National University of Modern

Languages

Business Research Methods
Instructor: Abdul Qadeer
 
 There are four different scales: ratio scale, interval scale, ordinal scale,
and nominal scale.

 Ratio scale: A ratio scale variable has three properties: (1) ratio of two
variables, (2) distance between two variables, and (3) ordering of variables.
On a ratio scale if, say, Y takes two values, Y1 and Y2, the ratio Y1/Y2 and
the distance (Y2 – Y1) are meaningful quantities, as are comparisons or
ordering such asY2 Y1 _ orY2 Y1 _ . Most economic variables belong to this
category. Thus we can talk about whether GDP is greater this year than the
last year, or whether the ratio of GDP this year to the GDP last year is
greater than or less than one.
 Interval scale: Interval scale variables do not satisfy the first property of
ratio scale variables. For example, the distance between two time periods,
say, 2007 and 2000 (2007 – 2000) is meaningful, but not the ratio 2007/2000.
 
 Ordinal scale: Variables on this scale satisfy the ordering property
of the ratio scale, but not the other two properties. For examples,
grading systems, such as A, B, C, or income classification, such as
low income, middle income, and high income, are ordinal scale
variables, but quantities such as grade A divided by grade B are
not meaningful.

 Nominal scale: Variables in this category do not have any of the

features of the ratio scale variables. Variables such as gender,
marital status, and religion are nominal scale variables. Such
variables are often called dummy or categorical variables. They
are often “quantified” as 1 or 0, 1 indicating the presence of an
attribute and 0 indicating its absence. Thus, we can “quantify”
gender as male = 1 and female = 0, or vice versa.
Scales


 A scale is a tool or mechanism by which individuals
are distinguished as to how they differ from one
another on the variables of interest to our study.
 There are four basic types of scales:
 Nominal
 Ordinal
 Interval
 Ratio
Nominal Scale


 A nominal scale is one that allows
the researcher to assign subjects to
certain categories or groups.
 For example, with respect to the
variable of gender, respondents
can be grouped into two
categories-male and female.
 These two groups can be assigned
code numbers 1 and 2.
Nominal Scale (Continue)


 Le us take a look at another variable that lends itself
to nominal scaling- the nationality of individuals.
 For Example:
 American
 Australian
 Chinese
 German
 Russian
 Indian
Ordinal Scale


 An ordinal scale not only categorized the variables in such a
way as to denote differences among the various categories, it
also rank-orders the categories in some meaningful way.
 
 The preference would be ranked i.e. from best to
worst; first to last and numbers 1, 2, 3 and so on.

 For example, respondents might be asked to indicate

their preferences by ranking the importance they
attach to five distinct characteristics in variable of
interest that the researcher might be interested in
studying.
 
 For example: Rank the following five characteristics in a job in
terms of how important they are for you. You should rank the
most important item as 1, the next in importance as 2 and so on,
until you have ranked each of them 1,2,3,4,5.
Job Characteristics Ranking of Importance
The opportunity provided by the job to:
Interact with others
Use a number of different skills
Complete a whole task from beginning to end
Serve others
Work Independently
Interval Scale


 An interval scale allows us to perform certain arithmetical
operations on the data collected from the respondents.
 Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following
statements as they relate to your job, by circling the appropriate
number against each, using the scale given below:
 Page. 214
Ratio Scale


 It is the most powerful of the four scales because it has a unique zero
origin. Ratio scales are usually used in organizational research when
exact numbers on objective factors are called for, as in the following
questions:
 How many other organizations did you work for before joining this
system? __________
 Please indicate the number of children you have in each of the following
categories:
 Below 3 Years of age
 Between 3 and 6
 Over 6 years but under 12
 12 Years and over
 How many retail outlets do you operate? _________

The responses to the questions could range from 0 to any reasonable figure.
Rating Scales

 Dichotomous Scale
 Category Scale
 Semantic Differential Scale
 Numerical Scale
 Itemized Rating Scale
 Likert Scale
 Fixed or constant sum rating scale
 Stapel scale
 Graphic Rating scale
 Consensus scale
Dichotomous Scale


 The dichotomous scale is used to elicit a Yes or No
answer, as in the example below.
 Do you own a car? Yes No
Category Scale


 The category scale uses
multiple items to elicit a
single response as per the
following example.
 Where in London do you
reside?
 ____East London
 ____South London
 ____West London
 ____North London
 ____Outskirts
Semantic Differential Scale


 The semantic differential scale is
used to assess respondents
attitudes toward a particular
brand, advertisement, object, or
individual. For example: Good
Bad, Strong Weak, Hot Cold,
Responsive Unresponsive,
Beautiful Ugly.
Numerical Scale

 The numerical Scale is similar to the semantic differential scale,
with the difference that numbers on a five point or seven point
scale are provided, with bipolar adjectives at both ends.
Itemized Rating Scale


 A five point or seven point scale is needed for each item and
respondent states the appropriate number on the side of each
item, or circles the relevant number against each item, as per
the examples that follow.
 Page 220
Likert Scale

 The Likert scale is designed to examine how strongly
subjects agree or disagree with statements on a five
point scale with the following.
 Fixed or constant sum scale

 The respondents are here asked to distribute a given number of
points across various items as per the example below.
Stapel Scale


 
 For other slides, follow book.