Concepts and Measures: The Example of Unionateness

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to take a single concept, unionateness, and to illustrate the way in which theoretical and operational considerations interact in leading to its refinement and elaboration. A distinction is introduced between enterprise and society unionateness, and the problems associated with the operationalization and measurement of each of these new concepts are discussed. The importance of measurement procedures as an intrinsic part of the problem of conceptualization is emphasized, particularly in relation to certain techniques of measurement which are not widely used. In a concluding section there is a brief presentation of findings which demonstrate the value of the distinction introduced.