8: Measurement of Variables:

Operational definition and

Scaling
Basic Measurement Issues
Measurement is the process of assigning numbers or
labels to objects, persons, states, or events in
accordance with specific rules to represent quantities or
qualities of attributes.

We do not measure specific objects, persons, etc., we

measure attributes or features that define them.
Basic Measurement Issues
Ex., What defines the person Brent Wren? What is a
student’s level of education? How customer oriented is
our company?

Overriding Goal: To provide a valid and reliable

description or enumeration of the person, objects, issue,
etc.
Basic Measurement Issues
Measurement of variables is an integral part of research
and an important aspect of research design. Unless the
variables are measured in some way, we will not be able
to test our hypotheses and find answers to complex
research issues.
Measurement Process
1. Define concepts to be measured
2. Define attributes/elements of the concepts
3. Select scale of measurement (data type)
4. Generate Items/Questions
◦ Wording
◦ Response format
5. Layout and design questionnaire
6. Pretest and refine
Basic Measurement Issues
Concept or Construct
◦ A generalized idea about a class of objects, attributes,
occurrences, or processes
◦ Concrete – demographics, traffic patterns, purchase
quantity
◦ Abstract – loyalty, personality, satisfaction, leadership
Attribute
◦ A single characteristic or fundamental feature of an object,
person, situation, or issue
◦ Often measure multiple attributes
 Scales

A scale is a tool by which individuals are

distinguished from one another on the variables of
interest to our study.
There are four basic types of scales.
 Ratio Scales
Interval Scales
Ordinal Scales
Nominal Scales
Four Basic Scales of Measurement
 Nominal Scales
Nominal scales focus on only requiring a
respondent to provide some type of
descriptor as the raw response. This scale
allows the researcher to assign subjects to
certain groups.

Example.
Please indicate your current martial status.
__Married __ Single __ Single, never married __ Widowed
 Nominal Scales

Nominal scales categories individuals or

objects into mutually exclusive and
collectively exhaustive groups.

Example.
Please indicate your gender.
__Male __ Female
Ordinal Scales

Ordinal scales not only categorizes the

variables but also rank-orders the categories
in some meaningful way.

With any variable for which the categories are

to be ordered according to some preference,
the ordinal scale would be used.
 Ordinal Scales
Example.
Rank the following five characteristics in a job in terms of how important they
are for you. You should rank the most important item as 1, the next in
importance as 2 and so on.
Job Characteristic:
The opportunity provided by the job to:
__Work independently
__ Use a number of different skills
__ Serve others
__ Interact with others
__ Complete a whole task from beginning to end
Interval Scales

Interval scales demonstrate/measure the

distance between any two points on the scale.
The interval scale not only groups individuals
according to certain categories and taps the
order of these groups, it also measures the
magnitude of the differences in the preference
among the individuals.
 Interval Scales

Example. What will be your position for the following statement?

KFC’s chicken fry is best in taste.
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree Agree
1 2 3 4 5
Ratio Scales
Ratio scales allow for the identification of
absolute differences between each scale point,
and absolute comparisons between
responses.

This scale overcomes the disadvantage of the

arbitrary origin point of the interval scale in
that it has an absolute zero point, which is a
meaningful measurement point.
Ratio Scales

Example 1.
Please circle the number of children under 18 years of age currently living in your
household.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (if more than 7, please specify ___.)