There are several problems with quantifying broken windows that need to be addressed before we can hope to validate the theory. First, we need to remember exactly what the theory entails. In many discussions about it, the only thing spoken of is the correlation between disorder and serious crime. These elements are on the extreme ends of a four part causal chain.
Disorder is theorized to cause fear.
Social control is generally operationalized as community cohesion. This lapse of community cohesion is theorized to cause increased serious crime. Skogan recognizes these limitations, but I believe that Kelling and Coles were overly optimistic in their appraisal of Skogan's work as providing empirical validation of broken windows. A serious problem I have with this model is the treatment of crime and disorder as two distinct constructs. These factors are generally measured by public perceptions to survey questions on a three point Likert scale.