Free Essay

Scales

In:

Submitted By majacw
Words 749
Pages 3
Types of Measurement Scales
Marc Waters
MKT/441
June 9, 2014
Cyndie Shadow

Types of Measurement Scales
Introduction
For this week’s assignment, students are to select four types of types of measurement increasing order of sophistication; they are Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio. These are categories in which numbers are grouped. This paper will also demonstrate how they can be effective in surveys or questionnaires.
Nominal
The number we assign to some object, idea, or behavior is entirely arbitrary, although in some cases a tradition may establish the rules of assignment. If measurements are assigned arbitrary numbers, they are called nominal numbers, and their sole purpose in the analysis is to differentiate an item possessing one characteristic from an item possessing a different characteristic. Nominal data is a type of categorical data in which objects do not have a natural, meaningful order. You can count but not order or measure nominal data. Only calculations based on the frequencies of occurrence are valid. Nominal scales have no numeric properties. Qualitative information is obtained from a nominal scale. This means objects are classified by name only. Counting is the only operation that can be performed on a nominal scale. Examples of nominal questions that may be used are: state of residence; gender; or hair color: blonde, brown, red, and black.
Ordinal
Ordinal data is a type of categorical data in which objects have a natural and meaningful order but no magnitude. You can count and order, but not measure, ordinal data. Calculations based on an ordering process are valid. Ordinal scales are only crude numeric properties; their numbers cannot be added or subtracted. You can rank-order the objects according to whether they possess more, less of the same amount of the variable being measured. Ordinal scale information obtained is rank order. The differences among objects are valid only relative to the other objects measured. Examples of ordinal questions that may be used in questionnaires are: 1st, 2nd, best, worst; opinion: strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree, no opinion.
Quantitative Data Data recorded as meaningful numbers directly representing the measured or observed amount. Examples include number of employees, amount of money in a budget. Do not be confused by numbers used to code or track a characteristic. This is done quite often in database management. Some examples of what quantitative would be numbers, data, which can be measured, length, height, area, volume, weight, speed, time, temperature, humidity, sound levels, cost, members, ages, etc.
Interval
Interval data is a scale of measurement where the distance between any two adjacent units of measurement is the same. An interval measurement has both order and magnitude but no absolute zero and the zero point is arbitrary. Data values on an interval scale can be added and subtracted but lack meaning for multiplication or division. Interval data are similar to ordinal data in that the assigned numbers order the results. In this case, the differences have an additional meaning. Examples of interval questions that may be used in questionnaires are: dates; measure of longitude; or the heights of tides.
Ratio
The ratio level has the characteristics of the interval level, but in addition, the 0 point is meaningful and the ratio between two numbers is meaningful. There are numeric properties to interval scales, and the numbers assigned can not only be meaningfully added or subjected, but also multiplied and divided. The information obtained from a ratio scale is an absolute indication of how much of the underlying construct being measured an object has. In many analyses in marketing, the distinction between interval and ratio scaled data is not very important managerially. Examples of this type of question are: age; education; wages; weight; money; or distance.
Conclusion
When the population to be studied is large, statisticians use subgroups called samples to conduct their research. The four basic methods for obtaining samples are: random, systematic, stratified, and cluster. Data can be classified as qualitative or quantitative. In society, measurement can also referred to as the foundation of anything scientific. Measurement can also be associated with anything anyone desires to study, which includes the assigning of numbers to objects. The four basic types of measurement are nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. The applications of statistics are many and varied. People encounter them in everyday life, such as in reading newspapers or magazines, listening to the radio, or watching television.

Reference
Aaker, D. A., Kumar, V., & Day, G. S. (2007). Marketing Research (9th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Industrial Scale

...-Executive Summary Industrial Scale has been producing a balance beam scale for many years and they are the leader in that market. Recently, Wilson Inc has begun to manufacture a similar scale that has been copied from the Industrial Scale model. Wilson Inc offers deeper discounts to contractors and has managed to gain a 27% market share. Industrial Scale is not concerned about its competition the way its sales manager wishes that it were. -Assessment Industrial Scale manufactures a relatively simple device and has been doing so for many years. Up until recently it has claim to 90% of its market. This device represents $600,000 in yearly sales which is 15% of the total company sales. The units are long lasting, so most purchases are not due to replacement. Wilson Inc, has emerged in the last 5 years, and copied Industrial Scales design (the copy rights have long expired). The Wilson design is a more simplified version which does not include a recent improvement which has been incorporated by Industrial Scale. The price of the two scale are the same, however, Wilson offers 20% discounts to contractors compared to Industrial scales 10%. The sales manager of Industrial Scale has convinced himself that Wilson Inc is not a threat. But, he decides to see what can be done about reducing cost. Cost could be reduced by a few percent internally or by lowering the quality of the good. Also, a new design has been made, but it will increase cost by 8% or $100. They currently sell roughly...

Words: 449 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Ruler and Scales

...Ruler and scales: They are used to measure lengths and other geometrical parameters. They can be single steel plate or flexible tape type tool. Callipers: They are normally of two types- inside and outside calliper. They are used to measure internal and external size (for e.g. diameter) of an object. It requires external scale to compare the measured value. Some callipers are provided with measuring scale. Other types are odd leg and divider calliper. Vernire calliper: It is a precision tool used to measure a small distance with high accuracy. It has got two different jaws to measure outside and inside dimension of  an object.It can be a scale, dial or digital type vernire calliper. Micrometer: It is a fine precision tool which is used to measure small distances and is more accurate than the venire calliper. Another type is a large micrometer calliper which is used to measure large outside diameter or distance. Feeler gauge: Feelers gauges are a bunch of fine thickened steel strips with marked thickness which are used to measure gap width or clearance between surface and bearings. Telescopic feeler gauge: It is also known as tongue gauge and it consists of long feeler gauge inside a cover with tongue or curved edge. The long feeler strips protrude out of the cover so that it can be inserted in to remote places where feeler gauge access is not possible. Poker gauge: This gauge is used to measure propeller stern shaft clearance, also known as propeller wear down. ...

Words: 606 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Diseconomy of Scale

...Firstly, the most important factor for external economies of scale is having a large number of good skilled local labour supply which makes an industry more efficient as other local companies in the industry also train workers. It leads a bigger and more flexible labour market in that area. Secondly, a factor of external economies of scale is firms located in certain areas where can benefit from good infrastructure such as good transportation network, a motorway or an airport. It will affect to decrease in costs for a company working within that area. Furthermore, having a large number of suppliers to choose from economies of scale. Firms will easily bargain with a range of suppliers if firms locate near to lots of suppliers. It tends to reduce cost and increase the quality of materials. The business can grow internally by getting bigger or they can grow externally by taking over or merging with another business. Sometimes when businesses grow they become more inefficient and costs per unit begin to increase. There are three main problems of diseconomy of scale. On the other hand, diseconomy of scale can be caused by poor employee motivation. Gregson et al(2009:134) argues that it can be hard to motivate people in a big business but in a small firm they are close contract between managers and staffs. Therefore, staffs may feel isolated, lack the feedback and there is no point to what they are doing. Poorly motivated staff do not work as hard and absenteeism increases...

Words: 564 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Graphic Rating Scale

...Graphic Rating Scales Definition: ← The oldest and most widely method used for performance appraisal. ← A scale that allows the rater to indicate an employee’s performance on a variety of job behaviors. ← The Rating Scale is a form on which the manager simply checks off the employee’s level of performance. Graphic rating scales require an evaluator to indicate on a scale the degree to which an employee demonstrates a particular trait, behavior, or performance result. Rating forms are composed of a number of scales, each relating to a certain job or performance-related dimension, such as job knowledge, responsibility, or quality of work. Each scale is a continuum of scale points, or anchors, which range from high to low, from good to poor, from most to least effective, and so forth. Scales typically have from five to seven points, though they can have more or less. Graphic rating scales may or may not define their scale points. How is it used? ← It is used to indicate on a scale the degree to which an employee demonstrates a particular trait, behavior, or performance result. Acceptable rating scales should have the following characteristics: 1. Performance dimensions should be clearly defined. 2. Scales should be behaviorally based so that a rater is able to support all ratings with objective, observable evidence. 3. Abstract trait names such as "loyalty," "honesty," and "integrity" should be avoided unless they can be defined in terms of...

Words: 529 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Economies and Diseconomies of Scale

...ECONOMIES and DISECONOMIES OF SCALE Economies and diseconomies of scale explain what happens to a firm’s costs as it expands, in the LONG RUN. The long run is the time period in which it is possible for a firm to vary the amounts of all the factors of production employed: more land can be acquired, more buildings erected and more machinery installed. In the long tun, it is possible for a firm o change the scale of it’s activities. Strictly speaking, a change of scale takes place when the quantities of all the factors are changed by the same percentage so that the proportions in which they are combined are not changed, shown by the following table. It will be noticed that when the inputs are changed, leading to an increase in the size of the firm, (see column “Increase in Size of Firm”) by a certain proportion that the output increases by a different proportion (see column “Increase in total Output”). At first, output increases by a larger proportion than the increase in size of firm; this is called Increasing Returns to Scale. Then output increases by the same proportion as the size of the firm; this is called Constant Returns to Scale Eventually output increases by a scale proportion than the size of the firm; called Diminishing Returns to Scale The above has been explained in terms of changes in physical units. Not surprisingly, since firms have to pay for the inputs which they use to increase the scale of their production then their costs of production are...

Words: 3302 - Pages: 14

Free Essay

Analyze the Results of Linker Scale

...EDITORIAL Analyzing and Interpreting Data From Likert-Type Scales L ikert-type scales are frequently used in medical education and medical education research. Common uses include end-of-rotation trainee feedback, faculty evaluations of trainees, and assessment of performance after an educational intervention. A sizable percentage of the educational research manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Graduate Medical Education employ a Likert scale for part or all of the outcome assessments. Thus, understanding the interpretation and analysis of data derived from Likert scales is imperative for those working in medical education and education research. The goal of this article is to provide readers who do not have extensive statistics background with the basics needed to understand these concepts. Developed in 1932 by Rensis Likert1 to measure attitudes, the typical Likert scale is a 5- or 7-point ordinal scale used by respondents to rate the degree to which they agree or disagree with a statement (T A B L E). In an ordinal scale, responses can be rated or ranked, but the distance between responses is not measurable. Thus, the differences between ‘‘always,’’ ‘‘often,’’ and ‘‘sometimes’’ on a frequency response Likert scale are not necessarily equal. In other words, one cannot assume that the difference between responses is equidistant even though the numbers assigned to those responses are. This is in contrast to interval data, in which the difference...

Words: 1356 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Logs and Richter Scale, Decibels

...Ilaria tena ISP 121 Logs and Richter Scale, Decibels Due: Wednesday, February 27th   Open the file found on the .  You will use this file for both parts below.  Click on the worksheet tabs at the bottom to access the decibel data.  1. Richter scale The Richter scale is used to measure the intensity of earthquakes.  It is a logarithmic relationship with the following formula:  R = log(I)  I is the intensity of the earthquake and R is the number on the Richter scale.  (Remember that if there is no base written with the log it is base 10).  Converting the above formula from log form to exponent form would give us: 10R = I Which version you use depends on which variable you are given.  Since the Richter scale is logarithmic, an increase of 1 on the Richter scale translates to 10 times increase in intensity.  An R of 2 means an intensity of 100 while an R of 3 has an intensity of 1000 which is 10 times larger than the previous intensity.  a) Open the Richter worksheet in the Excel file.  For the first 9 earthquakes, calculate the Richter number and for the remaining calculate the intensity using the formulas above.   b) Which earthquake had the highest Richter number? Chile and Gansu, China  c) Is there a correlation between Intensity and number of deaths?  That is, as the intensity of the earthquakes increased, did the number of deaths increase?  Why do you think that is? There is no correlation, because the data shows that at times the intensity was really high...

Words: 701 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Methods, Characteristics, Structure and Early History of Attitude Measurement Scales

...Methods, Characteristics, Structure and Early History of Attitude Measurement Scales Abstract: Measurement of attitudes is beneficial in various aspects of day to day life. Business, social and government research often rely on the measurement of respondents attitudes to guide decision and policy making. Specific research designs and methods are required to ensure useful and valid quantitative data are end results of attitude research projects. Ground breaking researchers in the field of Sociology and Psychology developed the first reliable attitude research and scaling techniques over 50 years ago that are still in use today. An “attitude” is a theoretical entity constructed to characterize certain underlying response tendencies (Arul, 2012). As a hypothetical concept, attitudes cannot be measured directly. Any attempt to measure them “can only be inferential in nature: that is, we can only study behavior which is reasonably assumed to indicate the attitudes to be measured and quantify these indications so as to get an idea of how much individuals or groups differ in their psychological orientations toward a particular object or issue” (Arul, 2012, pg. 1). Attitudes have three components: affective, cognitive, and behavioral (Zikmund, Babin, Carr, Griffin, 2013). The affective part refers to person’s general feelings or sentiments toward an object. Put another way, a person’s attitudes are driven directly by their beliefs or thoughts. This cognitive...

Words: 4486 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

Scaling Techniques and Its Importance

...characteristic of an individual and then placing him directly on a scale that has been defined in terms of that characteristic and (ii) constructing questionnaires in such a way that the score of individual’s responses assigns him a place on a scale. It may be stated here that a scale is a continuum, consisting of the highest point (in terms of some characteristic e.g. preference, favourableness, etc) and the lowest point along with several intermediate points between these two extreme points. These scale point positions are so related to each other that when the first point happens to be the highest point, the second point indicates a higher degree in terms of a given characteristic as compared to the third point and the third point indicates a higher degree as compared to the forth and so on Scale classification base Scaling procedures may be broadly classified on one or more of the followings:- (1) Subject orientation (2) Response form (3) Degree of subjectivity (4) Scale properties (5) Number of dimension (6) Scale construction techniques Importance of scaling techniques We now take up some of the important scaling techniques often used in the context of research specially in context of social or business research. i. Rating scales: The rating scale involves qualitative description of a limited number of aspects of a thing or of traits of a person .when we use rating scale (or categorical scales), we judge an object in absolute terms against some specified...

Words: 1262 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Scaling Challenges

...Scaling Challenge #1: Passing the Hat AS a start-up, executives need to be prepared to wear more than one functional hat to be successful. As you scale, however, you must carefully oversee the process of passing those hats to new executives and managers that join the team. This looks easy on paper (just draw up the new org chart), but it can prove extremely challenging in practice. While it is easy to pass the hat in form, it may not be easy to pass the hat in substance when the on-boarding of the new hat owner is arduous, i.e., big learning curve, lots of important internal relationships, and so forth. As long as the old hat-owner offers greater knowledge and effectiveness in the relevant functional area, everyone in the organization will gravitate to her for decisions and support, regardless of what the new org chart says. The problem can be further exacerbated if the old hat owner isn’t all that willing to pass the hat in the first place or if the old hat owner is too willing and runs away from the responsibility faster than the new executive can get up to speed. Poor hat passing can result in confusion, frustration, conflict, executive turnover and ultimately poor business performance. Hat passing is tricky business that requires the buy-in all of all those affected, a solid foundation of respect between the two hat-passers, and a thoughtful approach to managing the transition. Without these fundamentals in place as you are scaling, you may find that you are dropping more...

Words: 1371 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Boise Cascade

...been applied. Having two open scale stations that cover 57.60% of the data would be the best option. Still, having four open scale stations there is a 99.93% chance that zero trucks would have to wait, but there would be a 3.74% chance that a truck will even need the extra station and you would likely be paying scalers for complete downtime. Boise Cascade Corporation | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mean | 12 | | | | | | | | # of Trucks | | | | | | | | | 0 | 0.000006 | 0.000006 | | | | | | | 1 | 0.000074 | 0.000080 | | | | | | | 2 | 0.000442 | 0.000522 | | Time Window | Minutes | | | | 3 | 0.001770 | 0.002292 | | 7am-8am | 6 | 0.04582 | 4.58% | | 4 | 0.005309 | 0.007600 | | 8am-9am | 12 | 0.57597 | 57.60% | | 5 | 0.012741 | 0.020341 | | 9am-10am | 18 | 0.96258 | 96.26% | 3.74% | 6 | 0.025481 | 0.045822 | | 10am-11am | 24 | 0.99931 | 99.93% | | 7 | 0.043682 | 0.089504 | | 11am-12pm | 30 | 1.00000 | | | 8 | 0.065523 | 0.155028 | | 12pm-1pm | 36 | 1.00000 | | | 9 | 0.087364 | 0.242392 | | 1pm-2pm | 42 | 1.00000 | | | 10 | 0.104837 | 0.347229 | | 2pm-3pm | 48 | 1.00000 | | | 11 | 0.114368 | 0.461597 | | 3pm-4pm | 54 | 1.00000 | | | 12 | 0.114368 | 0.575965 | | 4pm-5pm | 60 | 1.00000 | | | 13 | 0.105570 | 0.681536 | | | | | | | 14 | 0.090489 | 0.772025 | | 12 | Average # of Trucks/Hour | | | 15 | 0.072391 | 0.844416 | | 2 | Scales | | | | 16 | 0.054293 | 0...

Words: 308 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

The Mediating Effect of Pet Attachment Support Between Loneliness and General Health in Older Females Living in the Community

...Between Loneliness And General Health In Older Females Living In The Community A Research Critique of the article The article of Cheryl A. Krause-Parello was a great article on the relationship between loneliness and general health in older woman. The study sought to determine a decrease in loneliness and general health in older women when a pet attachment support was used as a coping mechanism. Woman in the ages of 55-84 who resided in independent or senior citizen communities with pets were given an informed consent that was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Rutgers (Krause-Parello, 2008). The study instruments included; PGWB schedule, a general health subscale, The Revised UCLA loneliness scale and the Pet attachment scale. The scales used various psychological tests measuring depression, loneliness and psychosomatic symptoms. The data were analyzed using Pearson product-moment (questions one through three) and regression analysis (question four) (Krause-Parello, 2008). It also used the two-tailed test, which determined the level of significance at the .05 level (Krause-Parello, 2008). The third regression analysis, the mediator (PAS) did not have a significant effect on the dependent variable’s general health; which showed a decrease demonstrating a mediating effect of pet attachment between loneliness and general health (Krause-Parello, 2008). The result of this study does support the mediating effect of pet attachment between loneliness and...

Words: 358 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Photography

...Задачи по професионално студийно осветление 1. Използване на осветлени с цел намаляване на контраста, имитиране на естествена светлина. Избираме от два варианта: имитиране на облачен ден и имитиране на слънце в кадъра. Вариант 1, имитиране на облачен кадър: кадър без осветление: кадър с осветление: / Една светкавица в тавана, една в стената и софтбокс - задно странично./ Вариант 2, имитиране на слънце в кадъра: кадър без осветление и модел: кадър само със странично осветление: кадър само с предно осветление: финален кадър: /забележка - от лявата страна светлината е прекалено силна (не бива да е така) 2. Снимка с осветително тяло в кадъра... (за справка вижте: practical light) само лампата с лампата в кадър: /халогенка от посоката на лампата обърната в бяла повърхност и светкавица с пита в лицето/ слабата сянка е от халогенката, а плътната от светкавицата /експозиция по лампата – f 2.8, 1/8, исо 100 3. 3 бр кадри с рисуващо и запълващо осветление, като контраста на единия е 1:32, на втория 1:8 и на третия 1:2. (така че да има видима разлика между трите) Кадрите трябва да имат логично използване светлина и да не се вижда как просветляваме сенките /запълващото е до позицията на камерата, от страната на рисуващото. (това е най-логично падащата светлина, заради потъването на лявата част на лицето, като в същото време имаме и достатъчно просветляване от неосветената от рисуващото страна) / правилно поставено като посока запълващо при контраст...

Words: 440 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Measurement Scales

...Measurement Scales Tina M. Biebl MKT / 441 Marketing Research University of Phoenix Introduction A poorly designed questionnaire may not obtain the results the firm or organization is looking for. There are four categories in which numbers are generally grouped. In increasing order of sophistication, they are (1) nominal numbers, (2) ordinal numbers, (3) intervally scaled numbers, and (4) ratio-scaled numbers. This paper will examine each briefly and how they can be used effectively in the design of a survey questionnaire. Qualitative Data Data that can be categorized into one of several non-numerical categories is qualitative. You are recording some quality that the data possesses. Care needs to be taken to avoid assigning numbers to the categories then computing with them. This type of data is either nominal or ordinal. Nominal The number we assign to some object, idea, or behavior is entirely arbitrary, although in some cases a tradition may establish the rules of assignment. If measurements are assigned arbitrary numbers, they are called nominal numbers, and their sole purpose in the analysis is to differentiate an item possessing one characteristic from an item possessing a different characteristic. Nominal data is a type of categorical data in which objects do not have a natural, meaningful order. You can count but not order or measure nominal data. Only calculations based on the frequencies of occurrence are valid. Nominal scales have no numeric...

Words: 758 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Expertise Scale

...Nursing Expertise Self-Report Scale- Reflection Answering the Nursing Self-Report Scale made me felt that I have a long way to go as a Registered Nurse. Based on my answers I am still on a novice stage, far from the expert stage. I mostly base my nursing care about company’s and or employer’s expectations and or rules. There are some few scales that I was not sure of and there are scales that I felt that I’m so naïve to just strictly follow the rules to perform patient care. I guess it just a nature for me to take ownership on my new license and new job. I have to follow the rules to be safe. Another factor that would be preventing from improving is my lack of interpersonal communication skills. I have this passive, shy personality and am reluctant to voice out my opinion. I feel that I just have to go with the flow just to avoid conflict and to please others. The fear of taking risks prevents me from progressing. If I’m resistant to changes I will be forever stuck to the novice stage and never improve to the expert stage. It is very empirical for me to step out my comfort zone and take necessary steps because my priority right now in this nursing career is my patient, not to please my boss or someone else. As an RN, I am now in a position of leadership. I should set aside my fears and focus on what needs to be done. I have to learn to work with others, lead them and get them to understand, and perform the job that needs to be done. I will be willing to ask question or help...

Words: 427 - Pages: 2