MEASUREMENT,

SCALING, SAMPLING
DR. PAURAV SHUKLA
SESSION OBJECTIVES

Measurement Scaling Sampling

Techniques Techniques Techniques
IMPORTANT ISSUES
PRIMARY SCALES OF MEASUREMENT

Scale
Nominal Numbers
assigned to
runners 7
Finish
7 8 3
Ordinal Rank order of
winners
Interval Performance 8.2 9.1 9.6 Finish
rating on 0 to
10 scale Third Place Second Place First Place
Ratio Time to finish in 15.2 14.1 13.4
seconds
PRIMARY SCALES OF MEASUREMENT
Scale Basic Common Marketing Permissible Statistics
Characteristics Examples Examples
Nominal Numbers identify & Social security nos., Brand nos., store Descriptive Inferential Chi-
classify objects numbering of types percentages, mode square, binomial
footbal players test
Ordinal Nos. Indicate the Quality rankings, Preferences Percentile, median Rank-order
relative positions of rankings of teams in rankings, market correlation,
objects but not the a tournament position, social class Friedman ANOVA
magnitude of
differences between
them
Interval Differences between Temperature Attitudes, opinions, Range, mean, Product momen
objects can be (Fahrenheit, Celsius) index nos. standard deviation correlation, tests,
compared, zero regression
point is arbitrary
Ratio Zero point is fixed, Length, weight Age, sales, income, Geometric mean, Coefficient of
rations of scale costs harmonic mean variation
values can be
compared
 A CLASSIFICATION OF SCALING TECHNIQUES
Scaling Techniques

Comparative Scales Non-Comparative Scales

Paired Constant Continuous Itemized Rating

Rank Order Q-Sort
Comparison Sum Rating Scales Scales

Semantic
Likert Stapel
Differential
BASIC NON-COMPARATIVE SCALES
Scale Basic Examples Advantages Disadvantages
Characteristics
Continuous Rating Place a mark on a Reaction to TV Easy to construct Scoring can be
Scale continuous line commercials cumbersome unless
computerized
Likerts Scale Degrees of agreement Measurement of Easy to construct, More time consuming
on a 1 (strongly agree) attitudes administer, and
scale understand
Semantic Differential Seven point scale with Brand, product and Versatile Controversy as to
bipolar labels company images whether the data are
interval
Stapel scale Unipolar ten point Measurement of Easy to contruct, Confusing and
scale, -5 to +5, attitudes and images administer over difficult to apply
without a neutral telephone
point (zero)
SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL SCALE
1. Rugged :---:---:---:----:---:---: Delicate
2. Excitable :---:---:---:----:---:---: Calm
3. Uncomfortable :---:---:---:----:---:---: Comfortable
4. Dominating :---:---:---:----:---:---: Submissive
5. Thrifty :---:---:---:----:---:---: Indulgent
6. Pleasant :---:---:---:----:---:---: Unpleasant
7. Contemporary :---:---:---:----:---:---: Obsolete
8. Organized :---:---:---:----:---:---: Unorganized
9. Rational :---:---:---:----:---:---: Emotional
10. Youthful :---:---:---:----:---:---: Mature
11. Formal :---:---:---:----:---:---: Informal
12. Orthodox :---:---:---:----:---:---: Liberal
13. Complex :---:---:---:----:---:---: Simple
14. Colorless :---:---:---:----:---:---: Colorful
15. Modest :---:---:---:----:---:---: Vain
Balanced Scale Unbalanced Scale

Nivea for Men is Nivea for Men is

Extremely good______________ Extremely good ______________
Very good ______________ Very good ______________
Good ______________ Good ______________
Bad ______________ Somewhat good ______________
Very bad ______________ Bad ______________
Extremely bad ______________ Very bad ______________
RATING SCALE CONFIGURATIONS
A variety of scale configurations may be employed to measure the gentleness of Surf detergent. Some examples include:
Surf detergent is:
1) Very harsh .... ..... .... ..... ..... .... .... Very gentle
2) Very harsh 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very gentle
3) Very harsh
.
Neither harsh nor gentle
.
Very gentle
4) -------------- ---------------- ------------------- ------------------------------ ------------------- ----------- ---------------
Very harsh Harsh Somewhat harsh Neither harsh nor gentle Somewhat gentle Gentle Very gentle
5)
-3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3
Very Neither harsh Very gentle
nor gentle
harsh
SOME UNIQUE RATING SCALE CONFIGURATIONS

Thermometer Scale
Instructions: Please indicate how you like McDonald’s hamburgers by coloring in the thermometer. Start at
the bottom and color up o the temperature level that best indicates how strong your preference is.
Form:

Smiling Face Scale

Instructions: Please point to the face that shows how much you like the Barbie Doll. If you do not like the
Barbie Doll at all, you would point to Face 1. If you liked it very much, you would point to Face 5.
Form:
SUMMARY OF ITEMIZED SCALE DECISIONS
1. Number of categories Although there is no single, optimal number, traditional
guidelines suggest that there should be between five and nine
categories
2. Balanced vs. unbalanced In general, the scale should be balanced to obtain objective data
3. Odd/ even no. of categories If a neutral or indifferent scale response is possible from at least
some of the respondents, an odd number of categories should
be used
4. Forced vs. non-forced In situations where the respondents are expected to have no
opinion, the accuracy of the data may be improved by a non-
forced scale
5. Verbal description An argument can be made for labeling all or many scale
categories. The category descriptions should be located as close
to the response categories as possible
6. Physical form A number of options should be tried and the best selected
DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTI-ITEM SCALE
Develop Theory

Generate Initial Pool of Items: Theory, Secondary Data, and Qualitative Research

Select a Reduced Set of Items Based on Qualitative Judgement

Collect Data from a Large Pretest Sample

Statistical Analysis

Develop Purified Scale

Collect More Data from a Different Sample

Evaluate Scale Reliability, Validity and Generalizability

Final Scale
SCALE EVALUATION
POTENTIAL SOURCES OF ERROR ON MEASUREMENT
Other relatively stable characteristics of the individual that influence the test score, such as
1) intelligence, social desirability, and education.

2) Short-term or transient personal factors, such as health, emotions, fatigue.

3) Situational factors, such as the presence of other people, noise, and distractions.

4) Sampling of items included in the scale: addition, deletion, or changes in the scale items.

5) Lack of clarity of the scale, including the instructions or the items themselves.

Mechanical factors, such as poor printing, overcrowding items in the questionnaire, and poor
6)
design.

7) Administration of the scale, such as differences among interviewers.

8) Analysis factors, such as differences in scoring and statistical analysis.

CLASSIFICATION OF SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
TYPES OF CLUSTER SAMPLING
 Technique Strengths Weaknesses
Nonprobability Sampling
Covenience sampling Least expensive, least time Selection bias, sample not
consuming, most convenient representative, not recommended
for descriptive or causal research
Judgemental sampling Low cost, convenient, not time Does not allow generalization,
consuming subjective
Quota sampling Sample can be controlled for Selection bias, no assurance of
certain characteristics representativeness
Snowball sampling Can estimate rare characteristics Time-consuming
Probability Sampling
Simple random sampling (SRS) Easily understood, results Difficult to construct sampling
projectable frame, expensive, lower precision
Stratified sampling Include all important Difficult to select relevant
subpopulations, precision stratifiction variables
Cluster sampling Easy to implement, cost effective Imprecise, difficult to compute
Systematic sampling Can increase representativeness, Can decrease representativeness
easier to implement that SRS,
sampling frame not necessary
CHOOSING NONPROBABILITY VS. PROBABILITY
SAMPLING
IMPROVING RESPONSE RATES
TENNIS’S SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING RETURNS A SMASH

Tennis magazine conducted a mail survey of its subscribers to gain a better understanding of its
market. Systematic sampling was employed to select a sample of 1,472 subscribers from the publication's
domestic circulation list. If we assume that the subscriber list had 1,472,000 names, the sampling
interval would be 1,000 (1,472,000/1,472). A number from 1 to 1,000 was drawn at random. Beginning
with that number, every 1,000th subscriber was selected.
A brand-new dollar bill was included with the questionnaire as an incentive to respondents. An alert
postcard was mailed one week before the survey. A second, follow-up, questionnaire was sent to the
whole sample ten days after the initial questionnaire. There were 76 post office returns, so the net
effective mailing was 1,396. Six weeks after the first mailing, 778 completed questionnaires were
returned, yielding a response rate of 56%.