Measurement and Scaling Techniques

Introduction
Measurement is assigning numbers or other symbols to characteristics of objects being
measured, according to predetermined rules. Concept (or Construct) is a generalized idea about
a class of objects, attributes, occurrences, or processes.
Relatively concrete constructs comprise of aspects such as Age, gender, number of children,
education, income. Relatively abstract constructs take into accounts the aspects such as Brand
loyalty, personality, channel power, satisfaction.
Scaling is the generation of a continuum upon which measured objects are located.
Scale is a quantifying measure – a combination of items that is progressively arranged
according to value or magnitude. The purpose is to quantitatively represent an item's, person's,
or event's place in the scaling continuum.
Measurement Scales: Tools of Sound Measurement
These are of four kinds of scales, namely:
1. Nominal scale
2. Ordinal scale
3. Interval scale
4. Ratio scale

Nominal Scale
In this scale, numbers are used to identify the objects. For example, University Registration
numbers assigned to students, numbers on their jerseys.
The purpose of marking numbers, symbols, labels etc. in this type of scaling is not to establish
an order but it is to simply put labels in order to identify events and count the objects and
subjects. This measurement scale is used to classify individuals, companies, products, brands
or other entities into categories where no order is implied. Indeed, it is often referred to as a
categorical scale. It is a system of classification and does not place the entity along a continuum.
It involves a simple count of the frequency of the cases assigned to the various categories, and
if desired numbers can be nominally assigned to label each category.
Characteristics
1. It has no arithmetic origin.
2. It shows no order or distance relationship.
3. It distinguishes things by putting them into various groups.
Example: Have you ever visited Bangalore?
Yes-1
No-2
'Yes' is coded as 'One' and 'No' is coded as 'Two'. The numeric attached to the answers has no
meaning, and is a mere identification. If numbers are interchanged as one for 'No' and two for
'Yes', it won't affect the answers given by respondents. The numbers used in nominal scales
serve only the purpose of counting.
The telephone numbers are an example of nominal scale, where one number is assigned to one
subscriber. The idea of using nominal scale is to make sure that no two persons or objects
receive the same number. Similarly, bus route numbers are the example of nominal scale.
It should be kept in mind that nominal scale has certain limitation, viz.
1. There is no rank ordering.
2. No mathematical operation is possible.
3. Statistical implication - Calculation of the standard deviation and the mean is not possible.
It is possible to express the mode.

Ordinal Scale (Ranking Scale)

The ordinal scale is used for ranking in most market research studies. Ordinal scales are used
to ascertain the consumer perceptions, preferences, etc.
In market research, we often ask the respondents to rank the items, like for example, "A soft
drink, based upon flavour or colour". In such a case, the ordinal scale is used. Ordinal scale is
a ranking scale.
Rank the following attributes of 1-5 scale according to the importance in the microwave oven:
Attributes Rank

A) Company Image 5
B) Functions 3
C) Price 2
D) Comfort 1
E) Design 4

Ordinal scale is used to arrange things in order. In qualitative researches, rank ordering is used
to rank characteristics units from the highest to the lowest.
Characteristics
1. The ordinal scale ranks the things from the highest to the lowest.
2. Such scales are not expressed in absolute terms.
3. The difference between adjacent ranks is not equal always.
4. For measuring central tendency, median is used.
5. For measuring dispersion, percentile or quartile is used.

Interval Scale
Interval scale is more powerful than the nominal and ordinal scales. The distance given on the
scale represents equal distance on the property being measured. Interval scale may tell us "How
far the objects are apart with respect to an attribute?" This means that the difference can be
compared. The difference between "1" and "2" is equal to the difference between "2" and "3".
Interval scale uses the principle of "equality of interval" i.e., the intervals are used as the basis
for making the units equal assuming that intervals are equal.
It is only with an interval scaled data that researchers can justify the use of the arithmetic mean
as the measure of average. The interval or cardinal scale has equal units of measurement thus,
making it possible to interpret not only the order of scale scores but also the distance between
them.
Interval scales may be either numeric or semantic.
Characteristics
1. Interval scales have no absolute zero. It is set arbitrarily.
2. For measuring central tendency, mean is used.
3. For measuring dispersion, standard deviation is used.
4. For test of significance, t-test and f-test are used.
5. Scale is based on the equality of intervals.
Example:
1. Suppose we want to measure the rating of a refrigerator using interval scale. It will appear
as follows:
(a) Brand name Poor …………………… Good
(b) Price High …………………….. Low
(c) Service after-sales Poor …………………… Good
(d) Utility Poor …………………….Good
The researcher cannot conclude that the respondent who gives a rating of 6 is 3 times more
favourable towards a product under study than another respondent who awards the rating of 2.

Ratio Scale
Ratio scale is a special kind of internal scale that has a meaningful zero point. With this scale,
length, weight or distance can be measured. In this scale, it is possible to say, how many times
greater or smaller one object is being compared to the other.
These scales are used to measure actual variables. The highest level of measurement is a ratio
scale. This has the properties of an interval scale together with a fixed origin or zero point.
Examples of variables which are ratio scaled include weights, lengths and times. Ratio scales
permit the researcher to compare both differences in scores and in the relative magnitude of
scores. For instance, the difference between 5 and 10 minutes is the same as that between 10
and 15 minutes, and 10 minutes is twice as long as 5 minutes.
Characteristics
1. This scale has an absolute zero measurement.
2. For measuring central tendency, geometric and harmonic means are used.
Use: Ratio scale can be used in all statistical techniques.
Example: Sales this year for product A are twice the sales of the same product last year.

Sources of Error in Measurement

Measurement should be precise and unambiguous in an ideal research study. This objective,
however, is often not met with in entirety. As such the researcher must be aware about the
sources of error in measurement. The following are the possible sources of error in
measurement.
(a) Respondent: At times the respondent may be reluctant to express strong negative feelings
or it is just possible that he may have very little knowledge but may not admit his ignorance.
All this reluctance is likely to result in an interview of ‘guesses.’ Transient factors like fatigue,
boredom, anxiety, etc. may limit the ability of the respondent to respond accurately and fully.
(b) Situation: Situational factors may also come in the way of correct measurement. Any
condition which places a strain on interview can have serious effects on the interviewer-
respondent rapport.
For instance, if someone else is present, he can distort responses by joining in or merely by
being present. If the respondent feels that anonymity is not assured, he may be reluctant to
express certain feelings.
(c) Measurer: The interviewer can distort responses by rewording or reordering questions. His
behaviour, style and looks may encourage or discourage certain replies from respondents.
Careless mechanical processing may distort the findings. Errors may also creep in because of
incorrect coding, faulty tabulation and/or statistical calculations, particularly in the data-
analysis stage.
(d) Instrument: Error may arise because of the defective measuring instrument. The use of
complex words, beyond the comprehension of the respondent, ambiguous meanings, poor
printing, inadequate space for replies, response choice omissions, etc. are a few things that
make the measuring instrument defective and may result in measurement errors. Another type
of instrument deficiency is the poor sampling of the universe of items of concern.
Researcher must know that correct measurement depends on successfully meeting all of the
problems listed above. He must, to the extent possible, try to eliminate, neutralize or otherwise
deal with all the possible sources of error so that the final results may not be contaminated.

Tests of Sound Measurement

Sound measurement must meet the tests of validity, reliability and practicality. In fact, these
are the three major considerations one should use in evaluating a measurement tool. “Validity
refers to the extent to which a test measures what we actually wish to measure. Reliability has
to do with the accuracy and precision of a measurement procedure ... Practicality is concerned
with a wide range of factors of economy, convenience, and interpretability ...” We briefly take
up the relevant details concerning these tests of sound measurement.
1. Test of Validity
Validity is the most critical criterion and indicates the degree to which an instrument measures
what it is supposed to measure. Validity can also be thought of as utility. In other words,
validity is the extent to which differences found with a measuring instrument reflect true
differences among those being tested. But the question arises: how can one determine validity
without direct confirming knowledge? The answer may be that we seek other relevant evidence
that confirms the answers we have found with our measuring tool. What is relevant, evidence
often depends upon the nature of the research problem and the judgement of the researcher.
But one can certainly consider three types of validity in this connection: (i) Content validity;
(ii) Criterion-related validity and (iii) Construct validity.
(i) Content validity is the extent to which a measuring instrument provides adequate coverage
of the topic under study. If the instrument contains a representative sample of the universe, the
content validity is good. Its determination is primarily judgemental and intuitive. It can also be
determined by using a panel of persons who shall judge how well the measuring instrument
meets the standards, but there is no numerical way to express it.
(ii) Criterion-related validity relates to our ability to predict some outcome or estimate the
existence of some current condition. This form of validity reflects the success of measures used
for some empirical estimating purpose. The concerned criterion must possess the following
qualities:
Relevance: (A criterion is relevant if it is defined in terms, we judge to be the proper measure.)
Freedom from bias: (Freedom from bias is attained when the criterion gives each subject an
equal opportunity to score well.)
Reliability: (A reliable criterion is stable or reproducible.)
Availability: (The information specified by the criterion must be available.)
In fact, a Criterion-related validity is a broad term that actually refers to (i) Predictive validity
and (ii) Concurrent validity. The former refers to the usefulness of a test in predicting some
future performance whereas the latter refers to the usefulness of a test in closely relating to
other measures of known validity. Criterion-related validity is expressed as the coefficient of
correlation between test scores and some measure of future performance or between test scores
and scores on another measure of known validity.
(iii) Construct validity is the most complex and abstract. A measure is said to possess construct
validity to the degree that it confirms to predicted correlations with other theoretical
propositions.
Construct validity is the degree to which scores on a test can be accounted for by the
explanatory constructs of a sound theory. For determining construct validity, we associate a set
of other propositions with the results received from using our measurement instrument. If
measurements on our devised scale correlate in a predicted way with these other propositions,
we can conclude that there is some construct validity.
If the above stated criteria and tests are met with, we may state that our measuring instrument
is valid and will result in correct measurement; otherwise, we shall have to look for more
information and/or resort to exercise of judgement.
2. Test of Reliability
The test of reliability is another important test of sound measurement. A measuring instrument
is reliable if it provides consistent results. Reliable measuring instrument does contribute to
validity, but a reliable instrument need not be a valid instrument. For instance, a scale that
consistently overweighs objects by five kgs., is a reliable scale, but it does not give a valid
measure of weight. But the other way is not true i.e., a valid instrument is always reliable.
Accordingly, reliability is not as valuable as validity, but it is easier to assess reliability in
comparison to validity. If the quality of reliability is satisfied by an instrument, then while
using it we can be confident that the transient and situational factors are not interfering.
Two aspects of reliability viz., stability and equivalence deserve special mention. The stability
aspect is concerned with securing consistent results with repeated measurements of the same
person and with the same instrument. We usually determine the degree of stability by
comparing the results of repeated measurements. The equivalence aspect considers how much
error may get introduced by different investigators or different samples of the items being
studied. A good way to test for the equivalence of measurements by two investigators is to
compare their observations of the same events. Reliability can be improved in the following
two ways:
(i) By standardising the conditions under which the measurement takes place i.e., we must
ensure that external sources of variation such as boredom, fatigue, etc., are minimised to the
extent possible. That will improve stability aspect.
(ii) By carefully designed directions for measurement with no variation from group to group,
by using trained and motivated persons to conduct the research and also by broadening the
sample of items used. This will improve equivalence aspect.
3. Test of Practicality
The practicality characteristic of a measuring instrument can be judged in terms of economy,
convenience and interpretability. From the operational point of view, the measuring instrument
ought to be practical i.e., it should be economical, convenient and interpretable. Economy
consideration suggests that some trade-off is needed between the ideal research project and that
which the budget can afford. The length of measuring instrument is an important area where
economic pressures are quickly felt. Although more items give greater reliability as stated
earlier, but in the interest of limiting the interview or observation time, we have to take only
few items for our study purpose. Similarly, data-collection methods to be used are also
dependent at times upon economic factors. Convenience test suggests that the measuring
instrument should be easy to administer. For this purpose, one should give due attention to the
proper layout of the measuring instrument. For instance, a questionnaire, with clear instructions
(illustrated by examples), is certainly more effective and easier to complete than one which
lacks these features. Interpretability consideration is especially important when persons other
than the designers of the test are to interpret the results. The measuring instrument, in order to
be interpretable, must be supplemented by (a) detailed instructions for administering the test;
(b) scoring keys; (c) evidence about the reliability and (d) guides for using the test and for
interpreting results.

Techniques of Developing Measurement Tools

The scale construction techniques are used for measuring the attitude of a group or an
individual.
In other words, scale construction technique helps in estimate the interest or behaviour of an
individual or a group towards others or another's environment rather than oneself. While
performing a scale construction technique, you need to consider various decisions related to
the attitude of the individual or group. A few of these decisions are:
Determining the level of the involved data; identifying whether it is nominal, ordinal,
interval or ratio.
Identifying the useful statistical analysis for the scale construction.
Identifying the scale construction technique to be used.
Selecting the physical layout of the scales.
Determining the scale categories that need to be used.
There are two primary scale construction techniques, comparative and non-comparative. The
comparative technique is used to determine the scale values of multiple items by performing
comparisons among the items. In the non-comparative technique, scale value of an item is
determined without comparing with another item. Furthermore, these two techniques are also
of many types. The various types of comparative techniques are:
1. Pairwise comparison scale: This is an ordinal level scale construction technique, where a
respondent is provided with two items and then asked him to select his/her choice.
2. Rasch model scale: In this technique, multiple respondents are simultaneously involved with
several items and from their response’s comparisons are derived to determine the scale values.
Rank-order scale: This is also an ordinal level scale constructing technique, where a respondent
is provided with multiple items, which he needs to rank accordingly.
3. Constant sum scale: In this scale construction technique, a respondent is usually provided
with a constant amount of money, credits or points that he needs to allocate to various items
for determining the scale values of the items.
The various types of non-comparative techniques are:
1. Continuous rating scale: In this technique, respondents generally use a series of numbers
known as scale points for rating an item. This technique is also known as graphic rating scaling.
2. Likert scale: This technique allows the respondents to rate the items on a scale of five to
seven points depending upon the amount of their agreement or disagreement on the item.
3. Semantic differential scale: In this technique, respondents are asked to rate the different
attributes of an item on a seven-point scale.

Scaling – Meaning
Scaling is a process or set of procedures, which is used to assess the attitude of an individual.
Scaling is defined as the assignment of objects to numbers according to a rule. The objects in
the definition are text statements, which can be the statements of attitude or principle. Attitude
of an individual is not measured directly by scaling. It is first migrated to statements and then
the numbers are assigned to them.

Comparative Scaling Techniques

Paired Comparison
Example: Here a respondent is asked to show his preferences from among five brands of coffee
– A, B, C, D and E with respect to flavours. He is required to indicate his preference in pairs.
A number of pairs are calculated as follows. The brands to be rated are presented two at a time,
so each brand in the category is compared once to every other brand. In each pair, the
respondents were asked to divide 100 points on the basis of how much they liked one compared
to the other. The score is totally for each brand.
No. of pairs = N (N- 1)/ 2
In this case, it is
5(5 -1)/ 2
If there are 15 brands to be evaluated, then we have 105 paired comparison(s) and that is the
limitation of this method.
Rank Order Scaling
1. Respondents are presented with several objects simultaneously
2. Then asked to order or rank them according to some criterion
3. Data obtained are ordinal in nature-Arranged or ranked in order of magnitude
4. Commonly used to measure preferences among brands and brand attributes
Example: Please rank the instructors listed below in order of preference. For the instructor
you prefer the most, assign a "1", assign a "2" to the instructor you prefer the 2nd most, assign
a "3" to the instructor that you prefer 3rd most, and assign a "4" to the instructor that you prefer
the least.
Instructor Ranking

Cunningham 1

Day 3

Parker 2

Thomas 4

Constant Sum Scaling

1. Respondents are asked to allocate a constant sum of units among a set of stimulus objects
with respect to some criterion
2. Units allocated represent the importance attached to the objects
3. Data obtained are interval in nature
4. Allows for fine discrimination among alternatives

Example: Listed below are 4 marketing professors, as well as 3 aspects that students typically
find important. For each aspect, please assign a number that reflects how well you believe each
instructor performs on the aspect. Higher numbers represent higher scores. The total of all the
instructors' scores on an aspect should equal 100.
 Instructor Availability Fairness Easy Tests

Cunningham 30 35 25

Day 30 25 25

Parker 25 25 25

Thomas 15 15 25

Sum Total 100 100 100

Non-comparative Scale

Continuous Rating Scale

VERY POOR ……………………………………………….............VERY GOOD
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Likert Scale
It is known as summated rating scale. This consists of a series of statements concerning an
attitude object. Each statement has '5 points', Agree and Disagree on the scale. They are also
called summated scales, because scores of individual items are summated to produce a total
score for the respondent. The Likert Scale consists of two parts-item part and evaluation part.
Item part is usually a statement about a certain product, event or attitude. Evaluation part is a
list of responses like "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree". The five point-scale is used here.
The numbers like +2, +1, 0, –1, –2 are used. Now, let us see with an example how the attitude
of a customer is measured with respect to a shopping mall.

Table: Evaluation of Globus-the Super Market by Respondent

S.No. Likert scale items Strongly Disagree Neither Agree Strongly
disagree agree agree
nor
disagree
1. Salesmen at the shopping
mall are courteous
2. Shopping mall does not
have
enough parking space
3. Prices of items are
reasonable.
 4. Mall has wide range of
products to choose
5. Mall operating hours are
inconvenient
6. The arrangement of items
in
the mall is confusing

The respondents' overall attitude is measured by summing up his (her) numerical rating on the
statement making up the scale. Since some statements are favourable and others unfavourable,
it is the one important task to be done before summing up the ratings. In other words, "strongly
agree" category attached to favourable statement and "strongly disagree" category attached to
unfavourable. The statement must always be assigned the same number, such as +2, or –2. The
success of the Likert Scale depends on "How well the statements are generated?" The higher
the respondent's score, the more favourable is the attitude.

Semantic Differential Scale

This is very similar to the Likert Scale. It also consists of a number of items to be rated by the
respondents. The essential difference between Likert and Semantic Differential Scale is as
follows: It uses "Bipolar" adjectives and phrases. There are no statements in the Semantic
Differential Scale.
Each pair of adjectives is separated by a seven-point scale.
Semantic Differential Scale Items
Please rate the five real estate developers mentioned below on the given scales for each of the
five aspects. Developers are
S. No. Scale items –3 –2 –1 0 +1 +2 +3 -
1. Not reliable Reliable

2. Expensive Not
expensive
3. Trustworthy Not
trustworthy
4. Untimely Timely
delivery delivery
5. Strong Brand Poor brand
Image image
Thurstone Scale
This is also known as an equal appearing interval scale. The following are the steps to construct
a Thurstone Scale:
Step 1: To generate a large number of statements, relating to the attitude to be measured.
Step 2: These statements (75 to 100) are given to a group of judges, say 20 to 30, who were
asked to classify them according to the degree of favourableness and unfavourableness.
Step 3: 11 piles are to be made by the judges. The piles vary from "most unfavourable" in pile
1to neutral in pile 6 and most favourable statement in pile 11.
Step 4: Study the frequency distribution of ratings for each statement and eliminate those
statements, which different judges have given widely scattered ratings.
Step 5: Select one or two statements from each of the 11 piles for the final scale. List the
selected statements in random order to form the scale.
Step 6: The respondents whose attitudes are to be scaled were given the list of statements and
asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with each statement. Some may agree with
one statement while some may agree with more than one statement.
Example:
1. Crime and violence in movies:
(a) All movies with crime and violence should be prohibited by law.
(b) Watching crime and violence in movies is a waste of time.
(c) Most movies with crime are bad and harmful.
(d) The direction and theme in most crime movies are monotonous.
(e) Watching a movie with crime and violence does not interfere with my routine life.
(f) I have no opinion one way or the other, about watching movies with crime and violence.
(g) I like to watch movies with crime and violence.
(h) Most movies with crime and violence are interesting and absorbing.
(i) Crime movies act as a knowledge bank gained by the audience.
(j) People learn "how to be safe and protect oneself" by seeing a movie on crime.
(k) Watching crime in a movie does not harm our life-style.
Conclusion: A respondent might agree with statements 8, 9 and 10. Such agreement represents
a favourable attitude towards crime and violence. On the contrary, if items 1, 3, 4 are chosen
by respondents, it shows that respondents are unfavourably disposed towards crime in movies.
If the respondent chooses 1, 5 and 11, it could be interpreted to indicate that s(he) is not
consistent in his(her) attitude about the subject.
Multidimensional Scaling
This is used to study consumer attitudes, particularly with respect to perceptions and
preferences.
These techniques help identify the product attributes that are important to the customers and to
measure their relative importance. Multi-Dimensional Scaling is useful in studying the
following:
1. (a) What are the major attributes considered while choosing a product (soft drinks, modes
of transportation)? (b) Which attributes do customers compare to evaluate different brands
of the product? Is it price, quality, availability etc.?
2. Which is the ideal combination of attributes according to the customer? (i.e., which two or
more attributes consumer will consider before deciding to buy.)
3. Which advertising messages are compatible with the consumer's brand perceptions?
Stapel Scales
1. Modern versions of the Stapel scale place a single adjective as a substitute for the semantic
differential when it is difficult to create pairs of bipolar adjectives.
2. The advantage and disadvantages of a Stapel scale, as well as the results, are very similar
to those for a semantic differential.
However, the stapel scale tends to be easier to conduct and administer.