Module III

SCALING
 MEASUREMENT
• Measurement is the process of
observing and recording the
observations that are collected as
part of research.
• The recording of the measurement
and observations may be in terms of
numbers or other symbols to
characteristics of objects according
to certain prescribed rules.
• The respondent’s, characteristics are feelings,
attitudes, opinions etc.
• For example, you may assign ‘1’ for Male and ‘2’
for Female respondents.
• In response to a question on whether he/she is
using the ATM provided by a particular bank
branch, the respondent may say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. You
may wish to assign the number ‘1’ for the
response yes and ‘2’ for the response no.
• BASIC SCALES OF
MEASUREMENT

Nominal
NominalScales
Scales

Ordinal
OrdinalScales
Scales

Interval
IntervalScales
Scales

Ratio
RatioScales
Scales
Scale
Nominal Numbers Finish
Assigned
7 8 3
to Runners

Ordinal Rank Order Finish

of Winners
Third Second First
place place place

Interval Performance
Rating on a 8.2 9.1 9.6

0 to 10 Scale
15.2 14.1 13.4
Ratio Time to
Finish, in
 Nominal Scale
• The numbers serve only as labels or tags for
identifying and classifying 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.
• A nominal scale uses number or
letters so as to identify different
objects.
• This scales assigns numbers to
each of these categories and these
numbers do not stand for any
quantitative value and hence
cannot be added, subtracted or
divided.
• For Example: A nominal scale designed to
measure the nature of occupation may be
given as below:
Occupation :1)Public sector
2) Private sector
3) Self employed
4) Unemployed
• The code numbers assigned to the customers
of a telephone company , credit card holders
of the bank, employees of a company etc.
• Which of the following media
influences your purchasing
decisions the most?
–1 Television
–2 Radio
–3 Newspapers
–4 Magazines
 Illustration of Primary Scales
Table 8.2 of Measurement

Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio

Scale Scale Scale Scale
Preference Preference $ spent last
No. Store Rankings Ratings
3 months 1-7 11-17
7 79 5 15 0
1. Lord & Taylor 2 25 7 17 200
2. Macy’s 8 82 4 14 0
3 30 6 16 100
3. Kmart
1 10 7 17 250
4. Rich’s 5 53 5 15 35
5. J.C. Penney 9 95 4 14 0
6. Neiman Marcus 6 61 5 15 100
7. Target 4 45 6 16 0
10 115 2 12 10
8. Saks Fifth Avenue
9. Sears
10.Wal-Mart
 Ordinal Scale

• An ordinal scale is used to

arrange objects according to
some particular order.
• The variables in the ordinal
scale can be ranked.
• Classifies data according
to some order or rank; e.g.
names ordered
alphabetically
• With ordinal data, it is fair
to say that one response
is greater or less than
another.
• E.g. if people were asked
to rate the hotness of 3
chili peppers, a scale of
"hot", "hotter" and
"hottest" could be used..
• In this scale, the items are classified
according to whether they have more or
less of a characteristic.
• This type of scale permits the
measurement of degrees of difference,
(that is, ‘more’ or ‘less’) but not the
specific amount of differences (that is, how
much ‘more’ or ‘less’). This scale is very
common in marketing, satisfaction and
attitudinal research.
• For example, you may wish to ask
the TV viewers to rank the TV
channels according to their
preference and the responses may
look like this as given below
TV channel Viewers
preference
Doordarshan 1
Star TV 2
Zee TV 3
NDTV Imagine 4
 Interval Scale
• Interval scales are similar to ordinal
scales to the extent that they also
arrange objects in a particular order.
• The intervals between the points on
the scale are equal.
• This is the scale where there is equal
distance between the two points on
the scale.
• gaps between whole
numbers on the scale are
equal.
• e.g. Fahrenheit and Celsius
temperature scales
 Ratio Scales
• It have a fixed zero point and also
have equal intervals.
• This has the properties of an
interval scale together with a fixed
(absolute) zero point.
• It measures in terms equal intervals
and an absolute zero point of origin
exists.
 Examples

• income, age, distance

• Distance: the difference
between 6 km and 8 km , we
can say that 8 km is twice as
long as four km
• The data collected in ratio
scale can be subjected to any
type of mathematical
operations (+ , - , * , /)
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