VARIABLES AND

MEASUREMENTS

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 Concept of Variables
• A variable is a characteristic, trait, or attribute of a person or thing that can
be classified or measured
• Attitude
• Gender
• Heart rate
• Hair color
• Variable - the condition or characteristic which in a given study may have
more than one value
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 Classification of Variables
• Quantitative – measured numerically
• Discrete
• Continuous
• Qualitative – categorical in nature

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 Independent Variable
• A variable that is presumed to influence another variable; the variable
under study or the one that the researcher manipulates
• Two types
• Active – variable is actually manipulated
• Attribute – cannot be manipulated because it is preexisting trait; sometimes called a
“categorical” variable (e.g., race, gender)

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 Dependent Variable
• The variable that is expected to change as a result of the manipulation of
the independent variable; that which is measured in a study

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 Controlling Extraneous Variables

• Excluding the variable

• Random selection of research participants
• Matching cases according to some criterion

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 Measurement: Scaling,
Reliability, Validity

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 Chapter Objectives
• Know the characteristics and power of the four types of
scales- nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.
• Know how and when to use the different forms of rating
scales and ranking scales.
• Explain stability and consistency and how they are
established.
• Discuss what “goodness” of measures means, and why it is
necessary to establish it in research.

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 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.

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 scales
• There are four basic types of scales:
1. Nominal Scale
2. Ordinal Scale
3. Interval Scale
4. Ratio Scale

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 scales
• The degree of sophistication to which the scales are fine-tuned increases
progressively as we move from the nominal to the ratio scale.
• The information on the variables can be obtained in greater detail when
we employ an interval or a ratio scale than the other two scales.

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 scales
• With more powerful scales, increasingly sophisticated data analyses can
be performed, which in turn, means that more meaningful answers can be
found to our research questions.

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 Nominal Scale
• A nominal scale is one that allows the researcher to assign subjects to certain categories or groups.

• What is your department?

O Marketing O Maintenance O Finance
O Production O Servicing O Personnel
O Sales O Public Relations O Accounting

• What is your gender?

O Male
O Female
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 Nominal Scale
• For example, the variable of gender, respondents can be grouped into two
categories- male and female.
• Notice that there are no third category into which respondents would
normally fall.

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 Nominal Scale
• The information that can be generated from nominal scaling is to
calculate the percentage (or frequency) of males and females in our
sample of respondents.

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 Example 1
• Nominally scale the nationality of individuals in a group of tourists to a country
during a certain year.
• We could nominally scale this variable in the following mutually exclusive and
collectively exhaustive categories.
American Japanese
Russian Malaysian
Chinese German
Arabian Other

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 Example 1
• Note that every respondent has to fit into one of the above categories and
that the scale will allow computation of the numbers and percentages of
respondents that fit into them.

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 Ordinal Scale
• Ordinal scale: not only categorizes variables in such a way as to denote differences
among various categories, it also rank-orders categories in some meaningful way.

• What is the highest level of education you have completed?

O Less than High School
O High School/GED Equivalent
O College Degree
O Masters Degree
O Doctoral Degree
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 Ordinal Scale
• The preference would be ranked ( from best to worse; or from first to last)
and numbered as 1, 2, 3, and so on.

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 Example 2
• 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 a 2,
and so on, until you have ranked each of them 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5.

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 Example 2 (Cont.)
• Job Characteristic Ranking
The opportunity provided by the job to:
1. Interacts with others _____
2. Use different skills _____
3. Complete a task to the end _____
4. Serve others _____
5. Work independently _____
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 Example 2 (Cont.)
• This scale helps the researcher to determine the percentage of
respondents who consider interaction with others as most important, those
who consider using a number of skills as most important, and so on. Such
knowledge might help in designing jobs that would be seen as most
enriched by the majority of the employees.

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 Example 2 (Cont.)
• We can see that the ordinal scale provides more information than the
nominal scale. Even though differences in the ranking of objects, persons
are clearly known, we do not know their magnitude.
• This deficiency is overcome by interval scaling.

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 Interval Scale

 Interval scale: whereas the nominal scale allows

us only to qualitatively distinguish groups by
categorizing them into mutually exclusive and
collectively exhaustive sets, and the ordinal scale
to rank-order the preferences, the interval scale
lets us measure the distance between any two
points on the scale.
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 Interval scale

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.John Wiley & Sons Ltd 2009 ©
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www.wileyeurope.com/college/sekaran
 Example 3a
• 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.
strongly disagree 1, Disagree 2
Neither Agree Nor Disagree 3
Agree 4, Strongly Agree 5.

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 Example 3a (Cont.)
• The following opportunities
Interacting with others offered
1 by the
2 job are
3 very
4 important
5 to me:
Using a number of different 1 2 3 4 5
skills

Completing a task from 1 2 3 4 5

beginning to end

Serving others 1 2 3 4 5

Working independently 1 2 3 4 5

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 Example 3a (Cont.)
• Suppose that the employees circle the numbers 3, 1, 2, 4, and 5 for the
five items.
• The magnitude of difference represented by the space between points 1
and 2 on the scale is the same as the magnitude of difference represented
by the space between points 4 and 5, or between any other two points.
Any number can be added to or subtracted from the numbers on the scale,
still retaining the magnitude of the difference.

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 Example 3a (Cont.)
• If we add 6 to the five points on the scale, the interval scale will have the
numbers 7, 8,….., 11 ( instead of 1 to 5).
• The magnitude of the difference between 7 and 8 is still the same as the
magnitude of the difference between 9 and 10. It has an arbitrary origin.

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 Example 3b

 Circle the number that represents your feelings at this particular moment best. There are no
right or wrong answers. Please answer every question.

1. I invest more in my work than I get out of it

I disagree completely 1 2 3 4 5 I agree completely

2. I exert myself too much considering what I get back in return

I disagree completely 1 2 3 4 5 I agree completely

3. For the efforts I put into the organization, I get much in return

I disagree completely 1 2 3 4 5 I agree completely

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 Ratio Scale
• Ratio scale: overcomes the disadvantage of the arbitrary origin point of
the interval scale, in that it has an absolute (in contrast to an arbitrary)
zero point, which is a meaningful measurement point.

• What is your age?

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 Ratio Scale

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 Ratio Scale
• The ratio scale is the most powerful of the four scales because it has a
unique zero origin ( not an arbitrary origin).
• The differences between scales are summarized in the next Figure.

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 The differences between scales

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 Properties of the Four Scales

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