The Process of Measurement in Research

After admitting that counting is the basis of measurement, we may ask the question, Can any quality whatsoever of a thing or things (external to us) be measured? If we supply the answer no to open the issue, then a more specific question is, What are the qualities that can be measured? Let us say that a man has a bunch of red roses in his hand. We can readily think of two qualities: (1) all the many subqualities like the color, smell, shape, and struc­ture that characterize the familiar red rose, and (2) the fact that there are twelve of them, each of which is interchangeable with any other in the bunch. The “twelve” in this is as much a quality of the bunch as the first and is symbolized by the numeral “12.” Now, let us say that the person holding the red roses decides to buy another bunch of red roses. When he then holds the bunches together, there occurs no change in the quality “red roses,” but a change does occur in the quality “twelve.” If the person now holding the red roses wants to “measure” this new quality, he counts the total number of roses. Needless to say, he may do it in several different ways.

One-by-one, arithmetically symbolized as

1+ 1 + 1 + . . . until he counts the last one

Two-by-two, arithmetically symbolized as

2 + 2 + 2 + . . . until he counts the last two

Three-by-three, arithmetically symbolized as

3 + 3 + 3 + . . . until he counts the last three

Or (this is important), he may do it by any of several other combinations, which can be arithmetically symbolized, for instance as 6 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 5 + 4. Whatever the particular method he may use, he will count twenty-four as the new number, and this quality, which has been “quantified,” is symbolized by the new numeral “24.” This last operation is that of addition, one of the four basic arithmetic processes. We may now ask, Within those twenty-four red roses obtained from two bundles, can he perform the operation of subtraction? The answer is obviously yes. Similarly, we may be assured that, limited to those twenty- four red roses, he may perform the operations of multiplication and division as well.

It is now worthwhile to remind ourselves that the “twenty- four” the person counted as a total number is a quality, with this difference: it is a quality that is measurable. We may now sum­marize that the measurable qualities are those that are amenable to counting and can be subjected to the arithmetic operations. Such ones are quantifiable qualities, commonly expressed as quantities. Those that cannot be so quantified are numerous and all around us. There are several qualities, which though tracked by human perception, cannot be subject to measurement. The stink of a rotten fish and the sweetness of a lily are distinguished by the same perception. When there are more lilies gathered together, there may even result a higher intensity of the sweet smell, but it is not measurable, at least not yet. The jarring noises of a pneumatic hammer in action as well as the song of a cuckoo are both distinguished by the same perception. But there is no scale of gradation for the “sweetness” of the sound between these extremes. Similar extremes can be found in perceptions of taste and touch, wherein, despite the ability to distinguish and even give a qualitative description that “this is sweeter than that” or “this is gentler to the touch than that,” there are yet no gradations or graduations conforming to unified scales of measurement. When we go beyond our perceptions, measurement of qualities becomes even impossible. How can beauty, kindness, honesty, courage, and the like be measured? Such lapses are often quoted by those bent upon pointing out the limitations of science.

Source: Srinagesh K (2005), The Principles of Experimental Research, Butterworth-Heinemann; 1st edition.