Scribd
Upload
16 views25 pages

LECTURE 15

Uploaded by

kzaidnba
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
16 views25 pages

LECTURE 15

Uploaded by

kzaidnba
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 25

B TECH Open Elective (VII SEM)

Research Methods in Management

Lecture 15
Measurement
Three types of things that can
be measured.
 A direct observable is some kind of physical phenomenon
or feature that can be observed directly, such as the number
of people present at a particular place or event.
 Somebody’s response to a questionnaire item about the
number of people working in an organization is an indirect
observable; that is, an indirect representation of a
characteristic or object.
 A construct is a creation based on observation, but it
cannot be observed either directly or indirectly. Examples:
customer satisfaction, job involvement, and price
consciousness.
2
Operationalization
 The process of translating abstract and subjective
constructs into concrete measures is called
operationalization.

 In this process, one needs to make a number of


important decisions on how to translate the
abstract and subjective construct into a measure.

3
Measurement
 Measurement: the assignment of numbers or other
symbols to characteristics (or attributes) of
objects according to a pre-specified set of rules.
(Characteristics of) Objects
 Objects include persons, strategic business units,
companies, countries, kitchen appliances,
restaurants, shampoo, yogurt and so on.
 Examples of characteristics of objects are
achievement motivation, organizational
effectiveness, shopping enjoyment, length, weight,
ethnic diversity, service quality, conditioning
effects and taste.
Operationalizing Concepts
 Operationalizing concepts: reduction of abstract
concepts to render them measurable in a tangible
way.

 Operationalizing is done by looking at the


behavioral dimensions, facets, or properties
denoted by the concept.
Steps

1. Provide conceptual definition of construct.


2. Develop pool of items related/important to the construct.
3. Decide on response format (e.g., 5 point Likert-scales
with end-points ‘strongly disagree’ and ‘strongly agree’).
4. Collect data from representative sample from the
population.
5. Select items for your scale using ‘item-analysis’.
6. Test the reliability and validity of the instrument.

7
Scale
 Measurement means gathering data in the form of
numbers.
 To be able to assign numbers to attributes of
objects we need a scale: a tool or mechanism by
which individuals are distinguished as to how they
differ from one another on the variables of interest
to our study.
Four Types of Scales
 There are four basic types of scales: nominal,
ordinal, interval, and ratio.
 The degree of sophistication to which the scales
are fine-tuned increases progressively as we move
from the nominal to the ratio scale.
Nominal Scale
 A nominal scale is one that allows the researcher to assign subjects to
certain categories or groups.

 What is your department?


O Marketing O Maintenance O Finance
O Production O Servicing O Personnel
O Sales O Public Relations O Accounting

 What is your gender?


O Male
O Female
Nominal Scale
Ordinal Scale
 Ordinal scale: not only categorizes variables in such a way
as to denote differences among various categories, it also
rank-orders categories in some meaningful way.

 What is the highest level of education you have


completed?
O Less than High School
O High School/GED Equivalent
O College Degree
O Masters Degree
O Doctoral Degree
Ordinal Scale
Interval Scale
 In an interval scale, or equal interval scale,
numerically equal distances on the scale represent
equal values in the characteristics being measured.
 Allows us to compare differences between objects:
The difference between any two values on the
scale is identical to the difference between any
two other neighboring values of the scale.
Interval scale
Interval Scale
 The clinical thermometer is a good example of an
interval-scaled instrument; it has an arbitrary
origin and the magnitude of the difference
between 98.6 degrees (the normal body
temperature) and 99.6 degrees is the same as the
magnitude of the difference between 104 and 105
degrees.
Ratio Scale
 Ratio scale: overcomes the disadvantage of the
arbitrary origin point of the interval scale, in that it
has an absolute (in contrast to an arbitrary) zero
point, which is a meaningful measurement point.

 What is your age?


Ratio Scale
Ordinal Scale or Interval Scale?
 Circle the number that represents your feelings at this particular moment best.
There are no right or wrong answers. Please answer every question.

1. I invest more in my work than I get out of it

I disagree completely 1 2 3 4 5 I agree completely

2. I exert myself too much considering what I get back in return

I disagree completely 1 2 3 4 5 I agree completely

3. For the efforts I put into the organization, I get much in return

I disagree completely 1 2 3 4 5 I agree completely


Properties of the Four Scales
Goodness of Measures
Validity
Reliability
 Reliability of measure indicates extent to which it
is without bias and hence ensures consistent
measurement across time (stability) and across the
various items in the instrument (internal
consistency).
Stability
 Stability: ability of a measure to remain the same
over time, despite uncontrollable testing
conditions or the state of the respondents
themselves.
– Test–Retest Reliability: The reliability coefficient
obtained with a repetition of the same measure on a
second occasion.
– Parallel-Form Reliability: Responses on two
comparable sets of measures tapping the same construct
are highly correlated.
Internal Consistency
 Internal Consistency of Measures is indicative of
the homogeneity of the items in the measure that
tap the construct.
– Interitem Consistency Reliability: This is a test of the
consistency of respondents’ answers to all the items in a
measure. The most popular test of interitem consistency
reliability is the Cronbach’s coefficient alpha.
– Split-Half Reliability: Split-half reliability reflects the
correlations between two halves of an instrument.

You might also like