Any transformation of data is a claim about what the concept means

Evidence

All indicator or variable transformations are semantic transformations. … Validity-increasing transformations make the meaning closer to that of the researcher or research community; less valid ones increase the distance to the substantive content of the concept. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 580

Categorization

• XREF: Complements the reader’s holdings on measurement in Goertz’s Social Science Concepts and on operationalization debates in comparative politics.