ESSENTIALS OF MARKETING RESEARCH

Hair/Wolfinbarger/Ortinau/Bush
 Understand the role of measurement in
marketing research
 Explain the four basic levels of scales
 Describe scale development and its

importance gathering primary data

 Discuss comparative and

noncomparative scales
 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.
 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.
 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.
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
 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
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
Nominal
NominalScales
Scales

Ordinal
OrdinalScales
Scales

Interval
IntervalScales
Scales

Ratio
RatioScales
Scales
 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
 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 AMD’s PC processor
__ About the same as AMD’s PC processor
__ Lower than AMD’s PC processor
 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 Santa Fe Grill to a friend?
Definitely will not Definitely will
1234567
 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 ___.)
 Understanding of the questions
 Discriminatory power of scale descriptors
 Balanced versus unbalanced scales
 Forced or nonforced choice scales
 Desired measure of central tendency and

dispersion
 Central Tendency
 Dispersion
◦ Mode ◦ Frequency
◦ Median distribution
◦ Mean ◦ Range
◦ Standard
deviations
 If a nominal scale is used, analysis of raw data
can only be done using modes and frequency
distributions
 If ordinal scales are used, analysis of raw data
can be done using medians and ranges (plus
modes and frequency distributions)
 If interval or ratio scales are used, analysis of
raw data can be done through the use of sample
means and estimated standard deviations as the
sample statistic (plus the above)
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
 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
 Likert Scale
 Likert-Type Scale
 Semantic Differential Scale
 Behavioral Intention Scale
 Noncomparative Scales
 Comparative Scales
 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
A semantic differential scale is
unique bipolar ordinal scale format
that captures a person’s attitudes
and/or feelings about a given object
 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
 Noncomparative Rating Scales
◦ format that 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
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
 Major Issues
◦ What should be included?
 Comes from objectives, construct definitions, and
associated attributes
◦ How should questions be phrased?
◦ In what sequence should questions be arranged?
◦ What layout will best serve the research objectives?
 Open-ended vs. Closed-ended
 Simple dichotomous vs. Multi-choice

◦ A place for every respondent but only one place

(Exhaustive and Mutually Exclusive)
◦ Range of choices needs to be consistent with the
sample (ex. income categories for students vs.
professionals)
 How to handle “no opinion” or “not
applicable” respondents?
 Do you need odd or even number of

choices?
 Use simple language that is consistent with
your population
 Be as specific as possible
 Avoid leading and loaded questions
 Avoid double-barreled questions

◦ Ex. How would you rate our company’s service,

selection of products, and prices?
 Avoid questions that are too difficult to
answer
 Always begin with simple, non-offensive
questions and get more complex as you
move along.
◦ Funneling technique
 Pay attention to whether certain questions
are relevant for every respondent or only
some
◦ Use branching or filter questions appropriately
 Give clear instructions for completing
questionnaire
 Use appropriate fonts and white space to
avoid crowding
 The following links will provide you copies of
questionnaires that have been developed and
used in this class before.
 Madison Resident Survey
◦ http://cas.uah.edu/wrenb/mkt343/madison.final.doc
 University Fitness Center
◦ http://cas.uah.edu/wrenb/mkt343/ufc.doc
 Graduating Students Survey
◦ http://cas.uah.edu/wrenb/mkt343/graduating student
survey.doc
 Panoply
◦ http://cas.uah.edu/wrenb/mkt343/panoply.doc
 Huntsville Land Trust
◦ http://cas.uah.edu/wrenb/mkt343/landtrust.ques.doc