Measuring Meaning-Making: BC-LAMP-C
Measuring Meaning-Making: BC-LAMP-C
Project Summary
BC-LAMP-C is a quantitative instrument that measures the capacity for meaning-making among college students. It draws on constructive-developmental theory, which recognizes the expanding cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal capacities, by which individuals interpret and make meaning of the world and their place in it (Kegan 1982; Kegan, 1994; Baxter-Magolda, 2007; Parks, 2011). Growth in meaning-making capacity is marked by individuals’ increasing ability to see themselves as distinct, but connected in myriad ways to the world around them.
Assessing meaning-making has usually been done through qualitative interviews (Lahey, et al, 2011). LAMP-C applies the Rasch/Guttman Scenario methodology (Ludlow, et al, 2014), thus can be administered easily to large populations, while providing meaningful data on individual subjects.
Project Timeline
Design of LAMP C started in spring 2020 and is ongoing.
Target Audience
Higher education administrators, who are interested in formation as a key outcome and wish to better evaluate progress toward formative goals, need credible tools to measure such growth.
Needs this work is addressing
The ability to measure the development of meaning-making capacity among college students. To date, no such instrument exists.
Principal Investigator, Funding, and Partnerships
An interdisciplinary team of scholars drawn from three schools at Boston College. Theresa O'Keefe, PI (CSTM); Larry Ludlow Co-PI (LSEHD); Christina Matz (GSSW); Henry Braun (LSEHD). Assistend through the process by doctoral students Lauren Warner (CSTM) and Ella Anghel (LSEHD). Funding recieved through Boston College "Formative Education Grants, 2023"; TAM grant, 2024; Taylor University & AYME grant, 2024.
Approach
LAMP-C applies the Rasch/Guttman Scenario methodology (Ludlow, et al, 2014). It builds off the work of LAMP-A (Ludlow et al, 2020) and LAMP-B, which were designed to measure meaning and purpose (Ludlow et al. 2022).
Measuring & Metrics
Meaning-Making Capacity, using a quantitative instrument.
Why conduct this research?
One of the reasons I was excited to be asked to write this book for Cascade is because one of their goals is to produce books that make academic study accessible to a broader audience. What that means for this book is that I was able to write in a way that would be hopefully more accessible, spending more time on explanations of things that might get skipped over in texts written mostly for other academics.
Partnership:
The author of the forward is a colleague of mine, Dr. Heather Walton, whose PhD students in Theology through Creative Practice at the University of Glasgow were some of the audience I envisioned this project being useful for.