Operational Definitions in Research on Religion and Health

Abstract

This article summarizes the historical development of operational definitions and discusses their application to research on religion and health, and their importance for research, in general. The diversity of religious concepts that have been operationalized is described, as well as the development of multi-dimensional self-report measures of religion specifically designed for use in health research. The operational definitions of a variety of health concepts are also described, including the development of multi-dimensional self-report measures of health. Some of the most consistently observed salutary relationships between religion and health are mentioned. The rising interest in spirituality in health research is discussed, along with problems with the current operational definitions of spirituality in healthcare research. The levels of measurement used in various, operationally defined religious and healthcare concepts are highlighted.

Notes

Religious denomination represents a nominal level of measurement, or nominal scale, in which a variable is classified into categories that have no real numerical value.

Their review covered studies published between 1837 and 1984.

Hypertension represents a nominal level of measurement, because it is the name for a, or category of disease. Blood pressure, itself, is measured on a ratio scale.

Frequency of attending religious services is technically a ratio scale because some people never attend religious services, but it is usually treated as an interval scale for methodological reasons.

The items on most of the scales are measured by ratings that are assumed to represent equal intervals, which are summed to form a total score for the scale.

As of this writing, the Fetzer report, which include all of the scales, could be downloaded for free at https://www.gem-beta.org/public/MeasureDetail.aspx?mid=1155&cat=2

Cancer site, or type of cancer (colon, breast, throat, etc.), is another example of a nominal scale. The stages of cancer are ranked on an ordinal scale, in which higher numbers (e.g., I, II, III, and IV) represent greater progression and severity of disease.

Heart disease is classified on a nominal scale into several diseases or disorders: arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy, conduction, congenital, coronary artery, hypertensive, infective, rheumatic, valvular, and congestive heart failure.

Levels of interferon gamma and anti-inflammatory cytokines are measured on ratio scales in which there are equal intervals and a meaningful zero point; zero means they are not present.

The Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction is the volume of blood pumped out of the ventricle with each heartbeat.

The SF-36 can be downloaded for free from the RAND Corporation, as the RAND 36-Item Health Survey.