measurement and scaling techniques
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TRANSCRIPT
PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
By-
Ashish yadav
Akanksha gupta
MEASUREMENT AND SCALING TECHNIQUES
Measurement can be defined as a process of associating numbers to observations obtained in a research study.
The variables associated with a study are classified into two basic categories:
a) Quantitative/ Numeric
b) Qualitative / Categorical
Incidentally, only quantitative variables can be measured
with the help of standard counting devices and qualitative
variables can only be observed , there is no standard device
or instrument to measure them.
For example, in case of human beings, there are certain
Quantitative( physical) characteristics like height,
weight etc and there are certain qualitative ( abstract)
characteristics like beauty, attitude, creativity etc.
Like human beings, a business organization has also some
Physical characteristics like employees, sales, offices
etc. Being physical in nature these are easily measurable.
However, there are certain abstract characteristics like
reputation of the employees, image of the
entity, motivation, work culture, commitment,
trust, customer’s perception, feelings of customers.
All these are extremely important because they help the
company to stay afloat and grow.
Therefore characteristics have to be measured for their meaningful assessment .This can be done by assigning some numbers and forming scales.
CLASSIFICATION OR TYPES OF MEASUREMENT SCALES
All measurement scales can be classified into the following four categories:
(i) Nominal
(ii) Ordinal
(iii) Interval
(iv) Ratio
Nominal Scale is the crudest among all measurement scales but it is also the simplest scale. In this scale the different scores on a measurement simply indicate different categories. The nominal scale does not express any values or relationships between variables.
Ordinal Scale involves the ranking of items along the continuum of the characteristic being scaled. In this scale, the items are classified according to whether they have more or less of a characteristic
Interval Scale is a scale in which the numbers are used to rank attributes such that numerically equal distances on the scale represent equal distance in the characteristic being measured. An interval scale contains all the information of an ordinal scale, but it also one allows to compare the difference/distance between attributes. Interval scales may be either in numeric or semantic formats.
Ratio Scale is the highest level of measurement scales. This has the properties of an interval scale together with a fixed (absolute) zero point. The absolute zero point allows us to construct a meaningful ratio.
PROPERTIES OF SCALES Distinctive classification Order Equal distance Fixed origin
DISTINCTIVE CLASSIFICATION( NOMINAL DATA)
A measure that can be used to classify objects or their
characteristics into distinctive classes /categories is said
to have this property. For example: gender classifies the
individuals into distinctive groups, males and females.
The individuals may also be classified on the basis of their
Occupation, like student, salaried, businessman etc.
Similarly, the qualification of an individual could be used
to classify individuals into various categories such as
undergraduate, postgraduate, professional etc.
Similarly, we can classify a person based on marital
status like married, unmarried, widowed, divorced.
Categorical data is qualitative or descriptive data, which
can be made into numerical data if we code the various
categories.
For example if we record marital status as 1. married
2. Unmarried 3. widowed and 4. divorced.
Nominal data are numerical data for namesake only,
because they do not share any properties of the numbers
we deal in ordinary mathematics. For instance we cannot
write 4> 3 or 1<2.
ORDER ( ORDINAL DATA)A measure is said to have an order if the objects or their
characteristics can be arranged in a meaningful order. For
example, marks of a student (Quantitative data) can be
arranged in an ascending or descending order. As another
example, a consumer may asked to rank four telecom
service providers ( say A, B, C and D) on the basis of the
connectivity.( Qualitative data)
EQUAL DISTANCE/INTERVAL
If for a measure the difference between any two
consecutive categories of a measured attribute are equal
then the measure is said to have equal distance.
For example, in temperature readings the difference
between 400 C and 500 C is same as between 600 C and 700 C.
Similarly the Time measurement also follow the same
property.
FIXED ORIGINA measurement scale is said to have a fixed origin if
there
is a meaningful zero or absence of the characteristics.
Examples are income of an individual, sales of a
company, Profit of a company. etc.
Zero income signifies absence of income, Zero sales
signifies absence of sales
MEANING OF SCALING Scaling describes the procedures of assigning of
numbers 0r symbols(i.e., quantitative measures) to subjective abstract concepts (or properties of objects)
SCALE CLASSIFICATION BASIS1) Subject orientation2) Response form3) Degree of subjectivity4) Scale properties5) Number of dimensions6) Scale construction technique
SUBJECT ORIENTATION: Under it a scale may be designed to measure
characteristics of the respondent who completes it or to judge the stimulus object which is presented to the respondent.
RESPONSE FORM:Under this we may classify the scales as
categorical and comparative.
Categorical scales are also known as rating scales. These scales are used when a respondent scores some object without direct reference to other objects.
Under comparative scales, which are also known as ranking scales, the respondent is asked to compare two or more objects.
DEGREE OF SUBJECTIVITY: With this basis the scale date may be
based on whether we measure subjective personal preferences or simply make non-preference judgements.
In the former case , the respondent is asked to choose which person he favours or which solution he would like to see employed, whereas in the latter case he is simply asked to judge which person is more effective in some aspect or which solution will take fewer resources without reflecting any personal preference.
SCALE PROPERTIES
Nominal scales Nominal scales
Ordinal ScalesOrdinal Scales
Interval ScalesInterval Scales
Ratio ScalesRatio Scales
In nominal scale the numbers serve only as labels or tags for identifying and classifying objects.
The ordinal scale is a ranking scale in which numbers are assigned to objects to indicate the relative extent to which the objects possess some characteristic.
In interval scale numerically equal distances on the scale represent equal values in the characteristic being measured.
The ratio scale possesses all the properties of the nominal, ordinal, and interval scales. It has an absolute zero point
NUMBER OF DIMENSIONS: In respect of this basis, scales can be
classified as ‘ unidimensional’ and ‘multidimensional’ scales.
Under the former we measure only one attribute of the respondent or object, whereas multidimensional scaling recognizes that an object might be described better by using the concept of an attribute space of ‘n’ dimensions, rather than a single-dimension continuum.
SCALE CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES: Following are the five main techniques
by which scales can be developed.
Arbitrary approach Consensus approach Item analysis approach
Cumulative scales Factor scales
IMPORTANT SCALING TECHNIQUES The important scaling techniques often
used in the context of research specially in context of social or business research are as follows:
Rating Scales
Ranking Scales
RATING SCALES: The rating scale involves qualitative
description of a limited number of aspects of a thing or of traits of a person.
These ratings may be in such forms as “like-dislike”, “ above average, average, below average” etc.
There is no specific rule whether to use a two-points scale, three-point scale or scale with still more points.
In practice, three to seven points scales are generally used for the simple reason that more points on a scale provide an opportunity for greater sensitivity of measurement.
GRAPHIC RATING SCALEThe graphic rating scale is quite simple
and is commonly used in practice. Under it the various points are usually put along the line to form a continuum and the rater indicates his rating by simply making a mark (such as ✔ ) at the appropriate point on a line that runs from one extreme to the other.
ITEMIZED RATING SCALE: The itemized rating scale(also known as
numerical scale) presents a series of statements from which a respondent selects one as best reflecting his evaluation.
Suppose we wish to inquire as to how well does a worker get along with his fellow workers?
RANKING SCALES: There are two generally used approaches
of ranking scales viz., Method of paired comparisons Method of rank order
Method of paired comparisons: Under it the respondent can express his
attitude by making a choice between two objects, say between a new flavour of soft drinks and an established brand of drink.
But when there are more than two stimuli to judge, the number of judgements required in a paired comparison is given by the formula:
N= n(n-1) 2Where N=number of judgements
n=number of stimuli or objects to be judged.
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