Business

Research Methods

William G. Zikmund

Chapter 13:
Measurement
 Concept
A generalized idea about a class of objects,
attributes, occurrences, or processes
Operational Definition
Specifies what the researcher must do to
measure the concept under investigation
 Series of items arranged according to
value for the purpose of quantification
 A continuous spectrum

Scale
 Nominal Scale

 Ordinal Scale

 Interval Scale

 Ratio Scale

Scale Properties
 ATTRIBUTES A single characteristic or
fundamental feature that pertains to an
object, person, or issue

 COMPOSITE MEASURE A composite

measure of several variables to measure a
single concept; a multi-item instrument

Index Measures
 Validity

The ability of a scale to measure what was

intended to be measured
 Reliability

The degree to which measures are free from

random error and therefore yield consistent
results
 Old Rifle New Rifle New Rifle
Sun glare
Low Reliability High Reliability Reliable but Not
Valid
(Target A) (Target B) (Target C)

Reliability and Validity on Target

Validity
 Validity
Face validity is concerned with how a measure or procedure appears.
Does it seem like a reasonable way to gain the information the
researchers are attempting to obtain? Does it seem well designed?
Does it seem as though it will work reliably? Unlike content validity,
face validity does not depend on established theories for support
(Fink, 1995).

Criterion related validity, also referred to as instrumental validity, is

used to demonstrate the accuracy of a measure or procedure by
comparing it with another measure or procedure which has been
demonstrated to be valid.
 Validity
Construct validity seeks agreement between a theoretical concept
and a specific measuring device or procedure.

Construct validity can be broken down into two sub-categories:

Convergent validity and discriminate validity.

Convergent validity is the actual general agreement among ratings,

gathered independently of one another, where measures should be
theoretically related.

Discriminate validity is the lack of a relationship among measures

which theoretically should not be related.