ABSTRACT
Sometimes researchers wish to incorporate more information into one variable than a single measure can provide. Two composite measures—indexes and scales—provide a more comprehensive examination of a concept than does a single measure. A scale also is a composite variable. Similar to an index, its numeric value is created by summing each respondent’s scores on a list of items. However, unlike an index, the numeric value of a scale provides a composite variable that measures the intensity of feelings and problems. For example, the Bogardus “social distance scale” might be used for a study of attitudes on the placement of a juvenile rehabilitation center in a community. The dependent variable is the extent of drug problems at age 21. This measure is the summed total of the frequency of experiencing 49 negative consequences of concomitants of drug use asked separately for alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and other drugs and then summed together.
