept: Religiosity
Indicator 1 (Subjective religiosity) captures one’s self-perceived devotion or piety.
- How religious are you?
- (5) very devout, (4) devout, (3) a believer, (2) not really a believer, (1) not a believer at all.
Indicator 2 (Individual religiosity) reflects the private religious practice without public observance, such as prayer or fasting.
- How often do you pray?
- (5) daily, (4) several times a week, (3) once a month, (2) a couple of times a year, (1) never.
Indicator 3 (Communal religiosity) denotes participation in collective religious activities, services, or institutions.
- How often do you attend church services or religious events?
- (5) daily, (4) several times a week, (3) once a month, (2) a couple of times a year, (1) never.

A reliable measurement is one where we obtain the same result on repeated occasions.
- A question may be unreliable due to bad wording: a person may understand the question differently on different occasions.
- Different interviewers can elicit different answers from the respondent: the gender, ethnic background and dress of the interviewer can influence responses.