9: Defining and measuring concepts

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This chapter is mainly focused on quantitative research methods, as the level of specificity required to begin quantitative research is far greater than that of qualitative research. In quantitative research, you must specify how you define and plan to measure each concept before you can interact with your participants. In qualitative research, definitions emerge from how participants respond to your questions. Because your participants are the experts, qualitative research does not reach the level of specificity and clarity required for quantitative research. For this reason, we will focus mostly on quantitative measurement and conceptualization in this chapter, with subsections addressing qualitative research.

This chapter discusses or mentions the following topics: mental health diagnoses and depression, masculinity, suicide, juvenile delinquency and the criminal justice system, substance abuse, and shooting guns.