Page 170 - DMGT209_QUANTITATIVE_TECHNIQUES_II

Unit 9: Attitude Measurement and Scaling Techniques

‘Yes’, it won’t affect the answers given by respondents. The numbers used in nominal scales Notes
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.

“How old are you”? This is an example of a nominal scale.
“What is your PAN Card number?
Arranging the books in the library, subject wise, author wise – we use nominal scale.

Example: Physics-48, Chemistry-92, etc.

!

Caution It should be kept in mind that nominal scale has certain limitation, viz.
(a) There is no rank ordering.
(b) No mathematical operation is possible.
(c) Statistical implication – Calculation of the standard deviation and the mean is not
possible. It is possible to express the mode.

Ordinal Scale (Ranking Scale)

The Ordinal scale is used for ranking in most market research studies. Ordinal scales are used to
ascertain the consumer perceptions, preferences, etc. For example, the respondents may be
given a list of brands which may be suitable and were asked to rank on the basis of ordinal scale.
 Lux
 Liril

 Cinthol
 Lifebuoy
 Hamam

Rank Item Number of Respondents
I Cinthol 150
II Liril 300
III Hamam 250
IV Lux 200
V Lifebuoy 100
Total 1,000

In the above example, II is mode and III is median.
Statistical implications: It is possible to calculate the mode and the median.

In market research, we often ask the respondents to rank the items, like for example, “A soft
drink, based upon flavour or colour”. In such a case, the ordinal scale is used. Ordinal scale is a
ranking scale.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 165