Page 88 - DMGT404 RESEARCH_METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology

Notes Scaling is the generation of a continuum upon which measured objects are located.
Scale is a quantifying measure – a combination of items that is progressively arranged according
to value or magnitude. The purpose is to quantitatively represent an item's, person's, or event's
place in the scaling continuum.

5.1 Measurement Scales: Tools of Sound Measurement

These are of four kinds of scales, namely:

1. Nominal scale
2. Ordinal scale
3. Interval scale
4. Ratio scale

5.1.1 Nominal Scale

In this scale, numbers are used to identify the objects. For example, University Registration
numbers assigned to students, numbers on their jerseys.
The purpose of marking numbers, symbols, labels etc. in this type of scaling is not to establish
an order but it is to simply put labels in order to identify events and count the objects and
subjects. This measurement scale is used to classify individuals, companies, products, brands or
other entities into categories where no order is implied. Indeed, it is often referred to as a
categorical scale. It is a system of classification and does not place the entity along a continuum.
It involves a simple count of the frequency of the cases assigned to the various categories, and if
desired numbers can be nominally assigned to label each category.

Characteristics

1. It has no arithmetic origin.
2. It shows no order or distance relationship.

3. It distinguishes things by putting them into various groups.
Use: This scale is generally used in conducting in surveys and ex-post-facto research.

Example: Have you ever visited Bangalore?
Yes-1
No-2
'Yes' is coded as 'One' and 'No' is coded as 'Two'. The numeric attached to the answers has no
meaning, and is a mere identification. If numbers are interchanged as one for 'No' and two for
'Yes', it won't affect the answers given by respondents. The numbers used in nominal scales
serve only the purpose of counting.
The telephone numbers are an example of nominal scale, where one number is assigned to one
subscriber. The idea of using nominal scale is to make sure that no two persons or objects receive
the same number. Similarly, bus route numbers are the example of nominal scale.

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