Measurement scale used in Business Research

Measurement scale in research

1. Attitude and measurement scale Cognitive, affective and behavioral

2. Primary scaling techniques Nominal scale Ordinal scale Interval scale Ratio scale

3. Nominal scale Numbers are used to identify the scale Example: USN assigned to students Do you own mobile phone? Here Yes is coded as 1 No as 2 The numbers used in nominal scales serve only the purpose of counting or identification The idea of using nominal scale is to make sure that no two persons or objects receive the same number.

4. Ordinal scale It is used for ranking in most market research studies It is used to ascertain the consumer perceptions, preferences etc. For example: The respondents may be given a list of brands which may be suitable and were asked to rank on the basis of ordinal scale

5. Interval scale The distance given on the scale represents equal distance on the property being measured How far the objects are apart with respect to an attribute? Example: Suppose we want to measure the rating of a refrigerator using interval scale. It will appear as follows: Brand name Poor ………………..Good Price High………………….Low Service after sales Poor………………….Good

6. Ratio scale It is defined as a variable measurement scale that not only produces the order of variables but also makes the difference between variables known along with information on the value of true zero. It is calculated by assuming that the variables have an option for zero, the difference between the two variables is the same and there is a specific order between the options.

7. Rank Order scale A Rank Order scale gives the respondent a set of items and asks them to put the items in some form of order. The measure of 'order' can include such as preference, importance, liking, effectiveness and so on. The order is often a simple ordinal structure (A is higher than B).

8. Multi – dimensional scaling It is used to study consumer attitudes, with respect to perceptions and preferences. It helps to identify the product attributes that are important to customers and to measure the relative importance. Attribute method Non – attribute method

9. Q-Sort Scaling The  Q-Sort Scaling  is a Rank order scaling technique wherein the respondents are asked to sort the presented objects into piles based on similarity according to a specified criterion such as preference, attitude, perception, etc. In other words, a scaling technique in which the respondents sort the number of statements or attitudes into piles, usually of 11, on the basis of some specified criterion.

10. Likert scale It is a psychometric scale commonly involved in research that employs questionnaires. The most widely used is the  Likert scale  (1932). In its final form, the  Likert scale  is a five (or seven) point  scale  which is used to allow the individual to express how much they agree or disagree with a particular statement. Thus, the range captures the intensity of their feelings for a given item. Likert scales have found application in psychology and social sciences, statistics, business and marketing.

11. Semantic differential scale Semantic Differential Scale  is a survey or questionnaire rating  scale  that asks people to rate a product, company, brand or any "entity" within the frames of a multi-point rating options. These survey answering options are grammatically on opposite adjectives at each end. Semantic differential scale questions are used to ask respondents to rate the products, organization or services with multi-point questions with polar adjectives at the extremes of this scale like likely/ unlikely, happy/sad, loved the service/ hated the service.

12. Thurstone scale Thurstone scale is defined as a unidimensional scale that is used to track respondent’s behavior, attitude or feeling towards a subject.  Respondents indicate the statements that they agree with, and an average is computed. A mean score of the agreements or disagreements is calculated as the attitude of the respondent towards the topic.

13. Criteria for the good test Criteria for scale evaluatio n Reliability Validity Test - retest Alternative forms Equivalent forms reliability Construct validity Content validity Predictive validity Criterion validity