Measurement and Scaling

Prof.(Dr) Johney Johnson

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Measurement and Scaling

Measurement means assigning numbers or other

symbols to characteristics of objects according to certain
pre-specified rules.
 One-to-one correspondence between the numbers
and the characteristics being measured.
 The rules for assigning numbers should be
standardized and applied uniformly.
 Rules must not change over objects or time.

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Measurement and Scaling

Scaling involves creating a continuum upon which

measured objects are located.

Consider an attitude scale from 1 to 100. Each

respondent is assigned a number from 1 to 100, with 1
= Extremely Unfavorable, and 100 = Extremely
Favorable. Measurement is the actual assignment of a
number from 1 to 100 to each respondent. Scaling is
the process of placing the respondents on a continuum
with respect to their attitude toward department stores.

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 Primary Scales of Measurement
Fig. 8.1
Scale
Nominal Numbers Finish
Assigned
7 8 3
to Runners

Ordinal Rank Order Finish

of Winners
Third Second First
place place place

Interval Performance
Rating on a 8.2 9.1 9.6

0 to 10 Scale
15.2 14.1 13.4
Ratio Time to
Finish, in 8-4
Primary Scales of Measurement
Nominal Scale
 The numbers serve only as labels or tags for identifying and
classifying objects.
 When used for identification, there is a strict one-to-one
correspondence between the numbers and the objects.
 The numbers do not reflect the amount of the characteristic
possessed by the objects.
 The only permissible operation on the numbers in a nominal
scale is counting.
 Only a limited number of statistics, all of which are based on
frequency counts, are permissible, e.g., percentages, and
mode.
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Primary Scales of Measurement
Ordinal Scale
 A ranking scale in which numbers are assigned to objects to
indicate the relative extent to which the objects possess some
characteristic.
 Can determine whether an object has more or less of a
characteristic than some other object, but not how much
more or less.
 Any series of numbers can be assigned that preserves the
ordered relationships between the objects.
 In addition to the counting operation allowable for nominal
scale data, ordinal scales permit the use of statistics based on
centiles, e.g., percentile, quartile, median.

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Primary Scales of Measurement
Interval Scale
 Numerically equal distances on the scale represent equal
values in the characteristic being measured.
 It permits comparison of the differences between objects.
 The location of the zero point is not fixed. Both the zero point
and the units of measurement are arbitrary.
 Any positive linear transformation of the form y = a + bx will
preserve the properties of the scale.
 It is not meaningful to take ratios of scale values.
 Statistical techniques that may be used include all of those
that can be applied to nominal and ordinal data, and in
addition the arithmetic mean, standard deviation, and other
statistics commonly used in marketing research.
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Primary Scales of Measurement
Ratio Scale
 Possesses all the properties of the nominal, ordinal, and
interval scales.
 It has an absolute zero point.
 It is meaningful to compute ratios of scale values.
 Only proportionate transformations of the form y = bx,
where b is a positive constant, are allowed.
 All statistical techniques can be applied to ratio data.

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Primary Scales of Measurement
Table 8.1
Sca le Ba sic Com m on Ma rke ting Pe rmissible Sta tistics
Cha ra cte ristics Ex a m ple s Ex a m ple s Descriptive Inferential
Nom ina l Numbers identify Social Security Brand nos., store Percentages, Chi-square,
& classify objects nos., numbering types mode binomial test
of football players
Ordina l Nos. indicate the Quality rankings, Preference Percentile, Rank-order
relative positions rankings of teams rankings, market median correlation,
of objects but not in a tournament position, social Friedman
the magnitude of class ANOVA
differences
between them
Inte rva l Differences Temperature Attitudes, Range, mean, Product-
between objects (Fahrenheit) opinions, index standard moment
Ra tio Zero point is fixed, Length, weight Age, sales, Geometric Coefficient of
ratios of scale income, costs mean, harmonic variation
values can be mean
compared

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 A Classification of Scaling Techniques
Figure 8.2

Scaling Techniques

Comparative Noncomparative
Scales Scales

Paired Rank Constant Q-Sort and Continuous Itemized

Comparison Order Sum Other Rating Scales Rating Scales
Procedures

Likert Semantic Stapel

Differential
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A Comparison of Scaling
Techniques

 Comparative scales involve the direct comparison of

stimulus objects. Comparative scale data must be
interpreted in relative terms and have only ordinal or
rank order properties.
 
 In noncomparative scales, each object is scaled
independently of the others in the stimulus set. The
resulting data are generally assumed to be interval or
ratio scaled.

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Relative Advantages of Comparative
Scales

 Small differences between stimulus objects can be

detected.
 Same known reference points for all respondents.
 Easily understood and can be applied.
 Involve fewer theoretical assumptions.
 Tend to reduce halo or carryover effects from one
judgment to another.

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Relative Disadvantages of
Comparative Scales

 Ordinal nature of the data

 Inability to generalize beyond the stimulus

objects scaled.

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Comparative Scaling Techniques
Paired Comparison Scaling
 A respondent is presented with two objects and
asked to select one according to some criterion.
 The data obtained are ordinal in nature.
 Paired comparison scaling is the most widely-used
comparative scaling technique.
 With n brands, [n(n - 1) /2] paired comparisons are
required.
 Under the assumption of transitivity, it is possible to
convert paired comparison data to a rank order.
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 Obtaining Shampoo Preferences
Fig. 8.3
Using Paired Comparisons
Instructions: We are going to present you with ten pairs of
shampoo brands. For each pair, please indicate which one of the
two brands of shampoo you would prefer for personal use.
Jhirmack Finesse Vidal Head & Pert
Recording Form: Sassoon Shoulders
Jhirmack 0 0 1 0
Finesse 1a 0 1 0
Vidal Sassoon 1 1 1 1
Head & Shoulders 0 0 0 0
Pert 1 1 0 1
Number of Times 3 2 0 4 1
b
Preferred
a
A 1 in a particular box means that the brand in that column was preferred
over the brand in the corresponding row. A 0 means that the row brand was
preferred over the column brand. bThe number of times a brand was preferred
is obtained by summing the 1s in each column.

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Paired Comparison Selling
The most common method of taste testing is paired comparison.
The consumer is asked to sample two different products and select
the one with the most appealing taste. The test is done in private
and a minimum of 1,000 responses is considered an adequate
sample. A blind taste test for a soft drink, where imagery, self-
perception and brand reputation are very important factors in the
consumer’s purchasing decision, may not be a good indicator of
performance in the marketplace. The introduction of New Coke
illustrates this point. New Coke was heavily favored in blind paired
comparison taste tests, but its introduction was less than successful,
because image plays a major role in the purchase of Coke.

A paired comparison
taste test
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Comparative Scaling Techniques
Rank Order Scaling
 Respondents are presented with several objects
simultaneously and asked to order or rank them
according to some criterion.
 It is possible that the respondent may dislike the brand
ranked 1 in an absolute sense.
 Furthermore, rank order scaling also results in ordinal
data.
 Only (n - 1) scaling decisions need be made in rank
order scaling.

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Preference for Toothpaste Brands
Using Rank Order Scaling
Fig. 8.4
Instructions: Rank the various brands of toothpaste in
order of preference. Begin by picking out the one brand that
you like most and assign it a number 1. Then find the
second most preferred brand and assign it a number 2.
Continue this procedure until you have ranked all the
brands of toothpaste in order of preference. The least
preferred brand should be assigned a rank of 10.

No two brands should receive the same rank number.

The criterion of preference is entirely up to you. There is no

right or wrong answer. Just try to be consistent.
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Preference for Toothpaste Brands
Using Rank Order Scaling
Fig. 8.4 cont.

Form
Brand Rank Order
1. Crest _________
2. Colgate _________
3. Aim _________
4. Gleem _________
5. Sensodyne _________
6. Ultra Brite _________
7. Close Up _________
8. Pepsodent _________
9. Plus White _________
10. Stripe _________
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Comparative Scaling Techniques
Constant Sum Scaling

 Respondents allocate a constant sum of units, such as

100 points to attributes of a product to reflect their
importance.
 If an attribute is unimportant, the respondent assigns it
zero points.
 If an attribute is twice as important as some other
attribute, it receives twice as many points.
 The sum of all the points is 100. Hence, the name of
the scale.
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Importance of Bathing Soap
Attributes
Using a Constant Sum Scale
Fig. 8.5

Instructions
On the next slide, there are eight attributes of
bathing soaps. Please allocate 100 points among
the attributes so that your allocation reflects the
relative importance you attach to each attribute.
The more points an attribute receives, the more
important the attribute is. If an attribute is not at
all important, assign it zero points. If an attribute
is twice as important as some other attribute, it
should receive twice as many points.

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 Importance of Bathing Soap Attributes
Using a Constant Sum Scale
Fig. 8.5 cont.

Form
Average Responses of Three Segments
Attribute
Segment I 8Segment II 2Segment III 4
1. Mildness 2 4 17
2. Lather 3 9 7
3. Shrinkage 53 17 9
4. Price 9 0 19
5. Fragrance 7 5 9
6. Packaging 5 3 20
13 60 15
7. Moisturizing
Sum 100 100 100
8. Cleaning Power

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