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Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.zabe possible to postulate that, by mutual agreement, we have includedconnotations such as finesse, refinement, and appreciation of literature and artas part of the conventional connotation of the concept.The denotation or reference of a concept would refer to the set of phenomena,entities, events, characteristics, behaviours, or processes which exist in reality,and which are included when we use that concept. The denotative dimension ofa concept would, therefore, refer to a specific and clearly defined (hopefully)set of entities or phenomena in reality. Consequently, the denotation of theconcept culture would include such phenomena or events as literary traditions,folk songs, national flags, religious practices, rites, and works of art.For the purposes of this discussion, our brief introduction to the meaning ofconcept has to suffice. Bearing in mind the earlier distinction between internaland external validity, we are now in a position to formulate the following twogeneral guidelines as a primary requirement for internal validity:(1) the connotations of the central concepts have to be clear, unambiguous,and articulated; and(2) the denotations of the central concepts in the formulation of the problemhave to be accurate indicators of the connotations.Clearly, it would be logical to refer to (1) and (2) respectively as the connotativeand denotative validity of concepts or constructs. In the remainder of thebook these terms will, however, be used as synonyms for theoretical validity(connotative validity) and measurement validity (denotative validity) as theseterms are currently used in the literature. In the next section we shall discussconceptualization as a process aimed at gaining internal theoretical orconnotative validity, while operationalizing will be discussed as a process bymeans of which internal measurement validity (denotative validity) is pursued.CONCEPTUALIZATIONThe term conceptualization is used in this text as a synonym for conceptualanalysis or conceptual explication. Assume that a researcher has decided toconduct a study to establish the relationship between political conservatism andracial prejudice. Even for a person not trained in sociology, and particularly inSouth Africa, it would be quite evident that the concepts conservatism andracial prejudice have many connotations. In pre-scientific everyday life theseconcepts form part of individuals’ commonly held attitudes and valueorientations. In the language game of the social sciences, the concepts havebecome embedded in a variety of models and theories in sociology andpolitical science. It is clear that a familiarity with the most important theoriesrelating to the research problem is an essential precondition for an adequateconceptualization.59