Basics of Measurement Theory

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
1. Conceptualise measurement
2. Discuss the role and advantage of
measurement in psychology
3. Understand various theories of measurement
4. Deal with the concept and various types of
measurement scales
5. Deal with problems and limitations of
psychological measurement
C HAPTE R O U TLI N E
1. Measurement in science
2. Definition and meaning of measurement
3. Theories of measurement: Campbell’s theory,
Steven’s contribution
4. Types of measurement scale: Nominal, Ordinal,
Interval, Ratio
5. Attributes of measuring instruments
6. Application of Measurement Theory to
educational and psychological research
7. Problems in psychological measurement
 MEASUREMENT IN SCIENCE

Measurement is one of the essential elements of

scientific investigation and discovery.
In
 order to ascertain the extent, dimension or magnitude of
something, or to determine the attribute of something with
precision, scientists so often resort to measurement.
This helps them to obtain quantitative data or information about

objects, phenomena, systems or their attributes.
The quantitative data or information which accrues through

measurement is more precise and meaningful than non-
quantitative data or information, which is generally vague and,
quite often, misleading.
DEFINITION AND MEANING OF
MEASUREMENT
Stevens (1951) defined measurement as
‘the assignment of numbers to objects or
events according to some rule.’
However, this definition contains some
inherent assumptions, like, things or
attributes always exist in some amount
and whatever exists in some amount can
be quantified and measured.
Also, the attributes are quantified
according to a set of rules or criteria
known as the rules of measurement.
So, measurement simply consists of rules
for assigning numbers to objects to
represent quantities of attribute.
 Activity 1.1 Measurement as a Heuristic to Social Understanding
Measurement is a heuristic to social understanding. For example, consider the
following two persons A and B with attributes given:
Person Attribute
A Very good student, high achiever, sharp, active, alert
B Very high on learning graph, high performance, skilled, vigorous,
effective

And now, if I ask you a question as to which person is more

intelligent—A or B—are you finding it difficult to answer or
taking more than the appropriate time? Ok. Now, if I give a
statistic that A’s Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is 100 and B’s IQ is
105, and again ask the same question, how much time you took
this time to answer my question? Probably a fraction of a second
(if you are familiar with the term IQ and its meaning).
StillI would refrain from making a claim
that measurement has made our life easy,
but there is no doubt that it has made the
process of learning and knowledge-
acquisition easy, simple and fast.
THEORIES OF MEASUREMENT

The concept of measurement grew out of

the evolution of Theory of Numbers and
its application in physical sciences.
Measurement Theory is primarily
concerned with the development of a
yardstick or an instrument with the help of
which a system analyst or a researcher can
measure the attributes of an
entity/phenomenon/system under study
It is a process which involves assigning
symbols, that is, numerals to people,
objects, events or their attributes
according to prede-termined rules.
A rule explicates the way in which
symbols are assigned to entities.
In some instances, the symbols which are
assigned to entities or their attributes have
no quantitative meaning.
For example, in the measurement of
academic achievement in a class, we may
assign numerals or labels such as I or A to
high achievers, II or B to average
achievers and III or C to low achievers on
the basis of their academic performance.
In other instances, the assigned symbols
have quantitative meaning.
For example, in a clerical aptitude test
where speed plays an important role, we
count the number of questions replied to
by each candidate and calculate the
average speed of the candidates.
In the context of Measurement Theory,
the term ‘assignment’ means matching,
that is, numerals or numbers are matched
with/mapped on to entities or their
attributes according to some procedure.
Campbell’s Theory of Measurement

Itwas Norman Robert Campbell, who, in his

writings published between 1920 and 1938, laid
down the foundation of the moderm theory of
measurement.
Explaining what is measurement, he says,
‘Measurement is the process of assigning
numbers to represent qualities (properties), the
object of measurement is to enable the powerful
weapon of mathematical analysis to be applied to
the subject matter of science’ (Campbell 1960).
Thus, the theory of measurement, as enunciated by
Campbell, can be stated in terms of the following:
1. Strictly speaking, one does not measure physical objects;
one measures their properties.
2. There are two kinds of properties possessed by substances:
quality-like and quantity-like.
3. Measurement applies to both, but each can be measured by
different ways or modes.
4. Quantity-like properties admit a more precise or a higher
level of measurement than quality like properties.
5. Quantity-like properties such as length, weight, volume
satisfy the law of addition and are measurable by fundamental
or direct way.
6. Quality-like properties such as density and hardness are not
additives and can only be measured by direct or indirect way.
Measurement in the Domain of Social
Science
The science of measurement was earlier a
concern of physical scientists and it was
thought that only empirical objects or
their physical properties can be measured.
It was considered that sociological and
psychological traits being abstract (not
physical) and more qualitative in nature,
are not amenable to measurement.
However, in the recent past, efforts have been
made by psychologists to measure
psychological traits through statistical and
mathematical manipulation.
Further, by acceptance and application of
scales and measurement methodology
developed by psychologists in the other fields
of social sciences, one of the major obstacles
hindering the study of social systems or
phenomena on scientific lines was removed.
Steven’s Contribution
While agreeing with Campbell that measurement
involves a linking of the number system to
discriminable aspects of people, objects or events
according to one or another rule or convention,
Stevens in his earlier writings, put forward the view
that assignment of numbers or numerals under
different rules or conventions leads us to different
kinds of scales of measurement, namely, Nominal
Scale, Ordinal Scale, Interval Scale and Ratio Scale.
Later, he proposed another kind of scale called
Logarithmic Interval Scale, which according to him,
can possibly be derived.
TYPES OF MEASUREMENT SCALE
A scale reminds us of a measuring
instrument—a ruler, thermometer,
weighing machine, and so on—or a scale
may be looked upon as a set of items, as
in the Likert scale.
However, by scales of measurement,
Stevens meant different ways of
measurement.
Although a larger number of scales exist
and can be created for measuring
attributes of people, objects, events, and
so on, all scales belong to one of the four
basic types:
1. Nominal,
2. Ordinal,
3. Interval and
4. Ratio.
Itmay be pertinent to record here that the
measurement of many physical quantities has
progressed from scale to scale.
Initially, men knew temperature only by sensation;
when things were only a shade warmer or colder
than other things, temperature belonged to the
ordinal class of scales. It became an Interval Scale
with the development of thermometry and,
thereafter, when thermodynamics used the
expansion ratio of gases to extrapolate the absolute
score, it became a Ratio Scale.
ATTRIBUTES OF MEASURING
INSTRUMENTS
The quality of research largely depends
upon a good or effective measure, and to
develop a good measure is an arduous
task.
Measurement is an exact formulation in
research and conceptualizing or providing
precise definitions of concepts pertaining
to the phenomena or their attributes being
measured is of basic importance.
That is, one must know what it is that is
being measured. For example, if one
wants to measure the usefulness or
effectiveness of teaching material, one
must conceptualise what could be the
indicator of its usefulness or effectiveness.
The other criterion which has been laid
down by the measurement theorists to
achieve meaningful measurement is to
evaluate or test the instrument with
respect to its (a) validity and (b)
reliability.
These two are extremely important proper
ties of all sound measures.
The validity of a measure is defined as the
degree to which a measure actually
measures what it claims or seeks to
measure (Nunnally 1967).
Further, it is necessary to gather some sort
of evidence which provides us the
confirmation that the measuring device
shall, in fact, measure what it is/was
expected to measure.
Traditionally, three basic types of validity
have been established, each of which
relates to a different aspect of the
measurement situation. These are (a)
content validity, (b) empirical validity and
(c) construct validity.
To validate a certain measuring
instrument, these aspects must be
checked.
The reliability of a measure is the degree to
which the results of measurement are free of
error.
A measuring instrument is considered reliable if
its results remain constant when the
measurement of a given attribute is taken by
different observers or at different points in time.
In other words, an instrument is known to be
positively reliable if it gives consistent results
from one set of measurement to another.
It may be pointed out that some error is bound to
occur in any type of measurement.
To the extent to which measurement error is
slight, a measure is said to be reliable.
The other factors that can cause error in
measurement, besides the defective measuring
instrument, are (a) the lack of stability in the
attribute being measured, (b) the skill, absent-
mindedness or carelessness of the investigator
and (c) lies in the pool of the researcher (at the
time of collecting data).
Because of the nature of measurement in
behavioral and social sciences, the errors
that occur when social attributes are
measured are likely to be much more than
when physical properties are measured.
This fact needs to be kept foremost in
mind by a researcher while measuring
social phenomena and human attributes.
Rules are the most significant component of the
measurement process because the quality of
measurement or the product of the measurement
process largely depends upon them.
Poor rules make the measurement meaningless
and lead to misleading or irrelevant conclusions.
Further, measurement is meaningful only when
it is tied to reality and the function of the rule is
to tie the measurement process to reality.
PROBLEMS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL
MEASUREMENTS
Indirectness of Measurement
Various
 psychological attributes are accessible to
research and measurement only indirectly.
For example, if a researcher is interested in measuring the

personality dimensions of a subject, then it is something
that is not directly available for measurement as physical
quantities—like length—are visible and concretely
available for observation and assessment.
The only way to measure it is to assess the person on a

set of overt or covert responses (for example, by
administering a psychological test) related t his
personality or other psychological attributes of interest.
Lack of Absolute Zero
Absolute zero, in case of psychological
measurement, means a situation where the
property being measured does not exist.
The absolute zero is available in case of physical
quantities, like length, but is very difficult to
decide in the case of psychological attributes.
For example, suppose an investigator wants to
measure shyness, or say, attitude towards fashion,
then it is very difficult to define and find a
situation where there is absence of shyness or the
attitude towards fashion.
We Measure a Sample of Behaviour not
the Complete Behaviour
In psychological measurements, a
complete set of behavioural dimensions is
not possible and we take only a carefully
chosen sample of behavioural dimensions
to assess the attributes in question.
For example, the Weschler Intelligence Scale
uses carefully chosen 35 words from the English
dictionary to judge the vocabulary of the test
taker.
Although the sample is chosen only after
fulfilling the various psychometric criteria, like
random-ness, representativeness, and so on, it is
always questionable to reach at a conclusion
about an aspect of behaviour, only by measuring
a small, though representative part of it.
Lack of Suffi cient Stimulus/Responses
Threshold
Another problem encountered in
psychological measurement is the creation of
sufficient amount of variable strength or
threshold, which is actually relevant while
studying the particular psychological
attribute.
Very difficult to decide the relevant levels of
the response threshold that is adequate for
an accurate prediction of the behavioural
dimension in question.
Uncertainty and Desirability Involved in
Human Responses
Test subjects often give uncertain and desirable responses which
generally negates the entire purpose of the psychological
measurement.
Uncertainty may arise either due to the negligence on part of the
researcher, or carelessness on part of the subject(s), or due to
uncontrolled extraneous variables.
On tests of intelligence, though the test items like an
arithmetical ability, logical numerical ability, and so on, lessen
the scope of the desirability of responses on part of the subjects,
the subject(s) may resort to guessing, which may again fail the
purpose of psychological research and measurement.
Variability of Human Attributes Over
Time
Various human attributes, like
intelligence, personality, attitude, and so
on, are likely to vary over a period of
time, and sometimes even hours are suffi
cient to provide scope for such variations.
This variability of attributes acts as a
threat to the validity of psychological
research and measurement.
Problem of Quantification
It is questionable whether numbers are
eligible and capable enough to denote all
the psychological attributes.
it difficult to assign the amount a number
that exactly captures its meaning and
essence.