Conceptualizing and Measuring Culture in Surveys: Case Study in the Republic of Croatia

Jasna Horvat, Sanda Katavič, Martina Mikrut, and Irena Ograjenšek

Abstract

The issue of culture as a specific resource is an interdisciplinary one. It can be addressed in various different contexts by a variety of surveys. In this paper, the authors base their discussion on economic sociology and cultural studies, leaning additionally on economics and applied business studies on one and economic geography on the other hand. When attempting to conceptualise and measure the construct “culture”, the interdisciplinary nature of the topic is recognised as a major disadvantage, since different disciplines adopted different definitions of the term. In order to account for these differences, it is necessary to develop several measurement instruments. In the framework of this paper, the authors aim (1) to develop a measurement instrument accounting for individuals’ interest in specific cultural goods, and (2) to measure culture as one of the personal values.