involves defining criminological concepts or events so that they can be observed and measured in a scientific manner.

The procedure by which researchers establish criteria for assigning values to variables.

A process of describing constructs or variables in concrete terms so that measurements can be made. FOR EXAMPLE, one process for operationalizing prior criminal behavior may involve reported arrests for felony offenses based on an FBI fingerprint search, while another process may involve self-reported criminal history obtained by response to a short list of questions on a standardized questionnaire.