Chapter 6

Measurement of Variables: Operational

Definition

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Example

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 Measurement
 Measurement: the assignment of numbers or other symbols
to characteristics (or attributes) of objects according to a
pre-specified set of rules.

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 (Characteristics of) Objects
 Objects include persons, strategic business units,
companies, countries, kitchen appliances, restaurants,
shampoo, yogurt and so on.
 Examples of characteristics of objects are arousal seeking
tendency, achievement motivation, organizational
effectiveness, shopping enjoyment, length, weight, ethnic
diversity, service quality, conditioning effects and taste.

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 Activity 1
Identify the object and the attribute. Give your informed
opinion about who would be an adequate judge.

a)Price consciousness of car buyers.

b)Self‐esteem of dyslexic children.
c)Organizational commitment of school teachers.
d)Marketing orientation of companies.
e)Product quality of tablets (such as the Apple iPad and the
Samsung Galaxy Tab).
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 Types of Variables
 Two types of variables:

1. One lends itself to objective and precise measurement;

2. The other is more vague and does not lend itself to accurate
measurement because of its abstract and subjective nature.

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 Operationalizing Concepts
 Operationalizing concepts: reduction of abstract concepts to
render them measurable in a tangible way.

 Operationalizing is done by looking at the behavioral

dimensions, facets, or properties denoted by the concept.

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 Chapter 7

Measurement: Scaling, Reliability and Validity

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 Example – Scale
Let us take an example of nationality of individuals. We could
nominally scale this variable in the following mutually
exclusive and collectively exhaustive categories.
Pakistani 1
Indian 2
Bangladeshi 3
Sri Lankan 4
Maldivian 5
Nepali 6
Note that every respondent has to fit into one of the above 6
categories and that the scale allows computation of the
numbers and percentages of respondents that fit into them.9
 Scale
 A tool or mechanism by which individuals are
distinguished as to how they differ from one another on
the variables of interest to our study.

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 Example
To study the entrepreneurial intention of business students
Gender
Age
Education/Qualification
Father Occupation
Entrepreneurial intention
– I will start my own business after my graduation
– I prefer to have my own business over job
– My family want me to start a new business after my graduation
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 Nominal Scale
 A nominal scale is one that allows the researcher to assign subjects to certain
categories or groups.

 What is your department?

O Marketing O Maintenance O Finance
O Production O Servicing O Personnel
O Sales O Public Relations O Accounting

 What is your gender?

O Male
O Female

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Nominal Scale

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 Ordinal Scale
 Ordinal scale: not only categorizes variables in such a way
as to denote differences among various categories, it also
rank-orders categories in some meaningful way.

 What is the highest level of education you have

completed?
O Less than High School
O High School/GED Equivalent
O College Degree
O Masters Degree
O Doctoral Degree

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Ordinal Scale

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 Interval Scale
 Nominal scale allows us only to qualitatively distinguish
groups by categorizing them into mutually exclusive and
collectively exhaustive sets, and the ordinal scale to rank-
order the preferences, the interval scale lets us measure the
distance between any two points on the scale.

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 Interval scale
 Circle the number that represents your feelings at this particular moment best.
There are no right or wrong answers. Please answer every question.

1. I invest more in my work than I get out of it

I disagree completely 1 2 3 4 5 I agree completely

2. I exert myself too much considering what I get back in return

I disagree completely 1 2 3 4 5 I agree completely

3. For the efforts I put into the organization, I get much in return

I disagree completely 1 2 3 4 5 I agree completely

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Interval scale

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 Ratio Scale
 Overcomes the disadvantage of the arbitrary origin point
of the interval scale, in that it has an absolute (in contrast
to an arbitrary) zero point, which is a meaningful
measurement point.

 What is your age?

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Ratio Scale

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Properties of the Four Scales

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Goodness of Measures

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 Validity
Validity refers to the accuracy of a measure (whether the
results really do represent what they are supposed to
measure).

The ability of a construct or scale to assess what it aimed to

be assessed.

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Validity

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 Reliability
 Reliability of a measure indicates the extent to
which the scale ensures consistent measurement
across time (stability) and across the various items
in the instrument (internal consistency).

 Validity refers to the accuracy of a measure

(whether the results really do represent what they
are supposed to measure).

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 Stability
 Stability: ability of a measure to remain the same over
time, despite uncontrollable testing conditions or the state
of the respondents themselves.

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 Internal Consistency
 Internal Consistency of Measures is indicative of
the homogeneity of the items in the measure that
tap the construct.

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 Chapter 8

Data Collection Methods

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 Sources of Data
 Primary data: information obtained first hand by the researcher on the
variables of interest for the specific purpose of the study.

 Examples: individuals, focus groups, panels

 Secondary data: information gathered from sources already existing.

 Examples: company records or archives, government publications,

industry analyses offered by the media, web sites, the Internet, and so
on.

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 Personal Interview
 Advantages
– Can clarify doubts about questionnaire
– Can pick up non-verbal cues
– Relatively high response/cooperation
– Special visual aids and scoring devises can be used

 Disadvantages
– High costs and time intensive
– Geographical limitations
– Response bias / Confidentiality difficult to be assured
– Some respondents are unwilling to talk to strangers
– Trained interviewers

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 Telephone Interview
 Advantages
– Discomfort of face to face is avoided
– Faster / Number of calls per day could be high
– Lower cost

 Disadvantages
– Interview length must be limited
– Low response rate
– No facial expressions

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 Self-administered
 Advantages
– Lowest cost option
– Expanded geographical coverage
– Requires minimal staff
– Perceived as more anonymous

 Disadvantages
– Low response rate in some modes
– No interviewer intervention possible for clarification
– Cannot be too long or complex
– Incomplete surveys

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Principles of Questionnaire Design.

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 Questionnaire Design
 Definition
A questionnaire is a pre-formulated, written set of questions to which the
respondent records his answers

 Steps
1. Determine the content of the questionnaire
2. Determine the form of response
3. Determine the wording of the questions
4. Determine the question sequence
5. Write cover letter

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 1. Questionnaire content
 Framework
Need information for all constructs in framework

 Measurement: Operationalizing
– Objective construct:
• 1 element/items
=> 1 question
– Subjective construct:
• multiple elements/items
=> multiple questions

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 2. Response format
 Closed vs. Open-ended questions
– Closed questions
• Helps respondents to make quick decisions
• Helps researchers to code
– Open-ended question
• First: unbiased point of view
• Final: additional insights
• Complementary to closed question: for interpretation purpose

 Cfr. Measurement: Response scales

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 3. Question Wording
 Avoid double-barreled questions

 Avoid ambiguous questions and words

 Use of ordinary words

 Avoid leading or biasing questions

 Social desirability

 Avoid recall depended questions

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 Question Wording

 Use positive and negative statements

– ABL delivers high quality banking service
ABL has poor customer operational support
– Avoid double negatives

 Limit the length of the questions

Rules of thumb:
– < 20 words
– < one full line in print

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4. Question Sequence

Personal and sensitive data at the end

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 5. Cover Letter
 The cover letter is the introductory page of the
questionnaire

 It includes:
– Identification of the researcher
– Motivation for respondents to fill it in
– Confidentiality
– Thanking of the respondent

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 Structured Observations
 Recording prespecified behavioral patterns of people,
objects and events in a systematic manner.

 Quantitative in nature

 Different types
– Personal observation
(e.g., mystery shopper, pantry audit)

– Electronic observation
(e.g., scanner data, people meter, eye tracking)

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