Chapter Six: The Concept of Measurement and Attitude Scales

Chapter Six: The Concept of Measurement and Attitude Scales Understand the concept of measurement Learn about the measurement process and describe how to develop a good measurement scale Explain the four levels of scales and their typical usage Define the concepts of reliability and validity Explain the concept of scaling Describe the various types of attitude scales Examine some basic considerations in selecting a type of scale Understand the importance of attitude measurement scales in management decision-making

Measurement Process Assign numbers or labels to persons, objects, or events Follow specific rules for representing quantities or qualities or attributes Example: Questions in a survey that provide a scale of 1 to 5 for possible responses Some things fit better with numbers than others

Measurement Process Steps Identify the concept of interest Develop a construct Define the concept constitutively Define the concept operationally Develop a measurement scale Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio

Nominal Data Mutually exclusive Example: How old are you? Avoids overlap in question options Example: How old are you? 0–30 31–55 55–70 71+ Collectively exhaustive: All options are included 71+ (rather than just ending at 70)

Ordinal Data Scales that maintain the labelling characteristics of nominal scales and have the ability to order data. Ranking Type Data Examples: Best liked, worst liked Win, place, or show First, second, third Small, medium, and large Comparisons rankings: “Rank these movies from best to worst”

Interval Data Scales that have the characteristics of ordinal scales, plus equal intervals between points. Comparison Type Data Examples: On a “1 to 10” scale Age, income, etc. as ranges Red, blue, green - If each rated from “1 to 10”

Ratio Data Scales that have the characteristics of interval scales, plus a meaningful zero point. Flat Numeric Type Data Examples: Age = 50 (not an age range) Income = $45,000 (not an income range) Number of children: ________

Reliability and Validity Degree to which measures are free from random error and provide consistent data Extent to which the survey responses are internally consistent Validity: Degree to which what the researcher was trying to measure was actually measured

Testing Reliability Test and retest Equivalent form Internal consistency Spilt half technique

Testing Validity Face Content Criterion Related Predictive Concurrent Construct Convergent Discriminant

Reliability and Validity

Measurement Scales Scaling approaches: Unidimensional: Measures only one dimension of a concept, respondent, or object Multi-dimensional: Measures several dimensions of a concept, respondent, or object

Attitude Measurement Scales Motivations Emotions Perceptions Cognitive processes Graphic rating scale:

Itemized rating scale: Attitude Scales Itemized rating scale: Non-comparative scale: Judgement is made without reference to another object, concept, or person Comparative scale: One object, concept, or person is compared with another on a scale

Attitude Measurement Scales Rank-order scales use comparative scaling: Put these fast food chains in order of preference: McDonald’s Burger King Taco Bell Q-Sorting: Form of rank ordering using card sorts Respondents rank X number of items in order from best to worst by putting the cards representing the idea at hand into ranked piles. The piles with the most cards become the top choices

Attitude Measurement Scales ___Coke Paired comparisons: ___Pepsi “Which drink do you prefer:” ___Coke ___Sprite ___Pepsi ___Sprite What features do you want in a car? Sun roof ______ Leather seats ______ ABS brakes ______ CD player ______ Total 100 points Constant sum scale:

Attitude Measurement Scales Semantic differential scale: Stapel scale:

Attitude Measurement Scales Likert scale:

Attitude Measurement Scales Purchase intent scale:

Considerations in Selecting a Scale Key considerations: Nature of the construct being measured Type of scale Balanced vs. non-balanced scale Number of scale categories Forced vs. non-forced

Attitude Measure and Decision-Making Direct questioning Indirect questioning Observation

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