Measurement and Scaling

Types and techniques

Basic Terms Measurement – assigning numbers or other

symbols to characteristics of objects according to certain pre – specified rules.

Scaling – It is an extension of measurement, as to continuum upon which measured objects are located.

Characteristics of a scale1) Description – it is the first characteristics of a scaled data.

It is a unique label or descriptor used to designate each value of the scale. E.g

1 = strongly agree , 2= disagree , 3= neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree

2) Order – relative size or position of the descriptor. E.g Less than , more than , in front of, etc.3) Distance – the absolute difference between the scale

descriptors are known. A person with Rs.11,000 income has 10% more income than a person with income of Rs.10,000

4) Origin – It is a character with unique or fixed beginning.eg a scale measuring income of family with value as zero, will mean no income hence is a fixed starting point for all data.

PRIMARY SCALESThere are 4 types of primary scales:-1) Nominal – it is a figurative labeling schme in which the

numbers serve only as labels or tags to identify and classify objects.

2) Ordinal – this indicates the relative position, not the magnitude of the difference between the objects. It can understood as giving ranks to a set of values.

3) Interval – a scale in which the numbers are used to rate objects such that numerically equal distances on the scale represent equal distance in the characteristics.

4) Ratio - the highest scale. It allows the researcher to identify or classify objects, rank order the objects, and compare intervals or differences. It is also meaningful to conpute ratios of scale values.

Primary Scales of Measurement

4 81 9

Nominal Numbers Assigned to Runners

Ordinal Rank Order of Winners

Third Place

Second Place

First Place

Interval Performance Rating on a 0 to 10 Scale

8.2 9.1 9.6

Ratio Time to Finish in Seconds 15.2 14.1 13.4

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Scaling Techniques

Paired Comparison TechniquesIt is a comparative scaling technique in which a

respondent is presented with two objects at a time and asked to select one object in the pair according to some criterion. The data obtained are ordinal in nature. For n brands in data there are n(n-1) paired comparisons are required to include all possible comparisons.

Rank order scalingIt is a comparative scaling technique in which the respondents are presented the several objects simultaneously and asked to order or rank them according to some criterion.

Merits of Rank order scaling

It is commonly used to measure preferences of brand and attributes.

Respondents easily understand the instructions for ranking.

Demerit - the major disadvantage of this

technique is that it produces only ordinal data

Constant Sum ScalingA comparative scaling technique in which

respondents are require to allocate a constant sum of units such as points, money, sweets etc, among a set of stimulus objects with respect to some criterion.

Other Comparative scaling techniquesQ- Sort

A comparative scaling technique which uses a rank order procedure to sort objects based on similarity with respect to some criterion.

Magnitude EstimationNumbers are assigned to the objects such that

the ration between the number reflects the ration on specified criterion.

To name, Scalogram analysis is also one of the comparative scaling technique.

Non – Comparative Scaling TechniquesThere are two types of Non – comparative scaling techniques:-

1) Continuous Rating scale2) Itemized Rating Scale – this is further

categorized in 3 parts:- Likert scale Semantic scale Stapel scale

Continuous Rating ScaleAlso known as graphic rating scale, this measurement scale has the respondents rate the objects by placing a

mark at the appropriate position on a line that runs from one extreme of the criterion variable to another.

e.g. version 1)The worst - - - - - - - - - - - - - -X- - - - - - - - - - the best

2)The worst - - - - - X - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - the best

20 40 60 80 100

3) the worst - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -the best very bad neutral very good

Itemized Rating ScaleA measurement scale having numbers or brief descriptions associated with each category.

It is also called as POINT SCALE.It is of further three types:-Likert ScaleSemantic Differential ScaleStapel Scale

Likert ScaleA measurement scale with five response categories ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”, which requires the respondents to indicate a degree of agreement or disagreement with each of a series of statements related to the stimulus objects.It is also called a 5 - point scale with5 – strongly disagree4 – disagree3 – neutral (neither disagree nor agree)2 – agree1- strongly agree

Description Strongly disagree

Dis-agree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

Reliance mart sells high quality merchandise

1 2X 3 4 5

It has poor in – store service

1 2X 3 4 5

U like to shop there 1 2 3X 4 5

Credit policies are terrible

1 2 3 4X 5

Advertisements are not appealing

1 2 3 4 5X

It charges fair prices 1 2 3 4X 5

Semantic Differential ScaleThis is a 7 – point scale with end points associated with bi polar labels (like dominating – submissive, young – mature, formal – informal etc) that have semantic meaning.

Example of Semantic:-to measure what reliance mart mean to you by having you judge them on a series of descriptive scales bounded at each end by one of the two bi polar adjectives.

Powerful :-:-:-:-:-:x:-: weakUnreliable :-:-: x :-:-:-:-: reliableModern :-:-: x :-:-:-:-: old – fashionedCold :-:-:-:-:-:-: x : warmCareful :-: x :-:-:-:-:-: careless

Stapel ScaleA scale for measuring attitudes that consists of a single adjective in the middle of an even – numbered range of values, from -5 to +5, without a neutral point(zero).

This scale is usually presented vertically

Select a plus number for the phrase (high quality, poor service) if they are accurate. The more accuracy means the higher number on positive side.

+5+4+3+2+1

High Quality-1

-2X-3-4-5

+5+4+3

+2X+1

Poor Service-1-2-3-4-5