

It is a system of classification and does not place the entity along a continuum. Indeed it is often referred to as a categorical scale. This, the crudest of measurement scales, classifies individuals, companies, products, brands or other entities into categories where no order is implied. However, it is an important topic since the type of scale used in taking measurements directly impinges on the statistical techniques which can legitimately be used in the analysis. Most texts on marketing research explain the four levels of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio and so the treatment given to them here will be brief. The marketing researcher who is familiar with the complete tool kit of scaling measurements is better equipped to understand markets. Some of these scales are numeric, others are semantic and yet others take a graphical form. After the properties of the four categories of scale have been explained, various forms of comparative and non-comparative scales are illustrated. Structure Of The ChapterĪll measurements must take one of four forms and these are described in the opening section of the chapter.


Chapter 3: Levels Of Measurement And ScalingĪ common feature of marketing research is the attempt to have respondents communicate their feelings, attitudes, opinions, and evaluations in some measurable form.
