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Business Research Methods

Measurement and Scaling: Fundamentals and Comparative Scaling

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Measurement and Scaling


Measurement means assigning numbers or other symbols to characteristics of objects according to certain prespecified 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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Scale Nominal

Primary Scales of Measurement


Numbers Assigned to Runners Rank Order of Winners
Third place Second place First place Finish
7 8 3

Ordinal

Finish

Interval

Performance Rating on a 1 to 10 Scale


Time to Finish, in Seconds

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Ratio

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14.1

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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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Illustration of Primary Scales of Measurement


Nominal Scale
No. Store
1. Lord & Taylor

Ordinal Scale
Preference Rankings
7 2 8 3 1 5 9 6 4 10

Interval Scale
Preference Ratings 1-7
5 7 4 6 7 5 4 5 6 2

Ratio Scale
$ spent last 3 months
0 200 0 100 250 35 0 100 0 10

2. Macys 3. Kmart 4. Richs 5. J.C. Penney 6. Neiman Marcus 7. Target 8. Saks Fifth Avenue 9. Sears 10.Wal-Mart

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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


Basic Characteristics Numbers identify & classify objects Nos. indicate the relative positions of objects but not the magnitude of differences between them Differences between objects can be compared, zero point is arbitrary Zero point is fixed, ratios of scale values can be compared Common Examples Social Security nos., numbering of football players Quality rankings, rankings of teams in a tournament Temperature (Fahrenheit) Length, weight Preference rankings, market position, social class Attitudes, opinions, index Age, sales, income, costs Percentile, median

Marketing Permissible Statistics Examples Descriptive Inferenti Brand nos., store Percentages, Chi-square types mode binomial te

Rank-order correlation,

Range,Arithm etic Mean,SD Geometric mean, harmonic mean

Correlation tests,ANO Coefficient variation

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A Classification of Scaling Techniques


Scaling Techniques Noncomparative Scales

Comparative Scales

Paired Comparison

Rank Order

Constant Sum

Q-Sort and Other Procedures

Continuous Itemized Rating Scales Rating Scales

Likert

Semantic Differential

Stapel

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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 As n increases, the number of comparisons also increases, respondents may fatigue and no longer carefully discriminate among them.

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Obtaining Shampoo Preferences 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. Head & Pert Recording Form: Jhirmack Finesse Vidal
Jhirmack Finesse Vidal Sassoon Head & Shoulders Pert Number of Times Preferredb
aA

0 1a 1 0 1 3 1 0 1 2

Sassoon Shoulders 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 1 1

0 0 1 0 1

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 consumers 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


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


Form
Brand 1. Crest 2. Colgate Rank Order _________ _________

3. Aim
4. Gleem 5. Macleans 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


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.

Importance of Bathing Soap Attributes Using a Constant Sum Scale


Form Average Responses of Three Segments
Segment I
8 2 3 53 9 7 5 13 100

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Attribute 1. Mildness 2. Lather 3. Shrinkage 4. Price 5. Fragrance 6. Packaging 7. Moisturizing 8. Cleaning Power Sum

Segment II
2 4 9 17 0 5 3 60 100

Segment III
4 17 7 9 19 9 20 15 100

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Constant Sum Scale


Given below are 5 characteristics of a mall. Please give each characteristic some point based on the importance you attach to it. Total points should add up to100 Convenient location Enough range of products Items properly displayed Sales persons cooperative Adequate parking facility

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Sorting might present the respondent with several concepts typed on cards and require that the respondent arrange the cards into a number of piles or otherwise classify the concepts.

Q-Sort scales

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When the number of objects or characteristics to be ranked are very large in number it becomes tedious to rank order Here respondents are asked to sort out various objects or characteristics into various groups with pre-specified no. in each group often to result in roughly normal distribution . If respondents have to rank 100 different newly thought out toy products according to their tastes & preferences ,each will be given100 cards containing a product & is feature. Customers are asked to segregate cards into 10 stacks so that first stack contains set of cards highly preferred and tenth stack contains least preferred cards Cards in each stack should be arranged in respondents order of preference It asks a lot of time & effort on the part of respondents

Attitude
An enduring disposition to consistently respond in a given manner Attitudes are positive , negative or neutral Difficult to measure attitudes but attempts are made to do this by using various scales

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Attitudes as Hypothetical Constructs


The term hypothetical construct is used to describe a variable that is not directly observable, but is measurable by an indirect means such as verbal expression or overt behavior - attitudes are considered to be such variables.

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Three Components of an Attitude


Cognitive Affective Behavioral

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Cognitive
Knowledge and beliefs

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Cognitive Component
Air Traveller remembers names of several airlines He has knowledge about different features of the airlines gained through Ads, Dailies, Magazines, friends He has certain beliefs about their services. Once the positive beliefs increase they give rise to a favourable cognitive component towards a particular airline

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Affective
The feelings or emotions toward an object

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Affective Component
A woman says that she loves shopping at lifestyle This is based on womans overall emotional feelings which forms affective component Two persons may share a cognitive component but when it comes to affective component one may have a positive affective component and the other a negative affective component towards the same object

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Behavioral
Persons future actions Intentions Behavioral expectations If the air traveler wants to fly a particular airlines in future too or the lady wants to shop from lifestyle for her next shopping it is behavioral component of the attitude

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Techniques for measuring Attitude


A variety of techniques have been developed Direct verbal statements are used to get behavioural intent in terms of all the components Obtaining verbal statements from respondents require respondents to perform tasks such as --Ranking --Rating --sorting --Choosing

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Measuring Attitudes
Ranking Rating Sorting Choice

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The Attitude Measuring Process


Ranking - Rank order preference Rating - Estimates magnitude of a characteristic Sorting - Arrange or classify concepts Choice - Selection of preferred alternative

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Ranking tasks require that the respondent rank order a small number of objects in overall performance on the basis of some characteristic or stimulus.

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Rating asks the respondent to estimate the magnitude of a characteristic, or quality, that an object possesses. The respondents position on a scale(s) is where he or she would rate an object.

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Sorting might present the respondent with several concepts typed on cards and require that the respondent arrange the cards into a number of piles or otherwise classify the concepts.

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Choice between two or more alternatives is another type of attitude measurement it is assumed that the chosen object is preferred over the other.

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Physiological measures of attitudes provide a means of measuring attitudes without verbally questioning the respondent. for example, galvanic skin responses, measure blood pressure & pupil dilation may be used for assessing affective component of the attitude

Attitude scales

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Two major types of scales --Single Item scales --Multi item scales Single item scales are those with only one item to measure. Customer satisfaction can be measured as overall attitude using single item scale where respondents can select 1 if they are least satisfied ,3 if they are moderately satisfied&6 if they are totally satisfied Multiple item scales are those where several attributes are used to measure peoples attitude .Motivational level is measured in terms of -work environment, - interpersonal relationship, -behaviour of top management -compensation procedure

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