Faculty Development Program

Measurement &
Scaling
Research
1. Research is simply the process of finding solutions to a problem after a
thorough study and analysis of the situational factors.
 To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into
it
 To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual,
situation or a group
 To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables
Research Process
Measurement and Scaling
 Measurement is the process of assigning numbers to
characteristics of an objects according to some pre-specified
rules.
 Selecting observable events
 Developing a set of mapping rules
 Applying the mapping rule(s) to each observation and events.
Levels of Measurement Scales

 Basis Characteristics of  Levels of Measurement

scale
Nominal
Description
Ordinal
Order
Distance Interval
Origin Ratio
Nominal Scale
 Measurement scales, classifies individuals, companies,
products, brands or other entities into categories where no
order is implied. Indeed it is often referred to as a categorical
scale.
 Here the numbers are used merely as names and have no
quantitative value.
Ordinal
 Ordinal scales involve the ranking of individuals, attitudes or
items along the continuum of the characteristic being scaled.
 Ordinal scales tell us relative order, but give us no information
regarding differences between the categories.

Brand Rank
Nokia 4
Mi 2
Micromax 3
Samsung 1
Interval Scale
 Interval scale has equal intervals between consecutive units of
measurement.
 Temperature on Fahrenheit/Celsius thermometer.
 90° are hotter than 45° and the difference between 60° and 70° are the
same as the difference between 30° degrees and 40° .

 Rate the hardness of the sample of material

Soft |--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------| Hard
Ratio Scale
 highest level of measurement
 Has a fixed origin or zero point
 Permits to compare both
 Differences in scores
 Relative magnitude of scores
 Virtually all statistical operations can be performed on ratio
scales
Scaling Techniques
Scaling Techniques

Comparative Scaling Non-comparative Scaling

Paired Comparisons Continuous rating scales

Rank order Itemized rating scales

Constant sum Likert scales

Semantic Differential scales

Comparative Scales
 In comparative scaling, the respondent is asked to compare one
event or observation against another.
 Paired Comparison Scale:
Which of the two following materials have higher tensile strength?
__________ Steel or ___________Carbon fiber

 Rank Order scales:

Please rank the following material in order of decreasing tensile strength (Rank 1 – highest tensile strength;
Rank 3 – lowest tensile strength)
_________ Steel
_________ Aluminum
_________ Carbon fiber
Constant sum scales
Allocate a total of 100 points to the following features you think
you ideal passenger car should have, depending on how important
that feature is for you. The more highly you think of the feature,
more points you should allocate to it. If a feature is not at all
important to you, you may allot it zero points.
 Performance ______________
 Safety ______________
 Exterior styling ______________
 Interior styling ______________
Total 100 points
Non-comparative scales
 In non comparative scaling respondents need only evaluate a single
event or observation.
 Their evaluation is independent of the other event or observation .

 2 Types of non-comparative scales

1. Continuous rating scales

2. Itemized rating scales

a) Likert
b) Stapel
c) Semantic differential
Continuous Rating scales
 Allows the respondent to pace a mark at any point along a line
running between two extreme points rather than selecting
from among a set of predetermined response categories
 Rate the tensile strength of the sample of material

Poor Excellent

--|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Itemized rating scale
 Number of brief descriptions associated with each response
category
 limited number of categories, ordered in terms of scale
position, choose that best describes the item being measured
 3 sub types
1. Likert
2. Semantic differential
3. Stapel
Likert Scale
 Respondents indicate level of agreement/disagreement with a
series of statements about subject being measured
 Typically, each scale item will have 5 categories, with scale
values ranging from -2 to +2 / 1-5 with 0/3 as neutral response
Please rate Harsh Pratap Singh (HPS) for this course by indicating below how strongly you agree or
disagree to following statements (SD-Strongly Disagree, D-Disagree, N-Neutral, A-Agree, SA-Strongly Agree)

  SD D N A SA
HPS was well organized in his lectures
HPS made good use of the time allotted
HPS seemed knowledgeable about the topic
HPS’s presentation style was effective in helping me learn
Semantic Differential scales
 Makes extensive use of words rather than numbers.
 Respondents describe their feelings about the products or brands on
scales with semantic labels.
 When bipolar adjectives are used at the end points of the scales, these
are termed semantic differential scales.
 Usually is a 7-point rating scale with score either as -3 to +3 or
1 to 7
 Rate the hardness of the sample of material

Soft |--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------| Hard