Measurement and Scaling: Fundamentals and Comparative Scaling

True/False Questions
1. There are three primary scales of measurement: nominal, ordinal, and ratio.
(False,
2. Only a limited number of statistics, all of which are based on frequency counts, are
permissible on the numbers in a nominal scale.
(True,
3. In addition to the counting operation allowable for nominal scale data, ordinal scales
permit the use of statistics based on percentiles.
(True,
4. Statistical techniques that may be used on interval scale data include all of those that
can be applied to nominal, ordinal, and ratio data.
(False,
5. All statistical techniques can be applied to ratio data.
(True,
6. Comparative scales involve the direct comparison of stimulus objects.
(True,
7. Non-comparative scales data are generally assumed to be interval or ratio scaled.
(True,
8. Paired comparison scaling is useful when the number of brands is large, because it
requires direct comparison and overt choice.
(True,
9. In constant scaling, if an attribute is twice as important as some other attribute, it
receives twice as many points.
(True,

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10. It is the obligation of the researcher to obtain data that are most appropriate, given the
research questions to be answered.
(True,
11. It may be difficult to implement specialized scales such as the Q-sort on the Internet.
(True,
Multiple Choice Questions
12. _____ is the generation of a continuum upon which measured objects are located.
a. Ranking
b. Measurement
c. Scaling
d. Rating
(c,
30. 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,
31. 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,
32. Which of the following statistics is not permissible with nominally scaled data?
a. chi-square
b. median
c. range
d. both b and c are not permissible
(d,
33. The rankings of teams in a tournament constitute a _____ scale.
a. nominal

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b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio
(b,
34. Which of the following statistics is permissible with ordinally scaled data?
a. percentages
b. mode
c. rank order correlation
d. all of the above
(d,
35. In business research, attitudinal data obtained from rating scales are often treated as
_____ data.
a. nominal
b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio
(c,
36. 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,
37. In business, sales, cost, market share, and number of customers are variables
measured on a _____ scale.
a. nominal
b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio
(d,
38. 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.

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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,
39. 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,
40. 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,
41. _____ 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,

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