Measurement and

Scaling
Fundamentals and
Comparative Scaling
 Introduction..
The first question a researcher must answer is “What to be
measured?” the definition of problem based on Ex.R. or managerial
judgment, indicate the concept to be investigated. However, a precise
definition of concept may require a description how it will be measured, and
there is frequently more than one way to measure a particular concept.

As we discussed earlier, the data consists of quantitative variables,

like price, income, sales etc., and qualitative variables like knowledge,
performance , character etc. The qualitative information must be converted
into numerical form for further analysis. This is possible through
measurement and scaling techniques. A common feature of survey based
research is to have respondent’s feelings, attitudes, opinions, etc. in some
measurable form.
Terminology..
• Concept : A generalized idea about a class of objects,

attributes, occurrence or processes.

Example : Age, sex, education, loyalty, brand

equity, job involvement.

• Operational Definition: A concept must be made operational

in order to be measured. An operational definition give

meaning to the concept by specifying the activities or

operations necessary to measure it.

Continued……
• Measurement: Measurement is the process of observing and recording

the observations that are collected as part of research. The recording of

the observations may be in terms of numbers or other symbols to

characteristics a concept according to certain prescribed rules.

• One-to-one correspondence between the numbers and the characteristics being

measured.

• The rules for assigning numbers should be standardized and applied uniformly.

• Rules must not change over objects or time.

• In Research number as assigned:

• Number permit statistical analysis of resulting data

• Number facilitate the communication of measurement rule and result.

Continued……
• Scaling: Scaling may be considered as extension of measurement. A

scale may be defined as any series of items that are arranged

progressively according to the magnitude into which an item can be

placed according to its quantification.

• A Scale can be described in term of four characteristics.

• Description

• Order

• Distance

• Origin
Primary Scale
of
Measurement
Nominal Scale
• The numbers serve only as labels or tags for identifying and classifying
objects.
• When used for identification, there is a strict one-to-one correspondence
between the numbers and the objects.
• When used for classification purpose, the nominally scaled numbers serve
as labels for classes or categories.
• The numbers do not reflect the amount of the characteristic possessed by
the objects.
• The only permissible operation on the numbers in a nominal scale is
counting.
• Only a limited number of statistics, all of which are based on frequency
counts, are permissible, e.g., percentages, and mode.
Ordinal Scale
• A ranking scale in which numbers are assigned to objects to indicate
the relative extent to which the objects possess some characteristic.

• Can determine whether an object has more or less of a

characteristic than some other object, but not how much more or
less. i.e. indicate relative position not the magnitude of difference.

• Any series of numbers can be assigned that preserves the ordered

relationships between the objects.

• In addition to the counting operation allowable for nominal scale

data, ordinal scales permit the use of statistics based on centiles,
e.g., percentile, quartile, median.
Interval Scale
• Numerically equal distances on the scale represent equal values in the

characteristic being measured.

• It permits comparison of the differences between objects.

• The location of the zero point is not fixed. Both the zero point and the

units of measurement are arbitrary.

• Any positive linear transformation of the form y = a + bx will preserve the

properties of the scale.

• It is not meaningful to take ratios of scale values.

• Statistical techniques that may be used include all of those that can be

applied to nominal and ordinal data, and in addition the arithmetic mean,

standard deviation, and other statistics commonly used in marketing

Ratio Scale
• It is the highest scale, possesses all the properties of the nominal,
ordinal, and interval scales.
• It has an absolute zero point.
• It is meaningful to compute ratios of scale values.
• Only proportionate transformations of the form y = bx, where b is a
positive constant, are allowed.
• All statistical techniques can be applied to ratio data.
Illustration of Primary Scales of Measurement
Comparison..
A Classification of Scaling Techniques
Comparative Scaling
Techniques
Comparative scaling
• It involve the direct comparison of two or more objects (stimuli).

• As respondents compare the objects, they are forced to make a choice

between them
• Comparative scale data must be interpreted in relative terms and have
only ordinal or rank order properties.
• Respondents are shown the stimuli simultaneously, allowing them to
compare the objects starting from the same reference points, which
helps reduce carry over effects (such as order bias) from one
judgment/response to another.
• With the help of comparative scaling small difference between stimulus
object can be detected.
• The major disadvantage of these scale include the ordinal nature of data
and the inability to generalize beyond the stimulus object scale.
Paired Comparison Scaling
• A respondent is presented with two objects (stimuli) and asked to select one
according to some criterion.

• The data obtained are ordinal in nature.

• Paired comparison scaling is the most widely-used comparative scaling

technique.

• With n brands, [n(n - 1) /2] paired comparisons are required

• Several analytical methods can be used with paired comparison data, such
as calculating the percentage of respondents who preferred one stimulus
to another.

• Under the assumption of transitivity, it is possible to convert paired

comparison data to rank order.
• by assuming that if brand X is preferred to brand Y, and brand Y is preferred to
brand Z, then brand X is also preferred to brand Z and they rank in X, Y, Z order.
Rank Order Scaling
• Respondents are presented with several objects simultaneously and
asked to order or rank them according to some criterion.
• This approach is also comparative in nature and it is possible that the
respondent may dislike the brand ranked 1 in an absolute sense.
• Furthermore, rank order scaling also results in ordinal data.
• With n stimulus objects, only (n - 1) scaling decision would be
required.
• Rank order data is also frequently obtained in conjoint analysis
because it forces respondents to discriminate among stimuli.
Constant Sum Scaling
• Respondents allocate a constant sum of units, such as 100
points to attributes of a product to reflect their importance.
• If an attribute is unimportant, the respondent assigns it zero
points.
• If an attribute is twice as important as some other attribute, it
receives twice as many points.
• The sum of all the points is 100. Hence, the name of the scale.
• Unlike paired comparison and rank order scales, constant sum
scales have an absolute zero, therefore, constant sum scaling
is sometimes treated as ratio data.
• It allows for fine discrimination among objects and does not
take a lot of time for respondents.
Non-comparative
scaling
Techniques
Non-comparative Scaling
• Respondents evaluate only one object in the stimulus set at a
time, and for this reason non-comparative scales are often
referred to as monadic scales.
• The resulting data are assumed to be an interval and ratio
scaled.
• The non-comparative scaling techniques can be further
divided into:
• Continuous Rating Scale, and
• Itemized Rating Scale.
Continuous Rating Scale
• In a continuous rating scale, also referred to as a graphic rating
scale. Respondents rate the objects by placing a mark at the
appropriate position on a line that runs from one extreme of
the criterion variable to the other.
• The form of the continuous scale may vary considerably.
Sources of error in measurement
• Failure to identify the target population
• Non-response bias
• Questionnaire design
• Interviewer bias
• Respondent bias
• Processing errors
• Misinterpretation of result
Itemized Rating Scales
• The respondents are provided with a scale that has a number
or brief description associated with each category.
• The categories are ordered in terms of scale position, and the
respondents are required to select the specified category that
best describes the object being rated.
• The commonly used itemized rating scales are the

-Likert
- Semantic differential
- Stapel scales.
 Likert Scale
• Named after its developer, Rensis Likert.
• The Likert scale requires the respondents to indicate a degree of
agreement or disagreement with each of a series of statements
about the stimulus objects.

• The analysis can be conducted on an item-by-item basis (profile

analysis), or a total (summated) score can be calculated.
• When arriving at a total score, the categories assigned to the
negative statements by the respondents should be scored by
Semantic Differential Scale
• The semantic differential is a seven-point rating scale with end
points associated with bipolar labels that have semantic
meaning.

• The negative adjective or phrase sometimes appears at the

left side of the scale and sometimes at the right.
• This controls the tendency of some respondents, particularly
those with very positive or very negative attitudes, to mark
the right- or left-hand sides without reading the labels.
• Individual items on a semantic differential scale may be
scored on either a -3 to +3 or a 1 to 7 scale.
Stapel Scale
• The Stapel scale is a unipolar rating scale with ten categories
numbered from -5 to +5, without a neutral point (zero). This
scale is usually presented vertically.

• The data obtained by using a Stapel scale can be analyzed in

the same way as semantic differential data.
• The Stapel scale’s advantages are that it does not require a
pre-test of the adjectives or phrases to ensure true bipolarity
and that it can be administered over the telephone.
Test of Sound
Measurement
Test of Sound Measurement
• An attribute is a single characteristic or a fundamental feature
of an object, person, situation or issue.
• A multi-item instrument used to measure a single concept
with several attribute are called index measure or composite
measure. Example: A index of social class is based on three
weighted variable: residence, occupation and education.

• Measuring a concept by a variety of techniques is one method

for increasing precision and accuracy.
• Multi-item scale should be evaluated for accuracy and
applicability.
Measurement Accuracy
• A measurement is a number that reflects some characteristics of
interest, not the true value of characteristics but rather an
observation of it.
• The true score model provides a framework for understanding
the accuracy of measurement.

• XO= XT + XS + XR
Where
XO = the observed score or measurement
XT = the true score of the characteristic
XS = systematic error
XR = random error
Reliability
• The extent to which the a scale produces consistent results if
repeated measurement are made on characteristic of interest.
• Reliability can be defined as the extent to which measures are
free from random error, XR. If XR = 0, the measure is perfectly
reliable.
• Reliability is necessary condition for validity.
• There are two dimensions underline the concept of reliability.
• Reputability

• Internal consistency
Reliability Conti….
• In test-retest reliability, respondents are administered
identical sets of scale items at two different times under as
nearly equivalent condition as possible and the degree of
similarity between the two measurements is determined. i.e
correlation coefficient

• In alternative-forms reliability, two equivalent forms of the

scale are constructed and the same respondents are measured
at two different times, with a different form being used each
time. The score from the administration of the alternative-
scale form are correlated to asses reliability.
Reliability Conti….
• Internal consistency reliability determines the extent to which different
parts of a summated scale are consistent in what they indicate about
the characteristic being measured(Homogeneity of measures)
• In split-half reliability, the items on the scale are divided into two
halves and the resulting half scores are correlated.
• In equivalent-form reliability two alternative instruments are designed
to as equivalent as possible, each of the measurement scale is
administrated to the same group of subject. If there is a high
correlation between the two form, research conclude that the scale is
reliable.