Measurement & Scaling

by Dr. Farhan Ahmed

 Overview

Measurement & Scaling

• Measurement of Variables
• Primary Scales of Measurement
• Types of Scaling Techniques
• Quantitative Data Analysis: Techniques
 Measurement of Variables

Measurement
• The assignment of numbers or other symbols to characteristics (or
attributes) of objects according to a pre-specified set of rules.
 Measurement of Variables

• Measurement of the variables in the theoretical framework 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 of Variables

There are two types of variables:

• Objective nature: Could be measure
• Subjective nature: hard to be measured
Objects that can be physically measured:
• The length and width of an office table
• The office floor area
• The demographic characteristics of the employee
 Measurement of Variables

• How long have you been working in this organization?

• How long have you been working on this particular assignment?
• What is your job title?
• What is your marital status?
• The number of your children
• The absenteeism of employees
• The number of products produced
• The number of products reject during production each month
 Measurement of Variables

Objects that can’t be physically measured:

• The perceptions of individuals
• Extent of authority given to individual
• How the supervisor treats workers
• Promotional opportunities
• The degree of understanding
CDE Analysis
CDE Analysis
Comparative Scaling Techniques

• A respondent is presented with two objects and asked to select one

according to some criterion
• The data obtained are ordinal in nature
• Paired Comparison is widely used comparative technique
Comparative Scaling Techniques: Rank Order
Comparative Scaling Techniques: 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 an unimportant, the respondent assigns zero points
• The sum of all the points is 100. Hence, the name of scale
Importance of Bathing Soap attributes using a
Constant Sum Scale
Non-Comparative Scaling Techniques
• Respondents evaluate only one object at a time, and for this reason non-
comparative scales are often referred to as monadic scales.
• Non-comparative techniques consist of continuous and itemized rating
scales.
Non-Comparative Scaling Techniques:
Continuous 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 rating scale may vary considerably.
Non-Comparative Scaling Techniques:
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(±), and stapel scales.
Likert Scale
• 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

• 1. V-Mart sells high quality merchandise.

Strongly Agree – Agree – Neutral – Disagree – Strongly Disagree
• 2. V-Mart has poor in-store service.
Strongly Agree – Agree – Neutral – Disagree – Strongly Disagree
• 3. I like to shop at V-Mart.
Strongly Agree – Agree – Neutral – Disagree – Strongly Disagree

• 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 reversing the scale.
Likert Scale
Semantic Differential Scale
• Seven point scaling with end points associated with bipolar labels that
have semantic meaning
• V-Mart Is
Powerful _ _ _ x _ _ _ Weak
Unreliable _ x _ _ _ _ _ Reliable
• May be scored on either -3 to 3+ / 1 to 7
Stapel Scale
Graphic Rating Scale Stressing Pictorial Visual
Communications

3 2 1
Very Very
Good Poor
Field Work for Pilot Testing
Coding & Entering the data in SPSS
Field Work
Again Coding & Entering the complete data in SPSS
Measurement & Scaling
Measurement & Scaling
Measurement & Scaling
Model Testing
Data Analysis & Findings
 Sources
• Business Research Methods by Uma Sakran, 5th Edition

• Marketing Research by Malhotra, 5th Edition, Prenticehall

Thank You