Lec2 - Measurement and Scaling Concepts

MEASUREMENT
TECHNIQUES AND SCALING

CONCEPTS
Measurement
 Measurement means assigning numbers or

other symbols to the characteristics of the
objects according to certain pre-specified
rules
Scale
 A scale may be defined as any series of

items/objects that are arranged progressively
according to the value or magnitude into which
an item can be placed according to its
qualification. Scale is a continuous spectrum or
series of categories.
 The purpose of scaling is to represent usually
quantitatively an item’s, a person’s or an
event’s place in the spectrum.
TYPES OF SCALE
 Nominal scale
 Ordinal scale
 Interval scale
 Ratio scale
NOMINAL SCALE
 This is the simplest type of scale. A scale in

which the numbers or letters assigned to the
objects serve as labels for identification or
classification.
 For example – Male is coded as ‘1’ or ’M’ and
Female is coded as ‘2’ or ‘F’. The codes
assigned to the objects does not have any
numerical significance.
ORDINAL SCALE
 A scale that arranges objects or alternatives

according to their magnitudes in an ordered
relationship.
 For example, A respondent is asked to rate a
certain product / brand / company / service as
‘Excellent’, ‘Good’, ‘Fair’, ‘Poor’. Researchers
know that ‘Excellent’ is higher than ‘Good’ but
they do not know by how much.
INTERVAL SCALE
 A scale that not only arranges objects according

to their magnitude but also distinguishes this
ordered arrangement in the units of equal
intervals.
 For example - A respondent is asked to rate a
product or service on 5 point or 7 point scale
given that 1 is the lowest score and 5 is the
highest score.
1 2 3 4 5
RATIO SCALE
 A scale having absolute rather than relative

quantities and possessing an absolute zero.
 For example – Money , weight, distance are
measured with ratio scales that possess an
absolute zero and interval properties.
 Absolute zero represents a point on the scale
where there is an absence of given attribute.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF SCALES
TYPE OF NUMERICAL STATISTICS

SCALE OPERATION
NOMINAL Counting Frequency,
Percentage, Mode
ORDINAL Rank ordering Median, Range,
Percentile ranking
INTERVAL Arithmetic operation on Mean, Standard
intervals between deviation, Variance
numbers
RATIO Arithmetic operation on Geometric mean,
actual quantities Coeff. Of variation
ATTITUDE
 An attitude is a person’s general evaluation of

something.
 An attitude is a hypothetical construct that
represents an individual’s degree of like or dislike
for an item.
 An attitude is made up of what you think, what
you do and what you feel.
ATTITUDE RATING SCALES
 SIMPLE ATTITUDE SCALE

 CATEGORY SCALE
 LIKERT SCALE (Summated rating method)
 SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL
 CONSTANT SUM SCALE
 STAPEL SCALE
 GRAPHIC RATING SCALE
SIMPLE ATTITUDE SCALE
 In this scale, a respondent is asked to agree

or disagree with a statement or respond to a
question having two response categories.
 For example, ‘YES’ / ‘NO’; ‘LIKE’ / ‘DISLIKE’,
‘GOOD’ / ‘BAD’.
CATEGORY SCALE
 An attitude scale consisting of several

response categories to provide the
respondent with alternative ratings. (Multiple
choice answers with more than two
responses)
 For example, How often do you travel by air?
(i) Once a week (ii) Twice a week (iii) Once in
a month (iv) Twice in a month
LIKERT SCALE
 This is also known as summated ratings

method.
 Likert scale is a measure of attitudes
designed to allow respondents to indicate
how strongly they agree or disagree with
carefully constructed statements that range
from very positive to very negative attitude
towards an object.
LIKERT SCALE…continued
 For example, there is a statement - “Mergers

and acquisitions provide faster means of
growth than internal expansion”.
1 2 3 4 5
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

disagree agree
SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL
 An attitude measure consisting of a series of 7

point bipolar rating scale. Bipolar adjectives such
as “good” and “bad”, “modern” and old-
fashioned”, “clean” and “dirty” anchor the
beginning and end of the scale.
 For example, four brands of car – Honda city (H),
Lancer (L), Toyota corolla (TC), Skoda (S) can
be compared with the help of this scale.
SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL…contd
 The scale is constructed this way –
Fast :___:___:___:___:___:___:___:Slow
Affordable:___:___:___:___:___:___:___:Expensive
Plain:___:___:___:___:___:___:___:Stylish
 A respondent is asked to rate the brands between

the two bipolar adjectives.
CONSTANT SUM SCALE
 A respondent is asked to divide 100 points

among the features or attributes of a product /
service according to his/her importance.
 For example – divide 100 points among the
following features of courier service company –
– Faster delivery ____
– Safety of products ____
– Low courier charges ____
– Accurate invoicing ____
18
STAPEL SCALE
 An attitude measure that places a single

adjective in the centre of numerical values.
 For example, A stapel scale can be used to

measure his attitude towards a supervisor –
STAPEL SCALE … continued
+3
+2
+1
Supportive / Co-operative
-1
-2
-3
GRAPHIC RATING SCALE
 A measure of attitude consisting of a graphic

scale that allows respondents to rate an
object by choosing any point on that scale
using visual communication.
HAPPY NEUTRAL UNHAPPY

2 Important criteria / tests for good
measurement
 VALIDITY – Validity refers to whether a research study is able to

answer the questions what it was intended to answer. Validity gives
the strength of conclusions, inferences or propositions. Two types of
validity tests are Predictive validity and Construct validity. Predictive
validity is determined by the correlation between the results and the
actual behavior. Construct validity is the extent to which a measuring
instrument measures what it intends to measure.
 RELIABILITY - Reliability is the extent to which a measurement is

repeatable with same results. Reliability is the consistency of
measurement. A measurement may be reliable and not valid.
However if a measurement is valid then it is also reliable. If it is not
reliable then it cannot be valid. One way to show reliability is to show
22 the stability by repeating the tests with same results.

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MEASUREMENT

TECHNIQUES AND SCALING

 Measurement means assigning numbers or

 A scale may be defined as any series of

 This is the simplest type of scale. A scale in

 A scale that arranges objects or alternatives

 A scale that not only arranges objects according

 A scale having absolute rather than relative

TYPE OF NUMERICAL STATISTICS

 An attitude is a person’s general evaluation of

 SIMPLE ATTITUDE SCALE

 In this scale, a respondent is asked to agree

 An attitude scale consisting of several

 This is also known as summated ratings

 For example, there is a statement - “Mergers

Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

 An attitude measure consisting of a series of 7

 The scale is constructed this way –

 A respondent is asked to rate the brands between

 A respondent is asked to divide 100 points

 An attitude measure that places a single

 For example, A stapel scale can be used to

 A measure of attitude consisting of a graphic

HAPPY NEUTRAL UNHAPPY

 VALIDITY – Validity refers to whether a research study is able to

 RELIABILITY - Reliability is the extent to which a measurement is

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