RESEARCH DESIGN

It is a framework or plan or Blueprint developed to control the collection of data is called research design. Research design is an absolute essentiality in research irrespective of the type of research (e.g., exploratory or descriptive), as it ensures that the data collected is appropriate, economical and accurate.

Meaning
A research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to research purpose with economy in procedure.

A research design is a conceptual structure within which research is conducted; it constitutes the blue print for the collection, measurement and analysis of data.

An activity and time based plan. A plan always based on the research question. A guide for selecting sources and types of information. A framework for specifying the relationship among the studys variable.

A procedural outline for every research activity.

Components of research design

What is the study about? Why is the study being made? Where will the study be carried out? What type of data is required? Where can the required data be found?

What time period the study includes?

What will be the sample design? What techniques of data collection to be used? How will the data be analyzed? In what style the report be prepared?

IMPORTANT FEATURES OF RESEARCH DESIGN It is a plan that specifies the sources and types of information relevant to the research problem. It is a strategy specifying which approach will be used for gathering and analyzing the data. It includes the time and cost budget since most studies are done under these two constraints.

IMPORTANT FEATURES OF RESEARCH DESIGN Research design must, contain

1. A clear statement of the research problem;

2. Procedures and techniques to be used for gathering information; 3. The population to be studied; and

4. Methods to be used in processing and

5. Analyzing data.

NEED FOR RESEARCH DESIGN

Research Design is needed because it facilitates the smooth sailing of the various research operations, thereby making research as efficient as possible yielding maximal information with minimal expenditure of effort, time and money.

NEED FOR RESEARCH DESIGN

It stands for advance planning of the methods in collecting relevant data and techniques to be used in their analysis, keeping in view the objective of the research and the availability of staff, time and money.

The design helps the researcher to organize his ideas in a form whereby it will be possible for him to look for flaws and inadequacies.

FEATURES OF GOOD DESIGN

A good design is often characterized by flexible, appropriate, efficient and economical. The design which minimizes bias and maximizes the reliability of the data collected and analyzed is considered a good design. The design which gives the smallest experimental error is supposed to be the best design in many investigations. A research design which yields maximal information and provides an opportunity for considering many different aspects of a problem is considered most appropriate and efficient design in respect of many research problems. The question of good design is related to the purpose or objective of the research problem and also with the nature of the problem to be studied. One single design cannot serve the purpose of all types of research problems.

VARIABLES A concept which can take on different quantitative values is called variables. As such concepts like weight, height, income are all examples of variables. Continuous Variables - Age is an example Non Continuous Variables - Number of children Dependent & Independent Variables Eg. For instance height depends upon age, then Height is a dependant variable and Age is an independent variable. The Independent Variable (IV) is the causal variable The Dependent Variable (DV) is the effect variable Extraneous Variables Independent variables that are not related to the purpose of the study, but may affect the dependant variable are termed as extraneous variable. Multiple Variables You are interested in finding out which color, type, and smell of flowers are preferred by butterflies for pollination. Control

Basic Research Objectives and Research Design To gain background information, to define terms, to clarify problems and develop hypotheses, to establish research priorities, to develop questions to be answered- Exploratory To describe and measure marketing phenomena at a point in timeDescriptive To determine causality, test hypotheses, to make if-then statements, to answer questions-Causal

TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGN

Phase I Exploratory

Phase II Descriptive

Phase III Explanatory

Types of Research Designs

Exploratory Research

Conclusive Research

Literature Search

Descriptive Research

Experimental Research or casual research

Experience survey

Panel Study

Focus Group

Longitudinal Design

Cross sectional Design

Exploratory Research Design

Exploratory research is conducted to explore a problem at its preliminary stage, to get some basic idea about the solution at preliminary stage of a research study.

It

most commonly unstructured, informal research i.e. undertaken to gain background information about the general nature of the research problem.

is

The major purpose of exploratory research to identify the problem more specifically.
Exploratory study is used in the initial stages of research. In the early stage of research, we usually lack from sufficient understanding of the problem to formulate a specific hypothesis. Further, there are often several tentative explanations. Example: Sales are down because our prices are too high, our dealers or sales representatives are not doing a good job, Our advertisement is weak and so on. In this scenario, very little information is available to point out, what is the actual cause of the problem.

Under what circumstances is exploratory study ideal? To gain an insight into the problem To generate new product ideas To list all possibilities. Among the several possibilities, we need to prioritize the possibilities which seem likely. To develop hypothesis occasionally. To establish priorities so that further research can be conducted. To pre-test a draft questionnaire.

Example, a shirt manufacturer sponsored a survey to find the percentage of executives purchasing different sizes a shirt. The researcher was asked to record the sizes 36, 38, 40, 42, 44 as indicated by the executives.

The exploratory survey indicated that quite a good percentage of executives indicated the size as 39 and 41 (which were either imported or tailor made). This information led to change the questionnaire to include these options.

Exploratory Research Methods

Literatur e search

Analysis of selected cases

Types of Exploratory Research

Experience survey

Focus group

Literature Search This refers to referring to a literature to develop a new hypothesis. The literature referred are trade journals, professional journals, market research finding publications, statistical publications etc.

Example: Suppose a problem is Why are sales down? This can quickly be analysed with the help of published data which should indicate whether the problem is an industry problem or a firm problem. Three possibilities exist to formulate the hypothesis.
1. 2. 3. The companys market share has declined but industrys figures are normal. The industry is declining and hence the companys market share is also declining. The industrys share is going up but the companys share is declining.

Experience survey An exploratory research technique in which individuals who are knowledgeable about particular research problem are surveyed.

When we interview persons in an experience survey, we should seek their ideas about important issues or aspects of the subject and discover what is important across the subjects range of knowledge.
What is being done? What has been tried in the past without success? How have things changed? What problems areas and barriers can be seen? Who is involved in decisions and what roles does person play?

Focus group Most widely used technique. In a focus group, a small number of individuals are brought together to study and talk about some topic of interest. The discussion is co-ordinated by a moderator. The group usually is of 8-12 persons. While selecting these persons, care to be taken to see that they should have a common background and have similar experiences in buying.

This is required because there should not be a conflict among the group members on the common issues that are being discussed. Focus groups should be taped (audio) or videoed. Videoing can be more difficult and intrusive but is often worthwhile. Permission of the participants should always be sought for taping/ videoing.

The following should be the characteristics of a moderator/ facilitator:

Listening Memory Encouragement Learning Sensitivity Intelligence Kindly firm

Case studies
Analyzing a selected case sometimes gives an insight into the problem which is being researched. Case histories of companies which have undergone a similar situation may be available. These studies are well studied to carry out exploratory research. However the result of investigation of case histories are always considered suggestive, rather than conclusive.

CONCLUSIVE RESEARCH This is a research having clearly defined objectives. In this type of research, specific courses of action are taken to solve the problem. Conclusive research are of two types.

Conclusive research
Descriptive research Experimental research or Causal research

Descriptive research
It concerned with describing the characteristics of a particular individual , group , frequency of occurrence. Researcher must able to define clearly, what he wants to measure and must find adequate methods for measuring it along with the clear cut definition of population

Descriptive research is undertaken to provide answers to questions of who, what, where, when, why and how.
Descriptive research studies are those studies which are concerned with describing the characteristics of a particular individual, or a group.

When to use descriptive study? To determine the characteristics of market such as Size of the market Buying power of the consumer Producing usage pattern To find out the market share for the product To track the performance of a brand To determine the association of the two variable such as Ad and sales To make a prediction. We might be interested in sales forecasting for the next three years, so that we can plan for training of new sales representatives. To estimate the proportion of people in a specific population, who behave in a particular way? Example: What percentage of population in a particular geographical location would be shopping in a particular shop?

Adjective typifying Illustrative question the research Who Who has been most consistent batsman among Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly in the test matches? Which Which is the cricket ground where maximum number of centuries have been scored? Which are the companies that have declared more than 50% dividend for the year 2010-2011? What What is the average salary offered to MBA students with marketing specialisation? Where Where the responses to a particular advertisement were most favourable, among all the major cities where the test marketing was carried out? When When did the manufacturing process go out of control How (Much, How much productivity increased in an organisation after a training Many) to the employees? How many Mutual funds have paid more than 10% dividend for their Tax Saver Scheme.

DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH

Longitudinal study

Cross - section studty

Longitudinal study These are the studies in which an event or occurrence is measured again and again over a period of time. This is also known as Time Series Study. Through longitudinal study, the researcher comes to know how the market changes over time. Longitudinal studies are quite poplar in social and behavioural sciences, socio economic research, banking and finance etc.

Examples are Experiment pattern over a period of time of an individual or group of individuals. R& D Expenditure by a sector of companies like pharmaceuticals etc. Quality of Life parameters of a state or a country. Longitudinal research relies on panel data and panel methods. It involves fixing a panel consisting of fixed sample of subjects that are measured repeatedly. The panel members are those who have agreed to provide information at a specific interval over an extended period.

For example, data obtained from panels formed to provide information on market shares are based on an extended period of time, but also allow the researcher to examine changes in market share over time. New members may be included in the panel as an when there is a dropout of the existing members or to maintain representativeness.

Two types of panel are

True Panel
Advantages of Longitudinal studies Discover trends and patterns of change

Omnibus panel

Locate the times when the trend or pattern changed - it might lead to investigating the factors that cased the change.

Cross sectional study These are the studies that are conducted over a group of companies or organizations over the same point of time. Such research makes observations at one and the same point of time for all the entities under study.
Example: Placement offers to MBA students of 2011 batch at all IIMs. P/E ratio of all automobiles companies as on 31st March 2012 Conducting opinion poll on a particular day

The major advantage of cross-sectional research is that data can be collected on many entities of different kinds in a short span of time. Since the data is collected at one point of time, it can be easily collected at LOWER COST. Cross sectional study is that it is cheaper and faster to conduct such a study. The main disadvantage of such study is that it reveals little as how to how the changes occur. Cross sectional design may be either single or multiple cross sectional design depending on the number of samples drawn from a population.

Cohort analysis consists of a series of surveys conducted at appropriate time intervals, where the cohort serves as the basic unit of analysis. A cohort is a group of respondents who experience the same event within the same time interval.

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH OR CASUAL RESEARCH

The casual research is concerned with finding the root cause of a symptom. For example, if the sale of a product is declining, or if customers prefer a product over other similar product(s), one may like to know the cause(s) for the same. Thus, this type of study encompasses situations where we study the impact or influence of one factor (cause) on some other factor (effect). The influencing factors could be one or more than one.

Some of the examples of casual research are

The factors influencing buying behaviour of customers.

The factors influencing the motivating of an employee.

Advertising expenses is the cause (called independent variable) and

Sales (called dependent variable) is the effect. Casual variables is also called explanatory variable as it explains the effect or impact on the dependent variable.

Experimental Research An experiment is defined as manipulating (changing values/situations) one or more independent variables to see how the dependent variable(s) is/are affected, while also controlling the affects of additional extraneous variables.
Independent variables: those over which the researcher has control and wishes to manipulate i.e. package size, ad copy, price. Dependent variables: those over which the researcher has little to no direct control, but has a strong interest in testing i.e. sales, profit, market share. Extraneous variables: those that may effect a dependent variable but are not independent variables.

TYPES OF EXPERIMENTS

Laboratory Experiments

Types of Experiments

Field experiments:

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS The principle of Replication The principle of Randomization The Principle of Local control

Types of Experiment Research Design

Informal experimental design

Formal experimental design Completely Randomized Design. Two group simple randomized design Random replication design

Before and after without control design

After only with control design Before and after with control design

Randomized Block Design

Latin Square design

Factorial designs

VALIDITY OF RESEARCH DESIGN Validity refers to the strength and the accuracy of a research design. Two types of validity in a research design viz.

Validity

Internal Validity

External Validity

Internal Validity

Internal validity describes the ability of the research design to unambiguously (clearly) test the research hypothesis. Internal validity refers to the extent to which one can accurately state that the independent variable is responsible for the observed effect in the dependent variable and no other variable is responsible for the effect.
If the effect on dependent variable is only due to variation in the independent variable, then we may conclude that the internal validity is achieved.

Threats of internal validity

History Maturation

Testing
Selection of respondents

Statisitical Regression
Experimental Mortality Instrument change

History
History refers to the events that are beyond the control of the experiment. These events may change the attitude of the respondents irrespective of whether the independent variable is changed or not. Thus it is impossible to determine whether any change on the dependent variable is due to the independent variable or the historical event.

Maturation
History refers to the events that are beyond the control of the experiment. These events may change the attitude of the respondents irrespective of whether the independent variable is changed or not. Thus it is impossible to determine whether any change on the dependent variable is due to the independent variable or the historical event.

Testing
Repeatedly measuring the participants may lead to bias. Participants may remember the correct answers or may be conditioned to know that they are being tested. Selection of respondents The inappropriate selection of respondents may lead to bias in experiemental design. If the selected respondents are not uniform, inadvertent randomization may take place leading to bias. Statistical regression The statistical regression refers to the bias that may crop in due to some respondents giving extreme responses. This bias is known as error sum of squares in statistical regression analysis.

Experimental Mortality
This can occur when the respondents drop out during the experiment especially in the experiment involving pre test and post test. The same respondents who take up the pre-test may not be available for the posttest. This results in excluding the entire pre test data from the analysis dropped out respondents. Instrument change (instrumentality) The instrument used during the testing process can change the experiment. This also refers to observers being more concentrated or primed, or having unconsciously changed the criteria they use to make judgments.

EXTERNAL VALIDITY
External validity is related to generalisability of the findings/results. It refers to the degree of generalisability of the conclusions to other situations. In other words, external validity is the degree to which the conclusions in the study for a given population could be made applicable to other populations or other situations.

VARIABLES IN RESEARCH
Meaning A business research study, involves study of characteristics of an individual/item/unit entity etc. These characteristics are represented by variables. As the name suggests a variable changes values for different individual/item at the same time Example: Income of individuals for the year 200910, prices of stocks on a day) or for the same individual/item at different time (income for an individual, sales of a company).

TYPES OF VARIABLES
Independent variable

Dependent variable
Moderating variable

Intervening variable
Extraneous variable

Continuous variable
Non-continuous/Discrete variable

MEASUREMENT AND SCALING TECHNIQUES

The process of assigning numbers to objects or observations, the level of measurement being a function of the rules under which the numbers are assigned. It is easy to assign numbers in respect of properties of some objects, but it is relatively difficult in respect of others. For instance, measuring such things as social conformity, intelligence, or marital adjustment is much less obvious and requires much closer attention than measuring physical weight, biological age or a persons financial assets.

MEASUREMENT AND SCALING TECHNIQUES

In other words, properties like weight, height, etc., can be measured directly with some standard unit of measurement, but it is not that easy to measure properties like motivation to succeed, ability to stand stress and the like.

Measurement Scales

Nominal

Ratio

Measurement Scales

Ordinal

Interval

Nominal scale

A qualitative scale without order is called nominal scale. Nominal scale is the least powerful level of measurement. It indicates no order or distance relationship and has no arithmetic origin.

A nominal scale simply describes differences between things by assigning them to categories.
Nominal data are, thus, counted data.

Nominal scale

In research activities a YES/NO scale is nominal.

It has no order and there is no distance between YES and NO. The statistics which can be used with nominal scales are in the non-parametric group.
Mode Cross tabulation - with chi-square

Example: The terms we use for colours. The colour of bike is a nominal measure. Which colour will you prefer for a bike? could be blue, black, red, etc. One may number these colours as 1, 2, 3 etc in any sequence i.e. this scale neither has any specific order nor it has any value.

Ordinal Scale
With ordinal scales, it is the order of the values is whats important and significant, but the differences between each one is not really known. Like in a competition. A qualitative scale with order is called an ordinal scale. This scale posses the properties of distinctive classification and order.

Ordinal Scale
Rank as a measure is always considered as ordinal.

The difference between any two ranks is not necessarily equal. The difference between first and second rank does not connote the same differential. For example in a class of students, the highest mark is 95, next highest is 85 and the next is 84, converting marks into ranks will lead to 1, 2 and 3. Incidentally, it may be noted that the difference in the performance of the 1st ranker and 2nd ranker is not the same as the 2nd ranker and 3rd ranker.

Statistics tool applied in Ordinal scale

Ordinal data would use non-parametric statistics. These would include: Median and mode Rank order correlation Non-parametric analysis of variance Modelling techniques can also be used with ordinal data.

Interval Scale
Interval scales are numeric scales in which we know not only the order, but also the exact differences between the values. The classic example of an interval scale is Celsius temperature because the difference between each value is the same. For example, the difference between 60 and 50 degrees is a measurable 10 degrees, as is the difference between 80 and 70 degrees. Time is another good example of an interval scale in which the increments are known, consistent, and measurable.

Central tendency can be measured by mode, median, or mean; standard deviation can also be calculated.
This is a quantitative scale of measure without a fixed or true zero. For example, there is no such thing as no temperature.

Without a true zero, it is impossible to compute ratios. With interval data, we can add and subtract, but cannot multiply or divide. Confused? Ok, consider this: 10 degrees + 10 degrees = 20 degrees. No problem there. 20 degrees is not twice as hot as 10 degrees, however, because there is no such thing as no temperature when it comes to the Celsius scale.

When you are asked to rate your satisfaction with a piece of software on a 5 point scale, from Dissatisfied to Satisfied, you are using an interval scale. Statistical tools
Interval scale data would use parametric statistical techniques:

Mean and standard deviation Correlation r Regression

Analysis of variance Factor analysis Advanced multivariate and modelling techniques.

Ratio scales Ratio scales have an absolute or true zero of measurement. We can conceive of an absolute zero of length and absolute zero of time.

Ratio scales represents the actual amount of variables. Measures of physical dimensions such as height, weight, distance etc are examples. All statistical techniques are usable with ratio scales.
Multiplication and division can be used with this scale but not with other scales. Geometric and Harmonic means can be used as measure of central tendency and coefficients of variation also be calculated.

Scaling
Scaling has been defined as a procedure for the assignment of numbers (or other symbols) to a property of objects in order to impart some of the characteristics of numbers to the properties in question. The number assigning procedures or the scaling procedures may be broadly classified on one or more of the following bases: (a) Subject orientation; (b) Response form; (c) Degree of subjectivity; (d) Scale properties; (e) Number of dimensions and (f ) Scale construction techniques.

Selection or construction of a measurement scale requires decision in the following six key areas:
Study objective Response form Degree of preference Data properties Number of Dimensions Scale construction

CONSTRUCTION OF MEASUREMENT SCALES

Arbitrary scaling

Factor scales

Construction of measuremen t scales

Consensus Scaling

Cumulative scales

Item Analysis scaling

Arbitrary scales Arbitrary scales are developed on ad hoc (unplanned) basis. It is largely based on researchers own subjective selection of items. Several items, which are appropriate and unambiguous to the theme of study, may be selected.

Each item is scored from 1 to 5 depending on the responses obtained. The results are then totaled.
Arbitrary scales are easy to develop, inexpensive and highly specific to the theme of the study. The major limitation is that the design approach is subjective.

Consensus Scaling

In consensus scale the items are selected by a panel of judges after evaluation on the basis of some criteria like Relevance to the topic area The risk of ambiguity and The level of attitude represented by the items.

Consensus Scaling

This scale is rarely used for measuring Organizational concepts - because of time. One of Consensus scale is The Thurstone Equal Appearing Interval Scale by using a pile of card

This approach is widely known as Thurston equal appearing Interval Scale. The procedure followed in construction of the scale is described below Step: 1 A large number of items/statements expressing different degree of favorableness towards an object relating to the subject of the study, usually more than twenty are collected by the researcher.

Step: 2 A panel of judges evaluates the statements. The statements are written in the card.
Step: 3 The judges sort each card into one of the 11 piles representing the degree of favorableness the statement expresses.

Step: 4 The sorting yields a composite position for each of the items. In case of disagreement between the judges the item is discarded.

Step: 5 For the items that are retained median scale value between one and eleven is assigned.
Step: 6 A final selection of statements is made on the basis of the median score. Of the 11 piles 3 are identified by the judges as favourable , unfavourable and neutral. The eight intermediate piles are unlabelled.

Item Analysis scaling The itemized rating scale is a 5 point or 7 point scale with anchors provided for each item and the respondent states the appropriate number on the side of each item or circles the relevant number against each item. The responses to the items are then summated. This uses an interval scale. Example is shown below; indicate your response number on the line for each item.
1
Very Unlikely

2
Unlikely

5
Very Likely

Neither Unlikely Likely nor likely

I like to take more responsibility If additional responsibility is not provided I will be dissatisfied I am interested in a job which provides me more salary

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Item Analysis scaling

Step :1 Discriminates between those persons whose score is high and those whose total score is low. Step :2 It involves calculating the mean score for each scale item among the low scorers and high scorers. The item means between the high-score group and the lowscore group are then tested for significance by calculating t values.

Step :3 Finally the items that have the greatest t values are selected for inclusion in the final scales.

Summated scales or Likert scales are developed by the item analysis approach. Summated scales consist of a number of statements which express either favourable or unfavourable attitude towards an object to which the respondents is required to react.
The respondents indicate the agreement or disagreement with each of the statement.

Each response is given a numerical score and the total is obtained to measure the respondents attitude.

Procedure for developing a Likert type scale 1. A large number of statements relevant to the object being studied is collected.

2. The statement expresses definite favourableness or unfavourableness towards the subject. 3. A trial test can be conducted with a small group of respondents who form part of the final study. The agreement or disagreement towards each statement is obtained on a five-point scale. 4. The response is scored in such a way that the response indicating the most favorable attitude is given the highest score of 5 and the most unfavorable attitude is given the lowest score 1.

5. The total score of each respondent is obtained by adding the score for each individual statement.
6. The next step is to array the total scores and find out those statements, which have a high discriminatory power. For this purpose the researcher may select some part of the highest and the lowest total scores, for eg, top 25 percent and bottom 25 percent. 7. These two extreme groups are interpreted to represent the most favourable and the least favourable attitudes and are used as criterion groups by which to evaluate individual statements. Thus the statements, which consistently correlate with low favourability and with high favorability, are identified.

Advantages of Likert scale

1. It is relatively easy to construct, considered to be more reliable and less time consuming. Disadvantages of Likert scale 1. One of the major limitations is that the scale simply examine whether respondents are more or less favourable towards the subject under study, but it cannot reveal how much more or less they are. 2. There is no basis for belief that the five positions indicated on the scale are equally spaced.

Cumulative scales Cumulative scales consist of series of statements to which a respondent expresses his agreement or disagreement. An individual whose attitude is at a certain point in a cumulative scale will answer favourably all the items on one side of this point and answer unfavourably all the items on the other side of this point. The individuals score is arrived at by counting the number of points concerning the number of statements answered favourably.

If the total score is known it is easy to estimate the respondent does answer to individual statements constitute the cumulative scales. A major scale of this type is the Guttmans scalogram. Scalogram analysis refers to the procedure for determining whether a set of items forms a one-dimensional scale. A scale is one dimensional if the responses fall into a pattern in which endorsement of the item reflecting the extreme position results also in endorsing all items, which are less extreme.

Factor scales
Factor scales includes a variety of techniques that been developed to address two issues viz, the problem of dealing with the universe of content that is multi dimensional and the problem of uncovering the underlying dimensions that has not been identified by the exploratory research. Factor scales are developed through factor analysis or on the basis of inter correlations of items, which indicate the common factor responsible for the relationships between items.

Different types of factor analysis

1. Semantic Differential Scale 2. Multidimensional scaling (MDS)

Semantic Differential Scale

Developed by Charles E.Osgood, G.J. Suchi and P.H. Tannenbaum (1957), It is an attempt to measure the psychological meanings of an object to an individual. This scale is based on the presumption that an object can have different dimensions of connotative meanings which can be located in multidimensional space. This scaling consists of a set of bipolar rating scales, usually of 7 points, by which one or more respondents rate one or more concepts on each scale item.

For instances, the S.D scale items for analyzing candidates for leadership position May be shown as under:
(E) Successful (P) Severe (P) Heavy (A) Hot (E) Progressive (P) Strong (A) Active Un Successful Lenient Light Cold Regressive Weak Passive

-3

-2

-1

Candidates for leadership position may be compared and score them from -3 to +3 on the basis of the above stated scales. The letters E,P, A stands for E P A Evaluation Potency Activity

Written along the left side are not written in actual scale. The numeric values shown are also not written in actual scale.
Osgood and others conclude that Semantic space is multidimensional rather than unidimensional.

The semantic differential has several advantages. It produces interval data. It is an efficient and easy way to elicit responses from a large sample. The attitudes can be measured both in terms of direction and intensity. The total set of responses provides a comprehensive picture of the meaning of an object.

It is a standardized technique which can be easily repeated and at the same time escapes many problems of response distortion.

Multidimensional scaling
Multidimensional scaling is relatively more complicated scaling device which can be used to scale objects, individuals or both with a minimum of information. It enables to provide visual impression of relationship between variables. the

The MDS enables the researcher to study the perceptual structure of a set of stimuli and the cognitive process underlying the development of this structure. It enables perceptual mapping in a multidimensional space.

Multidimensional scaling
For example if respondents are asked to identify similar products among a group of products and if product X and Y are similar, MDS technique will position X and Y in such a way that the distance between them in multidimensional space is shorter than that between any two other objects. However MDS is not widely used because of the computational complications involved.

VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF AN INSTRUMENT OR TESTS OF SOUND MEASUREMENT

1. Test of Validity Content validity; Criterion-related validity and Construct validity. 2. Test of Reliability

3. Test of Practicality