Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1

8/4/2019 Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1

1/42

1

Business Research

Measurement and scaling


2/42

2

Attitude Measurement


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


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


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


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


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


8/42

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


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


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


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


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


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?______


14/42

14

Types ofScales and Their

Properties


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


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


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


18/42

18

Itemized-categoryScales

Respondent selects from a limited

number of categories


19/42

19

Comparative Scale

A judgment comparing one object, concept,

or person against one another


20/42

20

Rank-orderScales

Respondent compares one item with

another or a group of items against each

other and ranks them


21/42

21

Q-sortScaling

Respondents sort comparative characteristics into

normally distributed groups

Ten or more groups increases accuracy of results


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


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.)


24/42

24

Constant-sum Scale

Respondents allocate a fixed number of

rating points among serial objects to reflect

relative preference


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


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


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


28/42

28

LikertScale Example


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


40/42

40


(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?"


41/42

41


(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


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

Documents

Measurement and Scaling BRM Session 3.1