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Measurement Scales

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Definition of Measurement

A typical definition of measurement is theassignment of numbers to responses

based on a set of guidelines.

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Measurement Levels

(Scales of measurement)

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Measurement Levels

1. Nominal

2. Ordinal3. Interval

4. Ratio

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NOMINAL SCALE

Numbers are no more than labels (names,descriptors)

Numbers are used to identify different

categories of responses

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EXAMPLES

(Nominal)What is your gender?

1. Male

2. Female

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Amity Business SchoolEXAMPLES

(Nominal)Which one of the following media

influences your purchasing decisions the

most?1. Television

2. Radio

3. Newspapers4. Magazines

5. internet

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Nominal numbers accompanying the responsecategories in these questions have none of the threeproperties.

Permissible mathematical operation with nominal scaledresponses- counting the number of responses falling

within each category.

MODE: appropriate central tendency for nominal scaledresponses.

Nominal

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Designations as to race, religion,

Brand last purchased

Answers that involve yes-no, agree-disagree

or any other instance in which lables can

not be differentiated except qualitatively

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More powerful than nominal

In addition to serving as labels ,also

possess the property of rank order

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ExampleHow long do you spend reading newspapers

on a typical weekday?

1. Less than 5 minutes

2. 5minutes to less than minutes

3. 15 minutes to less than 30minutes

4. 30 minutes or more

-contd

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Interval

An interval scale has all the properties of

an ordinal scale, and the differencesbetween scale values can be meaningfully

interpreted.

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How likely are you to buy a newautomobile within the next six months?please check the most appropriate

category) 1.Will definitely not buy

2. Extremely unlikely to buy

3.Unlikely to buy

4.Likely to buy 5. Extremely likely to buy

6.Will definitely buy

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The values assigned to this set of responses runfrom 1 through 6 (these numbers could be inreverse order)

Strictly they are ordinal.

Considered interval under the assumption thatrespondents will treat the differences between

adjacent response categories as being equal,especially since the categories are physicallyseparated by equal distances.

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A ratio scale possesses all the propertiesof an interval scale, and the ratios of

numbers on these scales have meaningful

interpretations.

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Amity Business SchoolRATIO-SCALED QUESTION

Please indicate your age--- Years

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Facts About the FourLevels of ScalesFacts About the FourLevels of Scales

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Facts About the FourLevels of Scales (contd)Facts About the FourLevels of Scales (contd)