8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
1/42
1
Business Research
Measurement and scaling
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
2/42
2
Attitude Measurement
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
3/42
3
Attitude Measurement
Used to understand and influence behavior since:
Concept exists that attitudes lead to behavior
More feasible to ask questions on attitudes than to observe and
interpret behavior
Capacity for diagnosis and explanation
Learn which features of a new product concept are acceptable
or
unacceptable
Measure the perceived strengths and weaknesses of
competitive
alternatives
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
4/42
4
WhatAre Attitudes?
Mental states used by individuals to structure
the way they perceive their environment and
guide the way they respond to it
Components of attitude:
Cognitive or Knowledge component
Affective or Liking component
Intention or Action component
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
5/42
5
Cognitive or Knowledge
Component
Represents:
A persons information about an object
Awareness of existence of the object
Beliefs about the characteristics or
attributes of the object
Judgments about the relative importance
of each of the attributes
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
6/42
6
Summarizes a persons overall feelings toward
an object, situation, or person on a scale oflike-
dislike orfavorable-unfavorable
When there are several alternatives, liking is
expressed in terms of preference for one
alternative
Preference measured by asking which
alternative is most preferred or first choice,
which is the second choice, and so on
Affective or LikingComponent
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
7/42
7
Refers to a persons expectations of future behavior
toward an object
Intentions are usually limited to a distinct time period
that depends on buying habits and planning horizons
Incorporates information about a respondents ability or
willingness to pay for the object, or otherwise take
action
Intention orAction Component
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
8/42
8
ConceptofMeasurement
Standardized process of assigning numbers or other
symbols to certain characteristics of objects of interest,
according to pre-specified rules
Characteristics forStandardization
One-to-one correspondence between the symbol and
the characteristic in the object that is being measured
Rules for assignment should be invariant over time and
the objects being measured
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
9/42
9
Scaling
Process of creating a continuum on which objects are
located according to the amount of the measured
characteristic possessed
Type of scales:
Nominal
Ordinal
Interval
Ratio
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
10/42
10
NominalScale
Objects are assigned to mutually exclusive, labeled categories
No necessary relationships among categories
No ordering or spacing are implied Only possible arithmetic operation is a count of each category
Examples:
Are you:
1)Male 2)female
You belong to:
1)Asia 2)America 3)Europe
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
11/42
11
Ranks objects or arranges them in order by some common variable
Does not provide information on how much difference there is between
objects
Arithmetic operations are limited to statistics such as median or modeExample;
Rank your preferences for the following attributes in making a car purchase
decision.
Price ____________
Safety___________
Design____________
Fuel economy____________
Ordinalor Rank Scale
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
12/42
12
Numbers used to rank objects also represent equal increments of
the attribute being measured
Differences can be compared
Entire range of statistical operations can be employed for analysis
IntervalScale
On a scale of 1 to , how would you rate the performance of
natural gas as home heating fuel in terms of reliability of supply?
(1 being least reliable and being most reliable)
1 2 3 4 5 6
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
13/42
13
Type of interval scale with meaningful zero point
Possible to say how many times greater or smaller one object is
than another
Only scale that permits comparisons of absolute magnitude
RatioScale
How old are you? _________ What is your zip code?______
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
14/42
14
Types ofScales and Their
Properties
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
15/42
15
Attitude RatingScales
Present a respondent with a continuum of numbered
categories that represent the range of possible attitude
adjustments
Classified as:
Single item scales
Multiple item scales
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
16/42
16
Attitude Scales
Single-Item
Scales
Continuous
Scales
Multi-Item
Scales
Stapel
Scales
Thurstone
Scales
Likert
Scales
Associative
Scales
Semantic
Differential
ScalePaired
ComparisonScalesQ-sort
Scales
Comparative
Scales
Itemized
Category
Scales
Pictorial
Scales
ConstantSum
ScalesRank Order
Scales
Classification of Attitude Scales
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
17/42
17
Single Item Scales
Only have one item to measure a construct
Types ofSingle item scales
Itemized-category scale
Comparative
Rank-order
Q-sort
Pictorial
Constant sum
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
18/42
18
Itemized-categoryScales
Respondent selects from a limited
number of categories
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
19/42
19
Comparative Scale
A judgment comparing one object, concept,
or person against one another
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
20/42
20
Rank-orderScales
Respondent compares one item with
another or a group of items against each
other and ranks them
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
21/42
21
Q-sortScaling
Respondents sort comparative characteristics into
normally distributed groups
Ten or more groups increases accuracy of results
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
22/42
22
PictorialScales
Various categories of the scale are depicted pictorially
ThermometerScale
Funny faces scale
Format must be comprehensible to respond and allow accurateresponse
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
23/42
23
Paired-Comparison Scales
The brands to be rated are presented two at a time, so each brand in the category is
compared once to every other brand
Brands are rated on a given number of points that are then divided between the two
brands on the basis of respondents preferences
Frame of reference is always the other brand being tested; these brands may
change over time
Compare
A and B
A and C
A and DB and C
B and D
C and D
Types ofSingle Item Scales
(Contd.)
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
24/42
24
Constant-sum Scale
Respondents allocate a fixed number of
rating points among serial objects to reflect
relative preference
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
25/42
25
DesigningSingle Item Scales
Decisions regarding form and structure:
Number of scale categories
Types of poles used in the scale
Strength of the anchors
Labeling of the categories
Balance of the scale
Balanced
Very good
Good
air
oor
Very oor
Unbalanced
cellent
Very Good
Good
air
oor
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
26/42
26
Multiple-item Scales
Developed to measure a sample of beliefs
toward the attitude objects and combine the
set of answers into an average score
Types of multiple-item scales:
Likert scale
Thurstone scales
Semantic-Differential Scales
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
27/42
27
LikertScale
Requires respondent to indicate degree of agreement or
disagreement with a variety of statements related to the
attitude object
Also called Summated Scale since scores on individual
items are summed to give total score for respondents
Usually consists of item part and evaluative part
Likert scale Is uni-dimensional
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
28/42
28
LikertScale Example
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
29/42
29
Thurstone Scales
Also known as the method of equal-appearing intervals
since objective is to obtain a unidimensional scale with
interval properties
Step 1: enerate a large number of statements or
adjectives reflecting all degrees of favorableness
toward the attitude objects
Step 2: A group of judges is given this set of itemsand asked to classify them according to their
degree of favorableness or unfavorableness
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
30/42
30
Thurstone Scales (contd.)
Advantages
Easy to administer
Requires minimum instructions
Limitations
Time consuming
Expensive to construct
Not as much diagnostic value as a Likert scale
Values depend on the attitudes of the original judges
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
31/42
31
Semantic-DifferentialScale
Respondents rate each attribute object on a number of five or
seven-point rating scales bounded by polar adjectives or phrases
With bipolar scale, the midpoint is a neutral point
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
32/42
32
Semantic-DifferentialScale (contd.)
Pairs of objects or phrases selected must be meaningful
in market being studied and correspond to
product/service attributes
Rotate negative pole on either side to avoid "halo" effect
Category increments are treated as interval scales so
group mean values can be computed for each object on
each scale
May also be analyzed as a summated rating scale
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
33/42
33
Profile Analysis
Application of semantic differential scale
Plot mean ratings for each object on each scale for visual comparison
Overall comparison of brands hard to grasp with many brands and attributes
Not all attributes are independent
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
34/42
34
StapelScales
Uses one pole rather than two opposite poles
Respondents select a numerical response category
High positive score reflects good fit between adjective and object
Easy to administer and construct
No need to assure bipolarity
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
35/42
35
Associative Scaling
Most effective for markets where respondent is
knowledgeable only about a small subset of a large
number of choices
Appropriate to choice situations that involve a
sequential decision process
Best suited to market tracking where the emphasis is
on understanding shifts in relative competitive
positions
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
36/42
36
Continuous RatingScales
Respondents rate objects by placing a mark
at appropriate position on a line running fromone extreme of the criterion variable to the
other
Also called graphical rating scales
Easy to construct
Scoring is cumbersome and unreliable
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
37/42
37
GeneralGuidelines For DevelopingA
Multiple-Item Scale
Determine clearly what you are going to measure
enerate as many items as possible
Ask experts in the field to evaluate the initial pool of items
Determine the type of attitudinal scale to be used
Include some items that will help in the validation of the scale
Evaluate and refine the items
Administer the items to an initial sample
Optimize the scale length
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
38/42
38
ChoosingAn AttitudinalScale
Problems in choosing a scale:
Different techniques with different strengths and weaknesses
Virtually any technique can be adapted to the measurement of
any one of the attitude components
Researchers choice shaped by:
The specific information required
Adabtability of the scale to the data collection method and
budget constraints
Compatibility of the scale with the structure of the
respondents attitude
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
39/42
39
AccuracyofAttitude Measurements
Validity:An attitude measure has validity if it measures what it is
supposed to measure
Face or consensus Validity
The extent to which the content of a measurement scale
appears to tap all relevant facets of the construct
Criterion Validity
Based on empirical evidence that the attitude measure
correlates with other criterion variables
Concurrent validity
Two variables are measured at the same time
Predictive validity
The attitude measure can predict some future event
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
40/42
40
AccuracyofAttitude Measurements
(Cont.)
Convergent validity
A form of construct validity that represents the association
between the measured construct and measures of other
constructs with which the construct is related on theoretical
grounds
Discriminant validity
A form of construct validity that represents the extent to which
the measured construct is not associated with which the
construct is related on theoretical grounds Construct Validity
A scale evaluation criterion that relates to the underlying
question "what is the nature of the underlying variable or
construct measured by the scale?"
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
41/42
41
AccuracyofAttitude Measurements
(Contd.)
Reliability
The consistency with which the measure produces the same results with
the same or comparable population
Sensitivity
Extent to which ratings provided by a scale are able to discriminate
between the respondents who differ with respect to the construct being
measured
eneralizability
Refers to the ease of scale administration and interpretation in different
research settings and situations
Relevancy
Relevance = reliability * validity
8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1
42/42
42
Scales in Cross-national Research
Responses Can Be Affected by:
Low literacy and educational levels
Culture; semantic differential scale is closest
to pan-cultural scale
Adapting response formats, particularly their
calibration, for specific countries and cultures