operationalize

English

Alternative forms

• operationalise

Etymology

From operational +‎ -ize.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɒpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)nəlʌɪz/
• IPA^(key): /ˌɑpəˈɹeɪʃənəˌlaɪz/

Verb

operationalize (third-person singular simple present operationaliz, present participle ing, simple past and past participle operationalized)

1. (transitive) To make operational.
2. (transitive, social sciences) To define (a concept) in such a way that it can be practically measured.
   • 1956, Ernest Greenwood, "New Directions in Delinquency Research: A Commentary on a Study by Bernard Lander," Social Service Review, vol. 30, no. 2, p. 152:

     To operationalize a concept is to identify those variables in terms of which the phenomenon represented by the concept can be accurately observed.

   • 2012, Adam Zeman, ‘Only Connect’, Literary Review, issue 399:

     Vision seems ‘childishly simple’ to us but proves to be fiendishly hard to operationalise, precisely because we are so good at it.

Derived terms

Terms derived from "operationalize"

• operationalizability

• operationalizable

• operationalization