1. By-
Ashish yadav
Akanksha gupta

3.  Measurement can be defined as a process of
associating numbers to observations obtained in a
research study.
 The variables associated with a study are classified into
two basic categories:
a) Quantitative/ Numeric
b) Qualitative / Categorical

4. Incidentally, only quantitative variables can be measured
with the help of standard counting devices and qualitative
variables can only be observed , there is no standard device
or instrument to measure them.
For example, in case of human beings, there are certain
Quantitative( physical) characteristics like height,
weight etc and there are certain qualitative ( abstract)
characteristics like beauty, attitude, creativity etc.

5. Like human beings, a business organization has also some
Physical characteristics like employees, sales, offices
etc. Being physical in nature these are easily measurable.
However, there are certain abstract characteristics like
reputation of the employees, image of the
entity, motivation, work culture, commitment,
trust, customer’s perception, feelings of customers.
All these are extremely important because they help the
company to stay afloat and grow.

6.  Therefore characteristics have to be measured for their
meaningful assessment .This can be done by assigning
some numbers and forming scales.

7.  All measurement scales can be classified into the
following four categories:
(i) Nominal
(ii) Ordinal
(iii) Interval
(iv) Ratio

8. Nominal Scale is the crudest among all
measurement scales but it is also the simplest
scale. In this scale the different scores on a
measurement simply indicate different categories.
The nominal scale does not express any values or
relationships between variables.
Ordinal Scale involves the ranking of items along
the continuum of the characteristic being scaled.
In this scale, the items are classified according to
whether they have more or less of a characteristic

9. Interval Scale is a scale in which the numbers
are used to rank attributes such that
numerically equal distances on the scale
represent equal distance in the
characteristic being measured. An interval
scale contains all the information of an
ordinal scale, but it also one allows to
compare the difference/distance between
attributes. Interval scales may be either in
numeric or semantic formats.

10. Ratio Scale is the highest level of
measurement scales. This has the
properties of an interval scale together
with a fixed (absolute) zero point. The
absolute zero point allows us to construct
a meaningful ratio.

11.  Distinctive classification
 Order
 Equal distance
 Fixed origin

12. A measure that can be used to classify objects or their
characteristics into distinctive classes /categories is said
to have this property. For example: gender classifies the
individuals into distinctive groups, males and females.
The individuals may also be classified on the basis of their
Occupation, like student, salaried, businessman etc.
Similarly, the qualification of an individual could be used
to classify individuals into various categories such as
undergraduate, postgraduate, professional etc.
Similarly, we can classify a person based on marital
status like married, unmarried, widowed, divorced.

13. Categorical data is qualitative or descriptive data, which
can be made into numerical data if we code the various
categories.
For example if we record marital status as 1. married
2. Unmarried 3. widowed and 4. divorced.
Nominal data are numerical data for namesake only,
because they do not share any properties of the numbers
we deal in ordinary mathematics. For instance we
cannot
write 4> 3 or 1<2.

14. A measure is said to have an order if the objects or their
characteristics can be arranged in a meaningful order. For
example, marks of a student (Quantitative data) can be
arranged in an ascending or descending order. As another
example, a consumer may asked to rank four telecom
service providers ( say A, B, C and D) on the basis of
the
connectivity.( Qualitative data)

15. If for a measure the difference between any two
consecutive categories of a measured attribute are equal
then the measure is said to have equal distance.
For example, in temperature readings the difference
between 400 C and 500 C is same as between 600 C and 700 C.
Similarly the Time measurement also follow the same
property.

16. A measurement scale is said to have a fixed origin if
there
is a meaningful zero or absence of the characteristics.
Examples are income of an individual, sales of a
company, Profit of a company. etc.
Zero income signifies absence of income, Zero sales
signifies absence of sales

17. Scaling describes the procedures of assigning of
numbers 0r symbols(i.e., quantitative measures)
to subjective abstract concepts (or properties of
objects)

18. 1) Subject orientation
2) Response form
3) Degree of subjectivity
4) Scale properties
5) Number of dimensions
6) Scale construction technique

19. Under it a scale may be designed to measure
characteristics of the respondent who
completes it or to judge the stimulus object
which is presented to the respondent.

20. Under this we may classify the scales as
categorical and comparative.
 Categorical scales are also known as rating
scales. These scales are used when a
respondent scores some object without
direct reference to other objects.
 Under comparative scales, which are also
known as ranking scales, the respondent is
asked to compare two or more objects.

21.  With this basis the scale date may be based
on whether we measure subjective personal
preferences or simply make non-preference
judgements.
 In the former case , the respondent is asked
to choose which person he favours or which
solution he would like to see
employed, whereas in the latter case he is
simply asked to judge which person is more
effective in some aspect or which solution
will take fewer resources without reflecting
any personal preference.

22. Nominal scales
Ordinal Scales
Interval Scales
Ratio Scales

23.  In nominal scale the numbers serve only as labels
or tags for identifying and classifying objects.
 The ordinal scale is a ranking scale in which
numbers are assigned to objects to indicate the
relative extent to which the objects possess
some characteristic.
 In interval scale numerically equal distances on
the scale represent equal values in the
characteristic being measured.
 The ratio scale possesses all the properties of
the nominal, ordinal, and interval scales. It has
an absolute zero point

24.  In respect of this basis, scales can be
classified as „ unidimensional‟ and
„multidimensional‟ scales.
 Under the former we measure only one
attribute of the respondent or
object, whereas multidimensional scaling
recognizes that an object might be
described better by using the concept of
an attribute space of „n‟ dimensions, rather
than a single-dimension continuum.

25.  Following are the five main techniques by
which scales can be developed.
 Arbitrary approach
 Consensus approach
 Item analysis approach
 Cumulative scales
 Factor scales

26.  The important scaling techniques often used
in the context of research specially in
context of social or business research are as
follows:
 Rating Scales
 Ranking Scales

27.  The rating scale involves qualitative description
of a limited number of aspects of a thing or of
traits of a person.
 These ratings may be in such forms as “like-
dislike”, “ above average, average, below
average” etc.
 There is no specific rule whether to use a two-
points scale, three-point scale or scale with still
more points.
 In practice, three to seven points scales are
generally used for the simple reason that more
points on a scale provide an opportunity for
greater sensitivity of measurement.

28. The graphic rating scale is quite simple and is
commonly used in practice. Under it the
various points are usually put along the line
to form a continuum and the rater indicates
his rating by simply making a mark (such as
✔ ) at the appropriate point on a line that
runs from one extreme to the other.

29.  The itemized rating scale(also known as
numerical scale) presents a series of
statements from which a respondent selects
one as best reflecting his evaluation.
 Suppose we wish to inquire as to how well
does a worker get along with his fellow
workers?

30.  There are two generally used approaches of
ranking scales viz.,
 Method of paired comparisons
 Method of rank order
Method of paired comparisons:
Under it the respondent can express his
attitude by making a choice between two
objects, say between a new flavour of soft
drinks and an established brand of drink.

31.  But when there are more than two stimuli
to judge, the number of judgements
required in a paired comparison is given by
the formula:
N= n(n-1)
2
Where N=number of judgements
n=number of stimuli or objects to be
judged.