Dimensions of Meaning and Their Measurement

Abstract

This paper deals with the measurement of meaning. The theoretical and practical difficulties of measuring meaning are elucidated in a discussion of the main techniques of measurement and their deficiencies in sensitivity, comparability, generality and validity A new method for collecting and analyzing data is described. Findings of studies in which this method was applied lead to the definition of meaning as a pattern of values, i.e., representations of varying abstractness, along dimensions, i.e., general modes of categorization. A series of 13 dimensions of lexical meaning and a continuum of 10 dimensions of symbolic meaning are defined; their interrelations of hierarchical ordering, differential facilitation, etc. are described. Theoretical and methodological implications of the multidimensional conception of meaning for other theories of meaning and research domains, e.g., change in attitude and learning, are discussed.