Chapter 8

Measurement and Scaling: Fundamentals and Comparative Scaling

True/False Questions
1. When we measure the perceptions, attitudes, and preferences of consumers, we are
measuring the objects of other relevant characteristics.
(False, difficult, page 236)
2. In measurement, when assigning numbers to the characteristics there must be a oneto-one correspondence between the numbers and the characteristics being measured.
(True, moderate, page 236)
3. There are three primary scales of measurement: nominal, ordinal, and ratio.
(False, easy, page 236)
4. A nominal scale can only involve the assignment of numbers; alphabets or symbols
cannot be assigned.
(False, easy, page 237)
5. Only a limited number of statistics, all of which are based on frequency counts, are
permissible on the numbers in a nominal scale.
(True, moderate, page 238)
6. An ordinal scale indicates relative position and the magnitude of the differences
between the objects.
(False, easy, page 238)
7. In addition to the counting operation allowable for nominal scale data, ordinal scales
permit the use of statistics based on percentiles.
(True, moderate, page 239)
8. Ratios of differences between scale values are permissible.
(True, easy, page 240)
9. Statistical techniques that may be used on interval scale data include all of those that
can be applied to nominal, ordinal, and ratio data.

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(False, easy, page 240)

10. Ratio scales allow proportionate transformations of the form y = bx, where b is a
positive constant. One can add an arbitrary constant, as in the case of an interval
scale.
(False, moderate, page 241)
11. All statistical techniques can be applied to ratio data.
(True, easy, page 241)
12. It is possible to construct a nominal scale that provides partial information on order
(the partially ordered scale).
(True, moderate, page 241)
13. Comparative scales involve the direct comparison of stimulus objects.
(True, easy, page 241)
14. In non-comparative scales, the scaling of each object is dependent on the others in the
stimulus set.
(False, moderate, page 242)
15. Non-comparative scales data are generally assumed to be interval or ratio scaled.
(True, moderate, page 242)
16. In paired comparison scaling, the data obtained are interval in nature.
(False, moderate, page 242)
17. Transitivity of preference is an assumption made in order to convert constant sum
data to rank order data. It implies that if brand A is preferred to brand B and brand B
is preferred to brand C, then brand A is preferred to brand C.
(False, moderate, page 243)
18. Paired comparisons bear little resemblance to the marketplace situation that involves
selection from multiple alternatives.
(True, easy, page 243)
19. Paired comparison scaling is useful when the number of brands is large, because it
requires direct comparison and overt choice.

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(True, moderate, page 243)

20. Rank order scaling is commonly used to measure preferences for brands as well as
attributes.
(True, moderate, page 244)
21. In constant sum scaling, if an attribute is twice as important as some other attribute, it
receives twice as many points.
(True, moderate, page 246)
22. Constant sum scale data are sometimes treated as metric.
(True, difficult, page 247)
23. The constant sum should be considered an ordinal scale.
(True, difficult, page 247)
24. From the viewpoint of the respondents, ratio scales are the simplest to use, whereas
the nominal scales are the most complex.
(False, easy, page 247)
25. It is the obligation of the researcher to obtain data that are most appropriate, given the
research questions to be answered.
(True, easy, page 248)
26. All the primary scales of measurement explained in the text can be implemented on
the Internet.
(True, moderate, page 249)
27. It may be difficult to implement specialized scales such as the Q-sort on the Internet.
(True, moderate, page 249)
Multiple Choice Questions
28. _____ is the assignment of numbers or other symbols to characteristics of objects
according to certain pre-specified rules.
a. Ranking
b. Measurement
c. Scaling
d. Rating
(b, moderate, page 236)
29. _____ is the generation of a continuum upon which measured objects are located.
a. Ranking

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b. Measurement
c. Scaling
d. Rating
(c, moderate, page 236)
30. Which statement is correct about measurement?
a. The assignment of numbers to characteristics must be isomorphic.
b. The rules for assigning numbers should be standardized and applied uniformly.
c. Assigned numbers must not change over objects or time.
d. All of the above statements are true.
(d, moderate, page 236)

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31. Consider a scale from 1 to 100 for locating consumers according to the characteristic
attitude toward department stores. Each respondent is assigned a number from 1 to
100 indicating the degree of (un)favorableness, with 1 = extremely unfavorable, and
100 = extremely favorable. _____ is the actual assignment of a number from 1 to 100
to each respondent. _____ is the process of placing the respondents on a continuum
with respect to their attitude toward department stores.
a. Measurement; Scaling
b. Scaling; Ranking
c. Scaling; Measurement
d. Ranking; Measurement
(a, moderate, page 236)
32. A(n) _____ is a scale whose numbers serve only as labels or tags for identifying and
classifying objects with a strict one-to-one correspondence between the numbers and
the objects.
a. ordinal scale
b. interval scale
c. ratio scale
d. nominal scale
(d, moderate, page 236)
33. When a _____ scale is used for the purpose of identification, there is a strict one-toone correspondence between the numbers and the objects.
a. nominal
b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio
(a, moderate, page 237)
34. When used for classification purposes, the _____ scaled numbers serve as labels for
classes or categories.
a. ordinally
b. intervally
c. nominally
d. ratio scale
(c, moderate, page 237)
35. Which of the following statistics is not permissible with nominally scaled data (Table
8.1)?
a. chi-square
b. median
c. range
d. both b and c are not permissible
(d, moderate, page 237)

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36. _____ is a ranking scale in which numbers are assigned to objects to indicate the
relative extent to which some characteristic is possessed. Thus it is possible to
determine whether an object has more or less of a characteristic than some other
object.
a. Ordinal scale
b. Interval scale
c. Ratio scale
d. Nominal scale
(a, moderate, page 238)
37. The rankings of teams in a tournament constitute a _____ scale.
a. nominal
b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio
(b, easy, page 238)
38. In marketing research, _____ scales are used to measure relative attitudes, opinions,
perceptions, and preferences. In the opening example for Chapter 8, this was shown
by the rank order of the most admired companies.
a. nominal
b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio
(b, moderate, page 238)
39. Which of the following statistics is permissible with ordinally scaled data (Table 8.1)?
a. percentages
b. mode
c. rank order correlation
d. all of the above
(d, difficult, page 239)
40. _____ is a scale in which the numbers are used to rank objects such that numerically
equal distances on the scale represent equal distances in the characteristic being
measured.
a. Ordinal scale
b. Interval scale
c. Ratio scale
d. Nominal scale
(b, moderate, page 239)

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41. In marketing research, attitudinal data obtained from rating scales are often treated as
_____ data.
a. nominal
b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio
(c, difficult, page 239)
42. Which statement is true about the interval scale?
a. Ratios of scale values can be computed.
b. Both the zero point and the units of measurement are arbitrary.
c. Any positive linear transformation of the form y = a + bx will preserve the
properties of the scale.
d. Both b and c are correct.
(d, difficult, page 240)
43. Which of the following statistics is not permissible for interval data (Table 8.1)?
a. factor analysis
b. harmonic mean
c. binomial test
d. t-tests
(b, difficult, page 240)
44. The _____ is the highest scale. It allows the researcher to identify or classify objects,
rank order the objects, and compare intervals or differences. It is also meaningful to
compute ratios of scale values.
a. ordinal scale
b. interval scale
c. ratio scale
d. nominal scale
(c, easy, page 241)
45. In marketing, sales, cost, market share, and number of customers are variables
measured on a _____ scale.
a. nominal
b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio
(d, easy, page 241)

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46. _____ are one of two types of scaling techniques in which there is direct comparison
of stimulus objects with one another.
a. Preference scales
b. Comparative scales
c. Non-comparative scales
d. None of the above
(b, moderate, page 241)
47. Which of the following statements is not true about the comparative scales technique?
a. An example of using comparative scales is asking respondents to evaluate Coke
on a 1 to 6 preference scale.
b. Comparative scale data must be interpreted in relative terms and have only ordinal
or rank order properties.
c. Comparative scaling is also referred to as non-metric scaling.
d. Comparative scales include paired comparisons, rank order, and constant sum
scales.
(a, moderate, page 241)
48. The benefits of comparative scaling includes all of the following except:
a. Comparative scales involve fewer theoretical assumptions.
b. Comparative scales are easily understood and can be applied easily.
c. Comparative scales tend to reduce halo or carryover effects from one judgment to
another.
d. Small differences between stimulus objects can be detected.
(c, moderate, page 242)
49. Which of the following scales is not a type of comparative scale?
a. semantic differential
b. constant sum
c. Likert
d. both a and c
(d, difficult, page 242)
50. _____ are one of two types of scaling techniques in which each stimulus object is
scaled independently of the other objects in the stimulus set.
a. Preference scales
b. Comparative scales
c. Non-comparative scales
d. None of the above
(c, moderate, page 242)

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51. Which of the following is not a type of non-comparative scale?

a. semantic differential
b. constant sum
c. Likert
d. both a and c
(b, difficult, page 242)
52. _____ is a comparative scaling technique in which a respondent is presented with two
objects at a time and asked to select one object in the pair according to some criterion.
The data obtained is ordinal in nature.
a. Constant sum
b. Q-sort
c. Paired comparison
d. Rank order
(c, easy, page 242)
53. Paired comparison data can be analyzed in several ways. One way is for the
researcher to calculate the percentage of respondents who prefer one stimulus to
another. The researcher can also perform all of the following analyses on paired
comparison data except:
a. simultaneous evaluation of all the stimulus objects
b. convert paired comparison data to a rank order
c. derive an interval scale from paired comparison data
d. order a set of objects into an internally consistent, uni-dimensional scale
(d, difficult, page 243)
54. Which of the following is not one of the suggested modifications of the paired
comparison technique?
a. inclusion of a neutral/no difference opinion response
b. graded paired comparisons
c. obtaining similarity judgments in multidimensional scaling
d. ranked paired comparisons
(d, difficult, page 243)
55. The most common method of taste testing is paired comparison. A minimum of
_____ responses is considered an adequate sample.
a. 500
b. 1000
c. 2000
d. 4000
(b, difficult, page 244)

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56. _____ is a comparative scaling technique in which respondents are presented with
several objects simultaneously and asked to order or rank them according to some
criterion.
a. Constant sum
b. Q-sort
c. Paired comparison
d. Rank order
(d, easy, page 244)
57. _____ scaling and _____ scaling both are comparative in nature. Both result in
ordinal data and might result in the respondent disliking the brand ranked 1 in an
absolute sense.
a. Paired comparison; constant sum
b. Rank order; paired comparison
c. Rank order; constant sum
d. Q-sort; constant sum
(b, easy, page 244)
58. _____ is a comparative scaling technique in which respondents are required to
allocate a constant sum of units such as point, dollars, chits, stickers, or chips among
a set of stimulus objects with respect to some criterion.
a. Constant sum
b. Q-sort
c. Paired comparison
d. Rank order
(a, easy, page 246)
59. If respondents are asked to allocate 100 points to attributes of a toilet soap in a way
that reflects the importance they attach to each attribute, _____ scaling is being used.
a. constant sum
b. q-sort
c. paired comparison
d. rank order
(c, easy, page 246)
60. Which statement is true concerning constant sum scaling?
a. It does not have an absolute zero.
b. It allows for fine discrimination among stimulus objects without requiring much
time.
c. Respondents may allocate more or fewer units than those specified.
d. Both b and c are correct.
(d, moderate, page 247)

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61. _____ scaling is a comparative scaling technique that uses a rank order procedure to
sort objects based on similarity with respect to some criterion.
a. Constant sum
b. Q-sort
c. Paired comparison
d. Rank order
(b, easy, page 247)
62. _____ is being used if respondents are given 100 attitude statements on individual
cards and asked to place them into 11 piles, ranging from most highly agreed with
to least highly agreed with.
a. Constant sum
b. Q-sort
c. Paired comparison
d. Rank order
(b, moderate, page 247)
63. When using Q-sort scaling, the number of objects to be sorted should not be less than
_____ or more than _____.
a. 60; 90
b. 90; 140
c. 60; 140
d. 40; 60
(c, difficult, page 247)
64. _____ is a procedure for determining whether a set of objects can be ordered into an
internally consistent, uni-dimensional scale.
a. Magnitude estimation
b. Q-sort scaling
c. Guttman scaling
d. None of the above
(c, difficult, page 247)
mmm.
Which statement is not correct concerning international marketing and the
use of comparative scaling techniques?
a. Opinion formation may not be well crystallized.
b. In some developing countries, preferences can be best measured by using ordinal
scales.
c. Respondents in many developed countries, due to higher education and consumer
sophistication levels, are quite used to providing responses on interval and ratio
scales.
d. None of the above statements are incorrect.
(d, moderate, page 247)

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Essay Questions
66. Discuss the primary scales of measurement (Table 8.1). Develop an example of each.
Answer
A nominal scale is one whose numbers serve only as labels or tags for identifying and
classifying objects with a strict one-to-one correspondence between the numbers and
the objects. For example, the numbers assigned to the respondents in a study
constitute a nominal scale.
An ordinal scale is a ranking scale in which numbers are assigned to objects to
indicate the relative extent to which the objects possess some characteristic. An
ordinal scale allows you to determine whether an object has more or less of a
characteristic than some other object, but not how much more or less. Thus an ordinal
scale indicates relative position, not the magnitude of the differences between the
objects. Common examples of ordinal scales include quality rankings, rankings of
teams in a tournament, socioeconomic class, and occupational status.
In an interval scale, numerically equal distances on the scale represent equal values in
the characteristic being measured. An interval scale contains all the information of an
ordinal scale, but it also allows you to compare the differences between objects. A
common example in everyday life is a temperature scale. In marketing research,
attitudinal data obtained from rating scales are often treated as interval data.
A ratio scale possesses all the properties of the nominal, ordinal, and interval scales
and, in addition, an absolute zero point. Thus, in ratio scales we can identify or
classify objects, rank the objects, and compare intervals or differences. Common
examples of ratio scales include height, weight, age, and money. In marketing, sales,
costs, market share, and number of customers are variables measured on a ratio scale.
(moderate, pages 236-239, 241)
67. Compare the rank order scaling technique to the paired comparison scaling technique.
Answer
After paired comparisons, the most popular comparative scaling technique is rank
order scaling. In rank order scaling, respondents are presented with several objects
simultaneously and asked to order or rank them according to some criterion. In
paired comparison scaling, a respondent is presented with two objects and asked to
select one according to some criterion. Like paired comparison, rank order scaling is
also comparative in nature and it is possible that the respondent may dislike the brand
ranked 1 in an absolute sense. As compared to paired comparisons, the rank order
scaling process more closely resembles the shopping environment. It also takes less
time and eliminates intransitive responses. If there are n stimulus objects, only (n - 1)
scaling decisions need be made in rank order scaling. However, in paired comparison
scaling [n(n - 1)/2] decisions would be required. Another advantage is that most
respondents easily understand the instructions for ranking. The major disadvantage is
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that this technique produces only ordinal data. Finally, under the assumption of
transitivity, rank order data can be converted to equivalent paired comparison data,
and vice versa.
(difficult, pages 242, 244-245)
68. Why is there confusion over whether constant sum data are ordinal or metric?
Answer
The constant sum has an absolute zero10 points are twice as many as 5 points, and
the difference between 5 and 2 points is the same as the difference between 57 and 54
points. For this reason, constant sum scale data are sometimes treated as metric.
Although this may be appropriate in the limited context of the stimuli scaled, these
results are not generalizable to other stimuli not included in the study. Hence, strictly
speaking, the constant sum should be considered an ordinal scale because of its
comparative nature and the resulting lack of generalizability.
(moderate, page 247)

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