Chapter Eight
Measurement and Scaling:
Fundamentals and
Comparative Scaling
2007 Prentice Hall
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Chapter Outline
1) Overview
2) Measurement and Scaling
3) Primary Scales of Measurement
i.
Nominal Scale
ii.
Ordinal Scale
iii.
Interval Scale
iv.
Ratio Scale
4) A Comparison of Scaling Techniques
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Chapter Outline
5) Comparative Scaling Techniques
i.
Paired Comparison
ii.
Rank Order Scaling
iii.
Constant Sum Scaling
iv.
Q-Sort and Other Procedures
6) Verbal Protocols
7) International Marketing Research
8)
Ethics in Marketing Research
9)
Summary
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Measurement and Scaling
Measurement means assigning numbers or other
symbols to characteristics of objects according to
certain pre-specified rules.
One-to-one correspondence between the
numbers and the characteristics being
measured.
The rules for assigning numbers should be
standardized and applied uniformly.
Rules must not change over objects or time.
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Measurement and Scaling
Scaling involves creating a continuum upon
which measured objects are located.
Consider an attitude scale from 1 to 100. Each
respondent is assigned a number from 1 to 100, with
1 = Extremely Unfavorable, and 100 = Extremely
Favorable. Measurement is the actual assignment of
a number from 1 to 100 to each respondent. Scaling
is the process of placing the respondents on a
continuum with respect to their attitude toward
department stores.
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Primary Scales of
Fig. 8.1
Measurement
Scale
Nominal
Ordinal
Interval
Numbers
Assigned
to Runners
Finish
7
Finish
Rank Order
of Winners
Performance
Rating on a
Third
place
Second
place
First
place
8.2
9.1
9.6
15.2
14.1
13.4
0 to 10 Scale
Ratio
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Time to
Finish, in
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Primary Scales of
Measurement
Nominal Scale
The numbers serve only as labels or tags for identifying
and classifying objects.
When used for identification, there is a strict one-to-one
correspondence between the numbers and the objects.
The numbers do not reflect the amount of the
characteristic possessed by the objects.
The only permissible operation on the numbers in a
nominal scale is counting.
Only a limited number of statistics, all of which are
based on frequency counts, are permissible, e.g.,
percentages, and mode.
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Illustration of Primary Scales of
Measurement
Table 8.2
Nominal
Scale
Ordinal
Scale
Interval
Scale
Ratio
Scale
Preference
Preference
Ratings
$ spent last
No. Store
Rankings
3 months
1. Parisian
2. Macys
3. Kmart
4. Kohls
5. J.C. Penney
6. Neiman Marcus
7. Marshalls
8. Saks Fifth Avenue
9. Sears
10.Wal-Mart
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7
2
8
3
1
5
9
6
4
10
79
25
82
30
10
53
95
61
45
115
1-7
5
7
4
6
7
5
4
5
6
2
11-17
15
17
14
16
17
15
14
15
16
12
0
200
0
100
250
35
0
100
0
10
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Primary Scales of
Measurement
Ordinal Scale
A ranking scale in which numbers are assigned to
objects to indicate the relative extent to which the
objects possess some characteristic.
Can determine whether an object has more or less of a
characteristic than some other object, but not how much
more or less.
Any series of numbers can be assigned that preserves
the ordered relationships between the objects.
In addition to the counting operation allowable for
nominal scale data, ordinal scales permit the use of
statistics based on centiles, e.g., percentile, quartile,
median.
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Primary Scales of
Measurement
Interval
Scale
Numerically equal distances on the scale represent equal
values in the characteristic being measured.
It permits comparison of the differences between objects.
The location of the zero point is not fixed. Both the zero
point and the units of measurement are arbitrary.
Any positive linear transformation of the form y = a + bx
will preserve the properties of the scale.
It is not meaningful to take ratios of scale values.
Statistical techniques that may be used include all of
those that can be applied to nominal and ordinal data,
and in addition the arithmetic mean, standard deviation,
and other statistics commonly used in marketing
research.
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Primary Scales of
Measurement
Ratio Scale
Possesses all the properties of the nominal, ordinal,
and interval scales.
It has an absolute zero point.
It is meaningful to compute ratios of scale values.
Only proportionate transformations of the form y =
bx, where b is a positive constant, are allowed.
All statistical techniques can be applied to ratio
data.
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Primary Scales of
Measurement
Table 8.1
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A Classification of Scaling
Figure 8.2
Techniques
Scaling Techniques
Noncomparative
Scales
Comparative
Scales
Rank Constan Q-Sort
Paired
Compariso Order t Sum
and Other
n
Procedure
s
Likert
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Continuous Itemized
Rating ScalesRating
Scales
Semantic
Differentia
l
Stapel
8-13
A Comparison of Scaling
Techniques
Comparative scales involve the direct
comparison of stimulus objects. Comparative
scale data must be interpreted in relative terms
and have only ordinal or rank order properties.
In noncomparative scales, each object is
scaled independently of the others in the
stimulus set. The resulting data are generally
assumed to be interval or ratio scaled.
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Relative Advantages of
Comparative Scales
Small differences between stimulus objects
can be detected.
Same known reference points for all
respondents.
Easily understood and can be applied.
Involve fewer theoretical assumptions.
Tend to reduce halo or carryover effects from
one judgment to another.
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Relative Disadvantages of
Comparative Scales
Ordinal nature of the data
Inability to generalize beyond the
stimulus objects scaled.
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Comparative Scaling
Techniques
A respondent
is presented withScaling
two objects and
Paired
Comparison
asked to select one according to some criterion.
The data obtained are ordinal in nature.
Paired comparison scaling is the most widely-used
comparative scaling technique.
With n brands, [n(n - 1) /2] paired comparisons are
required.
Under the assumption of transitivity, it is possible
to convert paired comparison data to a rank order.
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Obtaining Shampoo
Preferences
Instructions:
We are going to present you with ten
pairsUsing
of shampoo
brands. For
each pair, please indicate
Paired
Comparisons
Fig. 8.3
which one of the two brands of shampoo you would prefer
for personal use.
J hirmack Finesse Vidal
Head &
Pert
Recording Form:
J hirmack
Sassoon Shoulders
0
1
Finesse
1a
Vidal Sassoon
Head & Shoulders
Pert
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
Number of Times
3
2
0
4
Preferredb
a
A 1 in a particular box means that the brand in that column was
preferred over the brand in the corresponding row. A 0 means that
the row brand was preferred over the column brand. bThe number of
times a brand was preferred is obtained by summing the 1s in each
column.
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Paired Comparison Selling
The most common method of taste testing is paired
comparison. The consumer is asked to sample two different
products and select the one with the most appealing taste.
The test is done in private and a minimum of 1,000
responses is considered an adequate sample. A blind taste
test for a soft drink, where imagery, self-perception and
brand reputation are very important factors in the
consumers purchasing decision, may not be a good
indicator of performance in the marketplace. The
introduction of New Coke illustrates this point. New Coke
was heavily favored in blind paired comparison taste tests,
but its introduction was less than successful, because
image plays a major role in the purchase of Coke.
A paired comparison
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Comparative Scaling
Techniques
Rank Order Scaling
Respondents are presented with several objects
simultaneously and asked to order or rank them
according to some criterion.
It is possible that the respondent may dislike the
brand ranked 1 in an absolute sense.
Furthermore, rank order scaling also results in
ordinal data.
Only (n - 1) scaling decisions need be made in
rank order scaling.
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Preference for Toothpaste
Brands
Fig.
8.4
Using
Rank Order Scaling
Instructions: Rank the various brands of
toothpaste in order of preference. Begin by picking
out the one brand that you like most and assign it a
number 1. Then find the second most preferred
brand and assign it a number 2. Continue this
procedure until you have ranked all the brands of
toothpaste in order of preference. The least
preferred brand should be assigned a rank of 10.
No two brands should receive the same rank
number.
The criterion of preference is entirely up to you.
2007 Prentice Hall
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Preference for Toothpaste
Brands
Using
Fig. 8.4 cont.Rank Order Scaling
Form
Brand
Rank Order
1.
Crest
_________
2.
Colgate
_________
3.
Aim
_________
4.
6.
5.
7.
GleemBrite
Ultra
Sensodyne
Close
Up
_________
_________
_________
_________
8.
Pepsodent
_________
9.
Plus White
_________
10. Stripe
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Comparative Scaling
Techniques
Constant Sum Scaling
Respondents allocate a constant sum of units,
such as 100 points to attributes of a product to
reflect their importance.
If an attribute is unimportant, the respondent
assigns it zero points.
If an attribute is twice as important as some
other attribute, it receives twice as many points.
The sum of all the points is 100. Hence, the
name of the scale.
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Importance of Bathing Soap
Attributes
Fig.
8.5
Using
a Constant Sum Scale
Instructions
On the next slide, there are eight
attributes of bathing soaps. Please allocate
100 points among the attributes so that
your allocation reflects the relative
importance you attach to each attribute.
The more points an attribute receives, the
more important the attribute is. If an
attribute is not at all important, assign it
zero points. If an attribute is twice as
important as some other attribute, it
2007 Prentice Hall
should receive twice as many points.
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Importance of Bathing Soap
Fig. 8.5 cont.
Attributes
Using a Constant Sum Scale
Form
Average Responses of Three
Segments
Attribute
Segment III
1. Mildness
2. Lather
3. Shrinkage
4. Price
5. Fragrance
6. Packaging
7. Sum
Moisturizing
8. Cleaning Power
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2
3
53
9
7
5
13
100
Segment 2I
4
9
17
0
5
3
60
100
4 II
Segment
17
7
9
19
9
20
15
100
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