Unit 6.

Measurement and Scaling

Techniques

Feyera Senbeta (PhD),

AAU/Nov 2012
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 Unit Outline

Measurement in Research

Measurement Scales

Sources of Error in Measurement

Technique of Developing
Measurement Tools

Scaling

Scale Classification Bases

Important Scaling Techniques

Scale Construction Techniques
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 Unit OBJECTIVES

At the end of this course, you should be able to:

Describe what Measurement Scales means

Undersatnd sources of Error in Measurement

Have understanding about Technique of
Developing Measurement Tools

Differentaite Scaling of measurement

Visualze the scale Classification Bases

Undersatnd the Important Scaling Techniques

Scale Construction Techniques
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 WHAT IS MEASUREMENT?

In Everyday usage ,

measurement occurs to discover the extent

Dimensional quantity or

capacity of something especially by comparison with a
standard.

In research measurement consists of assigning numbers
or symbols to empirical events , objects , properties or
activities in compliance with a set of rules.

It 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 4

measure attributes or features that define them.

 Measurement
Measurement means assigning numbers or
other symbols to characteristics of objects
according to certain pre-specified 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.
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 Xics OF MEASUREMENT

The
definition implies that
Measurement is a three part process:

Selecting observable empirical events

Developing a set of mapping rules : a
scheme for assigning symbols or numbers
to represent aspects of event being
measured.

Applying mapping rules to each
observation of that event.
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 GOAL OF MEASUREMENT

Itis to provide the HIGHEST QUALITY ,
LOWEST ERROR DATA for testing
Hypothesis , Estimation or Description .

Researchers deduce from a hypothesis that

certain conditions should exist then , they
measure for these conditions IF data is
supported_ Hypothesis ACCEPTED IF NOT
_Hypothesis is FAULTY.
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 RULES OF MEASUREMENT

A rule is a guide that tells someone what to do.

An example of a rule of measurement might be “

Assigning the numerals 1 through 7 to individuals
according to how productive they are.

If the individual is extremely productive assign a 7 .

If the individual is an unproductive worker with little
output , assign the numeral 1.

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Why do scores on a measurement scale differ?

A true difference in the characteristic being
measured.

Short-term personal factors (e.g., moods, time
constraints)

Situational factors (e.g., surroundings)

Variations in method of administering survey.

Sampling of items included in the questionnaire.

Lack of clarity in the measurement instrument.

Mechanical or instrument factors causing
completion errors.
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1. Define concepts to be measured
2. Define attributes 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
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Concept or Construct

A generalized idea about a class of objects,
attributes, occurrences, or processes

Concrete – demographics, traffic patterns,

purchase quantity

Abstract –personality, satisfaction, leadership

Attribute

A single characteristic or fundamental feature
of an object, person, situation, or issue

Often measure multiple attributes
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 Measurement and Scaling
Scaling involves creating a continuum upon which
measured objects are located.

Consider an attitude scale from 1 to 100.

Each respondent is assigned a number from 1 to 100, with
1 = Extremely Unfavorable, and 100 = Extremely Favorable.

Measurement is the actual assignment of a number from 1
to 100 to each respondent.

Scaling is the process of placing the respondents on a
continuum with respect to their attitude toward department
stores.
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Nominal
NominalScales
Scales

Ordinal
OrdinalScales
Scales

Interval
IntervalScales
Scales

Ratio
RatioScales
Scales

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 Illustration of Primary Scales of
Measurement
Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio
Scale Scale Scale Scale
Preference Preference $ spent last
No. Store Rankings Ratings 3 months
1-7 11-17
1. A 7 79 5 15 0
2. B 2 25 7 17 200
3. C 8 82 4 14 0
4. D 3 30 6 16 100
5. F 1 10 7 17 250
6. E 5 53 5 15 35
7. I 9 95 4 14 0
8. J 6 61 5 15 100
9. K 4 45 6 16 0
10. L 10 115 2 12 10 14
 Nominal
Nominal scales
scales focus
focus on
on only
only requiring
requiring aa
respondent
respondent to
to provide
provide some
some type
type of
of
descriptor
descriptor as
as the
the raw
raw response
response

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

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Primary Scales 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.

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.
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 Ordinal
Ordinal scales
scales allow
allow the
the respondent
respondent to
to
express
express “relative
“relative magnitude”
magnitude” between
between the
the raw
raw
responses
responses toto aa question
question
Example.
Which one statement best describes your opinion of an Intel
PC processor?
__ Higher than IBM’s PC processor
__ About the same as IBM’s PC processor
__ Lower than IBM’s PC processor

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Primary Scales of Measurement
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.

Any series of numbers can be assigned that preserves
the ordered relationships between the objects.

Ordinal scales permit the use of statistics based on
centiles, e.g., percentile, quartile, median.

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 Interval
Interval scales
scales demonstrate
demonstrate the
the absolute
absolute
differences
differences between
between each
each scale
scale point
point

Example.
How likely are you to recommend the PC to a friend?
Definitely will not Definitely will
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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Primary Scales of Measurement
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.

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
research.
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 Ratio
Ratio scales
scales allow
allow for
for the
the identification
identification of
of
absolute
absolute differences
differences between
between each
each scale
scale point,
point,
and
and absolute
absolute comparisons
comparisons between
between raw
raw
responses
responses

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 ___.)

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Primary Scales of Measurement
Ratio 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.

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Understanding of the questions

Discriminatory power of scale
descriptors

Balanced versus unbalanced scales

Forced or non-forced choice scales

Desired measure of central tendency
and dispersion

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 Summary

Sca le Ba sic Com m on Ma rke ting Pe rm issible Sta tistics

Cha ra cteristics Ex am ple s Ex a m ples Descriptive Inferential
Nom ina l Numbers identify Social Security Brand nos., store Percentages, Chi-square,
& classify objects nos., numbering types mode binomial test
of football players
Ordina l Nos. indicate the Quality rankings, Preference Percentile, Rank-order
relative positions rankings of teams rankings, market median correlation,
of objects but not in a tournament position, social Friedman
the magnitude of class ANOVA
differences
between them
Inte rva l Differences Temperature Attitudes, Range, mean, Product-
between objects (Fahrenheit) opinions, index standard moment
Ratio Zero point is fixed, Length, weight Age, sales, Geometric Coefficient of
ratios of scale income, costs mean, harmonic variation
values can be mean
compared

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Items are basically questions

Need to ensure that enough questions are asked to
generate information necessary to address research
problems.

Likely will have a mix of question types and scales
of measurement

Multi-item, Composite or Index Measures

A measurement scale containing multiple
questions addressing same construct or attribute

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Likert
Scale

Semantic Differential Scale

Behavioral Intention Scale

Non-comparative Scales

Comparative Scales

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 A likert scale is
an ordinal scale format
that asks respondents
to indicate the extent to which
they agree or disagree with a series of
mental or behavioral belief
statements about a given object

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A semantic differential scale is
unique bipolar ordinal scale format
that captures a person’s attitudes
and/or feelings about a given object

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 A behavioral intention scale is
a special type of rating scale designed
to capture the likelihood that people
will demonstrate some type of
predictable behavior intent
toward purchasing an object or service
in a future time frame

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Non-comparative Rating Scales

formatthat requires a judgment without
reference to another object, person, or concept

Comparative Rating Scales

format that requires a judgment comparing one
object, person, or concept against another on the
scale

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35
 A Classification of Scaling
Techniques
Scaling Techniques

Comparative Noncomparative
Scales Scales

Paired Rank Constant Q-Sort and Continuous Itemized

Comparison Order Sum Other Rating Scales Rating Scales
Procedures

Likert Semantic Stapel

Differential 36
 A Comparison of Scaling
Techniques

Comparative scales involve the direct comparison of
stimulus objects. Comparative scale data must be
interpreted in relative terms and have only ordinal or
rank order properties.

In noncomparative scales, each object is scaled

independently of the others in the stimulus set. The
resulting data are generally assumed to be interval or
ratio scaled.

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 Relative Advantages of Comparative
Scales

Small differences between stimulus objects can be
detected.

Same known reference points for all respondents.

Easily understood and can be applied.

Involve fewer theoretical assumptions.

Tend to reduce halo or carryover effects from one
judgment to another.

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 Relative Disadvantages of
Comparative Scales

Ordinal nature of the data

Inability to generalize beyond the stimulus objects

scaled.

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Comparative Scaling Techniques
Paired Comparison Scaling

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 scaling is the most widely-used
comparative scaling technique.

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

Under the assumption of transitivity, it is possible to
convert paired comparison data to a rank order.
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 Obtaining Shampoo Preferences
Fig. 8.3 Using Paired Comparisons
Instructions: We are going to present you with ten pairs of
shampoo brands. For each pair, please indicate which one of the
two brands of shampoo you would prefer for personal use.
Recording Form: Jhirmack Finesse Vidal Head & Pert
Sassoon Shoulders
Jhirmack 0 0 1 0
Finesse 1a 0 1 0
Vidal Sassoon 1 1 1 1
Head & Shoulders 0 0 0 0
Pert 1 1 0 1
Number of Times 3 2 0 4 1
b
Preferred
aA 1 in a particular box means that the brand in that column was preferred

over the brand in the corresponding row. A 0 means that the row brand was
preferred over the column brand. bThe number of times a brand was preferred
is obtained by summing the 1s in each column.
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 Paired Comparison Selling
The most common method of taste testing is paired comparison.
The consumer is asked to sample two different products and select
the one with the most appealing taste. The test is done in private
and a minimum of 1,000 responses is considered an adequate
sample. A blind taste test for a soft drink, where imagery, self-
perception and brand reputation are very important factors in the
consumer’s purchasing decision, may not be a good indicator of
performance in the marketplace. The introduction of New Coke
illustrates this point. New Coke was heavily favored in blind paired
comparison taste tests, but its introduction was less than successful,
because image plays a major role in the purchase of Coke.

A paired comparison
taste test
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Comparative Scaling Techniques
Rank Order Scaling

Respondents are presented with several objects
simultaneously and asked to order or rank them
according to some criterion.

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.

Only (n - 1) scaling decisions need be made in rank
order scaling.

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 Preference for Toothpaste Brands
Using Rank Order Scaling
.

Form
Brand Rank Order
1. Crest _________
2. Colgate _________
3. Aim _________
4. Gleem _________
5. Sensodyne _________

6. Ultra Brite _________

7. Close Up _________
8. Pepsodent _________
9. Plus White _________
10. Stripe _________ 44
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 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.

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 Sources of Error

The Respondent:

Opinion differences that affect measurement come from
relatively stable characteristics of the respondent.

Typical of these are employee status, ethnic group
membership, social class, and nearness to manufacturing
facilities.

Respondents may also suffer from temporary factors like
fatigue, boredom, anxiety hunger, etc.

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 Sources of Error

Social desirability

Giving politically correct answers

Response sets

All yes, or all no responses

Acquiescence

Telling you what you want to hear

Personal bias

Wants to send a message
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 Sources of Error

Response order

Recency - Respondent stops reading once
s/he gets to the response s/he likes

Primacy - Remember better the initial
choices

Fatigue

Item order

Answers to later items may be affected by
earlier items (simple, factual items first)

Respondent may not know how to answer
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earlier questions