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Value Measurement

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Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

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A value, according to traditional psychological theory, is an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite mode of conduct or end state of existence (Rokeach 1973). Values, however, rarely act in isolation; rather, they work in a “comparative and competitive” fashion. Therefore, it is useful to think in terms of value systems, which are defined as enduring organizations of beliefs concerning preferable modes of conduct or end states of existence along a continuum of relative importance (Rokeach 1973). According to Schwartz (1992), values (1) are beliefs (2) that refer to desirable goals. They (3) transcend specific situations, (4) are ordered by relative importance, and (5) serve as standards or criteria. Finally, (6) it is the relative importance of the set of relevant values that guides action.

Values play an important role in research across a wide array of social science disciplines. In political...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Government, Franklin & Marshall College, 415 Harrisburg Ave, P.O. Box 3003, Lancaster, USA

    David J. Ciuk

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  1. David J. Ciuk
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Correspondence to David J. Ciuk .

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  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Ali Farazmand

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Ciuk, D.J. (2016). Value Measurement. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2550-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2550-1

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