Issues in Measurement: The "Levels of Conceptualization" Index of Ideological Sophistication

The traditional measure of ideological sophistication, the of index, was developed by authors of The American Voter to measure the structure of thought the individual applies to politics and was presumed to be a relatively stable trait. Recent disagreement over issues in measurement has led to uncertainty about the validity of the index as a measure of political sophistication and to questions about its stability. These methodological arguments are fundamental to substantive conclusions about the validity of existing models of political conceptualization and the models one constructs. An attempt is made to resolve recent disagreements through careful attention to issues of validity, reliability, and stability of instruments which measure levels of conceptualization.