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.

THANK YOU…..