Chapter-13

Measurement and Scaling

Concepts

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 What Do I Measure?
• Measurement
 The process of describing some property of a
phenomenon, usually by assigning numbers in a
reliable and valid way.
• Concept
 A generalized idea about a class of objects,
attributes, occurrences, or processes

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 EXHIBIT 13.2 Are There Any Validity Issues with this Measurement?

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 Operational Definitions
• Operationalization
 The process of identifying scales that correspond to
variance in a concept involved in a research process.
• Scales
 A device providing a range of values that correspond
to different characteristics or amounts of a
characteristic exhibited in observing a concept.
• Correspondence rules
 Indicate the way that a certain value on a scale
corresponds to some true value of a concept.

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 Operational Definitions (cont’d)
• Variable
 Anything that varies or changes from one instance to
another; can exhibit differences in value, usually in
magnitude or strength, or in direction.
 Capture different values of a concept.
• Constructs
 Concepts measured with multiple variables.

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 EXHIBIT 13.3 Susceptibility to Interpersonal Influence: An Operational Definition

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 Concept behind scaling
• Scales are developed based on three aspects:
 Order : Numbers (categories) are ordered
 Distance : Difference between numbers (categories)
are ordered and quantifiable. For our purposes and
most of practical purposes we assume this difference
is same.
 Origin : The series has a unique origin which is
indicated by the number zero.

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 Levels of Scale Measurement
• Nominal
 No order, distance and origin.
 Assigns a value to an object for identification or
classification purposes.
 Most elementary level of measurement.
• Ordinal
 There is order, but no distance and origin
 Ranking scales allowing things to be arranged based
on how much of some concept they possible.
 Have nominal properties.

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 Levels of Scale Measurement (cont’d)
• Interval
 There are order and distance, but no origin
 Capture information about differences in quantities of
a concept.
 Have both nominal and ordinal properties.
• Ratio
 There are order, distance and origin.
 Highest form of measurement.
 Have all the properties of interval scales with the
additional attribute of representing absolute
quantities.
 Absolute zero.

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 EXHIBIT 13.4 Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio Scales Provide Different Information

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 EXHIBIT 13.5 Facts About the Four Levels of Scales

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 Mathematical and Statistical Analysis of
Scales
• Discrete Measures
 Measures that can take on only one of a finite number
of values.
• Continuous Measures
 Measures that reflect the intensity of a concept by
assigning values that can take on any value along
some scale range.

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 Computing Scale Values
• Summated Scale
 A scale created by simply summing (adding together)
the response to each item making up the composite
measure.
• Reverse Coding
 Means that the value assigned for a response is
treated oppositely from the other items.

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 EXHIBIT 13.6 Computing a Composite Scale

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