Making the Intangible Measurable: A New Approach to Researching Social Phenomena

In a world where social realities are increasingly complex and multidimensional, how can we effectively study human decisions, motivations, and behaviour? Most research methodologies struggle when it comes to operationalizing subjective, qualitative phenomena—especially in fields like entrepreneurship, education, or sociology. A recent publication offers a fresh and rigorous way forward.

📄 "Methodological construction for the analysis of social phenomena: case of entrepreneurial decisions in university students", authored by José Londoño-Cardozo and Elkin Fabriany Pineda-Henao, and published in Entramado journal (Vol. 20, No. 2, 2024), proposes a methodological reflection rather than a traditional results-based study.

🔬 This article introduces a structured method for transforming qualitative data into measurable insights. Grounded in both epistemological and ontological critiques of conventional social research, the authors provide a comprehensive framework for operationalizing complex concepts like decision-making, risk perception, or emotional motivation.

🎓 The method is applied to a practical case: exploring what drives or inhibits entrepreneurial decisions among Colombian university students. Through a systematic literature review, the study identifies key dimensions—such as educational background, psychological traits, socioeconomic status, and life experiences—and shows how each can be translated into variables and indicators for rigorous analysis.

💡 What makes this article stand out is its transdisciplinary relevance: it's useful for educators, researchers, and students across social sciences, particularly those involved in entrepreneurship studies, education policy, or youth development.

🔗 Read the full article here:

https://doi.org/10.18041/1900-3803/entramado.2.10566

Whether you're developing research tools, supervising student projects, or simply exploring new ways to measure the unmeasurable—this piece offers valuable insights and practical tools you can adapt to your own work.