Data Collection, Measurement & Scaling

Data Collection

Primary Secondary

Qualitative Quantitative Qualitative Quantitative

Personal
DOcuments like
Letters, Diaries &
Census, Survey
Photographs,
Direct Indirect Public Docs like
REports, Ad-Hoc
reports, Sales data,
books, Novels,
Financial Records
Biographies, ,
Newspaper
articles, Journals,
blogs
Primary Data
Meaning: Primary data refers to the first hand data gathered by the researcher himself.

Data: Real time data

Process: Very involved

Source: Surveys, observations, experiments, questionnaire, personal interview, etc.

Cost effectiveness: Expensive

Collection time: Long

Specific: Always specific to the researcher's needs.

Available in: Crude form

Accuracy and Reliability: More

Secondary Data
Meaning: Secondary data means data collected by someone else earlier.

Data: Past data

Process: Quick and Easy

Source: Government publications, websites, books, journal articles, internal records etc.:

Cost effectiveness: Economical

Collection time: Short

Specific: May or may not be specific to the researcher's need.

Available in: Refined form

Accuracy and Reliability: Relatively less

METHODS OF QUALITATIVE PRIMARY DATA

DIRECT METHODS: (i) Observation (ii) Interview (iii) Focus Group

Discussion

Indirect Methods: (i) Projective Techniques (a) Association Test b)

Completion test c) Construction Techniques d) Expressive
Techniques
Observation Method
The observation method is the most commonly used method especially in studies relating to behavioural
sciences. Observation becomes a scientific tool and the method of data collection for the researcher, when it
serves a formulated research purpose, is systematically planned and recorded and is subjected to checks and
controls on validity and reliability.

1)The main advantage of this method is that subjective bias is eliminated, if observation is done accurately.
2)This method is independent of respondents’ willingness to respond and as such is relatively less demanding
of active cooperation on the part of respondents as happens to be the case in the interview or the
questionnaire method.
Disadvantages: Firstly, it is an expensive method. Secondly, the information provided by
this method is very limited. Thirdly, sometimes unforeseen factors may interfere with the
observational task. At times, the fact that some people are rarely accessible to direct
observation creates obstacle for this method to collect data effectively.
Types of Observation

(i) Structured observation and unstructured observation: In case the observation is

characterised by a careful definition of the units to be observed, the style of
recording the observed information, standardised conditions of observation and
the selection of pertinent data of observation, then the observation is called as
structured observation. But when observation is to take place without these
characteristics to be thought of in advance, the same is termed as unstructured
observation
(ii) Participant observation and non-participant observation: If the observer observes by making himself,
more or less, a member of the group he is observing so that he can experience what the members of the
group experience, the observation is called as the participant observation. But when the observer observes
as a detached emissary without any attempt on his part to experience through participation what others feel,
the observation of this type is often termed as non-participant observation. (When the observer is observing
in such a manner that his presence may be unknown to the people he is observing, such an observation is
described as disguised observation.)
(iii) controlled and uncontrolled observation: If the observation takes place in the natural setting, it may be
termed as uncontrolled observation, but when observation takes place in laboratory setting, the same is then
termed controlled observation.
Interview Method

Personal interviews: Personal interview method requires a person known as the interviewer asking questions
generally in a face-to-face contact to the other person or persons.
Types of Personal Interview

1) Direct personal interview and indirect interview: In the case of direct personal investigation the
interviewer has to collect the information personally from the sources concerned. In some cases an
indirect oral examination can be conducted under which the interviewer has to cross-examine other
persons who are supposed to have knowledge about the problem under investigation and the
information, obtained is recorded. Most of the commissions and committees appointed by
government to carry on investigations make use of this method.
2) structured interviews. Such interviews involve the use of a set of predetermined questions and of highly
standardised techniques of recording.

Unstructured interviews do not follow a system of pre-determined questions and standardised techniques of
recording information. He may even change the sequence of questions. He has relatively greater freedom
while recording the responses to include some aspects and exclude others. Unstructured interviews also
demand deep knowledge and greater skill on the part of the interviewer. Unstructured interview, however,
happens to be the central technique of collecting information in case of exploratory or formulative research
studies. But in case of descriptive studies, we quite often use the technique of structured interview
Types of Personal Interview Method
At Home Interviews: This face-to-face interaction takes place at the respondent’s
residence. Thus, the interviewer needs to initially contact the respondent to ascertain
the interview time.

Mall-intercept interviews: this method involves conducting interviews with the

respondents as they are shopping in malls. Sometimes, product testing or product
reactions can be carried out through structured methods and followed by interviews to
test the reactions.

Telephone method: The telephone method involves replacing the face-to-face

interaction between the interviewer and interviewee, by questioning on telephones and
calling up the subjects to asking them a set of questions.
Traditional telephone interviews: The process can be accomplished using the
traditional telephone for conducting the questioning.

Computer-assisted telephone interviewing: In this process, the interviewer is

replaced by the computer and it involves conducting the telephonic interview
using a computerized interview format.
Focus Group Discussion
A focus group discussion involves gathering people from similar. backgrounds or experiences together
to discuss a specific topic of. interest. It is a form of qualitative research where questions are. asked
about their perceptions attitudes, beliefs, opinion or ideas.

The group of participants is guided by a moderator (or group facilitator) who introduces
topics for discussion and helps the group to participate in a lively and natural discussion
amongst themselves.

The strength of FGD relies on allowing the participants to agree or disagree with each other
so that it provides an insight into how a group thinks about an issue, about the range of
opinion and ideas, and the inconsistencies and variation that exists in a particular community
in terms of beliefs and their experiences and practices.
PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES
Deeply held attitudes and motivations are often not verbalized by respondents when questioned directly.
Infact, respondents may not even be aware that they hold these particular attitudes, or may feel that their
motivations reflect badly on them.

Projective techniques allow respondents to project their subjective or true opinions and beliefs onto other
people or even objects. The respondent's real feelings are then inferred from what s/he says about others.
Word Association Test
Word Association Tests:: These are the most frequently used methods in management research. They
essentially involve presenting a stimulus to the respondent and he needs to respond with the first thing that
comes to his mind. The method is essentially borrowed from clinical psychology, the most well known being
the Rorschach Inkblot test. Many people have heard of the famous Rorschach test, also called the
Rorschach inkblot test, in which a person is asked to describe what they see in ambiguous inkblot
images. This projective test often appears in popular culture and is frequently portrayed as a way
of revealing a person’s unconscious thoughts, motives, or desires.

Another variation of the test used in individual and brand personality is to ask the person to think of an
animal/object that one associates with a brand or a person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fltaaOeHMO4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYi19-Vx6go
Sentence Completion technique
These techniques involve presenting an incomplete object to the respondent, which can be completed by the
respondent in any way that he/she deems appropriate. It is a test in which the participant must complete an
unfinished sentence by filling in the specific missing word or phrase. The test is typically used to evaluate
personality. The participant is presented with an introductory phrase to which he or she may respond in any
way.

For example:

Old age is…………………………………..

Sentence completion is the most popular of all completion techniques and is inevitably used in almost all
measuring instruments as an open-ended question. Working at IBM is……………………………………….
Or McDonald is……………………………………….

.
Construction Technique

These techniques might appear similar to completion technique, however here, the focus is on the
completed object, which could be a story, a picture, a dialogue or a description.

The Thematic Apperception Test, or TAT, is a type of projective test that involves describing ambiguous
scenes. Popularly known as the "picture interpretation technique," it was developed by American
psychologists Henry A. Murray and Christina D. Morgan at Harvard University in the 1930s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnZSgLx9FhM
COLLECTION OF DATA THROUGH
QUESTIONNAIRES
A questionnaire consists of a number of questions printed or typed in a definite order on a form or set
of forms.

The merits claimed on behalf of this method are as follows: 1. There is low cost even when the
universe is large and is widely spread geographically 2. It is free from the bias of the interviewer;
answers are in respondents’ own words. 3. Respondents have adequate time to give well thought out
answers. 4. Respondents, who are not easily approachable, can also be reached The main demerits of
this system can also be listed here: 1. Low rate of return of the duly filled in questionnaires; bias due
to no-response is often indeterminate. 2. It can be used only when respondents are educated and
cooperating. 3. The control over questionnaire may be lost once it is sent
COLLECTION OF DATA THROUGH SCHEDULES

This method of data collection is very much like the collection of data through
questionnaire, with little difference which lies in the fact that schedules
(proforma containing a set of questions) are being filled in by the
enumerators who are specially appointed for the purpose. These enumerators
along with schedules, go to respondents, put to them the questions from the
proforma in the order the questions are listed and record the replies in the
space meant for the same in the proforma.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
QUESTIONNAIRES AND SCHEDULES
1) The questionnaire is generally sent through mail to informants to be answered as
specified in a covering letter, but otherwise without further assistance from the
sender. The schedule is generally filled out by the research worker or the
enumerator, who can interpret questions when necessary.
2) To collect data through questionnaire is relatively cheap. To collect data through
schedules is relatively more expensive since considerable amount of money has to
be spent in appointing enumerators and in importing training to them
3) Non-response is usually high in case of questionnaire as many people do not respond
and many return the questionnaire without answering all questions. Non-response is
generally very low in case of schedules because these are filled by enumerators who are
able to get answers to all questions.

4) In case of questionnaire, it is not always clear as to who replies, but in case of

schedule the identity of respondent is known

5) The questionnaire method is likely to be very slow since many respondents do not
return the questionnaire in time despite several reminders, but in case of schedules the
information is collected well in time as they are filled in by enumerators.
6) Personal contact is generally not possible in case of the questionnaire method. But in case of
schedules direct personal contact is established with respondents.

7) Questionnaire method can be used only when respondents are literate and cooperative, but in case
of schedules the information can be gathered even when the respondents happen to be illiterate.

8) Wider and more representative distribution of sample is possible under the questionnaire method,
but in respect of schedules there usually remains the difficulty in sending enumerators over a
relatively wider area
9) Risk of collecting incomplete and wrong information is relatively more under the questionnaire
method, particularly when people are unable to understand questions properly. But in case of
schedules, the information collected is generally complete and accurate as enumerators can remove
the difficulties.

10) The success of questionnaire method lies more on the quality of the questionnaire itself, but in the
case of schedules much depends upon the honesty and competence of enumerators.

11) In order to attract the attention of respondents, the physical appearance of questionnaire must
be quite attractive, but this may not be so in case of schedules as they are to be filled in by
enumerators and not by respondents.
Projective Technique

Association techniques:: These are the most frequently used methods in management research. They
essentially involve presenting a stimulus to the respondent and he needs to respond with the first thing that
comes to his mind. The method is essentially borrowed from clinical psychology, the most well known being
the Rorschach Inkblot test.

Another variation of the test used in individual and brand personality is to ask the person to think of an
animal/object that one associates with a brand or a person.
Completion techniques: These techniques involve presenting an incomplete object to the respondent, which
can be completed by the respondent in any way that he/she deems appropriate. For example:

Old age is…………………………………..

Sentence completion is the most popular of all completion techniques and is inevitably used in almost all
measuring instruments as an open-ended question. Working at IBM is……………………………………….
Or McDonald is………………………………………..
• Construction techniques: These techniques might appear similar to completion technique, however here,
the focus is on the completed object, which could be a story, a picture, a dialogue or a description.

Story construction tests:

Cartoon tests:
CLASSIFICATION OF
SCALES
Understanding Measurement as a Term

The term ‘measurement’ means assigning numbers or some other symbols to the characteristics of certain
objects.

We do not measure the object but some characteristics of it. Therefore, in research, people/consumers are
not measured; what is measured only are their perceptions, attitude or any other relevant characteristics.

There are two reasons for which numbers are usually assigned. First of all, numbers permit statistical analysis
of the resulting data and secondly, they facilitate the communication of measurement results.
Basic Types of Measurement Scale

There are four types of measurement scales—nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio scales.

Nominal scale: This is the lowest level of measurement.

2) Here, numbers are assigned for the purpose of identification of the objects.

3) Any object which is assigned a higher number is in no way superior to the one which is assigned a lower
number.

4) Each number is assigned to only one object and each object has only one number assigned to it.
Examples of nominal scale: • 1) What is your religion? (a) Hinduism (b) Sikhism (c) Christianity (d) Islam (e)
Any other, (please specify)

2) Are you married? (a) Yes (b) No

3) In which of the following departments do you work? (a) Marketing (b) HR (c) Information Technology (d)
Operations (e) Finance and Accounting (f) Any other, (please specify).

Note: Afrequency distribution table can be prepared for the nominal scale variables and mode of the
distribution can be worked out
Ordinal scale:

1) This is the next higher level of measurement than the nominal scale measurement
2) An ordinal scale measurement tells whether an object has more or less of characteristics than some
other objects.
3) An ordinal scale tells us the relative positions of the objects and not the difference between the
magnitudes of the objects. The difference between the ranks does not have any meaningful
interpretation in the sense that it cannot tell the difference
Some of the examples of ordinal scales are listed below:ples of ordinal scales are listed below: • Rank the following
attributes while choosing a restaurant for dinner. The most important attribute may be ranked one, the next
important may be assigned a rank of 2 and so on.

Attribute Rank

Food quality

Prices

Menu variety

Ambience

Service
Rank the following by placing a 1 beside the attribute you think is the most important, a 2 beside the attribute you think is
the second most important and so on while purchasing a two-wheeler. Attribute Rank

After sale service

Prices

Re-sale value

Fuel efficiency

Aesthetic appeal
In the ordinal scale, the assigned ranks cannot be added, multiplied, subtracted or divided. One can compute
median, percentiles and quartiles of the distribution.

The other major statistical analysis which can be carried out is the rank order correlation coefficient, sign
test.
Interval scale:

1) The interval scale measurement is the next higher level of measurement.

2) In the interval scale the difference of the score on the scale has meaningful interpretation
3) It is assumed that the respondent is able to answer the questions on a continuum scale.
4) The interval scale data has an arbitrary origin (non-zero origin).
This can be seen from the following interval scale question:

• How likely are you to buy a new designer carpet in the next six months?

Very unlikely Unlikely Neutral Likely Very likely

Scale A 1 2 3 4 5

Scale B 0 1 2 3 4

Scale C –2 –1 0 1 2
The following are some examples of interval scale data.

• How important is price to you while buying a car?

Least important Unimportant Neutral Important Most important

1 2 3 4 5

How do you rate the work environment of your organization?

Very good Good Neither good nor bad Bad Very bad

5 4 3 2 1
 Ratio scale:
1) This is the highest level of measurement and takes care of the limitations of the interval scale measurement.
2) In this case, there is a natural zero (origin), whereas in the interval scale we had an arbitrary zero.
3) Examples of the ratio scale data are weight, distance travelled, income and sales of a company, to mention a few.
Consider the following examples for ratio scale measurements:
● How many chemist shops are there in your locality?
● How many students are there in the MBA programme at IIFT?
● How much distance do you need to travel from your residence to reach the railway station?
CLASSIFICATION OF SCALES

SINGLE ITEM V/s MULTIPLE ITEM SCALE

COMPARATIVE V/s NON COMPARATIVE SCALE

Single item scale: In the single item scale, there is only one item to measure.

Consider the following question: • How satisfied are you with your current job? Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied
Neutral Satisfied Very satisfied

The problem with the above question is that there are many aspects to a job, like pay, work environment,
rules and regulations, security of job and communication with the seniors. The respondent may be satisfied
on some of the factors but may not on others. By asking a question as stated above, it will be difficult to
analyse the problem areas. To overcome this problem, a multiple item scale is proposed.
Multiple item scale: In multiple item scale, there are many items that play a role in forming the underlying
construct that the researcher is trying to measure. This is because each of the item forms some part of the
construct (satisfaction) which the researcher is trying to measure. As an example, some of the following
questions may be asked in a multiple item scale.

• How satisfied are you with the pay you are getting on your current job?

Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very satisfied •

How satisfied are you with the rules and regulations of your organization?

Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very satisfied •

How satisfied are you with the job security in your current job?

Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very satisfied

Comparative vs Non-comparative Scales

In comparative scales it is assumed that respondents make use of a standard frame of reference before
answering the question. For example: A question like ‘How do you rate Barista in comparison to Cafe Coffee
Day on quality of beverages?’ is an example of the comparative rating scale.

• Please rate Domino’s in comparison to Pizza Hut on the basis of your satisfaction level on an 11-point scale,
based on the following parameters: (1 = Extremely poor, 6 = Average, 11 = Extremely good). Circle your
response:
a. Variety of menu options 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

b. Value for money 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

c. Speed of service (delivery time) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

d. Promotional offers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

e. Food quality 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

f. Brand name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Non-comparative Scales

In the non-comparative scales, the respondents do not make use of any frame of reference before answering
the questions. The resulting data is generally assumed to be interval or ratio scale. For example: The
respondent may be asked to evaluate the quality of food in a restaurant on a five point scale (1 = very poor, 2
= poor and 5 = very good).
Types of Non-Comparative Scale

1. GRAPHIC RATING SCALE

2. ITEMIZED RATING SCALE
Graphic Rating Scale
This is a continuous scale. In this scale the respondent is asked to tick his
preference on a graph.

Itemized Rating Scale:

The respondents are provided with a scale that has a number of brief
description associated with each of the response categories.

Very Bad bad neither good nor bad good very good

1 2 3 4 5
Types of Itemized Rating Scale
Likert Scale: It is a five point scale.The respondents are given a certain number of statements
on which on which they are asked to express their degree of agreement/disagreement. This is
also called summated scale because the scores of individual can be added together to produce
a total score of the respondent. The number of statements measure some aspect of a common
factor.

Semantic Differential Scale:Here the respondent is required to rate the attitude on a 5 or 7

point scale. The difference between likert and semantic differential scale is that in likert scale
1) a number of statements are presented to the respondents to express their
agreement/disagreement. 2) In semantic scale bi-polar adjectives are used.
Eg:

Makes good quality Does not make good quality

Leader in technology Backward in technology

Leads in R&D Lagging in technology

Stapel Scale: This scale is used to measure the direction and intensity of an
attitude. It is used when there is difficulty using bi-polar adjectives. Stapel Scale uses
only one adjective.

+5 +4 +3 +2 +1 Quality of Food -1 -2 -3 -4 -5

+5 +4 +3 +2 +1 Quality of Service -1 -2 -3 - 4 - 5
Types of Comparative Scale
Paired Comparison Scale: Here a respondent is presented with two objects and is
asked to select one according to whatever criterion he or she wants to use. The
resulting data is ordinal in nature. For Eg. the child is offered to choose one out of
the two from the six possible pairs, i.e., chocolate or burger, chocolate or ice cream,
chocolate or pizza, burger or ice cream, burger or pizza and ice cream or pizza.

Paired comparison technique is useful when the number of items is limited because
it requires a direct comparison and overt choice.
As an example, let’s say that you want to decide how to spend your coming summer holidays and you
have four ideas in mind. Use the paired comparison analysis to help you make this decision.
Rank order scaling: In the rank order scaling, respondents are presented with
several objects simultaneously and asked to order or rank them according to some
criterion. Consider, for example the following question: • Rank the following soft
drinks in order of your preference, the most preferred soft drink should be ranked
one, the second most preferred should be ranked two and so on.

Soft Drinks Rank

Coke

Pepsi

Sprite

Mirinda

Seven Up
Constant sum rating scaling: In constant sum rating scale, the respondents are asked to
allocate a total of 100 points between various objects and brands. The respondent distributes
the points to the various objects in the order of his preference. Consider the following
example:

Allocate a total of 100 points among the various schools into which you would like to admit
your child. The more the points you allocate to a school, more preferred it is to be considered.

Schools Points

DPS

Modern School

Mother’s International

APEEJAY TOTAL POINTS 100

Q -Sort

It is basically a systematic study of participants viewpoints. This analysis is used

when objective is to sort out people into groups.

People are presented with sample of statements about some topic.Respondents

are asked to rank order statements from their individual point of view according to
some preference, judgement or feeling about them.

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Types of Questions
Open Ended Questions: These are termed as open-ended, but the openness refers to the option of
responding in one’s own words. They are also referred to as unstructured questions or free-response or
free-answer questions. The researcher suggests no alternatives.

Eg. How do you decide on the instrument in which you are going to invest?

• I like Nescafe because ________________________

• My career goal is to ________________________

• I think hybrid cars are ________________________

What is your age?

• How would you evaluate the work done by the present government? • How much orange juice does this
bottle contain?
Coding or categorizing the written responses for an open-ended question is
expensive both in terms of time as well as finances.Open-ended questions are also
dependent upon the respondent’s skill to articulate well.

Closed Ended Questions: In these questions, both the question and response
formats are structured and defined. The respondent only needs to select the
option(s) that he feels are expressive of his opinion. There are three kinds of
formats as we observed earlier—dichotomous questions, multiple–choice
questions and those that have a scaled response.

1) Dichotomous questions: These are restrictive alternatives and provide the

respondents only with two answers. These could be ‘yes’ or ‘no’, like or
dislike, similar or different, married or unmarried, etc
Dichotomous questions are the easiest type of questions to code and analyse. They are
constructed on the nominal level of measurement and are categorical .

2. Multiple-choice questions: Unlike dichotomous questions, the person is given a number of

response alternatives here. He might be asked to choose the one that is most applicable.

For example, this question was given to a retailer who is currently not selling organic food
products:

Will you consider selling organic food products in your store? ☐ Definitely not in the next one
year ☐ Probably not in the next one year ☐ Undecided ☐ Probably in the next one year ☐
Definitely in the next one year.

How much do you spend on grocery products (average in one month)? Less than `2,500/-
Between `2,500–5,000/- More than `5,000/-
 Scales: The following is a question which has five sub-questions designed on the Likert scale. These
require simple agreement and disagreement on the part of the respondent. This scale is based on the
interval level of measurement.

Given below are statements related to your organization. Please indicate your
agreement/disagreement with each statement: (1-Strongly Disagree → → → → 5-Strongly Agree)

12345

1.The people in my company know their roles very clearly.

2. I want to complete my current task by hook or by crook.

3. Existing systems are very effective.

4. I feel the need for the organization to change.

5. Top management is committed to long-term vision of creating value for organization

Criteria for Questionnaire Designing

1) Research objectives must be converted into clear questions which will extract answers
from respondents. For eg what is the margin that a company gives to the retailer?
Question would be..what is the percentage margin given to a retailer...2–5 per cent,
6–10 per cent, 11–15 per cent, 16–20 per cent, etc
2) It should be designed to engage the respondents and encourage a meaningful response.
3) questions should be self explanatory and not confusing.
1. Clearly specify the issue: By reading the question, the person should be able to clearly
understand the information need.

Which newspaper do you read? (Incorrect)

2. Use simple terminology: The researcher must take care to ask questions in a language
that is understood by the population under study. Technical words or difficult words that
are not used in everyday communication must be avoided.
Do you think thermal wear provides immunity?

Sometimes words that are used might have a different meaning either in the local dialect or as a
phrase. For example, a simple question like, ‘When did you go to town?’ (incorrect) might get you the
answer of the person’s last visit to town or it may be taken as ‘go to town’ (go crazy or mad) and
would be regarded as an insult. Thus the question can be rephrased as:

3. Avoid ambiguity in questioning: The words used in the questionnaire should mean the same thing
to all those answering the questionnaire. A lot of words are subjective and relative in meaning.
Consider the following question: How often do you visit Pizza Hut? Never Occasionally Sometimes
Often Regularly

In a typical month, how often do you visit Pizza Hut? Less than once 1 or 2 times 3 or 4 times More
than 4 times
For example, Do you download music regularly from LimeWire? Yes/no

How often do you download from LimeWire? Once a week 2–3 times in a week 4–5 times in a week
Every day

4. Avoid leading questions: Any question that provides a clue to the respondents in terms of the
direction in which one wants them to answer is called a leading or biasing question. For example, ‘Do
you think that working mothers should buy ready to-eat food when that might contain some chemical
preservatives?

Yes No Don’t know

Even questions such as the following are suggestive in nature

How long was the class session? Or how short was the class session?

For how many minutes did the class session run?

Industry experts think that flexible working hours positively affect work-life balance.’ What is your opinion?

Here, there are two leads—‘industry experts’ and ‘positively affect’.

A better way of questioning the respondent would be: What is the relation between flexi working hours and
work-life balance? No relation Positively related Negatively related
5. Avoid loaded questions: Questions that address sensitive issues are termed as loaded questions and the
response to these questions might not always be honest, as the person might not wish to admit the answer,
even when assured about his anonymity.

Have you ever cheated on your spouse?

Will you take dowry when you get married?

Do you think your boss/supervisor is incompetent?

the first two questions could be constructed in the context of a third person as follows: Do you think most
people usually cheat on their spouses?

Do you think most Indian men would take dowry when they get married?

Do you think your friend is incompetent? Do you think the government is incompetent?
Avoid implicit choices and assumptions: In case the other alternatives the person might have are hidden is
referred to as an implicit assumption.

Q. Would you prefer to work fixed hours, in a five-day week?

Q. How would you prefer to work ?

a)fixed hours, in a five-day week b) flexi-time 40 hours week?

The researcher might sometimes frame questions that require the respondent to make some implicit
assumptions in order to give an answer. The answer is, thus, a consequence of the assumption made.

Are you in favour of the Commonwealth Games 2010 that were held in India?

Are you in favour of the Commonwealth Games 2010 that were held in India, if they resulted in increased
revenue from tourism?
Avoid double-barrelled questions: As specified earlier, questions that have two separate options separated by
an ‘or’ or an ‘and’ are like the following: Do you think Nokia and Samsung have a wide variety of touch
phones?Yes/no

A wide variety of touch phones is available in:

Nokia

Samsung

Both

Did the training you went through make you feel more motivated and effective in your job?

Did the training you went through make you feel motivated at your job?(Yes/No)

Did the training you went through make you more effective at your job? (Yes/No)
Criteria for Good Measurement

Reliability: Reliability is concerned with consistency

Test–retest reliability: In this method, repeated measurements of the same person or group using the same
scale under similar conditions are taken. A very high correlation between the two scores indicates that the
scale is reliable.

Split-half reliability method: This method is used in the case of multiple item scales. Here the number of
items is randomly divided into two parts and a correlation coefficient between the two is obtained. A high
correlation indicates that the internal consistency of the construct leads to greater reliability. Another
measure which is used to test the internal consistency of a multiple item scale is the coefficient alpha (α)
commonly known as cronbach alpha.
Validity The validity of a scale refers to the question whether we are measuring what we want to measure.

Content validity: This is also called face validity. It involves subjective judgement by an expert for assessing
the appropriateness of the construct.

Concurrent validity: It is used to measure the validity of the new measuring techniques by correlating them
with the established techniques

Predictive validity: This involves the ability of a measured phenomena at one point of time to predict another
phenomenon at a future point of time. If the correlation coefficient between the two is high, the initial
measure is said to have a high predictive ability.
Sensitivity The sensitivity of a scale is an important measurement concept, particularly when changes in
attitudes are under investigation.A dichotomous response category such as agree or disagree does not allow
the recording of any attitude changes.Adding strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree and
strongly disagree categories will increase the sensitivity of the scale