Measurement

Measurement is the process of observing and

recording the observations that are collected as
part of a research effort.
Direct- Those observation which can be
measured directly.
Ex- Sales figure
Indirect- Those observation which can't be
measured directly.
Ex- Employee satisfaction level with the job.
Characteristics of Measurement
• Reliability
• Validity
• Practicality-economical, convenient, interpretable
• Sensitivity- Measure the changes in the response
• Generalisability- flexibility in interpreting the data
in different research design
• Economy
Level of Measurement
• Nominal Level
• Ordinal Level
• Interval Level
• Ratio Level
Nominal Level
• At this level, variables simply name the attribute it is
measuring and no ranking is present.
• the data can only be categorized
• Example: Gender – 1.Male and 2.Female
• Employee Classification-1. Government 2. Public
3. Private
• often called qualitative variables
• An important feature of nominal variables is that there is
no hierarchy or ranking to the categories. For instance,
males are not ranked higher than females or vice versa –
there is no order or rank, just different names assigned to
each.
• Other examples of nominal variables are:
Religion, Marital status
• Nominal variables are also commonly referred
to as categorical variables.
Ordinal Level
• The data can be categorized and ranked
• At this level, variables can be ranked-ordered. Example:
Social class or status
• a. Upper class
• b. Middle class
• c. Lower class
• In ordinal variables, the distance between categories
does not have any meaning.
• For Ex- Salary of employees are arranged in decreasing
order and numbering is given to it.
• Position with in an organization
1- President
2- Vice President
3- Plant Head
4- Department Supervisor
5- Foreman
Interval Scale
• The data can be categorized, ranked, and evenly
spaced
• In this all the characteristics of earlier two scales
are there.
• at this level, the distance between the attributes,
or categories, does have meaning.
• Ex-Temperature the distance between 30 and 40
degrees Fahrenheit is the same as the distance
between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
Ratio Level

• It is highest form of the measurement

• It has all the quality of interval scale along
with it also represents absolute quantities
( which doesn't depend on others like money
is a measure of economic value.)
• Ex- Income & saving 3:1
Problems in Measurement
1 Validity
2 Reliability

• Validity simply means that a test or instrument is

accurately measuring what it’s supposed to or
whether a test measures what it intends to measure.
• Ex- A business wants to study the factors effecting the
growth pattern of its share price and it is looking at
the production figures, than it not valid measurement
because share prices depends upon sales, profit,
investment, future expected growth of the business.
 Content validity- Adequacy in the selection of relevant
variables for measurement or in other words it means
assessment if items and questions covers the full range of
the issue being measured.
Ex-The Physics exam should cover all topics actually taught to
students and not unrelated material like English or biology.
This matching between test questions and the content the
questions are supposed to measure is called content validity.
• Ex- A business that wishes to measure how many of its
employees are satisfied in their jobs using psychological
scale, should first examine the scale’s content validity i.e.
training benefits, bonus, recognition, awards etc. to make
sure that important factors contributing to job satisfaction
are taken into account.
 Criterion validity - measures how well one measure, predicts
an outcome for another measure. A test has this type of
validity if it is useful for predicting performance or behavior in
another situation (past, present, or future). For example:

• A job applicant takes a performance test during the interview

process. If this test accurately predicts how well the employee
will perform on the job, the test is said to have criterion
validity.
• A graduate student takes the GRE. The GRE has been shown as
an effective tool (i.e. it has criterion validity) for predicting
how well a student will perform in graduate studies.
• Concurrent validity- is a type of Criterion Validity. Concurrent
validity measures how well a new test compares to an well-
established test. It can also refer to the practice of
concurrently testing two groups at the same time, or asking
two different groups of people to take the same test.
• Ex-A group of nursing students take two final exams to assess
their knowledge. One exam is a practical test and the second
exam is a paper test. If the students who score well on the
practical test also score well on the paper test, then
concurrent validity has occurred. If, on the other hand,
students who score well on the practical test score poorly on
the paper test (and vice versa), then you have a problem with
concurrent validity.
• Predictive validity tells researcher how well a
certain measure can predict future behavior.
• Ex- One of the most common uses for
predictive validity is in University Admissions.
Graduation score, entrance scores and other
stream are used to predict a student’s likely
success in higher education.
• Construct validity means that a test designed to measure a
particular construct (i.e. intelligence) is actually measuring that
construct.
• Convergent validity takes two measures that are supposed to be
measuring the same construct and shows that they are related.
• discriminant validity shows that two measures that are not
supposed to be related are in fact, unrelated. Both types of
validity are a requirement for excellent construct validity.
• Ex- you were researching depression in college students. In
order to measure depression (the construct), you use two
measurements: a survey and participant observation. If the
scores from your two measurements are close enough (i.e. they
converge), this demonstrates that they are measuring the same
construct. If they don’t converge, this could indicate they are
measuring different constructs (for example, anger and
depression or self-worth and depression).
Reliability
• Reliability is a measure of the stability or
consistency of a measure.
• For example, a medical thermometer is a
reliable tool that would measure the correct
temperature each time it is used. In the same
way, a reliable math test will accurately
measure mathematical knowledge for every
student who takes it and reliable research
findings can be replicated over and over.
Test-Retest Reliability

• When researchers measure a construct/data, that they

assume to be consistent across time, then the scores
they obtain should also be consistent across time.
• Test-retest reliability is the extent to which this is
actually the case. For example, intelligence is generally
thought to be consistent across time. A person who is
highly intelligent today will be highly intelligent next
week. This means that any good measure of
intelligence should produce roughly the same scores
for this individual next week as it does today.
• Internal consistency, which is the consistency of
people’s responses across the items on a multiple-
item measure.
• In general, all the items on such measures are
supposed to reflect the same underlying construct,
so people’s scores on those items should be
correlated with each other.
• On the Self-Esteem Scale, people who agree that
they are a person of worth should tend to agree
that that they have a number of good qualities.
• Split-half correlation-This involves splitting the
items into two sets, such as the first and second
halves of the items or the even- and odd-
numbered items. Then a score is computed for
each set of items, and the relationship between
the two sets of scores is examined.
• Ex- Splitting of MBA in 4 semester and exams
are taken for each semester and after the 2 year
results are examined.
Scaling
• It is the procedure of measuring and assigning
the objects to the numbers according to the
specified rules.
• Ex- A scale of 1- 5 for locating consumer
preference for the product. 5 is the highest
preference and 1 is the lowest.
• It is the procedure for determining
quantitative measures of qualitative concepts.
Rating Scale
• A rating scale in research is intended to
measure a qualitative data on the basis of
various aspects of a product or feature.
Generally, this scale is used to evaluate the
performance of a product or service,
employee skills, customer service
performances etc.
1. Graphic Rating Scale
• A graphic rating scale, also known as a
continuous rating scale. The ends of the
continuum are sometimes labelled with
opposite values. Respondents are required to
make a mark at any point on the scale that
they find appropriate. Sometimes, there are
numbers along the markings of the line too. At
other times, there are no markings at all on
the line.
• When using the Likert scale questions, if you say, “I
feel my manager is decisive,” the way you are using
“decisive” could influence the survey respondent
and give you less than accurate feedback.

• You could go the other direction and say, “I feel my

manager is indecisive,” but then you would have the
same problem.

• Semantic Differential to the rescue!

Ranking scale
• A ranking scale is a survey question tool that
measures people's preferences by asking them
to rank their views on a list of related items.
• Two type of ranking scale –
• 1. Paired comparison
• 2. Forced ranking
• Forced ranking also known as a vitality curve is a
controversial workforce management tool that uses
intense evaluations to identify a company's best and
worst performing employees.
• In this workers are classified into three categories:
• The top 20 percent -"A" players-lead the future of the
company. They're given raises, stock options, and training.
• The middle 70 percent -"B" players- steady-eddies who
are given smaller raises and encouraged to improve.
• The bottom 10 percent - "C" players-who contribute the
least. They're given no raises or bonuses and are either
offered training, or fired.
Data Collection
• Data is information in raw or unorganised form that refers to or
represent ideas, objects.
• Data collection is a process of preparing and gathering
information.
• Systematic gathering for a particular purpose from various
sources, that has been properly observed, recorded and
organized.
Ex- Co. wants to study its profit for 5 (2014-19) years than it will
collect data from profit & loss account and balance sheet every
year in chronological form.
• They are the basic input for decision making process of the
business.
Purpose of Data Collection
• To obtain information
• To keep records
• To make decisions.
• To pass on the information
Secondary data
• Data gathered and recorded by someone else prior
to the current project
• Secondary data is data that has been collected for
• another purpose.
• It involves less cost, time and effort
• Secondary data is data that is being reused. Usually
• in a different context.
Characteristics of Secondary data
• Insight into real situation
• Helpful in hypothesis formulation
• Supplementary information
• Economical
• Easy Availability
• Time
• Effort Saving
( Reliance was having data about mobile and internet users in India
and income level of majority of Indians.
On the basis of the secondary information, it formed the hypothesis
that cheaper mobile with free internet will have more demand and
launch the jio.)
Secondary data Sources
INTERNAL SOURCES
• Sales Records
• Marketing Activity
• Cost Information & Financial Statements
• Distributor reports and
• Customer feedback
• Invoice
• EXTERNAL SOURCES
• Journals
• Books
• Magazines
• Newspaper
• Libraries
• The Internet
• Literature
• Periodicals
Precautions in Selection of Secondary Data

• Reliability of data: It can be tested by finding

out such things about the said data-
• Who collected the data
• What were the sources of data
• Were they collected by using proper method
• at what time were they collected
• Was there any bias of the complier
• Suitability of data: The data that are suitable for
one enquiry may not necessarily be found in
another enquiry. Hence if the available data are
found to be unsuitable, they should not be used
by the researcher.
• Accuracy of the data: If the level of accuracy
achieved in data found inadequate for the purpose
of the present enquiry, they will be considered as
inadequate and should not be used by the
researcher.
• Adequacy-The data collected should be
adequate /sufficient for the present study.

• Consistency- When evaluating any secondary

source of information, a good strategy is to
seek out the multiple sources of the same
data to ensure consistency.
World Wide Web for Data
• The World Wide Web has been central to the
development of the Information Age and is the primary
tool billions of people use to interact on the Internet.
• Online Research methods- are the ways by which data is
collected through internet.
 Online Ethnography (scientific description of peoples
and culture) –is the observation and understanding of
the online behaviour of a group of individuals about a
company, brand, product or any other common topic.
Ex- Document collection from blogs, forums and other
social media to study the use of the iPAD.
Online Focus Group-Online focus group is a
group of respondents (usually 8 - 10) who are
encouraged to discuss and debate a specific topic
via the internet. A moderator invites pre-
screened, qualified respondents who from the
convenience of being seated at their computers
at a pre-arranged time take part in an online
debate.
Ex- Debate on budget
Online Interview-In online interviews, data is
primarily generated through conversations
between a researcher and "respondent".
 Synchronous- The interview is synchronous if it
is conducted in real time. Skype interviews allow
participants and researchers to converse in real
time. Video chat is the closest a researcher will
get towards resembling a face-to-face interview.
• Asynchronous- An asynchronous online
interview takes place when the researcher and the
participant are not online at the same time.
• Ex- E-mail
 Online questionnaire- It is a web-based survey that companies
and other organizations can use to both deliver information to
and collect information from their customers or another target
audience.
Ex-customer feedback
 Web-based Experiment- It is an experiment that is conducted
over the Internet. It is a medium through which larger and more
diverse samples are collected with reduced administrative and
financial costs.
Ex-Can different types of music lead to different physiological
responses?
Measure the heart rates of participants by telling them to put their
palms on laptop which will be having an App(AI) to measure it ,in
response to various types of music to see if there is a difference.
Primary Data
• The data which are collected from the field under
the control and supervision of an investigator
• Primary data means original data that has been
collected specially for the purpose in mind.
• This type of data are generally afresh and
collected for the first time.
• It is useful for current studies as well as for future
studies.
• For example: your own questionnaire.
Primary Data Sources
• Observation method
• Interview
• Questionnaire
• Survey
• Schedules
BASIS FOR COMPARISON SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
Meaning Survey refers to the Questionnaire implies a
collection, recording and form containing a list of
analysis of information on a ready made questions,
particular subject, an area delivered to people for
or a group of people. obtaining statistical
information.

What is it? Process of collecting and Instrument of data

analyzing data collection

Time Time consuming process Fast process

Use It is conducted on the It is distributed or delivered

target audience. to the respondents.

Questions Open/close ended Closed ended

Answers Subjective or Objective Objective
BASIS FOR COMPARISON QUESTIONNAIRE SCHEDULE
Meaning Questionnaire refers to a Schedule is a formalized set of
technique of data collection questions, statements and
which consist of a series of spaces for answers, provided
written questions along with to the enumerators who ask
alternative answers. questions to the respondents
and note down the answers.

Filled by Respondents Enumerators

Response Rate Low High
Coverage Large Comparatively small
Cost Economical Expensive
Respondent's identity Not known Known

Success relies on Quality of the questionnaire Honesty and competence of

the enumerator.

Usage Only when the people are Used on both literate and
literate and cooperative. illiterate people.
Advantages of Primary Data
• Targeted Issues are addressed
• Data interpretation is better
• Efficient Spending for Information
• Decency of Data
• Proprietary Issues
• Addresses Specific Research Issues
• Greater Control
disadvantages of Primary Data
• High Cost
• Time Consuming
• Inaccurate Feed-backs
• More number of resources is required
Primary Data versus Secondary data

BASIS FOR COMPARISON PRIMARY DATA SECONDARY DATA

Meaning Primary data refers to the Secondary data means data
first hand data gathered by collected by someone else earlier.
the researcher himself.

Data Real time data Past data

Process Very involved Quick and easy
Source Surveys, observations, Government publications,
experiments, websites, books, journal articles,
questionnaire, personal internal records etc.
interview, etc.

Cost effectiveness Expensive Economical

Collection time Long Short
Specific Always specific to the May or may not be specific to the
researcher's needs. researcher's need.

Available in Crude form Refined form

Accuracy and Reliability More Relatively less
Questionnaire
• A questionnaire is a research instrument
consisting of a series of questions for the
purpose of gathering information from
respondents.
• It is a device for securing answers to
questions by using a form which the
respondent will fill by himself.
Purpose of Questionnaire

•The primary purpose of a questionnaire is to extract data

from respondents.
• It is an Inexpensive way to gather data from a potentially
large number of respondents (by mail, email or telephonic)
• It helps to Increases speed and accuracy of recording
• When properly constructed and responsibly administered
It becomes a very important tool for providing a
standardised data gathering procedure.
Helps to save time, money and energy
• Improper design can lead to
▪Incomplete information
▪Inaccurate data
▪Higher costs
Elements of Questionnaire

• Eating Habits
• Motive Behind Exercise
• Teacher Questionnaire on use of ICT

1. Title:
 It should be very clear and precise
 This helps to identifies the domain of the investigation.

 The respondent is initially get oriented to the investigation.

 It should be captivating enough to attract attention and

enthusiasm.
POLLUTION QUESTIONNAIRE
This questionnaire is designed to assess the exposures that
exist, in your activities, in connection with pollution and/ or
contamination or other environmental work related issues

2. General introduction:
• This has a description of the purpose of study.
• The respondent is assured of confidentiality of information, making
clear that there are no wrong or right answers.
• Honest answers are also requested.
3 Specific instructions:
This offers concise demonstration on how to carry on with the
business of responding to the questionnaire.

4. Questionnaire items:
It is the main part of the questionnaire schedule, to be clearly
separated from aforementioned parts.

5. Additional information:
It includes the full contact information of the researcher/
administrator. May include a promise that a copy of the summary of
the final report would be send to the respondent on request.

6 "Thank you" may end the questionnaire.

Characteristics of Good Questionnaire
1 It deals with an important or significant topic.
2. Its significance is carefully stated on the questionnaire or on its
covering letter.
3. It seeks only that data which cannot be obtained from the
resources like books , reports and records.
4. It is as short as possible, only long enough to get the essential
data.
5. It is attractive in appearance, nearly arranged and clearly stated
or printed.
6. Directions are clear and complete, important terms are clarified.
7. The questions are objective, with no clues, hints or suggestions.
8. Questions are presented in a order from simple to complex.
9. Double barrelled questions or putting two questions in one
question are also avoided.
Types of Questionnaire
Unstructured Structured Semi-Structured
Open Ended Close Ended Mixed

Completely unstructured
Thematic Apperception test Dichotomous Matrix Contingency
Word Associate Multiple Choice
Sentence, story, Scale Questions
picture completion
Open Ended or Unstructured Questionnaires

1.Completely Unstructured
2. Thematic Apperception Test
3. Word Associate
4. Sentence, Story or Picture Completion
Open Ended Questionnaire
• Open ended questions give an opportunity to the
respondents to express their opinions in a free-flowing
manner. These questions don't have predetermined set of
responses and the respondent is free to answer whatever
he/she feels right.
• It can help to get true, insightful and even unexpected
suggestions.
• Qualitative questions fall under this category.
• An ideal questionnaire would include an open ended
question at the end of the questionnaire that seeks
feedback and/or suggestions for improvements from
respondents.
1. completely unstructured question

Such questions were ask

openly to get opinion or
view about the aspect.
How can we promote women empowerment
in India ?

What are the facilities do you expect from

your institution ?
Thematic Apperception Test
In this questionnaire, sequence of Pictures
shows to respondent in same order for
same duration and ask the following
question on every picture as,

1.What happens,
2.What led up to the situation,
3.What the outcome would be,
4.And what the characters would
3. Word Associate Questions
Exam - Tension Mother - Love
words are presented
and the respondent
mentions the first word
that comes to mind.

4. Sentence, Story
or
Picture completion

• The respondent complete an incomplete sentences, stories or

write on empty conversation balloon in a picture
Close Ended or Structured Questionnaires

1.Dichotomous (Two category)

2. Multiple choice
3.Scale Questions
4.Matrix
5.Contingency
Close Ended or Structured Questionnaires

• Multiple choice questions.

• There is no fixed limit as to how many multiple
choices should be given.
• One of the main advantages of including closed
format questions in questionnaire design is the
ease at performing preliminary analysis.
• These questions are ideal for calculating
statistical data and percentages, as the answers
set is known.
Dichotomous Questions
• These are simple questions that ask
respondents to answer in a yes or no.

• Example-
• Do you like product of VLCC- Yes/ No
• Healthy practices promotes quality of life
Agree / Disagree
• please enter your gender - Male / Female
Multiple Choice

• When all response choices are known

• When quantitative statistical results are desired
Example
Which of the warm up duration you follow before athletic
competition?
• 10 min.
• 15 min.
• 20 min.
• 25 min.
• more than 25 min.
scale format
• Express your views on the following aspect of smoking
Question SA A UD D SD
• Smoking is injurious to health
• Cigarette contains nicotine
• Those who smoke looks
• Smokers can impress people

• SA- Strongly Agree, A- Agree, UD- Undecided, D-

Disagree, SD- Strongly Disagree
Matrix
• A matrix question are really, multiple
questions presented on a grid is one of the
most popular question types in online and
traditional pen-and-paper surveys.
• They are arranged one under the other, such
that the questions form a matrix or a table
with identical response options placed on top.
Contingency (Dependent question)
• A questioned that is answered only if the respondent gives
a particular respond to a previous question. This avoid
asking questions to people that do not apply to them.

• Do You smoke Yes / No

• If Yes, about how many times you smoke
• once 2 to 5
• 6 to 10 times
• 11 to 20 times
• more than 20 times in a day.
Mixed Method
• In some situations, you may have a partial list of answer
choices, but you may still have some doubt or uncertainty
about other possible responses.
• You can create a partially structured question such as the
following:
Example-
What purpose do you use web based resources?
• For research
•To write assignments
•To improve subject knowledge
•For the purpose of seminar presentation
Any other (Please specify): 1.________________
2. ________________
Types of questions
1 Open ended Questions
2 Closed ended Questions
A. Leading Questions
• Questions that force audience for a particular type of
answer are known as leading questions. When you use
leading questions, you’re not going to get actionable,
accurate data that can help guide business decisions.
Instead, you may be encouraging customers to answer
in a certain way..
• Examples of leading questions:
• Did you enjoy our amazing new product offering?
• B. Importance Questions
• In importance questions, the respondents are
usually asked to rate the importance of a
particular issue, on a rating scale of 1 to 5.
These questions can help you understand
things that hold significance to your
respondents and allow you make business
critical decisions.
C. Likert Questions
Likert questions can help you ascertain how
strongly your respondents agree to a particular
statement. Such type of questions also help you
assess how your customers feel towards a certain
issue, product or service.
D. Dichotomous Questions
• These are simple questions that ask respondents to answer in
a yes or no. One major drawback with dichotomous questions
is that it cannot analyze the answers between yes and no,
there is no scope for a middle perspective.
• E. Bipolar Questions
• Bipolar questions are the ones having two extreme answers
written at the opposite ends of the scale. The respondents are
asked to mark their responses between those two.
• F. Rating Scale Questions
In rating scale questions, the respondents are asked to rate a
particular issue on a scale that ranges between poor to good.
Rating scale questions usually have an even number of choices,
so that respondents are not given the choice of selecting a
middle option.
Steps in Questionnaire Development
1 what problem is to be addressed
2 Review of literature
3 Review what to be evaluated
4Define parameter
5Develop relevant questions
6 Deciding sequencing of question-
 OPENING QUESTIONS are used to put the respondent at ease.
These questions tend to be factual questions on demographic data
applicable to all respondents.
 CLASSIFICATION QUESTIONS are the questions that allow
respondents to be grouped into different categories of interest
based on their answers.
 Specific Questions
 Closing Questions
• 7 Decide length of questionnaire
• 8 Lay out of questionnaire-numbered
questions , spacing between the questions
• 9 Conduct preliminary study
• 10 Final selection.
Online questionnaire tools
An online questionnaire is basically a web-based survey that
companies and other organizations use to both deliver
information and collect information from their customers or
another target audience
• SurveyMonkey
• Google Form.
• Typeform.
• Survicate.
• Survey Planet.
• SurveyGizmo.
Interview
• Interview is the verbal conversation between
interviewer and interviewee with the
objective of collecting relevant information.
• Types of Interview-
 Personal Interview
 Telephonic
 Panel Interview
E-mail/Internet Survey
 Electronic Interview-
An online survey is a questionnaire that the
target audience can complete over the Internet.
Online surveys are usually created as Web forms
with a database to store the answers and
statistical software to provide analytics.
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