De meting van macht. Enige validiteitsproblemen bij een onderzoek op het Griekse platteland

Samenvatting

3 methods to measure power in local communities are compared: (1) the positional method (who occupies which formal power position for how long), (2) the reputational method of F. Hunter (community power structure, Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1963), (who has the reputation of being powerful), and (3) the decisonal method of A. A. Dahl (Who governs? Democracy and power in an American city, New Haven, Conn: Yale paperback, 1965) (who takes part in which community decision). 2 basic questions underly this comparison: (a) is it possible to use these methods in cultural settings other than the US, specifically in developing countries? And (b) to what extent does each method measure power? Operationalization of each method is discussed as a problem of choice out of several alternatives. Both practical and methodological considerations determine this choice. The extent to which the 3 methods give overlapping results is determined by making lists of the positional, the reputational, and the decisional leaders of 3 small villages in northern Greece. An attempt is made to determine whether the overlap is the result of contamination of the measuring instruments, or a sign of real construct validity. In collecting the data several methods were used: analysis of community records, sample survey, half-structured interviews, free interviews, and participant observations. Several leadership indices are constructed and tested against alternatives. The main conclusions are: (a) there are no impediments intrinsic to the methods for using them in developing countries. The technical and organizational implementation may be more difficult (bad or non-existing records, illiteracy), and may give great importance to participant observation as a data collection method. (b) the overlap between the results of the 3 methods is rather small, even in these small communities. Each method measures different aspects of power, and has only a validity for these aspects, not for the whole concept. The complex concept of power is clarified and asks for a combination of methods to analyze local power structures. 2 tables. Modified AA