Scales and Levels in Measurement

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 Measurement
• The process of assigning numbers to objects in such a
way that specific properties of the objects are faithfully
represented by specific properties of the numbers.

• Such ways of assigning numbers do not attempt to

measure the total phenomenon, but only a specific set of
attributes.

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 Measurement (cont.)
•Measurement is used to capture some “construct”
- For example, if research is needed on the construct of
“depression”, it is likely that some systematic
measurement tool will be needed to assess depression.

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 Measurement

 Measurement--defined as application of rules to

assign numbers to objects (or attributes).

 Measurement rules--the procedures used to

transform the qualities of attributes into
numbers (e.g., type of scale used).

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 Why bother assigning numbers?

 quantifying something that is expected to vary.

 individual differences -- premise that people will

vary (get different scores) on the attribute

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 Scales of measurement
 Three important properties:

 Magnitude--property of “moreness”. Higher score

refers to more of something.
 Equal intervals--is the difference between any two
adjacent numbers referring to the same amount of
difference on the attribute?
 Absolute zero--does the scale have a zero point
that refers to having none of that attribute?

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 Levels of Measurement
1. Nominal

2. Ordinal

3. Interval

4. Ratio

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Levels of Measurement
Nominal Scales - there must be distinct classes but these classes
have no quantitative properties. Therefore, no comparison can be made
in terms of one category being higher than the other.

For example - there are two classes for the variable gender -- males and
females. There are no quantitative properties for this variable or these
classes and, therefore, gender is a nominal variable.

Other Examples:
country of origin
biological sex (male or female)
animal or non-animal
married vs. single

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 Nominal Scale
 Sometimes numbers are used to designate category
membership

 Example:
Country of Origin
1 = United States 3 = Canada
2 = Mexico 4 = Other

 However, in this case, it is important to keep in mind that

the numbers do not have intrinsic meaning

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Levels of Measurement
Ordinal Scales - there are distinct classes but these
classes have a natural ordering or ranking. The
differences can be ordered on the basis of magnitude.

For example - final position of horses in a

thoroughbred race is an ordinal variable. The horses
finish first, second, third, fourth, and so on. The
difference between first and second is not necessarily
equivalent to the difference between second and third,
or between third and fourth.

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 Ordinal Scales
 Does not assume that the intervals between numbers are equal

Example:
finishing place in a race (first place, second place)

1st place 2nd place 3rd place 4th place

1 hour 2 hours 3 hours 4 hours 5 hours 6 hours 7 hours 8 hours

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 Levels of Measurement (cont.)
Interval Scales - it is possible to compare differences in magnitude,
but importantly the zero point does not have a natural meaning. It
captures the properties of nominal and ordinal scales -- used by most
psychological tests.

Designates an equal-interval ordering - The distance between, for

example, a 1 and a 2 is the same as the distance between a 4 and a 5

Example - Celsius temperature is an interval variable. It is meaningful

to say that 25 degrees Celsius is 3 degrees hotter than 22 degrees
Celsius, and that 17 degrees Celsius is the same amount hotter (3
degrees) than 14 degrees Celsius. Notice, however, that 0 degrees
Celsius does not have a natural meaning. That is, 0 degrees Celsius does
not mean the absence of heat!

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 Levels of Measurement (cont.)
Ratio Scales - captures the properties of the other types of
scales, but also contains a true zero, which represents the
absence of the quality being measured.

For example - heart beats per minute has a very natural zero
point. Zero means no heart beats. Weight (in grams) is also a
ratio variable. Again, the zero value is meaningful, zero
grams means the absence of weight.

Example:
the number of intimate relationships a person has had
0 quite literally means none
a person who has had 4 relationships has had twice as
many as someone who has had 2 13
 Levels of Measurement Scales (cont.)

• Each of these scales have different properties (i.e.,

difference, magnitude, equal intervals, or a true zero point)
and allows for different interpretations.

• The scales are listed in hierarchical order. Nominal scales

have the fewest measurement properties and ratio having the
most properties including the properties of all the scales
beneath it on the hierarchy.

• The goal is to be able to identify the type of measurement

scale, and to understand proper use and interpretation of the
scale.
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 Types of scales
 Nominal scales--qualitative, not quantitative
distinction (no absolute zero, not equal intervals,
not magnitude)
 Ordinal scales--ranking individuals (magnitude,
but not equal intervals or absolute zero)
 Interval scales--scales that have magnitude and
equal intervals but not absolute zero
 Ratio scales--have magnitude, equal intervals,
and absolute zero (so can compute ratios)

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 Type of Scale Numerical Operation Descriptive Statistics

Nominal Counting Frequency in each

category, percentage in
each category, mode
Ordinal Rank Ordering Median, range,
percentile ranking

Interval Arithmetic Operations on Mean, standard

Intervals between deviation, variance
numbers
Ratio Arithmetic Operations on Geometric mean,
actual quantities coefficient of variation

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Rating Scales for Measurement
 A scale represents a composite measure
of a variable;
 it is based on more than one item.
 Scales are generally used with complex
variables that do not easily lend
themselves to single-item or single-
indicator measurements.

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 Rating Techniques for
Measurement
 Some items, such as age, newspaper
circulation, or number of radios in the
house, can be adequately measured
without scaling techniques.
 Measurement of other variables, such as
attitude toward TV news or gratification
received from going to a movie theater,
generally requires the use of scales.
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 Simple Rating Scales
 Rating scales are common in mass
media research.
 Researchers frequently ask respondents to
rate a list of items such as a list of
programming elements that can be included
in a radio station’s weekday morning show,
 or to rate how much respondents like radio
or TV on-air personalities.
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 Simple Rating Scales
 The researcher’s decision is to decide which
type of scale to use: 1 to 3? 1 to 5? 1 to 7?
 1 to 10? 1 to 100? Or even a 0 to 9 scale,
which is commonly used by researchers
who don’t have computer software to
accept double-digit numbers (like 10).
 Selecting a type of scale is largely a matter
of personal preference,
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 SPECIALIZED RATING
SCALES
 Thurstone Scales
 Thurstone scales are also called equal
appearing interval scales because of the
technique used to develop them and are
typically used to measure the attitude
toward a given concept or construct.

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 SPECIALIZED RATING
SCALES
 Reserahcer first collects a large number of
statements (Thurstone recommends at
least 100) that relate to the concept or
construct to be measured.
 Next, judges rate these statements along
an 11-category scale in which each
category expresses a different degree of
favorableness toward the concept.
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 SPECIALIZED RATING
SCALES
 Reserahcer first collects a large number of
statements (Thurstone recommends at
least 100) that relate to the concept or
construct to be measured.
 Next, judges rate these statements along
an 11-category scale in which each
category expresses a different degree of
favorableness toward the concept.
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 SPECIALIZED RATING
SCALES
 The items are then ranked according to
the mean or median ratings assigned by
the judges and are used to construct a
questionnaire of 20 to 30 items that are
chosen more or less evenly from across
the range of ratings.
 The statements are worded so that a
person can agree or disagree with them.
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 SPECIALIZED RATING
SCALES
 The scale is then administered to a sample of
respondents whose scores are determined by
computing the mean or median value of the
items agreed with.
 A person who disagrees with all the items has
a score of zero.
 Thurstone scales are not often used in mass
media research, but they are common in
psychology and education research.
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 SPECIALIZED RATING
SCALES
 Guttman Scaling
 Guttman scaling, also called scalogram
analysis, is based on the idea that items
can be arranged along a continuum in such
a way that a person who agrees with an
item or finds an item acceptable will also
agree with or find acceptable all other items
expressing a less extreme position.

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 SPECIALIZED RATING
SCALES
 a hypothetical four-item Guttman scale:
1. Indecent programming on TV is harmful to
society.
2. Children should not be allowed to watch
indecent TV shows.
3. Television station managers should not
allow indecent programs on their stations.
4. The government should ban indecent
programming from TV.
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 SPECIALIZED RATING
SCALES
 A Guttman scale requires a great deal of
time and energy to develop.
 Although they do not appear often in mass
media research,
 Guttman scales are common in political
science, sociology, public opinion research,
and anthropology.

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 SPECIALIZED RATING
SCALES
 Likert Scales
 Perhaps the most commonly used scale in
 mass media research is the Likert scale,
also called the summated rating approach.
 A number of statements are developed with
respect to a topic, and respondents can
strongly agree, agree, be neutral, disagree,
or strongly disagree with the statements

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 SPECIALIZED RATING

SCALES
Each response option is weighted, and each
subject’s responses are added to produce a single
score on the topic.
 1. Only U.S. citizens should be allowed to own
broadcasting stations.
 Strongly agree 5
 Agree 4
 Neutral 3
 Disagree 2
 Strongly disagree 1

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 SPECIALIZED RATING
 2.
SCALES
Prohibiting foreign ownership of
broadcasting stations is bad for business.
 Strongly agree 1
 Agree 2
 Neutral 3
 Disagree 4
 Strongly disagree 5

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 SPECIALIZED RATING
SCALES
 Semantic Differential Scales

 Another commonly used scaling procedure

 is the semantic differential technique.
 As originally conceived by Osgood, Suci,
and Tannenbaum (1957), this technique is
used to measure the meaning an item has
for an individual.

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 SPECIALIZED RATING
SCALES
 To use the technique, a name or a concept

 is placed at the top of a series of seven-point

scales anchored by bipolar attitudes.
 The bipolar adjectives that typically “anchor” such
evaluative scales are pleasant/ unpleasant,
valuable/worthless, honest/ dishonest, nice/awful,
clean/dirty, fair/unfair, and good/bad.
 Unique set of anchoring adjectives be developed
for each particular measurement situation.

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 SPECIALIZED RATING
SCALES
 Time Magazine
 Biased : : : : : : Unbiased
 Trustworthy : : : : : : Untrustworthy
 Valuable : : : : : : Worthless
 Unfair : : : : : : Fair

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